And then there was Nora:)

Well folks, it's the night before my due date and we have a healthy, thriving, 6 day old girl!  Life sure has changed since my last post, End of Pregnancy Musings, from July 10.  Little did I know that pregnancy would be coming to an end so quickly after my post:) 

I woke up Tuesday, July 10th and decided "I'm just going to quit expecting this baby and will plan to meet her on July 20th when we have the c-section scheduled"...I even told this to Brent while we were getting ready for work.  We went our separate ways:  Luke to daycare, me to work, and Brent to an off-site meeting at a hotel/conference center in Rochester.  Late morning I emailed Brent that I was feeling "crampy" in my back, but that I wasn't getting my hopes up.  At lunch, Brent called to check in and I still said I didn't think the crampy feeling meant anything.  Late afternoon I emailed Brent that I was still feeling crampy and wanted to take a walk that night to see if anything might start progressing (I truly did not expect anything to happen). 

I picked Luke up from daycare and was able to chat with our daycare mom, Tracy, and another mom, who happens to work in labor and delivery, about how I was feeling.  After chatting for a bit, I admitted to myself that I was having contractions along with the cramping in my back.  Once we got home and met Brent, I decided to start timing the contractions with a handy-dandy app on my phone:)  Brent made me some rice for supper, then we headed out for our walk.  I knew I didn't want to deal with the hills in our neighborhood (or the chance that my water would break and we'd have a long walk home), so we drove to the Douglas Trail for our walk.  Luke decided to walk with us (he usually bikes) because he was having fun helping with the contraction timer app:)  We explained to him what my body was doing to get ready to have Nora.  The contractions were very regular, but still manageable throughout our walk.  I could walk and talk through them, but could tell they were building a bit too. 

When we got home, I was ready for a shower.  I once again thought that this (a shower) could be my test: it would either relax me right out of the contractions or I would continue having them consistently regardless of the shower.  The contractions continued.  While I was in the shower, Brent called OB Triage at Methodist Hospital (about 8pm) to share the time and frequency (30-60 seconds long and 2-3 minutes apart) of my contractions and to get their thoughts.  They said we should wait until the contractions got stronger and then make our way to the hospital.  We decided that it would probably be best to have Luke stay with Gma and Gpa for the night since we didn't know what the night might hold.  We finished packing our bag and loaded up the car.  My contractions were getting noticeably stronger on the drive across town.  We dropped off Luke, which felt very strange for all of us.  We knew that life could be changing for good, so the goodbye felt "bigger" for all of us.

Brent and I decided to head downtown, park in the ramp, and take another walk.  As we walked a few blocks, we chatted about our plan for labor.  I know, this may be late, but it was good to be sure we were on the same page.  I told Brent that I planned to go as long as I could handle the contractions without any meds and would request an epidural once they got bad enough.  At this point, the contractions were stopping me in my tracks, but still manageable.  Once we made it around a few blocks, we called OB Triage again and told them we were coming up (we were just outside Methodist on our walk).

It turned out to be a busy night in labor and delivery.  We got checked into OB Triage (where they check you and determine if you will actually be admitted) and they didn't have a room readily available, so we waited in the hall while the room was cleaned.  At about 10pm, we got into the Triage room, got a heart monitor on baby, blood pressure cuff on me, and it was time to be checked.  We were really hoping for 4 cm, but the doctor told us I was only 2 cm dilated.  He also told me that my blood pressure was high and that they would be admitting me mostly due to the elevated blood pressure.  We were disappointed by both of his findings.  I had not had any high blood pressure readings this entire pregnancy and hearing we were 2 cm dilated sounded like only the beginning of a possibly long labor.  So, we knew we were staying, but we had to wait for a room in labor and delivery to open up.  While waiting in OB Triage, my contractions got progressively stronger, my water broke on its own around 10:30pm, then the contractions got even stronger.  By midnight, I was vice gripping the bed rails through contractions and was not feeling good.  Thankfully a room opened in labor and delivery and we were moved at midnight.  Once in the room, the nurse started getting me and baby hooked up to monitors.  I was in horrible pain by this point and there was no doctor or anesthetist in sight.  I told the nurse I wanted an epidural, but she said I had get an IV placed and get checked by the doctor again before I could get it.  I was getting quite impatient when the anesthetist came in to start my IV.  Thankfully the doctor was right behind him because my body was ready to push (I did not know this at the time, but learned it very quickly!)!  The doctor checked me while the IV was attempted and, yep, I was indeed ready to push and was 10 cm dilated.  Needless to say, the IV did not get placed and an epidural was out of the question.  Very quickly, the room filled with several people to get the party started!  It was close to 12:30am at this point.  I pushed for about one hour and achieved something I still doubted was physically possible:  I delivered a baby!  Nora Abigail Picker was born at 1:46am, weighing 8 lbs 4 oz, and measuring 20 1/4 inches long.  She had beautiful pink skin, was very quiet, and she was ours.  I even had to ask once where they had taken her because I didn't hear any crying.  They reassured me she was still in the room getting cleaned up and was quietly taking it all in:)  The doctors, resident, medical student, nursing student, and nurses were all wonderful.  One even took a bunch of pictures with Brent's phone once Nora was born.

July 10 was a typical Tuesday, Brent and I at work, while Luke spent the day at daycare.  July 11, 2012 rang in with lots of pain, much anticipation, first breaths, sights, and kisses.  We were a new family.  A family of four with an incredible son and a beautiful daughter.

Welcome to the family Nora!  

    

You are adored:)