For the past week or 2, I had been having braxton hicks about 15 minutes apart constantly. On Monday (the 22nd) I had my 38 week appt and non-stress test at 3pm. During the test the little guy was going crazy! He moved pretty much the whole time. I also was having quite a few contractions. The doctor checked me and said I was dilated to a 3 and 50% effaced. I was pleased that all the contractions seemed to have been doing something! For the rest of the afternoon/evening I was having more contractions than usual and was also kinda crampy. I didn't think too much of it though because the dr exams can make you cramp a little. Still, all the contractions were making me a little more uneasy so I decided to try to get some projects done. I sat at the sewing machine and tried to sew some burp cloths. That didn't last too long. Around 9pm the contractions were coming consistently 7 minutes apart and were more painful. I still was mostly in denial and just assuming they would stop soon. So Ben and I went to bed, where Ben fell quickly asleep and I continued to time my contractions, which were becoming more intense. They were still coming every 6-7 minutes until around midnight. Then they were every 4ish minutes. I woke up Ben and told him that I didn't think the contractions were going to go away. So I called the Dr and they told me to go to the hospital and they would see what was going on. We called our neighbors/friends from the ward and the husband came over and slept on our couch for the night. Then we were off to the hospital... after we stopped for gas.
By the time we got to the hospital my contractions were really painful and coming about 3-4 minutes apart. I think the first question I asked was if they had an anesthesiologist on sight (with James I had to wait an hour for one to come). Luckily it was a busy night for babies and there was one there already! The doctor came and checked me and I was dilated to a 6! We weren't going anywhere- this was the real deal. They got me hooked up to an IV, fluids started, etc. I was in extreme pain by this point (I don't know how anyone does that natural). I'm embarrassed (except not really) to admit I was one of those ladies screaming in the hospital bed. After what seemed like FOREVER but was probably only an hour I finally had my epidural. Oh that blessed epidural. Whoever invented that is my HERO. After that kicked in I could finally talk (other than screaming "I can't do this" and "I need something!") and I finished answering the million and one questions the nurse was asking. During this time I was feeling A TON of pressure, which I kept telling the nurse and she would say "okay, we'll check you in just a minute" That lasted for like another hour (I really have no sense of the time, I'm just quesstimating), then she finally checked me. I was all dilated and effaced, but my water still hadn't broke. She called the doctor in, and they broke my water and had me start pushing. 5 Pushes and a few short minutes later we had ourselves another baby boy!
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| one happy camper with my epidural |
This whole recovery process has so far been way different than James's. Different in a good way! No broken tailbones, and so far the nursing is going well! James has been so cute with Theo. When he first met him he was a little confused. But he really warmed up to him, and he will smile and giggle every time he sees "baby". So far Theo has already been hit, kicked in the head (not hard don't worry), etc. I'm excited to see their relationship grow.
We got to come home wednesday night! So far we have survived one whole day at home with 2 kids... or should I say 2 babies? Luckily my mom is coming in tonight, and my dad is actually coming tomorrow for a few days! Yay for grandparents!
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| ready to go home |
We barely all fit in our small car!
