Thank you, everyone!
Finally, have time to sit down and write this!
Tuesday (6/11) I had an appointment with my ob, and everything seemed fine. She said she'd start checking my cervix at 37 weeks because she didn't want to irritate it and cause me to go into labor. Left the appointment feeling fine, nothing amiss.
I went to bed at normal time and woke up around 1:30 AM to pee, which is typical for me. While I debated with myself if I wanted to get up to pee or go back to sleep, I sneezed and felt like I pee'd myself. I can't debate with myself through that, so I got up, cleaned myself up, checked the bed, and went back to sleep. Roughly two hours later, I got up again to pee and realized my underwear was, once again, very wet.
I couldn't believe that I peed myself again! I got up, went to the bathroom, but realized something was off. My bladder was full, I was cramping, and I was leaking down my leg. I clean up and wake my husband up with the infamous words of:
"I think my water broke."
Boring stuff - he got up, I packed a bag really quick, he packed snacks, we got our (very sleepy) dogs awake and pottied, got some puppy pads for me to sit on on the car ride, and we went. Because it was super late, I had to go in through the ER to get up to L&D, which got me a wheelchair ride and some random people shouting out "CONGRATULATIONS" as I was wheeled off. It was weird.
Up in L&D, I go into triage, get changed, get put on monitors, get swabbed to see if they could detect amniotic fluid, and told to sit tight. I was offered juice, which was a real tease since I had GD and couldn't accept it. They come back and tell me my cramps are contractions and yay! I'm having a baby.
My tired response? "I know I'm having a baby, but am I having it today?" Spoiler: I was.
Room change! I get comfortable, get some sleep, get told my doctor wanted to check me personally since I'm early (35w3d), and told to relax. Which, in case you're wondering, was a lot easier said than done. Doctor comes in around 9 AM and checks me -1.5 cm, 80% effaced. They told me that they'd give me cervidil to help soften the cervix.
This, my friends, is where things start to speed up and get crazy. I was given the cervildil at 10 AM, told not to get up until noon so it could work. They let me know it would take a while because I'm a first-time mom. It gets to the point where I can no longer handle the pain. I'm given an IV pain med and told I could be given it once an hour for pain.
Now, what the nurse did not know is when given cervildil and this pain med together before each dose of the pain med, you have to be checked for dilation. I was not. My pain went from manageable with the pain meds to unbearable by the third dose, which I never received.
My guess is that's when I switched to labor to more active labor. It felt like I had to push and when the nurse was told (not my usual nurse, but another nurse) I got told, "that's just what contraction feels like. Don't push or you'll hurt yourself."
Okay. I try not to push, but it feels like my body is working very hard against that. Shortly before the third dose of pain med, I feel like I have to poop. I get up to take care of that. I try not to push too hard, remembering what the nurse had to say, and after a few minutes, something tells me to put a hand between my legs.
There's a head. There was a head in my vagina coming out. I tell my husband, who then runs to tell the nurse. The nurse rushes in and helps me back into bed. She sticks her head out of the door and shouts for everyone to get in the room, that I'm about to give birth. I then hear, "I NEED EVERYONE NOW! THERE'S A HEAD IN THE VAGINA!"
Once again, I'm told not to push so the doctor could get in the room. I do my best not to push, but once again, my body has other plans. Thankfully, the nurse was back at that point because it felt like my baby shot out of me like a torpedo. My husband got to cut the cord, they took her to check her real quick, and then gave her to me for skin to skin. A few minutes after she was put on me, she decided to have her first pee.
Liliana was born at 35w3d on June 12 at 4:15 PM weighing 5 lbs 9.6 oz and 18 inches long.
Everything after that was a bit of a blur. I remember them tugging on the umbilical cord and pressing down on my abdomen, and my placenta shot out. I wish I knew what my vagina was doing shooting all this stuff out of it. I guess it was very angry. I had a first-degree tear, so I got stitched, helped into a new gown, and fashionable mesh undies with giant pads. My husband went with our daughter to NICU while she got assessed and weighed. We got to come home together 48 hours later. It's still so surreal to me that I have a daughter.
And yes, it's okay to laugh at this story. I sure do whenever I tell it! I don't remember the name of the pain meds I was given but plan to ask at my next appointment.
Glad everything went well and you and the baby are doing great.
