Like normal, I went to work Tuesday and was feeling alright. I was a bit more sore than normal, but attributed that to rocking out at the concert the night before. As the day went on, I became more and more uncomfortable and decided that since my lunch and prep were together I would go get a manicure. While I was gone I noticed I was having contractions about every 20 minutes. When I got back into school I went to the office and told them I needed to start timing them because they were pretty regular and were now12-15 minutes apart. I knew I only needed to last about 20 more minutes because my sub would come cover me so I could get to my 40 week appointment. As I walked out of the school, one of the middle school teachers, with a concerned look on his face, looked at me and said, "Are you alright?" Of course I simply responded, "I think I am in labor" and continued walking. (I found this hilarious for some reason.)
I decided to go home a lay down a bit to see if the contractions (now about 10 minutes a part) slowed down any. Nope. By the time I got to my doctor appointment they were every 9 minutes and by the time I saw my doctor they were about every 8 minutes. When she examined me, I was dilated to 3 centimeters already and she decided to go ahead and admit me! I was so excited but then quickly started to cry because I realized I may not see Caleb for a few days.
While I waited for Mike, my sister and parents to join me at the hospital, I was able to walk around enjoy my time before things got hectic. (This was all around 5 pm) By the time everyone got there, my contractions were starting to get closer and more painful, but still manageable. Thankfully, my mother-in-law brought Caleb up to the hospital so I could see him and it meant soo much to me.
The times of everything really blurs together with this delivery experience because everything happened so fast. I really struggled with whether or not I should get an epidural. The contractions were intense, but I was able to breathe through them and felt amazing in between them but they were 3-4 minutes apart and I knew it would only get harder. I felt like I wanted to be able to tell people I didn't have an epidural and I wanted to be able to be proud of that decision. On the other hand, I knew I was only dilated to a 6 and had been stuck there for several hours and was feeling exhausted and not able to rest. I felt like I was being tough and that I could handle not having an epidural and that gave me a sense of pride.
Very reluctantly, I decided to get the epidural. I had been stuck at 6 cm for a few hours and was exhausted from being awake since 430 am (and a rock concert the night before). Also, my contractions had started to slow down and were not as strong. I knew that an epidural could slow labor down even more, but I also knew I needed sleep and couldn't sleep through the contractions. I felt defeated at first because I felt like I could have handled going longer without the epidural, but I also knew that the future was unpredictable, and I figured...why risk excruciating pain when I could find the heavenly bliss of sleep.
Funny story: the epidural didn't work. Like...at all. Was this a sign? Was this my reprieve to me decision that I had struggled with earlier? The guy who did it was doing a c-section so I had about 1.5-2 hours where I had to wait for him to come back. Once again I had to decide if I should even bother. I mean, I was handling them fine but I still wasn't dilated anymore and was just sooooo tired. Soooo I opted for epidural #2. This one was effective almost immediately. This made me happy that I would be able to sleep a bit.
This all puts us around midnight, I believe. Around 12:15 they checked me again and I was almost to 7cm. Tegan was "transverse" which meant she was kinda sideways which is why they said I wasn't dilating as quickly and my contractions had slowed down. They had me lying almost on my stomach with pillows between my legs to help get her into position. I don't know when, maybe almost 12:30, I was mid-sentence with Crystal when I started having an incredibly painful and what felt like the longest contraction ever. I couldn't breathe and was just making noises. When I could finally talk I told Crystal and Mike that I needed the nurse.
By the time the nurse got into the room I was basically screaming in pain and couldnt move. I wasnt breathing and was hyperventilating to the point where I was cutting off circulation to my hands and they were useless. Picture claws...I mean, seriously, I couldn't move my hands. It was trippy. When she came in she said I was dilated to 10 and ready to push. WHAT THE HELL! Like 5 minutes ago I was trying to sleep and was barely dilated to a 7!!
