Midterm #1 - Labor

Just like in college, midterms never come in the middle of the semester.

Or, in other words, this is my first major test on being a mom. My overall synopsis is that I had a solid passing grade on delivering a baby. Everything went fairly smoothly and I can say that it was not nearly as bad as everyone makes it out to be.

I started having contractions on Tuesday around 4:30, but I had no clue I was having contractions. When you're pregnant, everyone tells you that you'll know when you're in labor and you'll know when you're having contractions, but apparently I was not clued in on that bit of advice. What I did know was that I was swollen, tired, uncomfortable and now experiencing an annoying cramping sensation. I texted my mom around that time asking her if I had to wait until Friday to have the baby, and she texted me back and said that I was good to have the baby anytime now that her lesson plans for her sub were in place. 

When the contractions started, it felt just slightly uncomfortable but was slowly getting more intense. My big problem was that I had visiting teaching to do. Part of me wanted to call off, but Mandi had been so good about setting up appointments and keeping me on track (not an easy thing to do, I'm not that proactive of a visiting teaching companion) that I felt really bad about cancelling so late. I made a deal with the Lord and told Him that I would go visiting teaching but only if He would help me out and make whatever my pain was go away for the hour I was gone. Sure enough, as soon as I pulled into Jennilyn's driveway, the pain went away, and right when I went out the door, the pain came back. I got home around 7:00, still not sure what was going on. Steve and I were just relaxing and watching a TV show when all of a sudden I felt fluid, but just like a little trickle. I turned to Steve and said, "I think my water broke, but I don't know." So off to the bathroom we went, and after a minute or two, well, let's just say I definitely knew my water broke. Steve called the doctor, and she told us to go in when the contractions were bad (because that tells me so much). I later called her back and asked, "when you say bad, are you talking 'this really hurts' bad or 'oh my gosh I’m going to die' bad." She laughed and said the first one. As a result, we put in a movie and went into the hospital around 11:00 pm. By that time I could definitely feel the contractions, but there wasn't really a clear start and stop and they were very inconsistent. 

We get to the hospital, and I'm thinking I'm at least a few centimeters dilated and somewhat effaced, but when they checked me, I had nothing. I was a whopping 1 centimeter and had absolutely no effacement. Ugh. As a result, they gave me a small painkiller (I think? It might have been something else) to help me sleep and to see if I showed any signs of progression in the morning. My mom hopped on the earliest flight, and by the time she landed at 11:00 am, no movement whatsoever. More ugh. The midwife (the doctor on call finished her shift and now Steve the midwife was on deck) decided to give me a bit of a kick start with a handy little drug called Pitocin, and boy did it get me going. I really started feeling the contractions after that, though they didn't want me to start pushing for another six hours. I also had an epidural around 2:00 pm. I tried going as long as I could, which put me about 1:00 pm, but the problem was that someone else was farther in labor than I was and needed the epidural around the same time, so I had to wait another hour. Not fun. The epidural sure made everything smoother, though. I don't think I would look as kindly on the experience if I hadn't had the epidural. Around 4:30 they had me lying on my side to help the baby slide into place, and then around 5:00 I started pushing.

That part was not very fun. They weren't all that bright and put a clock right in view of the bed, so I could see exactly how long I had been pushing for. Before starting, the midwife told me it typically takes between one to three hours for pushing. About fifteen minutes in I looked at the clock and stated, somewhat loudly, "You mean it's only been fifteen minutes?!?!?" Also at some point in time I stated (loud enough for everyone to hear, according to my husband) "This is worse than sex!" Now you have to understand that if a girl can't relax during sex, it's a very uncomfortable and you don't feel like you have enough space to get things done. Pushing out a baby's head is much worse, though it had that same sort of pressure. I must have been doing pretty well because a half an hour in I finally got Jonah through. That first full breath of air once he was completely out was the most refreshing breath I have ever taken. My lungs had room again and it meant that I was finished. Sort of. We'll skip the gross stuff that happens after the baby comes.

So, Jonah Stephen was born on March 13, 2013 at 5:34 pm weighing 7 pounds 7 ounces and was 20 inches in length. I am a very lucky girl.