Emily's Birth Story:
Emily was due on April 7th, which also happens to be my birthday. It was so much fun when I was pregnant and people asked me when I was due....I never forgot the date.:) I loved that she was due on my birthday. I was so excited about my most precious birthday present ever.
On Wednesday, April 7th I woke up and started having contractions about 8am. They weren't exactly regular, but quickly became regular. I started counting contractions about 10am. My parents were planning on driving up that night (April 7th) after work, because I was set to be induced on April 8th. When I called them early that morning and told them I had started having some contractions they decided they couldn't stand being in GA any longer. They jumped in the car and made in to Wake Forest by about 12:30pm. I had a doctors appointment at 2pm that afternoon. I was thankful my parents had made it up because I was still having really regular contractions and enjoyed having people around to help me count them and keep me distracted. Bert was at work that day, but drove over to the doctors office to meet me for my appointment. Would you believe that once I got to the doctors office my contractions almost stopped?! I remember being so frustrated!!! They hooked me up to a machine to monitor the contractions that I told them I had been having all morning, but there wasn't much to monitor. Oh well. I saw the doctor and she said it's probably the beginning stages of labor and she might see me at the hospital that night!! I was certainly praying that she would because I was ready! Bert headed back to work to finish up a few things and my parents and I headed back to our apartment to meet Bert's parents, Jeff and Linda. They arrived into town about 4pm (remember, I was set to be induced the next morning). By the time we got home my contractions had picked back up and were more intense than they had been that morning. Linda and mom were wonderful in helping me count them. They took turns timing them and writing them down for me. I really appreciated it!!
After Bert got home everyone decided that we needed to go out for my birthday dinner. I honestly wasn't very worried about my birthday or my birthday dinner (I was just ready to meet my little girl!), but we all needed to eat so we headed to Texas Roadhouse. My contractions were steady and I was certainly uncomfortable, but I could still talk through them. I enjoyed the distraction of all the people...it got my mind off the pain. Now Bert and I can't go to a Texas Roadhouse without thinking about that night when I was in labor with our sweet Emily!:)
Once we got back to the apartment (about 8pm) I decided it was time to go walk around the apartment complex. I did NOT want these contractions to stop again! So everyone came and we enjoyed walking and talking. I had to stop and bend over with every contraction, but no one seemed to mind (they were ready to meet Emily too!). We took a couple laps and then headed inside. About 10:30 it started feeling different. I was having a hard time breathing through the contractions and I certainly couldn't talk. They were coming every 5 minutes, but didn't seem to be lasting quite a minute. We called the doctor and she said to come on to the hospital (about a 40 minute drive). About 11pm on 4/7/2010 we all six (Bert, me, Mama, Daddy, Linda and Jeff) loaded up in three different cars and headed to the hospital. I was in soooo much pain. I remember telling Bert (it was more like a yell) just as we were pulling out of the parking lot, after a really bad contraction, "I have NO idea why anyone would have more than one kid after they realized how painful this is!!!" HA!:) Thankfully Bert didn't argue with me....I'm not even sure if he said anything at all...he probably knew better.:)
We checked into the hospital just a few minutes before midnight. Bert and I were upstairs in the room getting checked in and everyone else was downstairs waiting in the lobby. Kate and Brett drove down to Raleigh to wait with everyone--quite the sacrifice for my Requires-Much-Sleep-Sister. By the time we got to the hospital my contractions were coming every 3 minutes, lasting over a minute, and I was 4cm dilated. Bert and I were in the room waiting for the nurse to come back and he told me he was going to run to the restroom really quick (it was in our room about 2 feet from my bed). I told him that I didn't want him to leave my side and could he just wait. HA! Looking back that was a bit ridiculous, but I was definitely dead serious at the time. I don't think I was quite as bossy with Hannah, but I guess you better ask him. He really was the best coach. He helped me breathe through the contractions and I couldn't have done it without him.
About 1:30 my lab work had come back and I was ready for my epidural. The anesthesiologist came in and gave me the epidural with no problem. Within 30 seconds I wasn't feeling the contractions. It was great! I could breathe again! The doctor came in to break my water and then everyone came up to say hey and then they went back downstairs to try to take a little nap. Some of them tried to nap in the car and some tried to nap in the lobby. I'm sure neither option was very comfortable. Bert and my mom stayed in there with me. Every nurse that came in told me I should try to take a nap. I thought they were all crazy. I was so excited I couldn't even think about sleeping! The nurse turned out all the lights and I think I did finally fall asleep for about 30 minutes. About 5am the nurse came back in to check me and I was 10cm....woohoo! She said they were going let me "labor down" for about an hour before I started pushing. They wanted Em to drop a little lower.
I started pushing at about 6am and Emily arrived at 7:28. During that time the nurses changed shifts and the doctor barely made it in for the delivery. I literally pushed one time while the doctor was in the room and Emily made her grand entrance. I have no doubt that these the nurses would have been able to deliver her just fine, but I was thankful the doctor made it in.
Emily started wailing within seconds of being born and it was music to my ears. I loved hearing her sweet little cry. They immediately handed her to me to hold her for a minute before they took her across the room to clean her up. She was (and still is) absolutely beautiful!! She was wide eyed and had lots of dark hair. Bert took lots of pictures and Mimi videoed them cleaning her up and weighing her for the first time. She weighed 8lbs 2 oz and was 20 inches long. She had a little red spot (the doctors called it a "stork bite") under her nose that they told us would go away in about a year (Em's actually went away before a year). I loved it because it was just one of the things that made my Emily unique.
In no time we were all ready to head to our room and we had lots of family ready to meet our sweet girl. The day that I delivered must have been a really busy day at Rex because the rooms in their new birthing center were completely full. I think I remember them saying they have 48 rooms. Wow....that's a lot of babies! So they wheeled us over to the older part of the hospital. The nurse that was taking us over there told us that the room that we were going to be staying in had been being used for storage and that they had to quickly clean out the room and get a bed in there. Haha! I'm not sure that her supervisor would have wanted her telling us that.:) Our room was definitely smaller and not as nice as the rooms in their new birthing center, but we were just thankful to have a room. We really didn't mind at all. We still got great care and enjoyed our stay at Rex!
Bert and I could not be more thankful for the precious baby girl God blessed us with 2 years ago today! We love you, Emily Jean Watts! Happy second birthday!!:)
No comments:
Post a Comment