A year later and here it is.

Since the time I had gotten pregnant with William I have worried about not knowing when I was in actual labor. In fact, I was having a tough time even knowing what Braxton hicks were. I could never pinpoint what was exactly happening in and around my belly. Were they the same thing as menstrual cramps? Where would I feel it? My stomach? My back? I had no idea!

However, I could tell something was different Thursday, April 23^rd (at just 38 weeks pregnant) when I arrived at school. I was just feeling a little “off” and in reality I had been feeling this way since after my run the night before. I was definitely feeling menstrual-like cramps, but they were mostly in my back. And honestly, I had never heard of “back labor.” The only real clue I had that something was happening was how consistent they were. I would feel them and then they would go away for about 5 minutes. It was so regular that I decided to give my mom a call and see what she thought. (Side note: she is a sonographer and works in an OB/GYN office). I told her everything that was happening and her response was, “ I think you might be in the early stages of labor.” I had so many different feelings at that point. Thank goodness! I am so ready to meet this baby! But also, holy cow I am in labor! This is going to be the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

She continued to tell me to track my contractions and see EXACTLY how consistent they were. So that’s what I did for the next 2 hours of teaching. I grabbed a sticky note and tracked how long each contraction was and what the spacing was between them. Looking back, it was pretty comical how many times I stopped during teaching to see the length of the contraction. Nevertheless, the kids were such great sports about it.

Around 10:00 am I took my kids to specials and called the nurse. It was such an awkward phone conversation. Basically she asked me “if I had thought about not being at work?” and suggested that I go home. She told me not to go to the hospital until my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart. I had no idea what to do! I knew she said to go home, but could I really be in labor?! I had scheduled to start taking my maternity leave the following week and had nothing ready to just get up and leave for the day, or the year! I called my husband and told him what was happening (later found out he too did not believe I was in labor) and we decided it was best if I went home.

After I sent my kids out to recess, I went to the office and told my principal that I was pretty sure I was going into labor (again not convinced that this was it). She immediately told me to go home and offered to drive me. I assured her I would be fine getting home, but was worried about my class (classic teacher move). She told me “not to worry, they would take care of everything!” I felt some relief in knowing this and packed up my computer and headed home.

When I got to our very packed up house (we moved in 5 days prior and everything was still in boxes) I quickly started packing a hospital bag (yup, did not have one). Once that was done I laid on my left side on the couch, taking note of each contraction. They seemed to be getting closer, so I called my husband and told him it might be a good idea to come home. Clearly you can tell what amateurs we are.

Once my husband got home we continued to track my minor, but consistent contractions. (I know they were minor now but I definitely didn’t think that then!) After an hour, they were intensifying and three minutes apart so we decided to head to the hospital. Looking back, it was way too early for the hospital but as first time parents we had no idea how quickly/intense it would get and we were tired of waiting around.

We checked into the hospital and they sent us up to our first room. This is where they monitored my contractions and checked my cervix. I was only at 3 CM and my contractions were further apart then we thought (about 4 to 5 minutes). Ugghhh. The nurse said that she would check on me in 2 hours and if my water didn’t break or my contractions didn’t get closer together, I would have to go home….WHAT? No way!

5:00 PM: Checking into Labor and Delivery  

Two uneventful hours later of walking up and down the hall, the nurse checked me again. Luckily I had gone from 3CM to 6CM and the nurse said we were good to check in to labor and delivery. Thank the Lord!

We checked into our room and a new nurse got us all set up. Here I sat for another hour while being monitored. Nurse shifts changed and we met the nurse that would get me through the most agonizing several hours of my life. She was such a sweetheart who did everything in her power for the next couple hours to make sure we were comfortable.

9:00 PM: Water breaking

Around this time, we were still sitting at about 7 CM and having contractions every 3 minutes. I was still feeling pretty “good,” so I told Mike to go to the cafeteria and grab some dinner. After he left, I decided to walk around the room a little bit when all of a sudden…GUSH! Water was everywhere! And of course no one was in my room at the time. I had no idea what to do, so I went to the bathroom to get some paper towels and I felt another GUSH! I grabbed my phone and texted Mike “um…my water just broke!”

