I woke up approximately 2:30ish just feeling pretty crampy. I laid there for a little bit and then around 3:15, I started to feel the contractions. At first, I was thinking, what was that??? Then, I noticed them coming quite frequently so I remembered from our baby class to get up and walk around. Apparently if it is false labor, the contractions go away and real labor, the contractions don't change. So I got up, went to the restroom, then decided I should start to time them. They started off about 10 minutes apart, then soon became about 7-9 minutes apart. I kept laying there watching the time go by then decided to get up about 5:00am and take a shower. Again, to see if they would go away. As I was getting ready, Tanner heard me up and didn't think much as to why I was already awake since we had to be at the hospital by 7:00am. He told me that he couldn't sleep...yada, yada, yada and I told him I couldn't sleep either because of the contractions I was having. His response was, "Really? Contractions?". I made it through getting ready and we drove off to the hospital. Tanner was so excited and nervous and could hardly focus or sit still. Myself on the other hand, I actually felt no nerves or anything. I was ready to get the show on the road.
When we arrived at the hospital, we were greeted by Tanner's sister, who worked the night shift and was getting off work just as we were coming in. She took me to my room, introduced me to my nurse and we got things moving quite quickly. We were checked in and completed all of the questions the nurse had for me, got my IV started and then the doctor came in and broke my water at 8:15am. I was so concerned that they weren't going to let me walk around and that they were going to go ahead and start the pitocin since they were planning on inducing me. Luck was on my side as they let me walk out labor. The contractions were definitely getting a lot stronger and closer together but I was able to walk through them pretty well. We walked for an hour, then the nurse checked me again. I went from being 3 cm dilated to 5 cm in the one hour.
So back to the halls we went. This time, it was completely different. Tanner and I couldn't get down one hallway without having one sometimes even two contractions. I was in a lot of pain but wanted to walk through them. I hung onto Tanner and the hallway rail for pretty much the entire hour, debating whether or not to get an epidural. Tanner told me that it was completely up to me but he would feel much better if I got one. We finally made it back to the room and my contractions were pretty much unbearable. I tried just about every position to make myself more comfortable and all of the different breathing techniques they taught us in our class and nothing seemed to help. Tanner whispered in my ear, "do you want me to have the nurse request for the epidural?". I just nodded my head, yes.
It seemed like an hour later the anesthesiologist finally came into the room; Tanner said it was actually just 10 minutes later though. The doctor prepared me for my epidural and talked to me about what I was going to experience. I'm sorry, but she did not explain it the way I actually experienced it. When the needle entered my backbone it felt like an electrical shock going up and down my back, but once my epidural was working I felt a million times better. All I can say is that the epidural was a life savor. I totally recommend it to everyone.
The rest of labor seemed to fly by. I was progressing quickly and by late afternoon I was dilated to a 10 and ready to push. Once the doctor arrived we started off with what he called "practice pushing", but apparently I needed no practice. After 2 sets of pushes the doctor yelled, "stop pushing!" and quickly scrambled to changed into his delivery get up. Three pushes later...
Welcome Baby Griffin Dean!!!
9 lbs 9.4 oz.
20 1/2 in.
5:44 pm
9 lbs 9.4 oz.
20 1/2 in.
5:44 pm
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