She's Here!

It's official!  We are now a family of three.  Our little girl decided to join the world on her due date, October 18th at 7:50am.  She weighed in at 8 lbs 6 oz, and is 22 inches long.  She is also still nameless, but we're working on that.  Labor went smoothly or so I am told and she got an A on her first test, the APGAR.  She has a slight heart murmur, but the pediatrician said it does not sound serious and that they'll take an echocardiogram before we leave, but that it usually resolves itself quickly.  J.R. had one, too, when he was little.  For those of you who just wanted the quick update, there you go!  SPOILER ALERT!!!! If you want the mysteries of labor and delivery to stay a mystery, DO NOT READ ON!  Here's the full story of my last few days.  On Thursday night, I was sitting eating dinner with my mom and J.R. when I felt a funny twinge.  Then another one, about 10 minutes later, and another 10 minutes after that.  I started timing the contractions and they were about 10 minutes apart and lasting 30 seconds.  They were also down low near my pelvis, which can be a sign that you're in false labor.  So I wasn't sure if this was the real deal or not.  I took a little nap, and woke up around 11 and started timing them again.  They still had not progressed, and had even started to slow down around midnight.  I had called my doctor to see what he thought and he told me to wait it out and see what they did.  I went to sleep and in the morning, they were still about 10 and 30.  I made plans to see my doctor to get checked out at 9:00 and had JR drive me into work.  It was supposed to be my last day of work, so there were a few loose ends that I wanted to tie up.  I got my room set for my sub and got the last few things taken care of.  Then I got surprised by one of my students and her mom.  They own a confectionery, and had been planning to bring in treats.  Her sister-in-law is the secretary at our school, and called to alert her that I would be leaving shortly, so she hustled over, in pajamas and curlers, kids still in p.j.s, to give me the cookies and candies and flowers.  How sweet!  Everybody at school was marveling that I had actually made it to my last day, until I told them I was having contractions and probably wasn't going to be staying.  I have to say I work with a group of very special people.  Everyone was so excited and happy for me, and I was sitting there surrounded by friends sharing encouragement and hugs when my mom showed up to take me to the doctor's office.  It was a lovely way to go on leave.  Dr. Acharya examined me and said he couldn't be sure one way or the other, false labor or just latent labor that hadn't kicked up yet.  So he sent me home to nap and walk and see how things went.  Mom and I went home, I napped with the pups for about 2 hours, and then we went to the mall for lunch and some shopping/walking.  When I left Dr. Acharya's office I was 70% effaced and only 1.5 cm dilated.  By the time we left the last store, my contractions had increased in intensity to the point that I couldn't walk or talk through them and they were about 4 minutes apart.  We ran by the house to transfer dogs to my dad and grab my bags, and we were off to the hospital, minus the shower that mom thought I had time for.  At this point it is about 5 pm on a Friday and I need to get into the city.  Taking my usual route to avoid 290 traffic seemed like a good idea, until I hit transition while driving over the bumpiest part of Washington Blvd.  I thought I was going to die when Mom hit the brakes for a stop sign and the seat belt grabbed me mid-contraction.  I believe I told her to stop the car with every intention of getting out.  But thank God she was the one driving me in.  I had a professional coaching me through every contraction and she was amazing!  Not only could she tell me when they'd be stopping, she kept reassuring me that this is what the baby needed.  I don't think I would have been as calm as I was without her!  By the time we got to the hospital around 6, I was 6 cm dilated, 100 % effaced, and contracting every two minutes for about 1 minute each.  It was extremely difficult to get the registration paperwork filled out in between contractions!  It took forever!  They admitted me through the ER and I was put in a triage room on the L&D floor, but they wouldn't let Mom back.  So I just kept replaying her coaching in my head as the contractions started coming fast and furious, and these people kept asking repetitive questions about contact lenses and allergies.  Finally they had a resident examine me and decide to admit me.  I guess it really was labor!  In the meantime, J.R. had shown up from work and was waiting out with Mom and Dad.  They had an awful time getting my IV started because my good Sipka veins were not cooperating.  They poked me three times, before asking Joe the anaesthesiologist to help out.  He was great!  Then they asked if I wanted to do an epidural.  I said, "I think I want to try without it, but what's my window?"  Approximately 15 minutes later, when I was having minute and a half long contractions, with about 30 seconds in between, and no coach, I said, "Joe, how about that epidural now..."  We got in the room, Joe started the epidural, and I ceased feeling anything from my belly down.  I actually had to ask if I was still contracting, because I couldn't feel a thing.  Eventually, the spinal wore off and I could feel the contractions, but without any of the pain that was coming with before.  Baby girl quickly dilated to 10 centimeters, but wouldn't drop down far enough that I could push.  They kept examining me throughout the night, but she hadn't budged.  Luckily, with the epidural, I was able to catnap through the contractions, so I got some sleep.  About 4 am, I started coaching little girl on how to work with the contractions to move down.  By 5 am, she was low enough that they called the doctor on call to come in for the delivery.  Once she got there, I was able to begin pushing through my contractions.  This was truly the hardest part.  Baby girl really didn't want to move down that canal, and I really didn't want to keep pushing her.  At several points, I recall asking my dr., "Can't you grab her yet?  Can't you just get her out?"  I have never pushed that hard in my life.  Even now, I am sore and tender through my hips & pelvis just from the repeated pressure in the area.  At one point her head was partially out, and she rolled a little and started to head back in, as if to say "Hmmm, I don't think so. It's a bit chilly out there..."  The doctor made some comment about, "No, you can't go back that way," and all I could think about was having to start all that pushing over again.  Needless to say, I began pushing immediately, contraction or not, because I was not about to lose that progress.  At 7:50 with a few last pushes, out she came. No vacuum, no forceps, even though I pleaded..."It's not medically indicated.  You're doing fine on your own," was the response I got.  "Screw that!" was the response I gave...Anyhow, now she is here and doing just great.  I hope I didn't gross anyone out, but I knew a lot of you wanted to hear the whole story.  Bizarre,...I just signed my first consent form when I had to list relation to patient as "mother".  Wow!