Part 6: Go Time

I was having contractions in my dreams.  I woke up and they were still happening.  I got out of bed and used the bathroom and decided to lay back in bed for a while to see if they would stay consistent.  They seemed to go away when I was standing and walking around.

I layed down in bed for 15 minutes or so and decided to walk around instead.  They were 5-7 minutes apart and getting a little more intense.  This was a great sign! 

I walked around in my bedroom and tried to relax all my muscles "down there" with each contraction, then I felt a GUSH of liquid come out of me.

I went into the bathroom and everything was wet.  It was a clear liquid, so I was pretty sure my water had broken.  I got changed into all new clothes and put my jacket on .. cause I was pretty convinced I was going to go to the hospital in the next little while.

Wesley was in bed this whole time, but he wasn't sleeping.  He was just waiting for me to give him the go ahead to get ready and take me to the hospital.  I told him I thought my water had broken, but I was going to go walk the contractions out in the living room for a while.  By this time it was about midnight. 

I went in the living room, got out the iPad and started Googling "timing contractions" and "when to go to the hospital".  It seemed that everything I read said if my water had broken, and if my contractions were 5 minutes apart, I should go.  I waited another 15 minutes .. and then told Wesley, "Maybe we should just go."

He got up, got dressed, I got my bag, He woke up his mom and told her we were leaving.  We got in the car around 12:30.  We were off!  This was really happening!  We were going to finally have this baby!

I thought about calling my mom, but I didn't want to wake her up.  AND .. it was raining outside.  I would feel terrible if my parents got up and drove 2 hours, in the rain, just to wait around for me to have a baby.  I told Wesley that maybe I would text her once we got to the hospital and found out how much I was dialated, etc.

Once we got checked in and into a room, it was around 12:45am or so.  A midwife, Jennifer Hess, came in and checked me.  She said I was at a 4 .. maybe a 4 1/2, but still up really high.  She asked if I had been over to the clinic recently.  I told her I had had an appointment with my midwife the day before and I was at a 1.  Then I told her that all my babies turn "sunny side up" at the last minute, so maybe that's why the head was still "high".  She checked me again, felt the babies head, and said, "Yup!  It's posterior!" 

Great.  Just .. great.  These wonderful posterior babies of mine!  They are hard to push out that way!

The midwife told me to get on my knees and face the back of the bed and we would try and get the baby to turn.  She also said that with each contraction, the baby's heart rate goes down because of the pressure on it's head, so the nurses were going to be coming in a lot to check on me.

I faced the back of the bed for about 15 minutes or so and then they moved me into a labor/delivery/recovery room.  I can NOT sit still during contractions .. I HAVE to walk them out.  I walked around the room while one nurse asked me a bunch of questions and another was getting stuff set up for my IV and a more portable monitor .. so I could continue to walk.  Then, one of the nurses told me to lay down so she could put my IV in.  I was right in the middle of a contraction.  She told me to lay down once that one was over and she would be right back.  She left the room, I layed down .. I waited.  I had about 3 more contractions while I layed there, gripping the side of the bed, wondering WHY I was laying down and wondering where the heck the nurse went!  I told Wesley to come behind me and rub my back with each contraction.  They were getting too intense to just lay there and breath through them.

Finally, a different nurse came in and told me she was going to do my IV.  She wanted me to lay on my right side so she could put the IV in my right hand.  I couldn't move.  I had 3 contractions, one on top of the other.  They weren't stopping.  I couldn't physically move my legs and lay on my other side.  Wesley and the nurse helped me roll over.  I gripped the side of the bed, trying to relax and let the contractions "work" and do their job.  I literally felt the baby's head decend in the birth canal and then I started to sob.  The pain was intense.  I couldn't breath through each contraction anymore - they were too close together.  The nurse couldn't get my IV in through all of this .. not surprised.  The midwife came in and said, "Let me check her."  I couldn't even open my legs.  Every part of me felt like it was contracting and I couldn't think straight.  I just remember the midwife saying, "She's complete.  She can start pushing at the next contraction." 

WHAT?!  Did you just say I was ready to push?  I have literally been at the hospital for an hour and I am ready to push?  Are you kidding me?  I didn't get my epidural yet!

It all happened so fast and I couldn't even wrap my head around the idea that the baby was coming.  I started pushing.  The nurse, Renee, was on my right hand side.  Telling me how to breath, telling me exactly what to do and how to do it.  She was amazing.  At one point I remember gripping her arm and hand so tight while I was trying to push.  She got right in my face and told me to keep pushing, to focus, to push towards the burn.  I was leaning way to the right, it felt better to lean to the side than to stay on my back.  The midwife wanted me to straighten up and push on my back, but Renee said, "Let her try and lay on her side." I layed on my right side and pushed.  It felt so much better to push that way .. not "better", but more effective.  I could feel my baby coming out .. I could feel myself making more progress with each contraction.  It was a total of 4 contractions and the baby was out.

In an instant, the pain was gone, completely gone and I had this perfect baby laying on top of my stomach instead of inside me.  I checked the baby over and looked up at Wesley, with tears in both our eyes, I said, "It's a girl."

She was perfect.

I cried and held her and told her how long I had waited to see her.  I told her, "Happy Birthday" and I kept looking up at Wesley, in shock that we had just brought our third child into this world. 

The midwife didn't cut the cord right away.  She let all the good blood drain into the baby and she waited till the cord stopped "pumping".  Then she let Wesley cut it, right in front of me. I had never seen the cord cut before.  She let my little girl just stay right on top of me while she sewed me up and while the nurses checked her over.

Avery lifted her head up and smacked her lips together.  She was ready to eat.

I nursed her and stroked her face and head and every tiny part of her, amazed and in awe that she was here.  That she was finally here.

After I nursed her, the nurse took her and got her measured and weighed and bathed.

She was 6 lbs, 9 oz and 19.5 inches long.  She was born at 2:08 am.

First Bath.

And Footprints.

There is something wonderful about having a natural birth.  I was able to get up, walk around and everything right after I had her.  It was awesome.

Our first picture of the three of us .. this was about an hour after she was born.

I waited till about 6:45am to call my mom.  When she answered the phone, she knew I had had the baby.

She said she knew she should have come up the night before.  If I had called her on our way to the hospital, she still wouldn't have made it on time.  Everything happened so fast, there was no way they could have gotten there for the birth.

Wesley's mom came to visit that night.  She had been with us the week before, waiting for the baby to come.  She stayed till November 8th, helping us with the kids and everything around the house.  She is amazing.

Later on Thursday, we finally decided to name this girl Avery Hope.

On Friday, we were waiting to be discharged from the hospital for quite a while.  I got Avery all dressed and ready to go and then she pooped and peed ALL over herself .. and me.  It was awesome.

Wesley had to go back to the car and get the "boy" outfit we had brought to the hospital.  She wore the boy outfit home, with her little pink hat they gave her at the hospital.

Right before we left, they brought my lunch in.

It didn't go to waste. 

Wesley ate it for me.

The kids were SO excited for us to come home.  Mallory couldn't wait to see Avery.

Zachary didn't care about her at all .. he still has yet to really touch her or hold her.  Every once in a while he comes up and pushes on my stomach and asks, "Did the baby come out of your tummy?" and I'll say Yes and then he just walks away.

We're so glad our little Avery is here.  We love her so much and feel so blessed she is a part of our family.