Labor

I'd heard the stories - second labors are faster than the first labor. But silly me, I asked my Nurse Practitioner if that was true, and she told me that second labors were often different, but there was no statistical evidence that they were faster than first labors. Well, statistics have never been my friends, and I should have known then that I was in for it...

Looking back on it - it was not so bad...in a crazy screaming like a banshee way of not being too bad!!!!!

So, I officially went into labor at about 4:30 in the morning. Nothing too serious, just a few contractions every 15 minutes or so. But they were quiet - not painful - just a slightly more serious Braxton Hicks.

That went on for a few hours, and at about 10am, the contractions started hurting a bit. Not too much, but a little bit. I knew from my first labor that once the contractions started to hurt, it was real. And, I was right.

The contractions started getting regular and they were causing me to use my breathing techniques, but they were still only every 15 minutes. Baby girl was coming home from my mother-in-laws at about 5:15 and I wanted to have a special night with her, so I called dear husband and made plans to take her to the pool and to our family Friday restaurant (Boston Market!!! - don't ask!)

While at the pool they started coming every 10 minutes and required pause and breathing - but still not too bad. We made it through the pool time, dinner and bedtime routine, it was all good. Baby girl went to sleep, and the contractions started for real. It was like they were waiting for Baby girl to go to sleep...

Anyway - about 8 o'clock they were 10 minutes apart and painful, but not too painful. By 9:00 they were about every 7-10 minutes apart and getting more painful - by 9:30 they were every 5 minutes apart and PAINFUL...but I knew there was worse to come.

I had my husband start timing them at that point because I thought that maybe I was going crazy. I thought - no, it's not possible that the contractions went from every 10 minutes to 5 minutes in an hour...yes, it was denial...but it was good for the moment.

By this point they were VERY PAINFUL! And, my husband confirmed that they were every 5 minutes apart. I told him to call his Mom and have her come over, and to call the MD and tell them that we were on our way in. I took a shower. By the time I got out they were every 5 minutes with the occasional one coming every 3 minutes, and Grandma was there.

After a perfunctory goodbye we were on the road. Only there was a major traffic jam on the way to the hospital so we had to go the long way. It was awful...the ride should have taken us 3 minutes, but it took 45 - an extra awful 15 minutes...I repeat awful...

We finally got to the hospital and I ended up registering in the ED with an entire waiting room full of people watching me bent at the waist standing over a desk having AWFUL contractions...a little embarrassing, but thank God I wasn't in a hospital gown at that point.

I got up to the evaluation center at 12:05, and they told me that I was 5cm dilated. I said, give me the epidural - I want the epidural this time!!! They can't give epidurals in the evaluation center, so, I had to wait until I got into an official delivery room. So...I had to wait.

At this point the contractions were non-stop, I was screaming with every single one (but I refrained from attempting to bite my husband or throwing pillows this time - score one for me!) and I was pissed. I knew that if I didn't get the epidural at that moment, the likelihood that it was going to happen before I delivered the baby was small to nill.

Anyway - they moved me to a delivery room 30 minutes later, and the anesthesiologist came in. I managed to sit on the bed, and my pure desire for the epidural held me sitting straight w/o moving for what felt like 30 minutes, but was probably only 5. My husband was holding me as the MD was sticking a needle and a catheter in my back.

While this was going on - I told my MD that if it didn't happen now it wasn't going to happen, that if my water broke - that was it, this baby was coming in 10 minutes.

And guess what...seconds later...my water broke - all over the stretcher and floor, but it missed my husbands flip flopped feet! And the epidural - the lovely epidural that I was hoping and dreaming about...yeah - he missed and it didn't take. (apparently it wouldn't have mattered if he had gotten it right - there wouldn't have been enough time for it to have taken even if it had worked)

So, I sat there and felt that all to familiar urge to push and - yeah - Baby girl #2 was born. Exactly 1 hour and 17 minutes after I got to the hospital!

Baby girl #2 was born and things are good. More on that later!