Bobby and I were anxiously awaiting the arrival of our little baby girl. We were counting down the days until she came. We had our birth plan ready: Let things go naturally as long as everyone is healthy and safe. Everything was on track. Baby’s heart rate was good, I hadn’t gained any weight in the last week, and I felt good. She had spent her full forty weeks in my womb. My body took to carrying and growing the baby well without any problems. Wednesday, August 4, 2010 was upon us; the day that the doctor estimated she would come.
I woke up feeling like it was any other day. I ate breakfast and went for a walk like I had every day the last month. I even went to my old school I worked with some Kindergarteners. Nothing happened. No contractions, no labor signs. Bobby came home from work at 12:30 only to hear that there was no news. We went to bed that night slightly disheartened that we would have to continue to wait for our precious one to arrive.
At 2:30 AM I woke up suddenly. Not knowing why I had awoken; I got up and went to the bathroom. When I got back in bed Bobby rolled over and asked for some Tums since he had heartburn. I realized I had slight heartburn so I had one also. Upon swallowing the Tums, Bobby rolled over and promptly returned to sleep. I still couldn’t fall asleep. This was unusual for me during the pregnancy. I hardly woke up at night. I rolled over onto my other side and all of a sudden I felt and heard a pop inside of my stomach. It reminded me of a rubber band snapping inside of me. I was terrified. All that ran through my head was “move baby, come on, move around”. After what seemed like an eternity (but was probably only one or two minutes) she gave a little squirm. My mind immediately was put at ease, but what was that?
Seeing that it was now 3:00 AM, I decided to get up and go to the bathroom again in hopes that I could fall back asleep. I walked the five steps from our room across our newly carpeted hallway. I took one step onto our bathroom linoleum, turned on the light, then ‘swoosh’. I felt warm liquid everywhere. As I looked down I felt a huge smile spread across my face. I looked at the bed where Bobby was sleeping soundly. I calmly said, “Uh, Bobby. My water just broke.” He jumped out of bed wide awake and ran to the bathroom responding the same way that I did when he proposed, the same way that he did when I told him we were pregnant, with an excited “REALLY”. All I could do was look at him and laugh. He asked if I was sure so I took the liberty to show him the puddle on the floor beneath my feet. He asked how I was. It was then that I realized that I didn’t feel any different (other than being wet). I wasn’t having ANY contractions. I could put my hand on my tummy and feel it tightening, but I couldn’t feel them inside. Confused by this, I asked him to call the birthing center at the hospital so that we could plan our next step. The nurse said that we needed to come in since my bag of waters had clearly ruptured. I was a little heartbroken about that news since I had planned on laboring at home as long as I could. I looked at Bobby and said, “OK. Let’s take our time getting ready!” That is what we did. We took showers, ate a light breakfast, packed snacks, finished packing last minute things in the hospital bag, called my mom, loaded and started the dishwasher, and fed the dogs. When we couldn’t think of anything else to do we looked at each other and said “well, that’s it. Let’s go have a baby!”
The whole way to the hospital we were giddy and excited. We joked and laughed all the way. We arrived at the hospital at 5:45 AM still joking around. The nurse took us to our room to get settled. Once I was hooked up to the monitor we realized that I was having contractions. They were really nice looking on paper, evenly spaced out and consistent. The issue was that I couldn’t feel them, so they weren’t strong enough. The nurse told us to go walk around for a half hour while she contacted my doctor. Still joking and laughing we walked laps around the koi pond. While walking past the nurse station going back to our room we hear “still not feeling them are you?” I looked at them and smiled giving them my answer. Upon returning to our room we receive the news that we need to start inducing labor as soon as possible. My heart dropped. I laid in the bed on the verge of tears as I came to terms with the situation. I agreed so that we could prevent my last resort, a C-section. At 6:30 AM the IV was put in and pitocin began. After calling our mothers to update them, we turned on Friends Season 7 and got some rest.
Around 9:00 AM I was feeling the contractions primarily in my back. The contractions were made worse by being confined to the bed. I gave in and decided to have some pain killer through IV. I immediately felt clammy and the room began spinning. The medicine took the edge off the pain, but the side effects weren’t worth it. By noon the contractions were too much for my back again. Once again the plans of no interventions were crushed and we decided to get an epidural. By 1:00 the epidural was in and I was a lot more comfortable. I was numb from my belly button down to my knees, yet I could still feel and move my feet. I could feel the contractions on the left side of my stomach, but it was bearable. With Friends still playing Bobby, his mom, and I continued to wait as the contractions did what they were supposed to do.
At 4:30 the nurse came in and said that we were ready to start pushing. With Friends still playing and Bobby stationed at the monitor to call the contractions we began pushing. The nurse called the doctor and told him to come over right after he was done at his office. At this point we could see the gorgeous dark hair on the head. About forty minutes later the nurse called the doctor back and said he better not make any stops on his way. At 5:20 the doctor arrived and the activity began. With the help of some stretching, an episiotomy, and some mineral oil the head emerged. As the shoulders came out a pocket of fluids squirted three feet into the air over my legs and landed on the nurse and the bed next to my head. The doctor calls out, “someone’s been baptized!” At 5:32 PM on Thursday, August 5, 2010 Sierra Lynn Hord took her first breath and let out a beautiful cry. She was wrapped in a blanket and placed on my belly.
With wide eyes taking in the world, Sierra continued to suck on her bottom lip as the proud mommy and daddy take in the beauty of their 8 lb 9 oz and 21½ inches long beautiful baby girl. All they could say was that she is perfect!
Always Chattering
drinking out of a camelback water bottle
drinking out of a camelback water bottle
sleeping 9-11 hours at night before waking to eat
We are definately ready for the summer!!!
