Daddy doesn't know it
But I'm coming out today.
Mommy has a tingling in
Her tummy where I stay.
I know that he's been waitng
For my Mommy just to say,
"Take me to the hospital...
Our baby's on the way!"
"Call the paramedics,
Call the doctor, Grandma too!
Don't forget the suitcase...
Baby's making her debut!"
- Brenda Dalene Kijowski
For almost the whole month of January I had Braxton Hicks contractions, and Monday night (2/3) was no different. After the girls and Trey were tucked into bed I spent the evening rocking on the yoga ball and whining about how much they hurt. I posted to our local moms board about wanted to eat some Mexican breakfast and made plans with Raechel to go to Old West for some Mexican breakfast. I was ready to get this thing going!
Tuesday morning everything ran smoothly. I got the girls to school and Trey off to Mother's Day Out. Then I headed to Old West and had breakfast with Raechel and her girls Finley and Louella. I came home and did some stuff on the computer, then picked up Trey from MDO and went to get the big girls from school. While waiting in the carpool line I texted our doula Allison at 2:39 pm "No progress today what so ever." She sent me back a sweet reassuring message that it was just the calm before the storm. Then at 2:47 I texted her "strong Braxton Hicks as we speak."
I had another contraction as we pulled out of the school parking lot, and they continued every 15 minutes. I was in major denial and thought it was just the migas talking to me. ;) I started making dinner and Trinity had a friend come over. I also started timing my contractions. at 4 pm they were coming every 8 minutes apart. I finished prepping dinner, popped it in the oven and decided to jump in the shower. At that point I was still in major denial - I had never gone into labor on my own so surely this wasn't it. George was at work and I was texting him and keeping him updated. He was none too happy about my denial and wanted me to head to the hospital right away. After my shower I decided that I really was in labor. Trinity had a friend over and the big girls had been playing with Trey. I called to them that Brooke needed to go home. Trinity was goes "but she just got here" I replied, "well, I think I'm in labor". Chasity jumped into action and started assigning duties, ha ha. I told them to calm down and walk Brooke home and we would get the bags when they got back. The girls walked their friend home and came back. Dinner was out of the oven and I was packing the rest of my bag. Chasity and Trinity packed a bag for the evening and Trinity and Trey started to eat while I called our friend Megan to bring Trey over and made plans for our friend Veena to meet us at the hospital for Chasity and Trinity. Trinity ate super quick and Trey got about 3 bites in before Chasity put him in the car.
Still in denial (thought not as much) we put everything in the car and headed to the hospital after a pit stop to drop Trey off at Megan and Owen's house. We drove through traffic down Teasley, thank goodness, we were stopped during practically every contraction. When we got to the hospital Allison met us at the front desk. Apparently, they were quite busy in L&D that night. The check in clerk was on the phone with the L&D nurses -
Her: How many weeks are you?
Me: 39 weeks 6 days. She repeats into the phone.
Her: How far apart are your contractions?
Me: 5 minutes apart, 1 minute long.
Her: What baby is this for you?
Me: number 4.
Her: this is her fourth baby!
We got checked in and headed back to a room and George came down the hall right on time.
Dr. Dooley came in and checked me at 6:45 and I was only at a 3. After I had been on the monitors about an hour they let me up to go walk. If you've never been to Presby Denton they have a sky bridge that is 1/4 of a mile long. Our doula Allison and I walked up and down that thing a million times. Around 9:20 pm Dr. Dooley came to check me again and I was STILL at 3 cm so we went ahead and stripped my membranes (ouch by the way). Then we went on another walk and I was squatting through every contraction. I kept getting the best text messages from my friends all over the country. "Your body was made to birth. You've got this mama!"
Dr. Dooley came in to check me again at 11 - we were making slow progress, 4 cm, 50% effaced and -2. We decided to break my water at 11:53. I spent some time on the birth ball - trying to get her down and things moving faster. In between contractions I would glance up at the TV - Fox Southwest was showing the Louisiana State High School Football Championship game and we were checking out an A&M commit.
At 1:30 we started pitocin. 2:30 I was 6 cm and 100% effaced. This is where it was REALLY starting to hurt. I thought I needed to pee, but I couldn't get to the bathroom bc it was hurting so much. My sweet doula was rubbing my back while I sat on the birthing ball and leaned on George through each contraction. I asked for an epidural and they told me I was THIRD in line... holy cow. I tried to get in bed and that hurt worse so I got back down on to the birthing ball until they came in. They placed the epidural at 2:40 - sweet relief. The nurse checked me again at 3 and I was at 7 cm, 24 minutes later Dr. Dooley came in I was at a 9 1/2 - talk about progress! They turned off my epidural so that I would be able to feel to push. I rolled to my side and got some rest before it was show time. I was such a surreal feeling.
At 4:15 I was ready to push!
My first push was really productive, the second and third pushes she didn't make much progress, but 2 pushes later and sweet Reagan Claire was born at 4:20 am - right on her due date February 5th. She immediately snuggled right into my chest, a full head of brown hair, big, beautiful blue eyes and chubby cheeks. She weighed 7 pounds, 14 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long.
After weighing and measuring her the nurses handed her right back to me and she started nursing at 4:40 am with a perfect latch.
