Our Birth Story (Part One)

Well Parker is currently asleep and swinging away so I thought this would be the perfect time to finally share our birth story!

The week started out like any other. Went to work Monday morning, surprising everyone because I had been told at most of my appointments up to then that he would probably be coming "any day now". I guess he was just happy and content in there! On Tuesday, I started to get nervous about not being able to get home in time if I did go into labor at work. Hubby and I talked about it and decided that potentially Wednesday (the 23rd) would be my last day in the office UNLESS I was feeling absolutely fine...then I would just keep working. I was hoping Wednesday would be it because while I was still feeling fine and chugging along...I was starting to get uncomfortable.

Wednesday morning was like any other. Got ready, kissed the husband and the dogs, and went to work. I was sitting at my desk and at 10:10AM (yes I looked at the clock) I got my first "hmmm this is different" contraction. Nothing mind blowing or so painful I couldn't keep working, but it was different enough for me to take notice. Felt like a strong menstrual cramp. I of course still wasn't sure if "that was it" or if it was just another Braxton-Hicks contraction, but I called Hubby and texted my mom to let them know. Hubby said to just note the time and start keeping track of them. I kept working and at 11:15AM I got another one. A little stronger but still nothing that caused me great alarmed. I did find that walking down the hall to restroom helped but I wasn't sure that I needed to leave just yet and I'm sure people would start wondering why I was going to the bathroom so much!

Since it was potentially my last day in the office, the girls and I decided to "picnic" during lunch (we eat together in the conference room instead of alone...in isolation at our desks) and while I didn't say anything to them, I did take notice when I got another contraction around 12:00PM. This one was a little stronger. I had called the birth center by this point and they had said to just keep them updated but it didn't sound like I needed to come in quite yet. I was both relieved and disappointed. After we finished lunch, I went back to my office and called Hubby and told him that I was going to head home, just in case. I told the girls in the office, and my boss (who looked panicked that I was still sitting there...I think he was afraid my entire pregnancy that I was going to give birth in my desk chair) that I was going to go ahead and go home, so I finished up a few things and headed out around 1:00PM.

I called my mom and Hubby on the way home. Hubby was on his way to Wal-Mart to pick up a cooler to take the birth center (yeah...we probably should have purchased that before but oh well) and was going to meet me at home. Throughout both conversations, I started to get a few more contractions that were coming a little more frequently but nothing regular. I did have to stop talking a few times while driving so I could breath through them, and focus on not crashing. While the contractions were getting a little stronger, I still wasn't convinced that "this was it" because it wasn't completely awful.

I got home around 2:00PM and told Hubby to call the birth center. They typically want you to wait until the contractions are 5-1-1 (5 minutes apart, lasting for 1 minute, for 1 hour) until you come in, but since I had already been dilated (at a 4 at my last appointment) and we live about 45 minutes away (close to an hour or so with traffic) I didn't want to run out of time. They told us to go ahead and come on it, just in case, and Beverly our birth assistant told us to go ahead and hurry. I figured we still had time so Hubby loaded the car and called my mom while I jumped in the shower. He then hosed off and at 3:00PM, we pulled out of the driveway, just in time for me to get a fairly strong contraction. Shockingly enough I still wasn't nervous.

I went ahead and sent out my mass text to everyone that we were on our way, so all of the "good lucks" and "how exciting!" were good distractions as the contractions kept coming. We started to note the time and noticed that at this point they were coming about every 5 minutes. They started to get to the point where I needed to just close my eyes, grab Hubby's arm, and breath. This helped...A LOT. It wasn't constant pain, like I was being stabbed or something, it was just uncomfortable when I would get a contraction and back to normal between them.

As we got closer to the center, we hit traffic. Awesome. One of my fears. I didn't panic, just let Hubby handle it and before I knew it, at 4:00PM we were parking the car and headed inside. Beverly was there to meet us and took us into one of the birth rooms. She asked how things were going, noted when I had another contraction...and then another...and said that they were coming pretty close together. I continued to just breath through them but at this point, I did have to stop and lean over the bed to find a comfortable position until they passed. I said I wasn't sure this was it but was fairly certain and she said she would go ahead and check my progress to find out. Her eyes got a little bigger as she told me that I was dilated to between a 6 and a 7 and that we were not going home without a baby. She also said that she was fairly certain that we would have a baby before dinner time, specifically 6:00PM. I remember thinking...wow...okay, well that is in 2 hours...and that is when I got a little nervous.

To be continued...