Wednesday morning, I woke up around 3:30am with timeable cramps. They weren't too painful, but they were coming every 5-7 minutes and lasting around 15-20 seconds. I called Labor & Delivery at 5am to see if I should come in or labor at home some more (Wes was leaving at 5:30, so I didn't know if I should catch a ride with him.) The nurse I spoke with told me my contracts should last a minute before I come to the hospital. I told Wes I would wait it out, I have a doctor's appointment at 9:20am and we'll go from there. Luckily, my mother-in-law was here, because at 6:30am my contractions were coming every 4-5 minutes and lasting 45 seconds. I decided it was time to go to the hospital. (I wasn't going to get stuck in rush hour traffic!)
My first internal exam was at 8am and I was 3cm dilated, fully effaced and my cervix had finally moved anterior. They told us we were going to have a baby today and moved me into a private room! I got an epidural at 9:30am, and, boy, was I happy I did! While the anesthesiologist was putting in the epi, my contractions were coming every 2-3 minutes and were extremely painful. My epidural was perfect - I could feel when I was having a contraction, but I couldn't feel the pain. The epidural was a lifesaver, because it allowed me to take a nap. I was exhausted since I woke up at 3:30am and was running on only 3 hours of sleep.
At 1pm, a midwife came in and did my second internal exam. She told me I was 9.5 cm dilated and went ahead and broke my water. When she broke my water, she noticed that there was meconium present. They explained to me how this would affect Anderson. The ideal scenario is for him to be born and not cry. If he doesn't cry that means he hasn't inhaled any of the meconium and they can suction it out real fast. This also meant that I wouldn't get to see Anderson until the Peds doctor was done examining him. Of course, my baby's health comes first, but it was a tough pill to swallow. Moving on...Wes and I were both shocked, we couldn't believe I dilated from 3cm to 9.5cm so fast. (We both thought I was going to need Pitocin.) The baby's head was in the 2 position, they like it to be in the 3 position before you start to push, so they had me "labor down." Laboring down is where they put you in a vertical position - I guess they hope gravity will help the baby move down the canal. However, this really didn't help me much. I labored down for 2 hours and nothing really changed.
The doctor checked me at 3:30ish, I was still only 9.5cm dilated, but she said it was time to push. The nurse got the room ready and at 4pm I began pushing. Pushing wasn't bad at all! Of course, this is thanks to the wonderful epidural I got. I loved that I could feel when I was having a contraction and knew when to push. I ended up pushing for 2 hours, which took a lot a energy and patience, but I was determined. At 6:07pm Anderson Frederick Frevert was born a healthy baby boy. He did cry shortly after being born, but he scored 8 & 9 on the Apgar test.
Being a mom is amazing. It definitely is a life changer, one that will take some adjusting, but I love everything about Anderson and feel so fortunate to be his mommy.
