On Saturday, April 7 we moved out of Mom and Dad’s house and into our first home! It was such an exciting day. That evening after all the boxes and all the things were moved into the house, I was overwhelmed with gratitude as I fed Vivian dinner in our new kitchen. After a chaotic day moving, it was just the three of us and I was emotional because I was so happy. The pregnancy hormones might have been a contributing factor to my weepiness.
Over the next few days we tried to unpack boxes and get somewhat settled before baby brother arrived. On Wednesday, April 11 Vivian and I ran some errands to Target and TJ Maxx to pick up a few things we needed at the house. We grabbed some McDonalds for lunch and went to Mom’s office to eat with her. As I sat and ate my lunch I noticed some contractions starting every now and then. They weren’t too intense, but they were definitely more noticeable than any Braxton Hick’s contractions I’d had before.
A week prior, at my normal checkup, Dr. Lister’s NP Pegah had stripped my membranes since I was technically full term and my blood pressure was sometimes a little high when I went for my appointment. She said sometimes it puts people into labor, and sometimes it doesn’t. It hurt so very much. After she finished and I sat up, I got lightheaded and nauseous and embarrassingly needed a snack to make it pass. Even after being tormented this way, it didn’t put me into labor. So when I started to contract that day at Mom’s office, I was surprised.
We went home and had a routine day, but that night I was awoken by my contractions getting stronger and much more painful. I wasn’t able to get any sleep because they came on about every 10 minutes and were super uncomfortable. Derek was woken up too, probably because I was whining at the pain. As I continued to time the contractions, they got more frequent in the early hours of the morning on Thursday, April 12. By 7 am they were every 5 minutes and I thought for sure I was going to pop the baby out any minute. We got up, showered and packed a bag quickly, and headed to the hospital.
Dad was supposed to catch a flight out of town for work that day, but he cancelled his trip and him and mom met us at the hospital to take Vivian. We checked in and were led to a triage room while they assessed me. Much to my dismay, I was only dilated to a 1 so it was too early to get me ready to deliver. I was horrified because I was already in so much pain and had no idea how I’d go home and take care of an almost three-year-old all day while contracting. They let us stay and walk the hall for an hour to see if that would help move things along. It didn’t.
Dad came to pick me up and Derek headed to work. I went to Mom and Dad’s and tried to get through every contraction without crying. It was at this point that I realized how low my pain threshold was and how big of a baby I am. I tried taking a bath, and walking around the kitchen to get my mind off of the pain. Dad picked up some lunch for us and then we headed out to our house since the Xfinity guy was coming to set up our cable for us.
When we got home I laid Viv down for her nap, and quickly went to lie in bed while writhing in pain. Thankfully Dad dealt with the cable guy and our next door neighbor Bob, who saw we had company and came over to chat. I timed my contractions and wanted to die every time another one started. They got worse and worse and the two hours I laid there felt like 57. I don’t even know how to describe what contractions feel like because there aren’t any words that will do it justice. It was like menstrual cramps times 100, that then radiate pain all over your body. During an especially painful contraction, I suddenly felt a pop inside by belly somewhere, and it was so strange. I sat up and quickly realized that my water had just broken. For about one second I felt relieved because that meant we could go back to the hospital, but relief was quickly followed by the horrifying realization that my contractions were now 100 times worse than before.
It was around 3:00, and I called out for Dad to tell him that we needed to go, but with no answer. I tried calling his cell phone since I thought he was probably outside, but he didn’t answer that either. I was about to crawl on my hands and knees to the door when he finally came inside, saying that the cable guy heard me shouting and came out to get him. He had been chatting with Bob. We quickly went into action and got Viv up and headed towards McKay Dee.
Dad called Derek on the way and told him that my water broke and we were on our way up to the hospital. That car ride was the worst 15 minutes ever, because I felt like my insides had turned into 1000 knives that were slowly ripping their way through every inch of my body. I was sweating and crying and nauseous, cursing every car that was going anywhere near the speed limit. I wished for a police escort to go ahead of us and get us there going 80 mph. Dad did his best to swerve and speed and get us there as quickly as possible. As we pulled up to the hospital entrance we were greeted by Derek with a wheelchair, where I managed to plop myself into the seat and command Derek to run to the elevator.
