So, on Sunday, August 29th, I started the day with a backache and some light cramping off and on. Aaron and I went to Costco with my Mom and Kenny. I was really exhausted when we were in Costco. I had to keep sitting down on the big pallets of food to rest. On our way home, Gus (one of Mom and Kenny's dogs) kept staring at me the whole way...he knew something was going on. I kept thinking that if this wasn't labor, I don't know how I'm going to make it through work on Monday and Tuesday because I was so tired and my maternity leave wasn't supposed to start until Sept 1st.
We got home around 1230pm and I took a nap for about a half an hour. I was craving a big meaty sandwich so Aaron went to Nob Hill and bought us some sandwiches and some Oreos :) I watched part of the Giants game before taking another nap at 245pm or so. When I got up I finished watching the Giants game with Aaron...they won!! After that, I mustered up enough energy to give Aaron a haircut.
We went to the store and then went to my Mom and Kenny's for dinner. I still had a backache and cramping. We had lasagna for dinner and watched the Emmy's (my Mom went back and forth during my whole pregnancy about what she wanted to be called and "Emmy" was one of the names that she was thinking of. Well, since we were watching the Emmy's together when I went into labor, we figured it was a for sure sign that "Emmy" should be her name :))
The cramping started to become stronger and more regular around 7pm. At that point, I figured the cramping wasn't just cramping but contractions. I drank a big glass of water to see if they went away because Dr. Armstrong had told me that dehydration can cause uterine contractions. They didn't go away. Aaron and I decided to go for a walk to see if that helped. I kept thinking if it was false labor then the contractions should go away or get better if we walked. They did not get better or go away...they got worse. At about 730pm, we decided to go home so I could shower and finish packing our bags.
We went back to Mom and Kenny's with the puppies at about 830pm. The contractions became more intense and closer together. Aaron kept trying to time them but it was so hard to distinguish the end of one and the beginning of another one. At 945pm we went to the hospital.
When we got to the hospital, they checked me into one of the labor rooms. My nurses were Marilyn and Blanca. They checked me and I was only dilated 1 1/2 cm and 80% effaced...I had a long road ahead of me. My Dad came to the hospital around 1030 or 11 that night. My blood pressure was a little high and the nurses were a little concerned. My contractions slowed at one point and then sped up again and became more intense. They monitored me for a couple hours. The baby's baseline was low at about 110s but he had good accelerations which was a good sign. They checked me again at midnight and there was no change so they decided to send me home. The nurses had been on the phone with Dr. Armstrong and he wanted me in his office the next morning so he could check my blood pressure. The nurse gave me a shot of demerol IM and some PO phenergan and sent us on our way. The demerol didn't seem to do much in the way of pain relief.
When we got home, I labored in bed for a couple of hours (from 1am-3am). I let Aaron sleep since I knew he would need it, I knew the baby was coming sometime soon and I would need my support person. Laboring in bed was
not comfortable and I couldn't sleep in between contractions so I got up because I needed to do something else to relieve the pain. So I walked the hallway during contractions. It seemed to help a little. (At that time, I was also writing in my journal about how my labor was so far! Glad I did otherwise, I might not have remembered all of this!)
I took a hot, hot shower around 340am. I really wanted to take a bath but I couldn't bend down long enough to figure out how to plug the drain because every time I bent down a contraction would start. So, I just stood in the hot shower for about 20 minutes. It helped me relax enough that I decided to get back into bed to see if I could rest a little. My contractions were about 6 minutes apart at that point but I was able to sleep/rest for about 5 minutes in between. I did this for about 2 hours and then Aaron woke up around 6am.
Between 7am and 9am, my contractions became really, really strong and pretty close together. I had started calling Dr. Armstrong's office at 8am to see if they were open but just as I had figured, they didn't open until 900. Aaron had me eat a couple slices of a peach (which was disgusting by the way) and we refilled out my disability paperwork (not fun while contracting!). But it had to be done since I was obviously starting my maternity leave that day, not two days later on Sept 1st like I had originally planned! We left for Dr. Armstrong's soon after 9am.
