Final Belly Pics at 39 Weeks; the longest I've ever been pregnant and the biggest I've ever been!
With this pregnancy, my labor seemed to go on for weeks. I started Braxton Hicks contractions very early on. While this is not true labor, these contractions started early and were much more noticeable compared to my past pregnancies. My doctor said this is normal the more pregnancies that you have. Then of course, I had a hospital stay at 33 weeks, and that was not the first time I wondered if I should go and be checked out. Over the following weeks, I had several nights with a lot of contractions, but at that point, I knew they would not stop my labor and I had already received steroid shots which were good until about 36 weeks, so it wasn't quite as concerning. But there were at least two nights that I thought for sure I was going into true labor (March 23 & March 29). I didn't sleep much those nights, but the contractions subsided by morning. I did not experience anything like that with my first two pregnancies.
After my hospital stay, my doctor did not check to see if my labor was progressing for about 5 weeks. Then on April 9th, at 38 weeks and 5 days, I had a routine appointment. My doctor asked if I was interested in being induced at 39 weeks, and I said not unless she thought I should, to which she replied that she didn't necessarily but it was my choice. Then, during my exam, she discovered that I was already about 5 cm dilated. At that point, she didn't think I would make it much longer but gave me the choice of "being induced" two days later, once I had reached the required 39 weeks. I left not being sure of what I wanted to do. I wasn't having consistent contractions, so my doctor said it was safe to go ahead and go home but not to mess around if anything became more serious. With my history of fast labors and with us living so far away, the thought of being at the hospital and going into labor under medical supervision was a little more tempting, but I wasn't sure, and my doctor did not seem to have a strong opinion either way. Later she told me that she didn't really think I'd make it to Friday anyway.
I went home, and as the evening went on, I noticed more and more contractions. We put the kids to bed at 9 and started timing my contractions, which were then coming every 5 minutes, consistently. After an hour of this, we decided we might as well head to the hospital instead of racing in the middle of the night like we did with Jacob, so we had my mom come over to spend the night since the kids were asleep already. On the way to the hospital, my contractions were 3 minutes apart the whole time, so I was sure we would be staying until the baby was born. They started monitoring me and said that I was "spitting those contractions out like crazy." I went ahead and tried to sleep, knowing that I could have a long night/day ahead of me. As the night went on, my contractions slowed to 4-7 minutes, so after about seven hours, they sent me home. I was a little surprised by this, given my history. But, they said they could not do anything else to help me until I was 39 weeks, which at that point was 18 hours away (yes, I thought this was ridiculous). The on call doctor, who I have never met, was making the decisions. She never even came in my room to talk to me even though she was there! But I knew that my doctor was coming on at 5 pm, so I was kind of relieved to be able wait for her anyway.
I went home and as soon as I walked in the door, I started having some major pressure pains. But I took a bath and a nap and only had occasional contractions as the day went on. I decided I didn't want to keep going back and forth to the hospital, not knowing if it was "it," so I went ahead and scheduled an appointment at the hospital for the next morning, April 11th at 8 am. Since I was basically already halfway through labor, I didn't really consider it an "induction." But as the evening of the 10th went on, I became a little more unsure of my decision. I was just worried that this would make my labor more difficult than my previous labors if my body wasn't quite ready. However, the decision seemed to have more pros than cons, so we continued with the plan.
Before I left in the morning, I read the daily devotion from my Jesus Calling book. I felt that it was very fitting for the day. It said, "This is the day that I have made. Rejoice and be glad in it. Begin the day with open hands of faith, ready to receive all that I am pouring into this brief portion of your life.... Do not worry about tomorrow or get stuck in the past. There is abundant Life in My Presence today." With all that I have been through with this pregnancy, this just really spoke to me. And I was about to receive one of the greatest gifts that God has ever given me.
Josh and I arrived at the hospital at 8 am on Friday morning. Basically nothing happened for the first two hours, except some paperwork and logistics. The most eventful part was when I agreed to let a student worker attempt to start my IV after she told me that she had never done one on a "live person" before. After two painful misses, the other nurse got me going. And in the end, I did not need an IV at all, but I know it's a routine requirement anyway. Around 10 am, my doctor came in and checked to see how my labor had progressed since Wednesday. At this point, they had not done anything, and I was 7 cm and 100% effaced. So really, I was in active labor and unaware of it. I was feeling occasional contractions, but nothing more serious than I had been experiencing for weeks and much less than when I had gone to the hospital 36 hours before. It was a really good thing I was back at the hospital! At 10:10, she went ahead and broke my water and said she'd be right there as soon as I thought something was happening. Since I was already so far along, there was no real discussion of using Pitocin or any other meds. She offered me an epidural, but I've never had one and have always been glad that I didn't, so I was hoping that would be the case this time as well!
Josh and I sat around and talked for awhile. I was chatting with people on Facebook here and there until about 10:40. My contractions were becoming more uncomfortable and irritating. At 11:40, Dr. Young came in to see how I was doing. I told her I was fine in between contractions, and she said just to call her as soon as I didn't feel that way. She left, and I remember that at 11:42, Josh said maybe we'd have a baby soon. I said, "yeah, maybe." But I wasn't really sure. Minutes later, my contractions started picking up and Josh asked if I wanted him to call someone. I said not yet. And then a few minutes later, I said, "oh yes, it's time." Everyone came running in and got everything ready.
Right when everyone was getting in position for delivery, a cell phone started ringing. Josh had been doing work off and on throughout the morning, so I assumed it was his and I admit, I glared at him. He threw his arms up in the air and said, "What, it isn't mine!?" Dr. Young said, "Sorry, it was mine. It's off now." Everyone got a good laugh out of it.
I started pushing some time after 12:00, and Aleah was born at 12:04! I know it sounds quick, but it was by far the most I've ever had to push. I wasn't expecting that! I think a few factors contributed. One is probably that I didn't have to wait on a doctor to push. That was not the case the past two times, which I believe may have given the baby more of a chance to drop on his/her own. Secondly, this was by far my biggest baby! Aleah was 3 lbs. more than Hannah and almost 2 lbs. more than Jacob! And if there's anything that I was disappointed by, it is that the nurse laid me flat on my back right before I started pushing. I have never done that, and I don't think that's a good plan, but I was in too much pain to speak, so I just went with it. I had been sitting up and was hoping to sit up more, not be laid back! And finally, I didn't have anyone "coaching" me. I also was not expecting that. Instead of counting down the pushing with me, they said "just do what comes naturally." Huh?!?! That definitely threw me off guard! Later the nurse said Aleah could have been born in just a couple of pushes if they had been telling me what to do, and I would have preferred that, but it all worked out. I just kept telling myself, "this is the last push." And I had to tell myself that several times. My doctor said I had "more control than some of her epi patients." And everyone in the room laughed when I said that was by far my longest delivery. Dr. Young said she was so glad we went with this plan, otherwise I might not have made it out of my driveway!
After delivery, Aleah got to immediately come to me and stay with me for as long as I wanted. It was great!
After about an hour, I was curious what she weighed, so I let them check that and then give her back to me. The nurse was shocked to see that she was 8 lbs. 13 oz. and 21". She checked out to be a very healthy girl; her APGAR score was one point from perfect. After what I would call a very difficult pregnancy in so many ways, I am very thankful for a fairly uneventful and easy delivery. Praise God for my beautiful, healthy little girl!
