The Whole Story

So, I had intended on doing a post about the birth story right after Bailey was born, but after reading Dan's post I felt he pretty well covered the important parts.  However, I have since had several people tell me they want more details, so here goes.  Disclaimer: if you don't like birth stories skip this post.


I will start by saying that I had absolutely no signs of labor prior to the 21st.  In fact at church the day before I had commented that I didn't think this baby was coming any time soon.  And truthfully, I really thought she would make it to being a June baby.  I had no cramps, back aches, anything.  That morning I woke up feeling awesome.  I slept better than I had in months and felt so refreshed.  I had a random thought that maybe I should pack a bag for the hospital that day but wasn't too stressed about it since it had been on my mind for a while.  About nine thirty that morning I had my first contraction.  It was completely bearable- more like cramps really and I figured with nearly a month until my due date and this being my second baby maybe it was just Braxton Hicks.  Never mind, that I never had a single cramp or contraction until real labor with Shad.  If not, this is exactly how my labor with Shad started and it lasted over twenty one hours so I really wasn't too worried about it. Dan was getting ready for a seven hour bike ride and I just mentioned to him I had a few contractions and make sure to answer his phone and he headed out.   The contractions continued about every five minutes for about an hour. They were not getting intense by any means so I still wasn't worried but I was realizing this was more likely labor than Braxton Hicks.  However, they weren't bad so I didn't tell Dan to come home just yet and continued to do what I had been doing which was painting the letters for above the crib and chatting on the phone with my older sister who was definitely more concerned than I was.  A little while later I decided I better tell Dan to come home since he said he was two hours away and I started making calls to try and arrange a baby-sitter for Shad if we in fact needed one.  I still wasn't too convinced since as I had previously mentioned this phase of labor lasted forever last time.  As I was still just going about my day I had the overwhelming impression, "Go get Dan now!"  It seemed a little weird since nothing had changed and I was still completely able to deal with these contractions no problem, but I figured I better follow the impression anyway.  I threw some things in a bag for the hospital in case I needed it, grabbed Shad and headed off to meet Dan outside of town.  I called him to let him know I was coming to get him and he told me he was at Snowbowl which is about twenty miles  away on a curvy slow road and takes about thirty five minutes to get there from our house.  On the way I coordinated with a friend in the ward to have her teenage daughter meet us in about an hour at our house to watch Shad still feeling like we had time and timing my  contractions they were still three minutes apart and only about thirty seconds long, nothing was changing.  About two minutes later I had a pretty intense contraction and felt a painful pop and felt a little damp.  This is when things got interesting.   I was pretty sure my water had broken.  With Shad this actually slowed down my labor so it never occurred to me the opposite situation could take place.  However, it did.  My contractions took a 180 degree turn for the worse and started being much longer and closer together as well as excruciating.  Driving suddenly didn't seem like such a great idea, but luckily I was only minutes from meeting Dan.  I pulled up at 12:59, opened the door and said, "I'm pretty sure my water just broke."  He responded, "are you all wet"  to which I said, "no, but I will be when I stand up."  Fortunately, we keep a blanket in the car because I effectively looked like I had wet myself the moment I stepped out of the car.  The contractions were continuing to get worse so I told Dan we probably only had time to go home and change his clothes (I didn't think to bring any of course) but not actually shower.  He pointed out we were passing the hospital and thought it would probably be better to get me checked in and then he would run home.  All I could think was that I didn't want to be left alone but seeing as I was moaning in pain and unable to hide it from Shad anymore and it was getting worse I agreed to head to the hospital. I tried to call our friend to tell her never mind, meet us at the hospital but she wasn't answering.   Unfortunately, because we had Dan's bike on the car we couldn't park in the labor and delivery parking garage so we had to walk across the parking lot.  It was a long slow walk during which I froze in a cross walk as a contraction hit.   All I could think was, "stay standing because if you go to your knees in the middle of the street you might get hit by a car."  We made it to the elevator and I was desperately on the phone with our friend telling her to get to the hospital now and leaning against the wall through contractions.  Dan ran ahead and told the check in nurses his wife was in labor and needed a wheelchair but they weren't in too much of a hurry.  I hobbled in on the phone, told them I was having transition contractions and proceeded to crouch on the ground in pain.  They responded by asking me to fill out some forms.  (What is the point of all that pre-registering then?!?!)  I started swearing as they handed Dan a clipboard to hand to me while I was on all fours in the hall. I overheard a nurse say,  "yeah, she definitely is. . ."  and figured she meant that I was going to have to go natural because it was too late for the epidural so I pulled myself up to tell them I had intended to go naturally anyway and she said "No, you are definitely in labor"  SERIOUSLY?!?!  I told you that! I leaned up to tell them I had my last baby natural and wasn't exaggerating but they still didn't take me seriously.  The next contraction hit as I fell to all fours and it seemed the only thing keeping me from having her right then and there was sheer will and my shorts.  I yelled "I'm going to have this baby in the hall!"  Finally someone came around the corner to get me in a room.  We skipped triage thankfully and rushed into a delivery room where I proceeded to start ripping my clothes off.  The nurse checked me the one and only time I was checked this pregnancy and confirmed that yes I was indeed beyond ready to deliver.  Luckily, my doctor was already in the hospital for another reason so he rushed right in and told me to push.  Dan was in the hall with Shad so I hesitated through that contraction not wanting to have the baby without him.  The next contraction hit and the doctor was a little more forceful when he told me to push this time so I followed orders.  They told me she had a lot of hair and Dan walked in and grabbed my hand as I pushed the second and last time.  She was born at 1:34,  a mere thirty five minutes after I quit driving.  It was definitely more intense and dramatic than I had ever intended but I should have known better since I transitioned and delivered Shad extremely fast too despite the long labor.  A few minutes after I noticed I had a missed call from my sister and a text asking if I was actually in labor.  I called to tell her "not anymore" and she thought my labor had stopped.  Bailey got here before we even had a chance to let anyone know she was on her way. Fortunately, she was healthy and we made it to the hospital with a whole twelve minutes to spare and our neighbor got there just in time for Dan to be there for the delivery.  It was definitely one for the books.  If you want to hear it get even better ask Dan what happened next.