My Mom met us at his office. They put me in a room right away and I was having some pretty intense contractions. Dr. Armstrong didn't see us until almost 10am. When he walked in, he saw me and said, "oh yeah, you have that face...the face of a woman in labor". He said he would check me and if I were still at 1 or 2 cms he would send me home but if I were at 3 or 4 he would send me straight to the hospital. He checked me and I was almost at 4 cm! That was the best news I had ever heard! The
last place I wanted to go was home. He let us know that he had a surgery scheduled and he would be out of town from about 12pm-5pm. Crap!
We went to the hospital and got all settled in our labor room (we got the big one this time, YES!). My nurses during the day were Rene and Linda. Rene started an IV on me but it took her a while because I was so dehydrated (I had been doing my breathing exercises all night and not drinking any water). Once she got the IV in she started me on fentanyl. It helped me to relax and cut the pain
a little. She also started the IV antibiotics and it burned my arm SO bad! Holy cow, between my arm hurting and the contractions my blood pressure was WAY up! Rene ended up readjusting it and diluted the antibiotics a bit and it helped. Phew!
I had visitors in and out all day...Aunt Krissie & Uncle Danny, Ann & Allan, Alec & Nicole, and my Mom and Dad were there most of the day. And of course Aaron was too. The nurses gave me fentanyl throughout the day...they kept checking me and I was
still at 4cm! Ugghh! I was having contractions but apparently they weren't too effective.
Dr. Armstrong called at 4pm and said he was on his way back to town. The nurses let him know that I was still only at 4cm so he gave them the go ahead to start me on pitocin and to get my epidural! Woohoo! Get this thing moving! The anesthesiologist came in and started my epidural and it was AWESOME! I couldn't feel a thing after that! The only way I could tell I was having a contraction now was by looking at the monitor.
Dr. Armstrong came in around 6pm and checked me. I was now dilated to 6! He broke my water (gross) and then stepped out. He had a D&C surgery but it was right there at Hazel Hawkins. At 7pm, there was a shift change. My new nurses were Violet and Marilyn. Violet did my assessment and kind of freaked out when she realized that I was numb almost up to my collar bone from the epidural. She turned the epidural off right away and put the head of the bed up. She made sure I was breathing alright, which I was. Apparently someone had sent a urine sample to the lab and it came back showing that I had ketones in it. This was from not eating for so long. This too worried Violet so she got me some popsicles :)
At 9pm they checked me and I was
finally fully dilated. I started to feel A LOT of pressure and I was given the go ahead to start pushing. That is when I got nervous. I hadn't been nervous at all until that point, I was so afraid of what it would feel like and I was so afraid I wouldn't be able to do it. When I started pushing is when I realized how utterly exhausted I was. I would push and then right after I stopped pushing it felt like I went cross-eyed. At that point, I had already been up for 36 hours and had been in labor for
26 hours. I really should have tried to sleep after I got my epidural but no dice and too late now!
Dr. Armstrong had an emergency situation while in the D&C surgery. He wasn't sure if he was going to make it so he called Dr. Tabibian to deliver me just in case. Dr. Tabibian delivered me when I was born, so he's been in the business a
long time!
While I was pushing, Aaron and my Mom held my legs for me. Dad, Christopher and Kenny were standing right outside the door behind the curtain. They couldn't see anything but sure as hell they could hear everything!
I was so tired and it was so hot! The air conditioning in the room was broken and it was 81 freakin' degrees in there! I thought I was going to pass out after each push, I was so exhausted. My Mom had to take some breaks and let the nurse hold one of my legs. Poor thing though, I made her hold it even when I wasn't pushing because the pressure was so intense that it hurt too much to put both my legs down at the same time. By that time my epidural had worn off quite a bit. I was really unsure that I would be able to push the baby out on my own because I was so tired, I actually thought I might have to go in for a c-section. But once they started to see his head, I knew I could do it.
At 1030 or so, Dr. Armstrong made it back from his surgery! I was SO happy that he made it! (I guess Dr. Tabibian had just pulled up to the hospital and was a little upset when they told him he didn't need to be there anymore! - Whoops!) Anyway, it was very hectic for a bit. Poor Dr. Armstrong was a little frazzled, he had had a very long day. He was having the nurses text his wife and he was trying chart in between assisting me.
After 2 hours of pushing, our son, Aaden Michaelson, was born at 1059pm on Monday, August 30th, 2010. It was amazing! I couldn't believe I did it! He was here. :)
