My son was due on October 2, 2013, but he made his big appearance on Tuesday, September 24, 2013. The night before, I had gone to bed early because I was feeling nauseous. My husband went to bed early as well because he was tired from work that day. As soon as I laid down, I began to have cramps and back pain. I assumed the pain was Braxton Hicks contractions. Over the next two hours, the pain became stronger and more frequent. My husband thought that we needed to go to the hospital, but I was so sure that I wasn’t in labor. I decided to time how far apart the contractions were and at the time they were ten minutes apart. Suddenly, I felt the urge to pee so I got up and as soon as I did I felt some fluid leak out. It wasn’t a big gush of fluid, so I didn’t know if my water broke or if I had just urinated in my pants. When I went to the bathroom, I noticed a very small amount of blood. That’s when I decided it was time to call my doctor. The doctor on call told me that there would be more fluid if my water had broken and that it may have just been my mucus plug. She told me to lay down for an hour and when I get up again if I felt more fluid then my water probably had broken. I only laid down for about thirty minutes because the contractions were stronger and closer together. My husband timed the contractions and they were now anywhere between three and seven minutes apart. I called the on call doctor back and she told me to come in. We left our house at 11:00 pm. The pain was excruciating by the time we got to the hospital (it was a 40 minute ride there). At the hospital, the nurse told me that if I wasn’t dilated at least three centimeters then I would be sent home. I told my husband that I was in too much pain to sit in the car and go home, and we would wait in the waiting room until I was dilated more. Fortunately, I was dilated three centimeters so they admitted me. At about 3:00 in the morning, I got my epidural which was the bet thing ever. I couldn’t feel any pain from my contractions. I couldn’t even tell when I was having a contraction. I was so exhausted, but was unable to get any sleep. My blood pressure was taken every fifteen minutes. The nurses would come in at least every hour to turn me to the other side because of the epidural. They came in more often though because every time I moved the baby’s heartbeat would drop. As annoying as the interruptions were, it was nice to know that they were monitoring me and the baby carefully. Around 2:30 PM, I began to feel my contractions again. They were becoming extremely painful. The nurses said that the epidural only takes away about 80% of the pain and that they needed me to feel my contractions so I knew when to push. The doctor came in to check how dilated I was. At that point I was 9 1/2 centimeters. I didn’t reach 10 centimeters until 4:00. I began pushing at 4:30. The nurses had me start with three pushes for every contraction, but after awhile they had me push four times per contraction. This was the worst pain I ever felt, and I wanted it to be over. Finally, at 6:20 PM, my son was born. I was so relieved that he was finally out. After briefly checking him, the nurses tossed him onto my chest. I put my arms around him, and that’s when the most unforgettable thing happened – he tilted his tiny head upwards and looked directly into my eyes. It was love at first sight.
Pregnancy
Pregnancy 