the domestication of a michael: Birth Story

I went back and forth about typing this but I want to get it written before I forget any details...I'm going to do this timeline style to keep from going overboard on the deets. Ready, set, GO!

Okay I'll start with October 18th (one day past due date):

OCTOBER 18TH

8:00AM- I headed to work for my last day and I was 95% sure I was feeling some contractions. I decided to time them for fun and they seemed to be about 20 mins apart. I was having a throbbing back pain with some uterine contractions but mostly back pain.

12:00PM- I wrapped up all my open projects and decided I was DEFINITELY having some sort of contractions and got ready to head home.

1:00PM- Headed home and called Will to see if we could meet for lunch (he took his paternity leave a day earlier than me...diva!). We decided on Mexican in case it was our last meal for awhile.

1:15PM- I decided my contractions were kind of strong so I called the doctor's office to see if they could squeeze me in just to check my progress (per Dr. Hauschka's instructions since I was past my due date). They told me to come in as soon as I could.

1:30PM- I get home and tell Will that Mexican is cancelled (he was so sad) but then we began to frantically prepare the house (i.e. feed the cats an obscene amount of food, make the bed, clean the bathroom, and some other various tasks). Before we could head out the door (we packed our hospital bag just in case) I had to use the bathroom and passed my mucous plug. I freaked out a little. Not what I expected. Then the doctor's office called back to tell us to go to the hospital since our doctor on call was there at the time. Our office is right next door to the hospital so no big deal.

2:00PM- Get on the road and obvi make a pit stop at Chick-fil-a....and get to the hospital. I was definitely nervous and even though Will wasn't showing it, he was too, because he threw his keys in the garbage can (by mistake)at the hospital...he still denies he was nervous. We get upstairs and made it as far as giving a urine sample before someone came to tell us that we are supposed to go back to the doctor's office. RAAAAAGGGGE. At this point I feel like my contractions are about 5 minutes apart but they aren't unbearable.

2:30PM- Go to doctor's office and get checked...still 3cm and I'm instructed to go to the hospital when I'm "huffing and puffing and I stop thinking my husband is funny". Pretty vague! So we head home and I hang out in bed.

6:30PM- Eat dinner and contractions are really all over the place but definitely more painful.

10:00PM- I've had enough. Contractions are terrible and I make Will call the hospital. After having him call the wrong place first...he finally talks to Presby and they tell us to go ahead and come in. Now the fun begins!

10:30PM- Arrive at the hospital and get checked into triage. I am miserable at this point. Wait in triage with my bitch-nurse Kathy for 3 hours. Every time Kathy left the room I dropped f-bombs. I was crying, screaming, sweating and barfing! Yea! At what I felt like was my breaking point (3 hours after checking in) I made Will page the nurse and then they magically arrived with a wheelchair to take me to my room finally...

OCTOBER 19TH (my our bday!)

3:00AM- I get to the delivery room and get my epidural. It was probably all mental, but the minute the needle hit my skin I already felt better. My contractions were all over the place and really close together but I still hadn't dilated any more than 3cm. Getting an epidural during contractions was my biggest fear but I wanted the medicine so bad that I don't even remember the pain if there was any. I do remember the nurse asking Will if he was okay...he had to be as exhausted as I was dealing with me for those 3 hours.

Okay so I don't remember much between now and 6AM but I know that the doctor on call came in to tell me I made progress but that the new doctor would be in to break my water and get things underway, and also that he had to get to the soccer fields for his daughter's soccer game...

Sometime that morning: My new doctor comes in and checks me out and says that we will probably start pushing soon. Then she leaves and I sit there going crazy with fear for I have no idea how long! I also heard a lady somewhere on the hall scream ridiculously loud. I demanded to know if she had had an epidural before pushing. My nurse played dumb...but I was not fooled!

12:00PM- My new nurse comes in and says, "okay lets push!". It was very unceremonious...haha! I imagined like 5 people coming in but instead it was me, my nurse, and poor, poor Will. I think he slept less than I did the whole hospital stay. I was still having terrible back pain this entire time and even got an extra dose of pain killers via a shot that made my whole body cold. Weird. And not all that helpful.

3:00PM- So I pushed for about 3 hours and it was time for my nurse to change shifts and right before she left she came in to tell me that Jameson was probably face-up and that was the reason she felt "stuck" and why she wasn't making progress. My nurse said she talked to the doctor and wanted me to be prepared that I was more than likely getting a C-section. Queue the tears! I was so upset that I had done the "hard parts" of labor and then had to give up and get surgery. I saw my friend during her recovery of a C-section and I didn't want to be in that sort of pain on top of trying to take care of a newborn. C-section mom's are hardcore!

[Enter my new sassy nurse]. She tells me that I am NOT having a C-section and that we WILL push this baby out! They give me an hour break and then we push for another 2 hours doing all sorts of turns from side to side to see if we can get Jameson to turn over. The nurse basically talked the doctor into letting her work with me for an allotted amount of time and then the doc would come take over and probably do the C-section.

6:00PM- WE did it! Will gets credit because he was my cheerleader after I tried to quit a few times. I honestly didn't think I would get to have her naturally at this point and I definitely would have thrown in the towel if it wasn't for Will . BUT, WE got her to crown and it was time to push. I have no idea how this nurse got me to this point. I think I almost gave up like 3 times but she kept saying, "how about 2 more pushes?" we went through that several times. I was so weak. I kept telling Will that I couldn't do it. Poor guy was having to hold my leg and probably see things no man deserves to see! Superhero Will!

Something I didn't know that happens is that once the baby crowns they just kind of leave you there with a baby head partially exposed and then get prepped for the doc(noooow all the people come in!). The doc comes in (I can't remember her name now) and then we push some more. I will spare these details, but I will say that I didn't NOT feel anything. (I feel like it's okay to use a double negative here).

6:37PM- Baby Jameson is born! It was the craziest thing. Even though I never saw her before I already knew she was mine and I HAD to hold her. I didn't wait for her to be cleaned (like I thought I would). I wanted her immediately! So, they gave her to me and then the rest is a blur. I don't even know how to explain. I was immediately a new person and someone's mom! Will was a mess (first time I've ever seen that!). So yep, that's it! That's how she got here!