Ready or Not, Here I Come!

Wednesday, December 7th, 2011
I woke up in a wet bed. It was just after 8:30am and I was pleased to have been able to sleep in that morning. I wasn't so pleased by how I was awoken. My water had broken. I know many women doubt when that happens, wondering if they had peed instead, but I knew exactly what it was. I slowly climbed out of bed and made my way to the bathroom, where more amniotic fluid trickled out. I began the process of preparing myself for the day...brushing my teeth, washing my face and adding a small bit of makeup, brushing my hair, dressing myself, etc. I did all of this while sitting down on the closed toilet seat. Every time I stood up, there would be another gush and I would have to change the sanitary pad. Blah! So, I sent out the calls to let everyone know what was going on and Brian made his way home from work. Then, hunched over (walking that way seemed to prevent any gushes) I woke the girls and got them dressed. With their help I finished packing my hospital bag. Luckily, there wasn't much left to put in there. I sent the girls downstairs to eat breakfast while they waited for help to arrive. We had friends from church coming over to watch the kids.

Sitting there waiting for Brian to arrive I could only feel a bit of disbelief. After all, this was happening a full two weeks earlier than my due date. That had never happened in the course of my previous four pregnancies. All my other babies were either late or induced a week early or right on time (Lena on her due date.) Of course I realize that the due date is set right in the middle of when the baby could arrive. Two weeks earlier or two weeks later was not unusual. But for me, it certainly wasn't expected. I had been nesting, so I had the majority of things done and ready. We didn't have a car seat, though, since we ordered a new one online and were waiting for it to be delivered (it arrived that very day.) And the bassinet hadn't been set up, but that wasn't time consuming so Brian could easily assemble it later. We were ready by most people's standards.

But, as you know from my last post, I wasn't. Emotionally I wasn't prepared for the baby to arrive. I wanted more time. The little one inside of me had other ideas, however. It was like he was calling out, "Ready or not! Here I come!" 

The hospital is literally only five minutes from our house so there was no mad dash to get there like there was when we lived in Kentucky. We had toured the hospital that very Sunday before so we knew exactly where to go and what to do. At the Labor and Delivery desk we were checked in and I was taken to a room, where I was informed that they wouldn't usually do so without thoroughly confirming my bag of waters had broken but since this was my fifth child they didn't want to take any chances. As if I wouldn't know by now, after four live births, how this went! Still, they had to check to be sure even though I had just discarded a sanitary pad full of clear amniotic fluid. According to the nurse, doctors give them the third degree so they have to do the same to us to make sure before calling them into the hospital. Having that confirmed, I went through the normal routine of getting an IV, putting external monitors on for the baby and my contractions, which I was having none at the time. I am one of the 5% of women who have their water break before contractions begin. The same thing happened when I had Lena. The doctor swooped in shortly after and checked me out, ordered pitocin to get the contractions going, and said she would return after lunch unless needed earlier. I settled in for a long day.

Lunchtime arrived and I had not dilated as much as the doctor would have liked so my pitocin level was upped. I hadn't really felt much of the contractions though I was 4cm. About thirty minutes later the contractions were rolling in big and strong. It was still nothing I couldn't handle, though. The nurse asked if I wanted an epidural. I declined at the moment, thinking I could hold off until I was uncomfortable. I enjoy witnessing the birth of my children relaxed and not struggling to control the pain. Having given birth with and without complete pain relief, I knew having an epidural would provide me with a better opportunity to take in the first few moments of my child's life.

Then the back pain kicked in. I had always heard that back pain was horrible. Now, I knew it to be true. There was no relief from this pain. It was constant and consumed my back, hips, and radiated down my legs. I had no rest between contractions. At 5cm, I asked if I could get that epidural. I had always waited until 8cm before but the back pain took it to a whole new level. My request was added to the list of waiting mothers.

I huffed and puffed and was soon at 6cm. No epidural. I squirmed and moaned and made it to 7cm. Still no epidural. As the urge to push set in, I knew in the back of my head that my window for pain relief had passed. I was at 8cm and quickly nearly 9. The nurse said I could try to hold off by cutting the pitocin or I could go for it and she would up the pitocin. I was in mid contraction so I told her "I don't care!" LOL She cut the pitocin. It didn't matter, this baby was on his way. "Ready or not! Here I come!" The doctor arrived just in time. Nurses hurried to set up delivery equipment. I tried not to push until they were ready. An EMT student asked permission to watch the birth. At that point, I really could care less. All I wanted to do was to push! Finally, it was time to get the baby out. Push! Push! Push! The pushing was not nearly as bad as the back labor. I did tear. For the first time, I had broken blood vessels all over my face and neck from pushing. But that little baby boy came out and was absolute perfection.

Taite Dowell Gaskin was born at 4:24pm weighing in at 8.67lbs and was 21.5 inches long. I was relieved that he had decided to arrive before it was estimated. I did not want to have a ten pounder. I was relieved and I was....exhausted. I had been pushing with my eyes clamped shut so I did not get to see his birth as I would have liked (in a mirror.) I was so tired afterward, I struggled to keep my eyes open to cuddle with him, answer questions from the doctor and nurse, and watch as he underwent the Apgar test. He passed with a 9, of course. Ah, labor is aptly named!

Having been home a week today, I have realized that my schedule is flexible. I can adapt to this new arrival much easier than I expected. I have realized that having a newborn is probably the easiest stage of child rearing. And, I have realized that no matter how many children I have, there is still room in my heart for another.