Thursday, June 15, 2017
I began having contractions around 10:00 a.m. They weren't anything consistent, but I was certain that they were no longer Braxton Hicks contractions. They continued through the day and into the night and increased in intensity. I was sure that we'd be meeting Jack the next day, so I cancelled daycare for Friday. (Madi had also gotten sick twice during the night, so cancelling daycare seemed like a good idea.)
Friday, June 16, 2017
39 weeks, 4 days
By morning, my contractions had completely stopped. I just couldn't wrap my head around that fact that they had been so strong during the night and then nothing in the morning. I tried to relax and accept it, but in reality I was completely bummed.
Throughout the day the contractions resumed Thursday's behavior and I was still having them at my doctors appointment at 1 p.m. They still weren't consistent and my cervix hadn't changed any for two weeks. I was still 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced. I convinced the nurse practitioner to strip my membranes, but I wasn't overly optimistic that it would help. The same thing had been done with my previous pregnancies without any results. I was told to schedule an appointment for the next week and hopefully I wouldn't need it. To say I was frustrated would be an understatement. I was mad! I was mad that I hadn't progressed any in two weeks. I was mad that I had cancelled daycare for no reason. I was mad that she didn't even offer to schedule an induction date. I went home in a bad mood convinced that I would be pregnant forever.
Throughout the day the contractions resumed Thursday's behavior and I was still having them at my doctors appointment at 1 p.m. They still weren't consistent and my cervix hadn't changed any for two weeks. I was still 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced. I convinced the nurse practitioner to strip my membranes, but I wasn't overly optimistic that it would help. The same thing had been done with my previous pregnancies without any results. I was told to schedule an appointment for the next week and hopefully I wouldn't need it. To say I was frustrated would be an understatement. I was mad! I was mad that I hadn't progressed any in two weeks. I was mad that I had cancelled daycare for no reason. I was mad that she didn't even offer to schedule an induction date. I went home in a bad mood convinced that I would be pregnant forever.
Saturday, June 17, 2017
Saturday morning I woke up super early so I went for a long walk in hopes that it would help. The rest of the day was pretty normal. I cleaned the house, finished the laundry and took the girls to a birthday party.
I didn't feel great when we got home from the party (7pm) so I told David that I was going to go lay down. At 7:12 p.m., my back starting hurting in waves and then I got the worst back ache I've ever had. I tried everything to make it stop, but nothing worked. It continued to hurt for about 10 minutes and then I began having contractions. Almost immediately after my contractions began, our dog Molly, began barking like crazy. It's like she knew that something was about to happen. She only left my side long enough to go bark at David and tell him.
I didn't feel great when we got home from the party (7pm) so I told David that I was going to go lay down. At 7:12 p.m., my back starting hurting in waves and then I got the worst back ache I've ever had. I tried everything to make it stop, but nothing worked. It continued to hurt for about 10 minutes and then I began having contractions. Almost immediately after my contractions began, our dog Molly, began barking like crazy. It's like she knew that something was about to happen. She only left my side long enough to go bark at David and tell him.
At 8:00, we called our parents to make arrangements for someone to watch the girls and by 8:30 p.m. we were on our way to the hospital. We arrived at the hospital around 8:45 p.m.and after what seem like forever, I was finally checked in.
Once I was in a room, the nurse checked me and I was 4 cm, almost 5. Within 2 hours, I was dilated to 6 cm. Neither of my previous labors were super long, but I wouldn't call them short either. (I needed pitocin for both and both were 8 hours.) With the way I was progressing, I really thought that this labor would be even shorter. Ha!
Around 11 p.m. I asked for an epidural. Usually, the on call anesthesiologist is already at the hospital, but not this particular night. Instead, he was at home, which was about a 20 minute drive, sleeping and his power was out due to a bad thunderstorm. It took over an hour for him to get to the hospital once he was called. As soon as he came into my room, he began making jokes about having trouble finding his shoes in the dark and the he had to wear his sandals instead. By this point, I had reached my pain limit and did not enjoy his humor. In fact, I was quite pissed at him for taking so long (my nurse was too).
Sunday, June 18th Father's Day
Once my epidural kicked in, I felt much better. At 1:45, I was dilated to 7 cm and 100% effaced, but baby was still too high. My my nurse had me try several different positions to help him descend, but nothing worked. She said that most likely I would make any more progress until my water was broken. I said "let do it." However, I was told that it wasn't possible because the on call doctor was sleeping and they weren't supposed to wake him unless it was an emergency. I told her to wake him up anyway. (I later found out that he had been checking his pager all night assuming that I was ready. He easily could have broken my water since he was already awake.)
Around 5 a.m, I sent David home to get a couple things since we figured it would be a while before the doctor woke up. Shortly after David returned, he remembered that he forgot to take his medicine. So, home he went.
Before he returned the doctor came in ready to break my water. I told him that he would have to wait until David came back. After all, I had waited on him all night. It was his turn to wait on me. That wasn't necessary because David walked in about a minute later.
Once my water was broken (at 7 am), we waited. And waited. And waited.
Still nothing.
At 7:30, pitocin was started. Still nothing. The dose was increased twice before I began to make any progress.
At 9:14 a.m., I was ready to push. Ten minutes and three pushes later, Jack David Klinginsmith made his entrance into the world weighing 7 pounds, 1 ounce and 19 3/4 inches long.
Around 5 a.m, I sent David home to get a couple things since we figured it would be a while before the doctor woke up. Shortly after David returned, he remembered that he forgot to take his medicine. So, home he went.
Before he returned the doctor came in ready to break my water. I told him that he would have to wait until David came back. After all, I had waited on him all night. It was his turn to wait on me. That wasn't necessary because David walked in about a minute later.
Once my water was broken (at 7 am), we waited. And waited. And waited.
Still nothing.
At 7:30, pitocin was started. Still nothing. The dose was increased twice before I began to make any progress.
At 9:14 a.m., I was ready to push. Ten minutes and three pushes later, Jack David Klinginsmith made his entrance into the world weighing 7 pounds, 1 ounce and 19 3/4 inches long.
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