I woke up early Monday morning, February 3rd around 2am with stomach pains. After several trips to the restroom, the pains just weren't going away. I woke Matt up to tell him my stomach hurt. He said, "I'm sorry," and rolled back over and went back to sleep- ha! (He's a very heavy sleeper!) I went back to use the bathroom again. Then I woke Matt up again and told him I was trying to figure out if I was having contractions or not. This time, he woke up!
I decided a nice warm bath might make me feel better. I googled how to time contractions and sat in the bath a while I tried to time them. They were counting 2-3 minutes apart, so I thought, "This can't be right! This can't be contractions." I knew if they were that close, I should be in the hospital! I started googling how to tell the difference in labor and Braxton Hicks (false labor). My water had not broken and there were no other signs of labor. I just wasn't sure! Looking back, I feel stupid that I didn't realize I was in labor. I guess my brain just could not process that this was actually happening!
After another painful trip to the bathroom, I yelled at Matt to call the doctor. He tried to describe to the doctor what was happening as I started puking. The doctor advised that we come in to get checked just in case. At this point, the pain had increased. I was feeling what I now know were contractions in my abdomen and now also my lower back. I finally said, "Ok, I guess get ready, let's go." Matt took a shower and I packed some last minute things. I tried to get dressed but kept having to take breaks as I would have contractions. I could not stand up straight. When Matt got out of the shower I was in so much pain I could barely speak. Things started to get panicky. He felt helpless and I just told him to load the car, NOW! While he did that I went to the bathroom a couple more times and puked a couple more times.
I grabbed a towel in case my water broke and a trash can in case I needed to puke again and we got in the car. We left our house around 4:20am. Thank God we left at this time when there was no traffic! It only took about 20 minutes to get to the hospital. I told Matt not to speed, but to get there as quickly and carefully as possible as I gripped the door handle. At one point I think we both finally realized this was it, but we still had no idea we'd be meeting our baby so soon! I was in too much pain to be nervous. We were both pretty silent, but there was excitement in the air. When we made it to Midtown I was really starting to feel the pain and freak out a little so I asked Matt to pray. As we sat at the red light he prayed for the baby and I.
We pulled up to the hospital and parked in the emergency parking right next to the door. We walked in and they could clearly see that I was in labor. They asked me if I needed a wheelchair. I can't believe I hesitated to accept it for a second! They wheeled me up to the labor and delivery check-in desk. At this point I was gripping the arms of the wheelchair and could hardly breathe. There was another couple checking in in front of us (can you believe that?) so we had to wait our turn. I could barely sign in, my hand was shaking in pain. We checked in at 4:50am.
They wheeled us to delivery room 16 and told me to get into the hospital gown. I felt like I needed to go to the bathroom again before I got into bed. I knew I was in labor but I still thought I had plenty of time. I puked once more and then started bleeding. I asked the nurse for an epidural while still in the bathroom which made Matt laugh. We had just checked in for heaven's sake! (Looking back he apologized for that because at that point he still wasn't convinced I was in labor!) His laugh made me laugh a little too. Keep in mind, I'm a HUGE wimp when it comes to pain and I thought was probably asking for the drugs too soon. Turns out I was asking too late!
I finally made the difficult trek from the bathroom to the bed. It felt like the baby was about to come out as I walked. The nurse hooked me to the monitors. That's when I officially started to grunt in pain. I didn't know it at the time, but the baby's heart rate had dropped too low. Dr. ElGammal rushed in moments later. She wasn't my OB, but I had met her before. She checked my cervix and I thought I heard her say, "She's plus 3." When I heard 3, I assumed that meant 3cm dilated. Then I heard, "Yep, she's complete. Bring in the delivery team," but I just could not wrap my head around what she was saying. Plus 3 meant that I was 10cm + 3cm which is fully dilated! Three more nurses rushed in. What!!? I started panicking and begging for an epidural. "No, you're ready to have this baby, now!" they said. At that point, it dawned on me that my worst nightmare was about to happen. I was about to give birth naturally. The girl who asks for nitrous oxide to have her teeth cleaned was about to have a baby with no drugs. I looked over at Matt and reached for his hand. I was scared to death. Apparently, Matt was too and the nurses had him go sit down because he looked like he was about to faint. The nurses all started cheering me on as the Doctor asked me to push. I was saying, "I can't push! I can't push!" The doctor had me get into several different positions to help me push. At one point I was on all fours. I just could not feel what was happening down there and I was in so much pain that pushing was extremely scary. Eventually, the Doctor had to use the suction to help get him out. Right after that she told me I had passed the head. Then I actually felt a huge relief of pain as he came on out.
It was 5:18am--just 28 minutes after I had checked into the hospital-- and I was already looking at my precious baby boy. The nurses were cleaning him up while the Doctor continued to work on me. I looked over at Matt and we just stared at each other in disbelief. I couldn't focus on the pain anymore. All I cared about was my baby! I asked the nurses when I could hold him. I'm sure it had only been like 30 seconds. Finally, they placed him in my arms. I just stared at his face, not fully comprehending that I was holding my baby! Matt called our parents, and with a shaky voice he informed them that Finley had arrived!
After I had delivered, they gave me the IV and checked all my vitals. There was no time to do it before! Then my Doctor decided to take me to an OR and give me a spinal block so she could sew me up since I had a 4th degree tear (the most severe). I was sad to leave my new baby and Matt but extremely grateful to be numbed from waist down! It took about 1 1/2 hours to perform the minor surgery and then I was finally reunited with my little family. Finley was all cuddled up in Matt's arms as if Matt had been doing this for years. I was sad to have missed his first bath and weighing and foot prints but Matt filled me in on all his stats.
My happy tears finally came as I was being wheeled to our postpartum room. The nurse played our lullaby over the intercom announcing Finley's arrival. It finally hit me. Our beautiful, wonderful baby was here!
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