It was "Free Bagel Day"
I have two beautiful little girls. They are so totally different and so were my pregnancies and labor.
With EJ I followed all the rules. I tried really hard to “do it right”. I avoided caffeine, I took all the baby classes, I signed up for prenatal yoga. I read the baby books like “What to Expect when you are Expecting” and focused on eating healthy. I had a detailed birth plan and was working on a birthing playlist of music to play in my hospital room. I didn’t have many friends with babies yet. I had just started my pregnancy when my good friend had her first baby girl. She was my lifeline for information. One of my favorite shopping trips with her was to Target before I was due to stock up on extra absorbent maxi pads, Dermoplast cooling spray, and Tucks medicated pads. Things I never knew I would need. When it was time to check out, my mommy friend searched the lines for the teenage boy managing the check out. Why not have a little fun and make him red in the face while scanning my embarrassing items. We figured it would maybe scare him to not have unprotected sex.
Look at how swollen my face was!! Too many bagels.
My due date was fast approaching. I was bloated and wobbled like a penguin most days. I did not have that pregnancy glow so many of my coworkers who were moms talked about. Friday morning rolled around and I woke up to very early labor. I wasn’t sure if it really was labor or just Braxton hicks lick they talked about in all the classes I had taken. So, I did what I was suppose dot do and I started timing. The contractions were consistent but really far apart. I was getting ready for work and my husband asked me if I was still planning on going in. I thought, “They said in the classes…labor takes a long time. It’s not like in the movies when your water breaks and then POOF there is a baby!” Did I really want to call in? What if this wasn’t it? Did I want to start my maternity leave or take a sick day? Nope. I decided to keep getting ready. Plus, I had been looking forward to this Friday at work…it was free bagel day and I wanted my free bagel.
My closest coworkers/friends were so fascinated with me being in the office. I sat in the back of the conference room during our morning meeting enjoying my bagel and timing my contractions. I was very distracted obviously and didn’t retain much of what was going on in the meeting. After we were dismissed, I took the time to use work as a distraction from the labor pains I was experiencing. If I didn't focus on it, I thought, I wouldn't feel it as bad. I am one of those people who thinks I do well with pain, but in reality, I can be a total a wimp. My birth plan was to have a natural child birth. No epidural or narcotic painkillers.
As the day progressed the strength of my contractions intensified. I decided that at around 2:00pm I was throwing in the towel and headed home to try and relax and pack the car to get ready to go. Earlier in the day I had called my parents and they were already on the road with my Grammie, traveling to Livermore from Southern California.
Driving home with contractions was interesting. Not recommended. They weren't terrible yet, so it was completely doable. My drive was only about 25 minutes (the opposite way from the hospital) and there was no traffic yet. It was just one of those things that if you don’t HAVE to do it, I'd suggest you don’t. I was using up all of my energy throughout the day and I was still ONLY in Early Labor! Active Labor was going to kick my butt.
My family finally showed up to town. My husband made it home. I was getting anxious and tired. The pain was getting stronger and stronger but the timing was just still far apart. Having my family in our tiny little house added stress and I was getting advice from way too many people about my body and what I was feeling. Its been 5 years and some one the next details are a little fuzzy for my to remember but I’ll give you the gist of it.
One of the only baby bump pictures I took with baby #1 because I didn't feel pretty.
I ended up driving to the hospital and told my parents they should stay home until my husband and I called to let them know if we were being admitted. They, of course, were excited and didn’t want to miss anything so they drove along anyway. In triage, at the hospital, I wasn’t dilated enough (I was only 3cm) and they told me to go home OR walk around for two hours and then they’d check again. The drive from our house to the hospital was about a 45 minute drive so we decided to stay and walk around for 2 hours. By now I was starting to lose my cool. My husband and I were walking the halls and my Grammie came over to us. I said, “This is isn’t very fun anymore” and my husband, without skipping a beat said “Yeah, but we had fun making her.” You should have seen the look on my Grammie’s face.
Two hours after walking we were still sent home. Still only 3 cm dilated. When pulling into the driveway after midnight I got out and threw up. I think my water broke but I wasn’t sure because I was throwing up and also thought I might have peed myself. Ruined my favorite UGG boots in the process. Google how to tell if your water broke and that will give you a chuckle when you are told to smell the fluid. I took a bath, cried, and yelled in pain. Everyone told me to try and sleep. I couldn’t. My husband called the hospital and when the nurse heard me in yelling in pain the background, she told us to come back in right away!
Back at the hospital, triage told me I still wasn’t dilated enough. Again, only 3cm! I cried and the most amazing nurse looked at me and said I was close enough and she could stretch me to get me there. TMI? I said “YES”, threw my whole birth plan out the window and asked when I could have the epidural. Finally I was checked in!
The epidural allowed me to get some rest. Contractions stayed pretty far apart for me but they kept getting stronger and stronger. I was given Pitosan. My amazing nurse left me because of shift change and shortly after that it was "go time". It was time for the Transition Phase. The new nurse walked over to what I refer to as the “bat phone” and within a moment of making a call, the room was full of people. The lights were turned up and I was being lifted up as if I was a car going in for a oil change. My parents were on the couch in the room all snuggled up looking as if they wanted some popcorn because the show was about to start. I think I hurt my mother’s feelings when I asked if she and my dad would leave. All I wanted in the room was my husband…and the doctor and other strangers that were the medical staff of course.
When it was time to push, I couldn’t wait any longer. I was over being in labor. I wanted to meet my baby girl. I pushed for eight minutes and she was here. I held her on my chest and cried and my heart melted. I was physically exhausted and mentally drained. After twenty four hours of going through the hardest thing I’ve ever experienced in my life, I was a mommy.
Emma Jean Stanford, February 11, 2012, 5:13 pm, 8 pounds, 20 inches