Welcome to the World Baby Lincoln!: Part 2
Birth Story Part 1 if you missed it!
I felt and heard the loud POP! I thought Lincoln had head butted me or something. He hadn't been super active before that so I had no idea what I'd just felt. I just knew it hurt really bad. (I actually had the thought of "Oh, you're so dramatic. That was nothing" right after it happened. Thomas seemed pretty concerned but I thought I was just being a pansy. Haha!)
I got up on all fours and pushed a little to see if it would still hurt. I thought it was a ligament or something shifting around that popped.
And then...
I jumped out of bed and ran to the loo. I apologized to Thomas for going tinkle in the bed. I didn't know I had to go!
I sat there and more waterfalls ensued. I was in complete denial. I was frantically texting my friend Sara and asking her if it was my water. I was so overwhelmed and had no idea what was happening.
Insert round 2 of Niagara Falls. I was a mess!
Thomas was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. He was frantically searching for the paper that tells you when you should call or go into L&D.
He was also Googling "did my water just break?" LOL
One thread suggested laying on your side on the ground with a towel under you. Wait 5 minutes and sit up. If there's more fluid then it's most likely your water. So I laid down on a towel.
Annnndddd...
I immediately had a meltdown. Like full on tears and pitiful "It's too soon" and "This can't be happening already" and "I still have a month!" crying.
After about 2 minutes of freaking out I snapped out of it and put on my "I'm having a baby!" game face on. I was ready!
Thomas called the nurse line. He described everything and they said my OBGYN would call us back soon.
When she called I started describing the pop, gushing, etc. She interrupted me and told me to go in immediately. I told her to HOLD ON so I could describe everything that happened. I could feel her eyes rolling through the phone. I just had to tell her exactly what happened for some reason. What a first time mom thing to do! Hahahaha
After it was confirmed that I was indeed having a baby (and soon!) I called my mom. She had scheduled a flight 2 weeks before my due date just in case he came early. Pffft! Everyone told me I would most likely go past my due date and end up being way overdue.
My mom made me promise I wouldn't have the baby while she was in Bolivia on a trip. She had just flown in that morning. I at least kept that end of the deal. I just didn't wait until she was supposed to fly in from Atlanta. I called her in tears and apologized for my water breaking so early. She has been at every one of her daughters' births so this was a bit of a bummer.
Thomas is so cute. I put on my comfy black yoga pants and one of his t-shirts. He politely said "Um, can you wear a different shirt? I really like that one..." I assured him that I would be put in a hospital gown as soon as I got to the hospital and nothing would happen to his favorite shirt.
He was also timing my contractions on his phone. I think it was fun for him to keep track of my every "ughhhhhh" and "hmmmppppfffftttt"
Thomas ran around packing a hospital bag. I'd already told him what I would like to bring with me to the hospital. He even remembered my birthing ball! What a good daddy-to-be. The bag was perfect. I'd seen so many different hospital bag lists and all of them seemed over the top. The only thing we didn't pack was clothes for Lincoln to come home in. Luckily we were 5 minutes from home so having family bring us things was not hard at all.
After packing what we could (and me shaving my armpits between contractions...true story! haha), Thomas called his Dad (who was upstairs) and told him I was in labor. He jinxed me! We met him upstairs. He was laughing because he was right. It was about 11:00 pm at this point. The baby was definitely coming on St. Patrick's Day!
All of the sudden I had my first big contraction and leaned over the kitchen counter. I composed myself and walked out to the car. I had another huge contraction less than 2 minutes later. It was getting crazy! Everything was so surreal.
Luckily the hospital is about 10 minutes away. 5 if you hurry!
We never took our hospital tour. We had plans to tour that weekend. Thomas joked that we were about to get our Labor and Delivery tour!
We walked into the ER and there were about 6 people behind the desk. Thomas started to say "Hey, she--" and I pointed to my belly and laughed while saying "I'll give you one guess!" (My belly was HUGE so there was no confusion).
I leaned against the wall contracting. I tried sitting down but a sweet little Hispanic lady pointed at me, stood up, and made her fingers "walk". Thomas told me to walk around. Very good advice.
There was a miscommunication and the person who was supposed to come pick me up to take me to L&D wasn't coming down to the ER. We decided to walk to that wing of the hospital instead of waiting. A very long walk.
A nice man (bald on top tattooed head and very long hair) took us to triage. I kept silently contracting while we walked and he told me we could stop if I needed to. I politely declined and pushed through. Walking helped a lot.
We finally made it to triage. Thomas signed me in (luckily we had preregistered online).
I was asked to tinkle in a cup. I got a few drops and almost threw that stupid cup at them. How was I expected to do that when my body was in full blown baby mode? Silly nurses.
I came running out of the bathroom naked as the day I was born yelling that someone better tie this stupid gown. I was violently shaking and could not steady my hands to tie that evil thing.
They sat me on the bed anddd....
Surprise, right? Better part? The nurse had to swab to check the fluid to see if it was in fact amniotic fluid. No, really. That happened.
I was still having contractions about 2 minutes apart at this point. Possibly quicker. I was checked and I was at 6cm. Crazy talk!
A few minutes later they wheeled me to the delivery room. I was checked again and I was already at 8cm! WHAT! This was madness.
They let me have ice chips and not water. I kind of expected that, but RUDE. At one point I had a mouthful of ice chips during an especially bad contraction. Poor Thomas. I think I pelted him with a few chips as I spat them out to avoid choking.
A few minutes later I was checked and at 9cm. It was all happening so quickly!