When the doctor came in she had me put one leg in a stirrup and I could barely function. I was screaming, yelling, hyperventilating and shouting more profanities than I am proud to admit. As they tried to get my other leg in the stirrup I shouted another long list of profanities and suddenly Tegan was out. Yes. You read that right. I cussed my child out. I didn't push... she just came out through the pressure of me yelling. lol. As soon as she came out, I started laughing and looked at Mike and said, "What the hell just happened?!?" We were all laughing soo hard. I went from 7 cm to a baby in less than 15 minutes. Maybe even less than 10?
Tegan Corinne Keller entered our lives at 12:45 am weighing just 6 pounds 11 oz and was 20 inches long.
When I looked down at the doctor, she was holding Tegan with one hand asking for a nurse to take her. I should explain: Tegan had a bowel movement when she was still inside me so they said she would have to go straight to get cleaned and suctioned and I wouldn't be able to hold her right away. Since my delivery caught everyone off guard, those nurses weren't ready for her yet. Heck, I was lucky the doctor was there! We all were laughing and I just kept apologizing for all of the cussing and they just laughed and said they couldn't believe how quickly it all happened. I mean, she basically just fell out!!
(I later learned that my family heard me screaming from the waiting room. Whoops!)
CHECK OUT >>>>> Indy Birth Photographer's blog and slideshow of Tegan's arrival
Funny story: the epidural didn't work. Like...at all. Was this a sign? Was this my reprieve to me decision that I had struggled with earlier? The guy who did it was doing a c-section so I had about 1.5-2 hours where I had to wait for him to come back. Once again I had to decide if I should even bother. I mean, I was handling them fine but I still wasn't dilated anymore and was just sooooo tired. Soooo I opted for epidural #2. This one was effective almost immediately. This made me happy that I would be able to sleep a bit.
This all puts us around midnight, I believe. Around 12:15 they checked me again and I was almost to 7cm. Tegan was "transverse" which meant she was kinda sideways which is why they said I wasn't dilating as quickly and my contractions had slowed down. They had me lying almost on my stomach with pillows between my legs to help get her into position. I don't know when, maybe almost 12:30, I was mid-sentence with Crystal when I started having an incredibly painful and what felt like the longest contraction ever. I couldn't breathe and was just making noises. When I could finally talk I told Crystal and Mike that I needed the nurse.
By the time the nurse got into the room I was basically screaming in pain and couldnt move. I wasnt breathing and was hyperventilating to the point where I was cutting off circulation to my hands and they were useless. Picture claws...I mean, seriously, I couldn't move my hands. It was trippy. When she came in she said I was dilated to 10 and ready to push. WHAT THE HELL! Like 5 minutes ago I was trying to sleep and was barely dilated to a 7!!
When the doctor came in she had me put one leg in a stirrup and I could barely function. I was screaming, yelling, hyperventilating and shouting more profanities than I am proud to admit. As they tried to get my other leg in the stirrup I shouted another long list of profanities and suddenly Tegan was out. Yes. You read that right. I cussed my child out. I didn't push... she just came out through the pressure of me yelling. lol. As soon as she came out, I started laughing and looked at Mike and said, "What the hell just happened?!?" We were all laughing soo hard. I went from 7 cm to a baby in less than 15 minutes. Maybe even less than 10?
Tegan Corinne Keller entered our lives at 12:45 am weighing just 6 pounds 11 oz and was 20 inches long.
When I looked down at the doctor, she was holding Tegan with one hand asking for a nurse to take her. I should explain: Tegan had a bowel movement when she was still inside me so they said she would have to go straight to get cleaned and suctioned and I wouldn't be able to hold her right away. Since my delivery caught everyone off guard, those nurses weren't ready for her yet. Heck, I was lucky the doctor was there! We all were laughing and I just kept apologizing for all of the cussing and they just laughed and said they couldn't believe how quickly it all happened. I mean, she basically just fell out!!
(I later learned that my family heard me screaming from the waiting room. Whoops!)
CHECK OUT >>>>> Indy Birth Photographer's blog and slideshow of Tegan's arrival
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