Labor and Delivery

On Sunday January the 27th a little after 10:00pm Jake and I were cuddling in bed, and talking about how crazy it was that we were going to be parents. Then Jake said "When am I going to be a father?" He then got up to do something, and a few seconds later I heard and felt a little pop in my stomach. I have heard of people being able to hear there water breaking so I went to the bathroom. First I peed, and I thought I was done but a trickle continued for a bit. I wasn't sure if my water broke or not. There was no big gush and I wasn't contracting. I then told Jake that I thought my water might of broke, but I wasn't sure, and I didn't want to go to the hospital because I didn't want to be rejected. After a bit I stared to feel braxton hicks level contractions, and decided to be safe to go to the hospital. Jake and I packed a few last things then headed off. We got to the hospital around 11:00pm. When we got there Jake made me laugh because when he was talking to the nurse he sounded as if he were trying to convince her to let us in. Kinda like on the Wizard of Oz when Dorthy and crew were trying to get into Emerald City. The nurse, Denise, took us to the check in/waiting room, and had me change into a gown and put external monitors on me to track Tori's heart rate and my contractions. Denise then told me I was in labor and I was 3 almost 4 centimeters dilated, then she went to prepare my room. My contractions slowly were getting stronger but still not anything like I thought they would be. I said they were a 5 on a pain scale when the nurse asked. I was in the waiting room for about 30 minutes then Denise took Jake and I to my room. Room #115. It was one of the bigger rooms, and I was happy about that. After I got to my room Denise took a couple blood samples then hooked me up to the iv so I could get my dose of penicillin to kill off the bacteria that just so happens to live in me that could of hurt Tori. Getting the penicillin was not fun. It was more uncomfortable than the contractions I was having at the time. The penicillin took an hour, and towards the end of the hour, I believe, is when the contractions started to get tough. When the contractions got tough I lost all ability to judge time. Thankfully time went by fast for me. Around this time I started to through up. Ugh. Then after a while I started to through up again. The poor nurses and Jake had to relay 3 barf pans to the bathroom and back to me I was puking so much. Of course I could not relax during this, and relaxing is the most important thing to do when having a baby with out medication. So a few contractions after the second round of barfing I told Jake to call the nurse so she could get me a dang epidural. Denise came in and and asked if she could see where I was at before I really decided on an epidural. I thought I was going to be 5 maybe 6 centimeters, but I wasn't, I was dilated to an 8! This gave me a huge amount of confidence. I was in the middle of transition, the most difficult part of labor, I knew I could do this with out an epidural. Denise went to call my mid-wife and while I waited on my mid-wife I got in the bathtub to relax. I was able to relax but then I started to through up again! At this point I was a pro at getting my barf right into the pan so I didn't get any into the tub. After a bit I got out to labor on the toilet. My nurse wasn't so comfortable with me there because she didn't want me to accidentally push, and have the baby in the toilet. I wonder how many times she has seen that happen. I went back to my bed and just focused on relaxing. The hypno-birthing class paid off. Between contractions I was able to zone out to a point where it felt like I was sleeping. During my contractions I used a breathing technique called sleep breathing to keep my mind off the contractions. Before I knew it I felt a crazy pressure in my bum. When I felt that I told my midwife and nurse that my butt was breaking. Honestly I don't remember the pressure hurting that bad, I just wanted to start pushing, and get Tori here. After I talked about my bum breaking my midwife thought it was a good idea to check my cervix, and it was fully dilated. I was so happy to start pushing. Pushing was a huge relief, because it took away all the pressure I was feeling from contractions. Jake wrote down I started pushing at 2:29am. My pushes at first were really weak. I pushed just hard enough to relieve the contractions, but soon my midwife told me it was time to get the baby here. I started pushing harder and Tori was born at 3:20am. My mid-wife put her on my chest while wiping her off, but she put Tori's butt in my face. I was happy she was a girl like they said. A second later she was taken to warm up and get all the goop sucked out of her lungs. She only cried a little. While Tori was getting all cleaned up my mid-wife let me know I wasn't going to need any stitches. Anyway I am so happy I had Tori naturally. I was able to walk and shower all by my self right after I had her. Plus it was amazing to feel myself open up and feel her come out of me. It didn't hurt, and the feeling can't really be described, but it was amazing. I recommend all woman to look into having a natural birth. My experience was so empowering and I know I made the best decision for me, Jake and Tori.
My hospital stay was great. I didn't want to leave. All the nurses were so nice to me. I felt like a princess, I got whatever wanted or needed with a press of a button. The food wasn't great but you win some and you loose some. My whole pregnancy experience was so wonderful. I couldn't of asked for anything more. My Tori was been so good to me.