throughout this pregnancy, i've had the feeling that i wouldn't make it to 40 weeks. this pregnancy was definitely more difficult than my first. the first trimester, i had terrible morning/all day sickness (but no vomiting thankfully). as the pregnancy moved forward, things got better until i developed wicked heart burn toward the end of the 2nd trimester. the 3rd trimester was exhausting and uncomfortable with a significant amount of swelling and back pain. at my ob appointment a week before chloe was born, i had gained 9lbs in 2 weeks due to swelling. i was 1cm dilated.
the morning before chloe was born, i passed my mucus plug. i knew my body was getting ready for labor soon and began to feel the urgency to get things ready for her arrival. that morning before work, with the help of my mom, i washed the essentials just in case she came that day: the car seat insert, the rock n play insert, the bouncy seat insert, the changing pad cover, the crib sheets, a few newborn clothes, socks and blankets. mom and rolly were supposed to take isaiah to school that morning but decided to keep him at their house instead since he had a runny nose. while i was at work, mom sorted through the baby clothes and sorted them according to size and put away ones that she wouldn't need for awhile. i went to work as usual, feeling tired and uncomfortable. that morning i had an ob appointment. i was 2cm, 75% effaced and i knew chloe would make her arrival soon. once i finished up rounding at work, i came home and had this "burst of energy" and began nesting like crazy. lucky for us, mom suggested that isaiah could spend the night at her house that night while michael and i finished getting things ready for chloe, thanksgiving and isaiah's birthday party.
first, michael and i went to the grocery store and bought everything we needed for thanksgiving as we planned to host dinner at our house this year. i was too uncomfortable and tired to walk after being on my feet all day at work so i actually used one of those electric carts around the store. it was crazy packed! we then went to the dollar store to buy some things for isaiah's birthday party. once we got home, i washed the rest of chloe's clothes and other items like the swing cover, the boppy cover, ect. while that was going, i made michael move the chest of drawers he had painted and put together from the kitchen into isaiah's room. i then moved all of isaiah's clothes out of the dresser in chloe's room to make room for her clothes. after that i began working on some of the decorations for isaiah's birthday party. it was around 11:30pm when i finally tried to lie down for the night. this was very unusual for me since lately i'd been going to bed at 9pm sometimes earlier.
i got a call around 2am to go into the hospital for a delivery of a 28week baby. i remember being so tired and frustrated that i had to go into work. i got up, brushed my teeth, changed into scrubs and drove in. as i was pulling into the hospital, i get a call that the baby is actually 36weeks and i didn't need to come in. i remember thinking, good because being on my feet taking care of a 28 weeker, putting in lines and possibly intubating could cause me to go into labor! little did i know what was in store.
i got home and tried to sleep some more. at 3:30am i woke up feeling like i needed to go to the bathroom. once i got to the bathroom and sat down, i had a long, strong contraction. i called out to michael, "babe!" but got no response. i had another contraction about 10-15 minutes later while still sitting in the bathroom because i didn't feel like i could get up. "babe!" i called out again. he said, "what?" i said, "GET UP! i'm having contractions!" the contractions were so painful. as soon as i could feel one building up, i braced myself and began to curse because of the pain. by this time i made it back to our bed and was ordering michael around to get stuff ready to go to the hospital. i had put aside some clothes that morning that i meant to pack in a bag but never got around to it. luckily i had the forethought to put aside some essentials: nursing tank, yoga pants, nursing bra, ect. i instructed michael to throw things into a bag in between cussing and contracting. at around 4am as i was walking from our bed back to the bathroom, my water broke. i called my ob's answering service to let them know i was headed into the hospital. michael asked if i wanted to take a shower before we left and luckily i said no, we don't have enough time. luckily isaiah was not at home that night or it would have been even more chaotic!
michael drove me to the hospital and quickly wheeled me up to L&D. i was placed in labor room 4 where my nurse, bernie (filipino), began asking me questions and hooking me up to the monitor. i was having significant, severe contractions 2-4 minutes apart. michael kept asking how long it would take for me to get an epidural. the nurse said my platelet count had to come back before the anesthesiologist could put one in. i was worried because previously it had been very difficult getting an iv during my labor with isaiah. i was worried it would take too long to get my platelet count back. i was worried i missed my window to get an epidural. luckily, it took one stick to get my lab work and iv. my nurse checked me and i was 7cm dilated already. the anesthesiologist came and placed the epidural. meanwhile i was still having very painful contractions. even after the epidural/spinal combo was placed, the contractions were severe. the medicine wasn't touching it. i was so afraid that i would be having a natural, unmedicated delivery. my nurse checked me and i was complete with just a small anterior lip. the medicine was still not working. the anesthesiologist bolused me with some other pain med though my epidural and luckily it worked. i could still feel the contractions but the edge had been taken off some. don't get me wrong, they still hurt. after 10-15 more minutes, the contractions were no longer painful. thank the Lord! my nurse checked me again and i was complete. she wanted to see how i pushed so i pushed once, and she told me to stop. she called my doctor who came in even though she wasn't on call to deliver me. we waited for her to arrive. once she got there, i got into position, pushed 3 times and chloe was born!! i was in labor for a little less than 3 hours and we had a beautiful baby girl. it was all so fast!
