I finally told Jake (had to be sure first because I knew he'd take me to the hospital regardless!) and I called the after hours answering service. About 10 minutes later, Dr. Edwards called me back. I told him what was going on, but that my water had not broken. He said we'd better come in and take a look to be sure. Jake called Nana and Papa Joe who were visiting a church nearby for a concert of some type. I started putting on some make-up and Collins watched me.
I explained to Collins that we were going to the hospital to let the doctor check on Hadley. He said, "Her coming right now?!" I said, "Maybe! We have to go check." He said, "My baby sister!!" He asked if we were going to leave him there and we assured him we were waiting on Nana and Papa Joe because we would never leave him all alone. We were a little worried about how he'd do when we left and going to bed that night. No problem whatsoever. He was thrilled to see Mrs. Wilda and Mr. Joe and seemed like he couldn't get rid of us fast enough. He was already ready for bed, and they told us later he did great getting and staying in bed. (That would be the last time he did good at bedtime!)
It was about 8:30pm when we got to the hospital. We learned from last time to go in the main entrance instead of the ER since it was still open. Jake dropped me off and I walked to the nurse's station to tell them what was going on. I had to write down my birth date, SSN, etc. and they quickly got me into a triage room. My first nurse was Angie, who took my vitals and all that good stuff. Soon Dr. Edwards came in and talked to us and checked me. Jake and I both love him. I would have preferred to have Dr. Myers since she's my doctor, but he was awesome too. And turns out he's my doctor's doctor, is familiar with our hometown because of his wife's family, and is one of the founders of the practice. Angie said they call him "the grandfather" because he's been there the longest :)
Anyway, when he checked me I was at 3 cm. He said since we were so close to my due date we had options. I could see how things progressed naturally or he could admit me now and break my water. He felt like I was definitely in labor and wouldn't need to be induced with pitocin. I decided to wait a while since the contractions weren't bad yet and see if my water would break on its own. He came back in two hours, so at 11pm I was the same. That was annoying.
At 12am our nurse changed to Beth. I did not care for her too much. Not sure why. Maybe because it was 12am and I wasn't progressing. Jake's parents got to the hospital around that time. Mine decided to wait a little longer since things were moving slowly anyway, and Mom thought she'd need energy for Collins. Jake's parents were in the room with us for a little while, then Jake asked Grammy to go stay with Collins to relieve Nana. Poppa stayed, but we asked him to move to the waiting room because I was in a lot more pain.
The contractions got a lot more intense and were about 2 minutes apart. I felt them in my back, upper thighs, and stomach like bad menstrual cramps. With Collins I only ever felt them in my thighs. I tried to breathe through them and am sure I sounded and looked like an idiot. I was about ready to tell Dr. Edwards to just admit me and let's break my water, but it broke on its own! Beth checked to be sure and they moved me to a room: WP 14. I got all hooked up and they started an iv to give me fluid (cold!). They told me it'd be about 30 minutes till the anesthesiologist got there. Ugh! I was so glad to see him (Dr. Carter) when he finally got there. At that point my nurse was Kim, even though Beth was still around. Maybe it was obvious I didn't like Beth (?!)
Kim was really nice and held me well during the epidural. I may have hurt her shoulders holding on, but she didn't let on. Dr. Carter was really nice and talked through every move he made. I really appreciated that. It was hard (again) to relax enough to get the epidural. It freaks me out. He told me it'd feel like bee stings to deaden it. It did and in that sterile, cold room I of course flinched. He and the nurses and Jake kept telling me to be still. I was trying! I started praying out loud, "Lord, help me be still." And I was worried that Kim could smell my breath. haha
Finally, that part was over and started working within 15 minutes or so. It didn't take as strongly as last time because I could move my legs a little. With Collins I couldn't move them at all. I told Kim I could tell on my left side it didn't take as well. Dr. Carter came back and asked about it. He said we could add more medicine if needed, but he'd prefer to leave it alone if I could stand it. So that's what we did and it actually did get a little better. When I was trying to relax I felt my water break 'for real.' I didn't know what it was! Kim said it trickled a little before, but really broke that time. She realized then there was meconium, meaning the NICU team would need to come in to make sure Hadley doesn't aspirate the meconium into her lungs.
Kim checked me again and I was at 4 cm. She gave me the catheter and Dr. Edwards came about 30 minutes later. In that time I had moved all the way to 6 cm! Kim was shocked. At the next check I was 8 cm. Not sure how long that was, but I think about 15-20 minutes later. At 4:45am-ish he checked again and I was 10 cm, fully dilated! Amazing how fast it went once things really got going. My parents were on the road still because no one expected it to go that quickly.
They called in the NICU team and told the nurse's station we were ready to deliver. They fixed the bed and turned on those awful spotlights. Dr. Edwards was so calm and pleasant. Good thing, because otherwise I'd have probably been pretty upset by the fact I had about 8 people in the room with me. No shame at that point, I suppose.
I pushed for about 20 minutes, I think through 4-5 contractions. It was pretty quiet in the room because the NICU people didn't talk much at all. Kim, Jake, and Dr. Edwards were the only ones talking. Once her head was born, Dr. Edwards suctioned her nose and mouth for the meconium because he said crying could make her aspirate more. I didn't get to have her placed on my chest right away and Jake wasn't able to cut the cord because the NICU team got her immediately. Everything was fine! They got her checked out and then the well-baby team took over. Thank you, Lord!
Hadley was really a girl! haha And she was born in August. All was right with the world ;) She was quiet while on the incubator thing. I had to ask if she was still in the room. She had lots of dark hair and really long (and kinda dirty because of the meconium) fingernails. They looked like little witch nails! Jake got to cut the excess off the cord at that point and then I got to hold her. She nursed good! I ordered some breakfast as soon as I could. I didn't say anything, but even while pushing I kept thinking, "Man, I'm hungry!"
Poppa got to see and hold her and we called the other grandparents to give a report. Hadley was 7 lbs 13 oz and 20 inches long (same as Collins, but he was an ounce heavier!) She was born at 5:39am. They took her for a bath and she was very good; didn't cry at all and hasn't cried for a bath yet!
After delivery my nurse was Nicole. She's the last one I kept track of because they seemed to change so frequently. When Collins and my parents got there they had to wait to see her because she was being kept in the nursery on the incubator. Her temp was low, but got evened out soon and wasn't a problem any more.
We are so thankful for a healthy and quick labor and delivery, and especially for a healthy baby girl!
.JPG) |
| Sweet big brother! |
 |
| 39 weeks, 5 days! |
 |
| Jake and Dr. Harvey Edwards |
 |
| Kim and me |
