Last Friday night I began feeling mild menstrual like cramping. Nothing new there! I had been feeling this way on and off for a while now. It felt like it was about to pick up, but just wouldn’t. So, I asked hubby to help me out, not believing it actually would since it hadn’t worked the previous times. But I was SO done being pregnant, I gave it a try any way.
And I am so glad I did. A few minutes later, the pain picked up and it started to feel like contractions. They were all over the place though, not regular at all. Had them on and off throughout the night which kept me from having a decent night of sleep, for a change! I noticed they would happen more often when I was laying down which made me think it was false labor. I cleaned a bit and rested a bit between contractions. Throughout the day they were mostly 10 mins apart. Sometimes they were 8 minutes apart … When I called labor and delivery, they told me to go in when they’d be 5 mins apart. I didn’t think it would ever be the case, and was still thinking it was false alarm even though they were getting too painful to handle.
It got to a point where anything would trigger contractions: walking, sitting down, laying down. So they were happening constantly, back to back. The closest ones were 6 minutes apart. By that time, we were at my mom’s. We had stopped by for a visit, and I am glad we did because we left Helena there, made a quick stop at home to get a few things, and headed to the hospital.
When we got to the hospital, I thought it was probably going to be just a waste of time. I thought I wouldn’t be dilated at all yet, or I would be maybe just 1-2 cm dilated, and they’d tell me to go home.
As we were waiting to be assessed, I had another bad one that brought me to tears, which was good, because they really focused on me now. They got our info quickly and then checked to see how dilated I was right away. I couldn’t believe it when she said I was 5cm and I was having a baby “tonight”. That was around 9 p.m, Saturday, June 13.
I was concerned it could be getting too late to get an epidural so I asked for one right away. She said the doctor was at the O.R and there were three other patients ahead of me. That really scared me, I was afraid I would have to go til the end without drugs. The pain was too strong and it was making me exhausted. I wanted to be able to rest before pushing!
But I Kept working my way through each contraction with the help of the nurse, who was so nice! I couldn’t believe how much it was hurting!! My ob came in to see me. My water hadn’t broken yet and she was going to break it, but decided to postpone it til I’d get my epidural or else my labor would progress too quickly, and no time for my drugs!
I was about 7 cm when the doctor finally came in and gave me the epidural. The procedure itself is painful and I was almost regretting getting it when I had one last contraction during the procedure. That one was so bad it reassured me about my choice. The other moms screaming in the rooms close to mine also reassured me of my choice hahaha
After I got the epidural, I could still feel the contractions. Not as painful, but pretty intense still which kept me from sleeping, but I still got to relax and rest before pushing. Dan got to nap for a couple of hours, too, which was great.
It didn’t take long from 7cm to 9cm, but I was stuck at 9 for the longest time, probably for about a couple of hours. Olivia was having a hard time getting low enough for me to start pushing. The doctor, which happened to be the doctor I saw the most at mom care docs, was the one taking care of me. It made a huge difference knowing the doctor and the resident – when I had Helena I didn’t know any of them. The doctor was so nice, so relaxed that it helped me rela, too. She said we were going to push Olivia down before actually pushing her out. And so we did, I pushed for a bit just to get her low enough. Once we did that, I got to 10cm right away. They started to get ready for me to push. I overheard the doc asking for them to have a NICU team ready because I was delivering a “toddler” lol.
I finally started to push. It was hard. Harder than pushing Helena out! I was giving my all, but she kept going back in as her head just wouldn’t go through. Her head finally went through, but then her shoulders were stuck a bit. They didn’t come out as quickly and easily as Helena’s did. Once her shoulders went through, that was it!
I pushed for 21 minutes, and Olivia was born June 14, 2015, at 2:56 a.m, weighing 8lbs 1oz. But she didn’t cry! It was the scariest moment of our lives. Instead of tears of joy, we were freaked out! After Dan cut the cord, she was blue, completely blue and wouldn’t cry. So they took her to the side where they put a tube in to suck the liquids out, and massaged her chest. I was looking at the clock and it was almost 3 am when she finally started to cry. They said she didn’t breathe for 45 seconds, but I honestly think it was longer! She cried so quietly, but she cried! I was still worried, but once I had her on my chest, she began to get some color which was good.
After all of the procedure was done, including stitching me up (only 3 stitches), I got to nurse her right away. Oh my GOD! I couldn’t believe how quick she got the hang of it!
The hospital was packed! So many June babies, so we were not able to get a private room which I hated!
Call me fussy, but I hated having to share the bathroom, especially with the person I did. She was not courteous at all ! She would use the washroom and not clean her blood off the toilet seat! I had to wipe it off every time I would use the toilet. Unlike her, I was courteous enough to keep it clean for the next use.
I got really sad when they told Dan to leave because visitation hours don’t start until 8 am. Oh my, I just had a baby and was forced to be alone! I needed help with things like going to the washroom because my right leg was so numb and I didn’t want to have to call the nurse every single time!
I told them I wanted to leave right away, as soon as I possibly could. They said they needed Olivia to pee and poop before discharging us. I told them it was ok, but I wanted to be discharged as soon as she’d poop regardless of the time.
I could not believe how good I was feeling. It did not feel like I had giving birth at all! My whole body felt good, not sore, not tired. I napped for a bit after pushing and it had been enough, unlike with Helena where I napped for a really long time after giving birth!
My mom stayed with me during the day while Dan spent time with Helena. Helena came over to visit us a couple of times. I was so happy to see how well she welcomed her sister – that is a whole other post in itself.
Then when visiting hour was over, Helena and Dan came over again to pick my mom up. After dropping my mom off at her place, they were heading home when Olivia finally pooped! So I called him and told him to turn around to pick me up because I was discharged !!
I was so thrilled! You can’t imagine how sad I was to think I would spend that first night alone!
We got home at around 10 pm. So we were at the hospital for a little over 24 hours! It was a great experience! A great labor, a great delivery!
I am so grateful for living in a province that has such an amazing health care system! The hospital is amazing, the staff was amazing. The care after being discharged is amazing too. The very next day we were visited by a nurse who checked both Olivia and I at home ! And our only bill was $14.25 for the parking. I feel so blessed !
As for her name, we still haven’t come up with her middle names! They told us we have up to 3 months to make changes to her birth registration. Yeah, 3 months. ‘Cuz 9 months wasn’t time enough hahaha
Any suggestions ? hahaha
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