Honestly, I was so excited at this point. I figured it meant we were so close to meeting our little babe, but boy was I wrong. Cue the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life (sorry to anyone who has not had a baby yet). The next contractions were absolutely horrendous. Not to freak anyone out, but I was a pretty hardcore division 1 athlete and I have never felt so much pain in my life.

When my husband got back, he did everything in his power to try and comfort me, but NOTHING worked! Literally nothing! He would say really motivating things to me or a Hail Mary and all I could think of was, “Why is he talking right now?!” or he would be completely silent and rub my back and then all I could think of was, “Why is he not talking?!” Basically a win win for Mike….HA!

He was such a trooper and got me through the worst contractions. I got to a point where I physically did not think my body or mind could handle anymore and asked Mike if I should get an epidural (our original plan was an all natural birth). He was very supportive and we ordered one right after that. I was relieved to know that the pain was going to go away, but I had two obstacles in my way before then: first, I had to get attached to an IV and get about 70 % of fluid in me before we could get prepped for the epidural and second, I had to be perfectly still when they gave me the epidural and I would go through one maybe two contractions. Both of these felt like an impossible feat. The fluid seemed to take FOREVER and I was positive that I could not sit still during a contraction, I could barely remain conscious. Luckily, I was able to get through both and when that epidural finally kicked in, it was magical.

11:00 pm : Pushing

The doctor came in and checked on me, she told us that I was at 10 CM and 100 % effaced. It was time to get ready to start pushing. At this point we weren’t sure if we would have an April 23^rd birthday or an April 24^th birthday. We knew that the first birth normally takes longer, but we were hopeful that we would see our babe soon.

I was never more determined to accomplish something in my entire life. With every push, our nurse and Mike gave me the most positive encouragement. “That was a great push! You are so strong.” “Keep going…keep going.” “You’re going great!” I honestly could not have done it without either one of them.

Unfortunately, this went on for THREE AND A HALF agonizing hours. It felt like no progress was being made. With each contraction I felt like I was losing my mind. I had no idea how to cope with the longest workout of my life and internally was moving further and further away from reality. Every time the doctor came in, she would tell us the same thing. “You are so close!” “I need you to keep pushing.” But, we tried everything and I was past the point of not having an ounce of energy left. I was delirious, exhausted and oh so nauseous!

Another hour later, the doctor came back and checked me again. This time she gave us a few options due to William’s position (basically he was stuck under my pelvic bone and all the pushing in the world would probably not get him out). Our new options were: we could either do a C-section or use forceps to get the baby out. She explained both options and once I heard that forceps required more pushing, I had my mind made up…C-section it is. However, I am so fortunate that Mike was there to talk some sense into me. He made the doctor talk us through exactly what each one meant and knowing our original birth plan, we decided to go with the forceps.

(If you do not know what forceps are, they basically look like giant salad tongs that are used to literally pull the baby out…ouch.)

Delivery

While we were waiting for my second round of epidural to kick in, the nurses and doctor prepared everything for delivery. We had nurses, residents and my doctor in the room helping and watching this delivery and as long as this baby came out safe and sound, I couldn’t care less how many people were in the room.

It took them several tries to get the forceps around the baby’s head and when they did, it was time to push harder than I ever had before. It took us two rounds of pushing for them to finally pull him out. They announced “boy” and then quickly took him over to the nursing station to make sure everything was ok. Mike and I rejoiced in happy tears as our SON had finally made his way into the world.

After they checked to make sure everything was ok with William’s vitals, they placed that sweet baby boy on my chest and it was the best feeling in the world. I felt an overwhelming sense of accomplishment, love and gratitude.

The next two hours we had alone with our little man. We held him and kissed him and soaked up every minute as a family of three. It was the best day of our life.

Because of William’s forceps birth, there were a few things that we were not able to do: I never heard the typical “oh, I see the head. Keep pushing.” And Mike wasn’t able to cut the umbilical cord. His birth was not normal by any means, but it brought us the most amazing little boy and we could not imagine our life without him. We love you, William Michael!