Thursday, September 22, 2011

Our story...

The sun poured in through our bedroom window casting a bright outlook for the day. As soon as my eyes opened a strong ache in my back caused me to stretch, trying to relieve the pain. After getting up and going to the bathroom followed with more stretching I laid back down, defeated. Nothing worked, so I decided to try and fall back asleep. Usually the pains would go away once I fell asleep however this time it was different. I blinked at our bedroom clock as the numbers glared at me. It was nine fifteen a.m. I knew I had just gone to the bathroom at nine and though I thought it odd that I had gotten awake just fifteen minutes after laying down I forced closed my eyes and dozed back off trying to ignore my discomfort. However I awoke again only fifteen minutes later to the same pains. My thoughts started to surge as my mind wandered. Oh no, I thought, was this it? Looking at the clock once more I realized that I had always been able to sleep once Braxton hicks contractions started and I knew me waking up every fifteen minutes was not the norm.

As tightness in my back formed and pain came around the front of my abdomen once again, now marking that these contractions were now ten minutes apart; I looked over at my husband soundly sleeping, knowing I needed to wake him. “Babe, I said trying to remain calm, Babe, I repeat again trying to stir him. He opened his eyes slowly then closed them. I sighed, anxiety filling my every emotion; I really needed him to wake up. Shaking him I spoke “Babe please wake up, I really think I’m in labor”. He slowly opened his eyes, living up to his hard to wake demeanor and slightly looked at me giving me slight recognition. “What”? he asked. “I think I’m in labor” I said again. He sat up quickly “Really” he exclaimed, panic filling his expression. I nodded. He was awake now.

The morning progressed with Kevin getting ready for work as I breathed through contractions and got ready to spend the day with my family. As we left the house my contractions that had now been ten minutes apart decided to become five minutes apart. About five minutes from my parents house my contractions then became four to three minutes apart. As I walked inside my parents’ house, Kevin was now on the phone calling off work, knowing this had to be it. As my mom saw my face I spoke “I think I’m in labor”. As I tried to tell her what had been going on since nine fifteen she spoke “Oh, yeah this is the real thing, you stop talking when one comes; this is definitely labor.” I decided to try and see if they stayed between three and four minutes apart for the next hour before I hastily called the doctor. As we waited I had some jelly toast, the only thing I had eaten all day. It took me an hour to eat it as each contraction became closer. By the time they were two and a half minutes apart I decided I needed to call the doctor. Within ten minutes they called me back and my doctor told me to come on in to labor and delivery.

Kevin and I left and made our way to the hospital. Honestly as we drove Kevin looked over and laughed at me as he saw me fixing my makeup. I smiled and casually breathed through each contraction.  Once we pulled into the parking lot my heart started to race. I hate hospitals and knew if I was going in there I better be leaving with my baby. I did not want another false alarm; I emotionally and mentally wouldn’t be able to handle it. As the double doors of the hospital automatically opened I squeezed Kevin’s hand and asked him to slow down, a contraction took my complete attention and I needed to go slow. As we made it back the hallway to the elevators I became very nauseous and stopped to use the restroom. Quickly going inside I started gagging but nothing came up, as soon as I thought I might be able to relieve my stomach of the only thing in there; two pieces of toast, I heard the bathroom door open and more people come in. Luckily I was able to regain my composure and keep down my food. As I washed my hands I turned to the side and glanced just once more at my baby bump. Tears came to my eyes as a wash of acknowledgement of what was about to happen became clear. In that moment I knew without a doubt that I was not going to see my baby bump again. Taking a deep breath I opened the door with tears in my eyes reached for Kevin’s hand for more than just walking support; and we made our way up to labor and delivery.

They took us into a monitoring room and quickly hooked me up to the baby heart rate monitor and contraction monitor. After checking my dilation and informing me I was only three centimeters dilated they then checked my blood pressure. It was high. Having high blood pressure at times accompanies being overdue; and because I already was having contractions and was at least three centimeters they admitted me and our labor and delivery story really began.   

As we made our way into room 578 the white and blue backdrop of the hospital faded and my nerves elevated. This was it. I could do this. You can do this, was all that ran through my mind. As I laid there each contraction became stronger and my will to get through what I expected to happen stood firm, I had to believe God would get me through the scary unknown of delivery. As I breathed, prayed, breathed, prayed through each contraction, I never expected my story to take the turn it did. At 10.25pm a strong contraction took my complete attention and as it ended I felt a gush of fluid release. “Umm I, I think my water just broke” I said nervously, trying to get the nurses attention as I felt more fluid run out. As the nurse calmly pulled back the sheet ready to check me her calm demeanor changed and she quickly stood up checked my vitals, looked over at me her eyes wide and said “I’m just going to go get the doctor, ok, I just want him to check as I’m seeing more blood than normal”. I nodded as tears came to my eyes. I reached for Kevins hand as a blurry vision of my nurse exited the room. Looking over at my husband for support, I blinked and then everything took a turn for the worse…

To be continued…

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