The next hour or so was somewhat of a blur—a nightmarish blur where I wanted to hurt every person that wasn’t an anesthesiologist offering my epidural. It was about 4:00 now and we seemed to get checked in extremely slowly, answering every demographic question for insurance purposes, and changing out of my disgusting soaked clothes into a hospital gown. The nurse took my vitals and got me hooked up to a monitor, then checked me, proclaiming that I was dilated to a 3 even though I was sure I was at a 12 by then. All the while, the nurse kept saying Dr. Patel would be coming soon to give me the epidural. He didn’t come soon. I suffered and cursed Derek out loud for getting me pregnant, yelling at the nurses and sobbing every time another contraction came on. Derek held my hand and tried to help me breathe through the pain, encouraging me while I’m sure he was actually horrified of the monster I had become. I continued to beg for the anesthesiologist, while being assured that he was on his way and he’d be there any minute. He actually took FOREVER and then finally shuffled in the room like he was out for a Sunday stroll. He then asked the impossible of me, to sit up and bend forward, curving my back so that he could jam that ginormous needle into me. This is no easy task when I had a huge belly to bend over and I was on the verge of passing out from pain. He yelled at me over and over again to bend forward. “More! More! You have to scoot your butt back to the edge of the bed and bend forward! More!” I’m sure I yelled back at him that I was trying, but I didn’t even care what was happening as long as I was numb SOON. Derek said it was not a pretty sight, as Dr. Patel shakily jammed the tools into my spine. All I know is that a few minutes later, I started to feel some relief as I pushed that magic button that administered the medication as many times and I could get my swollen finger to move.
After that, labor actually became a dream. I apologized to Derek and all of the medical staff who I had verbally assaulted in the hour prior. For the first time in a day I wasn’t in pain, wasn’t feeling the ever intensifying contractions, and actually felt sleepy. The nurse checked me again and I was at a 4. From that point on it was sweet sweet relaxation while my body progressed pretty quickly, each hour dilating another centimeter. I was sooo happy and relieved to hear how quickly things were moving, and the nurse told us that we’d probably have a baby in our arms around 10:00 pm.
Dr. Lister wasn’t on call, but her colleague Dr. Mencer was on that night and would be delivering our babe. The nurse checked on us every hour, and was a super nice and enjoyable young woman, who I’m sure was offended by my demeanor when we first arrived. I asked her many times to forgive me for by embarrassing behavior. Around 10:20 pm, she told us that I was at a 10 and would be able to start pushing! She left the room to call the doctor in and I suddenly got extremely nervous, realizing I was about to push a baby out of my vagina. I asked Derek if we could say a quick prayer, but he sweetly suggested he give me a blessing instead. It was perfect. He asked that I would feel calm and confident that I could get through it, and that I’d be given the strength to do so. It put me at ease and I suddenly felt a rush of adrenaline like I could freakin climb mount Everest if I needed to. I’m so thankful that Derek has the spiritual intuition to know that a blessing would be just what I needed, and that he is able to comfort me in that way especially in times of need.
A team of people started entering the room, bringing tools and machines to assist in the delivery and minutes after, and it was exciting and thrilling as everyone got ready. Dr. Mencer was a jovial southern woman with a very cheery attitude. She explained that when a contraction started I would push as hard as I could while she counted to 10. Derek had prepped me before, saying pushing would need to feel like bearing down when going to the bathroom. I’m mortified by the thought of doing that in front of anyone, but I was ready to go.
Then I pushed. I worked so hard and tried my best to push push push all of those 10 second increments and then push push push again and again. It was such a crazy and amazing experience, as Derek held my hand and I kept pushing with all my might. Suddenly, the baby’s heart rate started to drop a little, and the doctor realized that the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck, and I needed to push the baby out right away. She also decided that using the vacuum extractor would be helpful. I got a new rush of urgency and decided I would push so hard that the baby would pop out immediately. It was quite frightening for a minute, especially when I could read the look on Derek’s face that he was nervous too. But then, after a few more pushes, the little guy was out. I only pushed for 10 minutes total.
We heard his sweet little cry and saw his perfect face for the first time and Derek cut the umbilical cord. They wiped him off just a bit and placed him on my chest, and we were in heaven. There is nothing like those first moments when this tiny human who was just in heaven is suddenly with you here on earth and is yours to keep forever. Derek was by my side and I had successfully delivered a perfect baby boy even though I was sure I’d die before I got the epidural. The feelings of gratitude and happiness rushed over me and I wished for the moment to last forever. All of the pain was so worth it. Even though I was very sure I’d never be able to go through it ever again.
Jasper Timothy was born Thursday, April 12 2018 at 10:38 pm. He weighed 8 lb. 4 oz., and measured 21.5 inches long. He has been nothing but perfect and has brought us so much happiness every moment since. The hours and days following were perfect as Viv met her baby brother and our family and friends came to visit us. We feel so lucky to have this angel boy in our family.
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