I had been having evening contractions for the few days before actually going into labor, so I could tell that it was going to happen fairly soon. I just kept waiting and waiting for them to get stronger and closer together. On Friday morning, around 4:30, I woke up with contractions that were decently strong and 8 minutes apart. I tried to go back to sleep but by 5:30 I realized I wasn't going to sleep through them and that they were relatively consistent, so I got up thinking that I could just start the day and we'd see what happened. I took a quick shower, which only made the contractions more frequent, so I got Pat up at about 5:45. By the time 6:00 rolled around, the contractions had moved to 4 minutes apart and I was getting a bit nervous about getting to the hospital. Pat called Chris to come watch Lucia right away and called Kathy so that she could head over to relieve Chris. Chris made it to our house in record time. I'm still not sure how he got here so fast. :) We left for the hospital at 6:45 and were checked into Triage around 7:15. By 8:00, they had determined that I was still only 2.5cm dilated and 80% effaced, so they told me that we could either head home or walk the halls for an hour to see if anything changed. Of course there was no way I was leaving, so we walked circles until 9:00. The contractions weren't too bad at the beginning of the walk, so I thought for sure that they would send us home but they got stronger and stronger toward 9:00. When I was checked out again at 9:30, I had only made it to 3cm but was fully effaced. The Triage nurse was debating about whether or not to send us home, so she checked with the on-call doctor who, thank the Lord, said that we could be admitted. It didn't take long for the contractions to really REALLY pick up speed and I was just shaking trying to work through them. They were coming fast and hard. I have no idea how anyone does natural childbirth! Anyway, I told the Triage nurse that I needed an epidural ASAP (such a pain wuss). She started moving a bit faster at that point and started the antibiotic drip for my GBS at 10:20 and I made it down to the birthing room around 10:30. I finally got the epidural and it was one of the more blessed moments in the whole process. :) I am so happy to live at a time where some of the pain of childbirth can be drugged away!
The nurse came in to check on me at 11:30. Pat and I had settled in for a lot of waiting. I had my crochet. Pat grabbed a late breakfast. It would not be long though because I had already progressed to 7.5cm! In 2 hours, I had made it 3.5cm. That was crazy fast. The "problem", however, was that I was supposed to be on the IV for 4 hours before giving birth. The target birth time was 2:20 or later. The little man was certainly not going to wait that long. The nurse started moving fairly quickly to get everything set up in the room for the actual delivery. My water had not broken, so we just tried to drag it out as long as possible. At 12:53, my water broke. Pat ran out to get the nurse and she started calling in the doctors. Elijah had been under distress at some point because there was baby stool in the water, so we had a respiratory doctor and NICU doctor in the room along with the doctor who was delivering the baby. The pain started to set in again after my water broke. It turns out that my epidural wasn't quite right. I couldn't feel my right leg at all but the crucial middle was only partially numbed. Again, I don't know how people do it without drugs! :) I started pushing at 1:03 and could definitely feel what was happening. Thankfully it didn't take long and Elijah was born at 1:08! He was whisked away to check for fluid in his lungs and stomach but, thankfully, he passed the test and he was back on my chest before the doctor had even finished with me. He was 6lb 10oz and 19in long and perfect!
It was so amazing to be able to hold him only minutes after he was born. Here is the first picture with me and then with daddy too.
The birthing process and the first few days was such an amazing time. I know that it is crazy, but I wish that I could relive it. I don't want it to fade from my memory. It seems like one of the most meaningful events in life. In just a matter of hours, God gave us a beautiful new son...a wonderful addition to our family. We feel so blessed to have him. He is tiny and amazing to me. God has been so faithful to us throughout this process. I just don't want the little guy to grow up. I want to hold on to the newborn stage and enjoy every little moment with him. He is our little miracle baby.
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