I felt and heard the loud POP! I thought Lincoln had head butted me or something. He hadn't been super active before that so I had no idea what I'd just felt. I just knew it hurt really bad. (I actually had the thought of "Oh, you're so dramatic. That was nothing" right after it happened. Thomas seemed pretty concerned but I thought I was just being a pansy. Haha!)
I got up on all fours and pushed a little to see if it would still hurt. I thought it was a ligament or something shifting around that popped.
And then...
I jumped out of bed and ran to the loo. I apologized to Thomas for going tinkle in the bed. I didn't know I had to go!
I sat there and more waterfalls ensued. I was in complete denial. I was frantically texting my friend Sara and asking her if it was my water. I was so overwhelmed and had no idea what was happening.
Insert round 2 of Niagara Falls. I was a mess!
Thomas was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. He was frantically searching for the paper that tells you when you should call or go into L&D.
He was also Googling "did my water just break?" LOL
One thread suggested laying on your side on the ground with a towel under you. Wait 5 minutes and sit up. If there's more fluid then it's most likely your water. So I laid down on a towel.
Annnndddd...
I immediately had a meltdown. Like full on tears and pitiful "It's too soon" and "This can't be happening already" and "I still have a month!" crying.
After about 2 minutes of freaking out I snapped out of it and put on my "I'm having a baby!" game face on. I was ready!
Thomas called the nurse line. He described everything and they said my OBGYN would call us back soon.
When she called I started describing the pop, gushing, etc. She interrupted me and told me to go in immediately. I told her to HOLD ON so I could describe everything that happened. I could feel her eyes rolling through the phone. I just had to tell her exactly what happened for some reason. What a first time mom thing to do! Hahahaha
After it was confirmed that I was indeed having a baby (and soon!) I called my mom. She had scheduled a flight 2 weeks before my due date just in case he came early. Pffft! Everyone told me I would most likely go past my due date and end up being way overdue.
My mom made me promise I wouldn't have the baby while she was in Bolivia on a trip. She had just flown in that morning. I at least kept that end of the deal. I just didn't wait until she was supposed to fly in from Atlanta. I called her in tears and apologized for my water breaking so early. She has been at every one of her daughters' births so this was a bit of a bummer.
Thomas is so cute. I put on my comfy black yoga pants and one of his t-shirts. He politely said "Um, can you wear a different shirt? I really like that one..." I assured him that I would be put in a hospital gown as soon as I got to the hospital and nothing would happen to his favorite shirt.
He was also timing my contractions on his phone. I think it was fun for him to keep track of my every "ughhhhhh" and "hmmmppppfffftttt"
Thomas ran around packing a hospital bag. I'd already told him what I would like to bring with me to the hospital. He even remembered my birthing ball! What a good daddy-to-be. The bag was perfect. I'd seen so many different hospital bag lists and all of them seemed over the top. The only thing we didn't pack was clothes for Lincoln to come home in. Luckily we were 5 minutes from home so having family bring us things was not hard at all.
After packing what we could (and me shaving my armpits between contractions...true story! haha), Thomas called his Dad (who was upstairs) and told him I was in labor. He jinxed me! We met him upstairs. He was laughing because he was right. It was about 11:00 pm at this point. The baby was definitely coming on St. Patrick's Day!
All of the sudden I had my first big contraction and leaned over the kitchen counter. I composed myself and walked out to the car. I had another huge contraction less than 2 minutes later. It was getting crazy! Everything was so surreal.
Luckily the hospital is about 10 minutes away. 5 if you hurry!
We never took our hospital tour. We had plans to tour that weekend. Thomas joked that we were about to get our Labor and Delivery tour!
We walked into the ER and there were about 6 people behind the desk. Thomas started to say "Hey, she--" and I pointed to my belly and laughed while saying "I'll give you one guess!" (My belly was HUGE so there was no confusion).
March 14th, 3 days before baby!
I leaned against the wall contracting. I tried sitting down but a sweet little Hispanic lady pointed at me, stood up, and made her fingers "walk". Thomas told me to walk around. Very good advice.
There was a miscommunication and the person who was supposed to come pick me up to take me to L&D wasn't coming down to the ER. We decided to walk to that wing of the hospital instead of waiting. A very long walk.
A nice man (bald on top tattooed head and very long hair) took us to triage. I kept silently contracting while we walked and he told me we could stop if I needed to. I politely declined and pushed through. Walking helped a lot.
We finally made it to triage. Thomas signed me in (luckily we had preregistered online).
I was asked to tinkle in a cup. I got a few drops and almost threw that stupid cup at them. How was I expected to do that when my body was in full blown baby mode? Silly nurses.
I came running out of the bathroom naked as the day I was born yelling that someone better tie this stupid gown. I was violently shaking and could not steady my hands to tie that evil thing.
They sat me on the bed anddd....
Surprise, right? Better part? The nurse had to swab to check the fluid to see if it was in fact amniotic fluid. No, really. That happened.
I was still having contractions about 2 minutes apart at this point. Possibly quicker. I was checked and I was at 6cm. Crazy talk!
A few minutes later they wheeled me to the delivery room. I was checked again and I was already at 8cm! WHAT! This was madness.
They let me have ice chips and not water. I kind of expected that, but RUDE. At one point I had a mouthful of ice chips during an especially bad contraction. Poor Thomas. I think I pelted him with a few chips as I spat them out to avoid choking.
A few minutes later I was checked and at 9cm. It was all happening so quickly!
Jenny, you're cracking me up! Haha!! "Naked as the day I was born", I love it.
ReplyDelete