The Arrival

Drew is here!  Drew is here!  However, I feel as if I should probably catch you up as to how exactly that occurred. 

Monday, February 6th - I had my weekly doctor's appointment.  I was so nervous b/c this was the first time I was being checked for any progress.  I so wanted some progress.  So I got there and went through the appointment to be told I had made no progress what so ever.  0% effacement and 0 cms.  I was so disappointed when I called Jonathan and I could tell he was too.  My blood pressure was still stabilized at 136/84 and they scheduled me for another appointment for Monday, February 13th.

Jonathan and I were so bummed.  We wanted something to happen.  I had been drinking raspberry tea and taking evening Primrose Oil.  I am still not sure if I believe in these remedies.  What I really think is that women are already so close to labor when they start these at home remedies that they would have gone into labor anyway.  But that didn't stop me from trying.  I was also taking daily walks to help things along.

Thursday, February 9th - Jonathan and I went to bed as normal on Wednesday nite.  I had been having trouble falling asleep for a few weeks now.  At 1:20am,  I was laying in bed watching TV and had to get up to get something to drink.  When I rose, I felt a small gush of water.  I woke Jonathan up and told him that I thought my water had broke, but that I wasn't sure.  He asked if I was having any contractions and I told him no.  He said to wake him when I was sure and went back to sleep.

I read online that if you were not sure then to lay back down for 30 minutes and then rise again and see if another gush comes.  So I did that and it happened again.  This time I woke Jonathan and told him that I knew my water had broken, but that I was going to hop in the shower and get ready and that I would wake him in a bit.

So I took a shower and blow dryed by hair before I woke him up to make him start getting ready.  While he was getting ready, I ate breakfast and started gathering all the stuff we would need to take to the hospital.  Jonathan got ready and off we were to the hospital at 3:45am.

On the way there, we each called our parents.  I told my dad that "in true Candi fashion, I was going into labor in the middle of the nite" but I told him that I was not progressing and having contractions so just to hang tight until I had more information. 

We got to the hospital at about 4:30am.  It took a while to get checked in and to get into a room.  Finally, I got into a room and they checked me out and told me that my water had indeed broken.  They set me up on monitors and somewhat let me be.  The problem became that I was not progressing on my own.  I was not having contractions and when they checked me I had become a bit effaced but had not dialated at all.  I asked them to let me try to progress on my own as long as they could.

My parents arrived at about 9:30am.  I was in my room just chilling without a whole lot going on.  My aunt Tammy and grandmother also came to the hospital that morning to see what all was going on.  And Drew's godparents, Dave and Amanda came later that evening to check in on us.

At about 10am, the doctors made the decision that it would be best to help my labor along and gave me some Pitocin.  I was given anywhere between 2-18 mls an hour as they were trying to find the perfect amount to help me go into labor with stable and consistent contractions.

The thing about Pitocin is that the contractions are a lot more intense early on than with natural contractions.  So between that and the nurses altering the dosage every so often, I would have contractions that spiked really high and painful but would not last very long.  Because of this, I was given some pain medicine to take the edge off.  They kept playing with the dosage amounts of the Pitocin until I was finally dialated 3cms.  At that point, I was allowed to be given the epiduryl.  After receiving the epiduryl, I finally got about 2.5 hours of sleep.  (At this point, I had been awake since 9am on Wednesday morning, so well over 24 hours.)

After I awoke, I was hanging out for a while.  By this time, my aunt and grandmother had to leave and Dave and Amanda had brought Jonathan some Red Robin for dinner.  All was well until I started to be able to feel my contractions again b/c they were beginning to be that intense.  The worst part was that I could feel them in my right hip and that part hurt the worst.  We told the nurse that I was feeling them again and she decided to check me again.  Low and behold, I had gone from 3cms to 8cms and baby was engaging herself into my pelvis. 

At this point, my contractions hurt pretty badly.  Dad, Drew, Amanda, and Dave were in the waiting room.  Jonathan was on one side holding my hand and my mom was on the other.  Jonathan was so great!  He talked me through each and every contraction until I had to start pushing.  Mom made sure I had ice chips to suck on.  I couldn't have asked for a better team.  About 2 hours of this agony and I was checked again.  I couldn't believe it when the nurse said I was fully dialated and ready to start pushing.  At this point, Mom left and Jonathan became my sole partner.  He talked me through each and every push until the very end.  I really can't express how great he was through this entire process.  I pushed for probably 35 to 40 minutes and Drew was born at 11:53pm on February 9th.  Seven minutes before her actual due date.

~ Candi