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Wednesday, August 1, 2012

We had a baby!

So last Saturday Hollis and I had our Labor and Delivery prep class.  During the class, at the beginning of the section about pre-term labor, I started to feel very uncomfortable and kept getting up to try to alleviate my pain.  It was a few more hours before I started to consider that I was actually in labor (only after my sister-in-laws informed me that I was).  I called my OB and we met at the hospital.  Yep.  In labor, having contractions every 2 minutes.  And only 35 weeks along.

So I got a shot of tributylene and a pill of nifedipine to try and halt the labor.  While my contractions lessened in intensity, I kept having them.  My OB went back and looked at my first ultrasound information and decided my due date could be adjusted from September 1 to August 24.  So like magic I was 36 weeks along.  But full term isn't until 37 weeks so we were still trying to stop the labor.  I got booked into the hospital on Saturday (July 28).  I was at 3.5 cm and 100% effaced, but I stopped progressing on Saturday night.  I never stopped having contractions, but I didn't progress after Saturday, so I was released on Tuesday on bed rest.  I had to keep taking the nifedipine and stay in bed as much as possible until the following Monday.  Our baby had other plans.

I had been home about 24 hours when my water broke (about 2:15 PM).  Naturally, the bag of waters broke 15 minutes after I had taken a nifedipine (a contraction blocking pill).  So I assumed that it would be a while before my contractions got painful again (instead of uncomfortable and somewhat painful that they had been since Saturday).  I called Hollis and Carol (my sister-in-law/doula) and Liz drove me to the hospital.  When I got to the hospital I was at 5 cm.

As soon as everyone got there, my labor really kicked in.  I was planning on using the jacuzzi tub in my room to alleviate pain while I was laboring, but I actually never had time.  The contractions came closer and closer - I was getting a 2 minute break in between each one, max.  Then I felt like I wasn't really getting any break.  The main thought I remember having was "they lied to me!" because I had been told about how labor is long and how you get time between contractions to rest.  And I wasn't getting any break!  But it was okay and at 6:58 PM our little bundle of baby was born.

The tired mama:


Excited and hungry papa:


And our ecstatic doula and baby's aunt:

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