On Tuesday Oct 18, I started contracting in the evening. Contractions weren't anything new for me since I'd been having Braxton Hicks pretty frequently since 20 weeks, but these ones were persisting a little more and definitely hurt a bit. I didn't say anything to Jeff because I figured it was either false labor or I was becoming a wimp from all the Braxton Hicks.
We went to bed around 11:30, but I got back up and went to the living room since I was having contractions averaging every 4 minutes and they were starting to be pretty uncomfortable. After an hour and a half, they'd tapered off enough that I decided they were false labor and went to bed. However, I was woken up an hour and a half later by more painful contractions coming consistently every 8 minutes - then every 6-8 minutes. I asked my mom around 7 if she thought it was the real deal and she suggested calling labor and delivery. They told me to call back when I couldn't talk through them, but then decided to have us come in and get checked since I was also leaking pink fluid.
I woke Jeff up and told him I needed him to cancel work for the day and go to the hospital with me. We took 45 minutes getting everything together and eating breakfast, then by 9:00 we were in triage having contractions every 5 minutes, dilated to a 3 and 90% effaced. They said they were going to check in an hour and if things hadn't progressed we would go - but first they wanted to check and see if my water had broken. The first test came back positive, but they thought it might be a false positive so ordered a lab test. Half an hour later, the nurse walked in and said, "You're ruptured! Let's get you admitted."
Turns out my water had broken on Monday. Oops.
An hour later, I'd been hooked up to pitocin and was dilating quickly - a half hour after that I'd had my epidural and was at a 5, and then by 1:00 pm was at an 8. 20 minutes later I was feeling like I needed to push but for some reason waited for another 15 minutes to call the nurse. I knew I needed to call sooner, but was in denial that this was the finish line and was scared out of my mind. When I couldn't take it anymore and had started shaking uncontrollably I told Jeff we needed to get somebody in there.
As an aside, the epidural was probably the worst part for me. Holding still through contractions was rough, and then when she put the catheter in I felt it hit a nerve that sent a jolt of pain through my leg, but it was super short-lived. It took about 20-30 mins for it to take total. effect, I could feel the contractions wrapping around my back on the right side for a while but once it numbed that side it was pretty amazing.
When the nurse came in, she checked and said, "Oh! You are complete."
She got the room ready and we did a practice push that was very effective - she told me he had hair.
"Another push like that, and I'll call the doctor."
The next one was just like that - two more contractions and she told me I had to stop which was extremely uncomfortable. Thanks to the epidural it wasn't painful, but my body was so uncomfortable and anxious to get the baby out that I had to concentrate really hard through contractions to *not* push, which meant not relaxing, which stressed me out. She kept texting our doctor and then finally called and said, "You need to get in here NOW."
He ran over from the office, threw scrubs on over his clothes and with the next contraction, I pushed and his head came out- then the next push his shoulder came out. "Wait! Dad wants to catch!" The nurse yelled. Jeff had just enough time to throw on some gloves and with the final push Caden was in Jeff's arms. I think I pushed through five contractions total for about 20 minutes - and that time includes the contractions I wasn't allowed to push through. Right before the last push I got an episiotomy and he slid out really easily after that.
The moments after that are a blur - he came out screaming and they laid him on my stomach until Jeff cut the cord. The assessed him and his apgars came in at 8 and 10 - I got to hold him and help clean him for a few minutes before they took him to get wiped off and weighed. For being 3 weeks early, he was a good size - 7 lbs 6 oz which is exactly what I weighed, and he was born at 2:20 in the afternoon which is within minutes of the time Jeff was born. He was 18.5 inches long.
I cried a lot - so relieved that he was there, so happy to finally meet him, and completely overwhelmed with the whirlwind experience of the day. Neither of us thought we'd be admitted, and even more than that I never would have imagined that 4.5 hours after admission we'd be holding our baby.
Meeting him was a little different than I'd imagined - there was definitely a rush of "Oh! That's my baby!" and at the same time, "Is this really my baby?"
We were discharged the next day, but had to go back to get bilirubin levels checked three times. They're finally going down and the doctor has said he is healthy and doesn't require anymore testing!
Jeff was AMAZING through the whole thing. He didn't get grossed out over anything - which is amazing because as a female, I find a lot of things about giving birth gross. He watched them administer the epidural, and watched through pushing updating all the way since I'd requested they not have the mirror. He was so supportive and has been THE cutest daddy to Caden. I always knew he'd be a great dad but he holds Caden as often as he can and has made sure to help with EVERYTHING - if I get up in the middle of the night, he helps change the diapers.
We are so grateful for this sweet little boy of ours and are slowly adjusting to being a family of three.
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