Baby's Birth Date: July 9, 2008
Baby's Weight: 7 pounds, 11.4 ounces
Baby's Height: 20 inches
Harrisburg, PA
Around 8:30, I turned on Food Network and stood up to grab a knitting project to work on when my water suddenly broke. I looked at my husband and couldn't think of anything else to say other than "Uhh, I think my water just broke."
"I jumped into the shower immediately and tried to gather my thoughts. What do I do now? Do I call the hospital or my doctor? Where is my insurance card? Did I remember to pack Jason enough socks? When will I get to eat that rice pudding that I just made from scratch?!"
"I dried off and got dressed, shaking with a mixture of excitement and nervousness. I spent a few minutes staring blankly at our labor and hospital bags. I had packed pretty much everything in the bedroom - enough clothes for a week-long vacation, knitting projects, a bag of snacks, multiple books... and about a dozen other things that I never did use."
"I decided to call my doctor's office at nine o' clock in order to figure out our hospital plans. I wasn't having strong contractions yet, so my midwife said that it would be safe to wait until 6:00 a.m. to go to the hospital. She asked for my general birth plan and wished us luck. As soon as I hung up the phone I had my first strong contraction. It certainly wasn't pleasant, but not nearly as bad as I was expecting. Not wanting to head to the hospital too early, I spend an hour or so fluttering throughout the apartment in the best mood that I had been in for weeks. Around ten or so, I noticed that my contractions were approximately five minutes apart and becoming steadily stronger. This was our cue to load up the car."
"We loaded our ridiculously huge amount of labor items into the car and started toward Harrisburg Hospital. Within minutes of our arrival, we were already comfortably settled into our labor and deliver suite. My first priority was to test out the Jacuzzi tub. It felt amazing to relax in the hot water. A few minutes later my nurse-midwife, Amy, came in with popsicles. I was amazed by how my issues with modesty were so easily put aside. I honestly had never been so happy to see a popsicle."
"My first exam results showed that I was 4 cm dilated and 100% effaced. I let a few hours pass and strolled around the halls until the contractions finally started getting painful enough that I needed to sit down through them. At 3 a.m., my midwife noticed that my contractions were getting stronger and asked if I would like an IV of Stadol to help me sleep through the contractions. I graciously accepted and promptly passed out until 5 a.m. when I decided to try the Jacuzzi again. Jason, in much need of a nap, was dozing on the sofa when I came out of the bathroom. I sat in my bed for a few minutes, still woozy from the Stadol, attempting to assess just how much pain I was feeling from my contractions. I suddenly felt a great urge to bear down and the pain that came along with it was almost unbearable. Although I had been against the use of an epidural from the moment I discovered that I was pregnant, I quickly understood why many women elected to have one. Thinking that I was still only 4 or 5 cm dilated, I woke Jason and asked him to page the nurse to start the epidural process."
"The nurses were quick to come to my aid, but decided to do an internal exam before administering the epidural. The exam showed that I was a little over 9 cms dilated and that Lexi's head was in the proper position for pushing. "So what now?" was all I could think of asking. "Well, now you have a baby!" was Amy's response."
"I started pushing at a quarter ‘til six and about 25 minutes later, Lexi was born. Jason's excitement and energy saw me through the last painful pushes. The midwife handed her to Jason to put onto my stomach. It was both the hardest and easiest thing I had ever done in my life. From that point on, we could do nothing except stare at out perfect little girl."