Wednesday, September 29th
I was off work on Wednesday but scheduled to work on Thursday. I had been miserable at work for awhile because of swollen ankles and sore hips, so I was contemplating calling in on Thursday and talking to Dr. Harper on Friday morning at my 38 week appointment about coming out of work until after the baby was born. I ended up calling the doctor's office on Wednesday afternoon and they faxed a work excuse putting me out beginning on Thursday until January 2nd. It was hard to believe I didn't have to go back to work!
Thursday, September 30th
I began having some mild cramps on Thursday, but I didn't think they were contractions because I only felt them in the lower part of my abdomen instead of all over and my belly wasn't tensing up. I talked to Kristen (my own personal Labor & Delivery nurse!) and she said they could be, but they might not. Either way, I was glad not to be at work!
Friday, October 1st
I had an appointment with Dr. Harper Friday morning for my 38 week check-up. He asked me if I wanted him to check my cervix (Um...of course!! Why else am I here?!?) and I was 1.5-2 cm dilated. He said we would go ahead and make an appointment for Tuesday, October 5th, but he didn't think I would need it. He felt with my dilation and the beginning of contractions, I would probably go before then.
After we left the doctor's office, Thomas and I went to lunch at Cheddar's and then to do some last minute shopping. All morning and all through lunch, the contractions I had been feeling were getting stronger and stronger, but nothing unbearable.
Once we got home, we went over to Aunt Charlotte's house to take some belly pictures because I'd been wanting to do it and time was getting away from us! We had a good time taking them in her yard and then at our house in the nursery. Even Scarlett got in on the action!As the afternoon went on, the contractions were getting stronger and stronger...
That night, we went to Mikata's to celebrate Kristen's birthday. During dinner, I would tell my mom when I started a contraction and when the next one started. They were about 5-7 minutes apart at this point. I was also having to get up every now and then to walk around because I was getting uncomfortable. Before we left to go home, Kristen said half-jokingly that we should go on to the hospital because I was probably going to have the baby that night, but I didn't think I was, so we went on home. The contractions started getting stronger and more painful the closer we got to home and once we got there, I noticed my bloody show when I went to the bathroom. I of course was freaking out because it looked like a lot and I was worried about a possible placental abruption (thanks to my job working in the NNICU!). I was also having trouble completing sentences because of the pain and Kristen had already told me that was a sign I was getting close. I called Kristen and she said I should probably go on in, but to go ahead and call the doctor and he would probably tell me the same thing. Dr. Carlton was on-call that night and once he called me back and I told him what was going on, he said to go in to OB Assessment, they would put me on the monitor, and let him know what was going on.
We checked in to the hospital at 11:50 PM. In OB Assessment, they put me on the monitor, did a urine sample, checked my blood pressure, and did a cervical check. I was 4 cm dilated and 90% effaced, but my water had not broken yet. The nurse told us that I would be staying because I was already 4 cm, but they had to call the doctor any way.
Once confirmed, they moved me to my room and I was able to put on my cute gown my mom made me (it's monogrammed of course)!
After arriving in my room, my nurse came in and started my IV (one stick...yay!) and fluids. I had to have a liter of fluid before getting my epidural. At this point, my contractions were painful, but I was breathing through them and handling it okay. I had planned to do some walking and maybe bouncing on the exercise ball we bought, but I decided to go ahead with the epidural about 1:30 AM so that I wouldn't have to deal with worsening contractions while he put it in. I did have one or two during the insertion, but it wasn't too bad and Kristen helped me breathe through the pain. And may I just say, epidurals are absolutely fabulous! It was great to be able see my contractions on the monitor, but not feel them at all! After the pain from the contractions was under control, my sweet little girl decided to keep her feet pushing upwards and gave me the worst heartburn of my life! The nurse gave me a Pepcid, but it didn't work at all. They decided to give me this oral medication that tasted horrible, but it worked. It worked until they had to lay me flat to check my progress. All the acid came back and I was miserable. That's what kept me from getting a good night's rest...heartburn, not contractions! The doctor wasn't planning on coming in until the morning to break my water, so all I had to do was try and get some sleep. Not an easy task with the heartburn and the nurses coming in to check me and empty my bladder. And there was nothing on TV! So we ended up watching a marathon of "Who's The Boss?" on TV Land.
About 7 AM, shift change occurred and my nurse, Renee, came on. She is absolutely amazing! While my night nurse was good, she didn't have much to do but maintain me because the doctor wasn't coming in until the morning. When Renee came in, she laid out the plan of what we were going to do, when we were going to do it, and how we were going to it. She said we'd have a baby by lunch. Dr. Carlton came in shortly afterwards and broke my water...clear fluid-yay! After he left, Renee said we were going to sit me up and let gravity do it's thing to help bring the baby down. Once I'd been sitting up for awhile, Renee wanted to do some practice pushes. After trying a few, I wasn't getting the hang of it because I couldn't feel where I was pushing and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to push effectively when the time came. Renee said she didn't think Amelia had a lot of hair because she couldn't feel it. I found that hard to believe if the old wives tale of a lot of heartburn = a lot of hair was true!
A little while later, I started having break-through pain and the anesthesiologist came in to give me another dose of pain medicine in my epidural. Once my pain was better controlled, we started doing some more practice pushes, this time with better pushing on my part. With each push, Amelia would drop down, but after pushing, she would go back up. By this point, Renee changed her mind and said that Amelia had a head full of hair! We got the word that Dr. Carlton had gone to his son's football game, but that he was about 15 minutes away. So we did some more pushing to get ready for his arrival. After pushing through about five contractions, Renee told me to stop because the head was almost out and we needed to wait for the doctor. Then she said, "Well, she's blinking at me so we better keep on going!" Kristen yelled out in the hall to get a resident in the room.
Amelia then arrived at 10:57 AM!
When they put her on my chest, the Respiratory Therapist in me came out and I said, "Kristen, she's not pinking up. I think she needs some O2." She said, "No she's fine." And then I felt at the base of her umbilical cord to feel her pulse to make sure it was strong. I can't quit doing my job even when I'm having a baby! 
She was fine of course (Apgars 8 and 9) and they took her to the warmer bed to get cleaned up a little bit.
I only needed 3 stitches and after those were done, they brought her to me and we tried breastfeeding. She went right to breast! Hallelujah! After doing that for a little bit, they took her to the nursery to give her a bath and get her measurements.
While she was getting cleaned up and ogled at through the window by lots of family, I was eating a little bit of lunch and getting moved to my postpartum room. Once there, they brought her to me and then we had lots of visitors. They didn't stay long though so we could get some rest. I must admit, I had a pretty easy go of things and wasn't in a lot of pain. I was able to get around comfortably and get a much-needed shower. Our night in the hospital was pretty decent...for Amelia and I anyway. Thomas didn't sleep well on the pull-out sofa and the nurse was having to come in every few hours to check our vital signs. I wish I could say the breastfeeding continued to go well. She started biting and wasn't latching on very well. That was worse than the labor pain! The lactation consultant was a God-send! She showed me some different positions and we were able to get through the night.
Sunday, October 3rd
We dressed Amelia in her going-home outfit that my mom made. So beautiful and special! She took smocking lessons from a friend and it turned out so pretty! She also added buttons to the sleeves that she had when she was learning to sew as a teenager. Such a neat touch!
We had a nice afternoon of visiting with family and friends and once everyone was gone, the adventure of parenthood began...
