Down the Rabbit Hole...and out

"The rabbit-hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way, and then dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself falling down a very deep well. Either the well was very deep, or she fell very slowly, for she had plenty of time as she went down to look about her and to wonder what was going to happen next. First, she tried to look down and make out what she was coming to, but it was too dark to see anything..."

This must be similar to Morgan's journey, but since I can't tell you the story from her side, I'll just tell you mine...

Wednesday morning I woke up with stomach cramps that felt like the onset of food poisoning. They came in waves, but didn’t feel like contractions. After about 6 hours of those coming and going every 10 minutes, we called the doctor and the nurse said “If they are contractions, we’ll need to prep for a c-section since you weren’t dilated yesterday” What??

Went to the hospital to have it checked out and of course they slowed down as soon as we got there. They monitored me for an hour and then sent me on my way. Turns out my “stomach cramps” really were contractions, so that was good to know. They told me to come back when the contractions were every 3-5 minutes and more intense. We went to lunch after and they started up again. I pretty much layed around the rest of the day and they kept hurting about every 10 minutes again. By the evening, they were at 6 minutes apart, but still no change in intensity. I didn’t want to go to the hospital just to be sent home again, so I went to bed.

Thursday, same thing. But now I had nausea with it ...goodie. My mom went to the store and got me sugar free popsicles, jello, and things I could eat easily. It really helped and I started feeling much better. Now the contractions started becoming painful. By 6pm, they were so bad I was crying and Bailey was getting scared every time one would hit, which was about 6 minutes at this point. My parents took her to dinner and said to go to the hospital. By the time I showered and got in the car, they were at 4 minutes apart and VERY painful. They got to 3 minutes apart at the hospital.

I was hooked up to the monitors by 7pm, and I was crunching on some ice. My nurse “couldn’t find my cervix” to do a check. She had to bring another nurse in to tell me I was a little over 1cm dilated. After awhile of painful contractions, she decided to put me on an IV for an hour to see if maybe I was “just dehydrated” and was having false labor. My contractions were REALLY bad by this time and they started trying to put my IV in at 8:30. Now, everyone knows I hate needles, but these were especially painful. My nurse tried twice with no luck, and caused MAJOR bruising. Another nurse came in and tried twice. No luck. I was screaming in pain when the 3rd nurse came in for a try on the back of my hand. “Oh you have such tiny veins!” Great, thanks. Finally, they sent for an anesthesiologist to give it a go and she got it on her first try. This was my 6th poke and almost an hour and a half later. So there I sit, waiting to see what they want me to do, meanwhile the contractions are getting worse.

Of course, my doctor wasn’t on call that night. The on call doc comes in to check on me, and during the pelvic check, I have an excruciating contraction. After screaming in pain for a minute, I hear him say nothing’s changed. Nice. But he is admitting me, so at least I know I’m not leaving there without a baby. Of course it would probably take all night, but at least my doctor was coming in at 8am so I’d most likely get to have him deliver. They told me I could get an epidural as soon as I wanted but we had to wait for the anesthesiologist to be finished with an emergency c-section. They also told me I could have Morphine right away but it wouldn’t really help the pain. Just help relax my body. I didn’t care...I’d take it. At 11pm, right after the Morphine, Matt says I started looking more relaxed, but I didn't feel like it and holy cow...the contractions REALLY started kicking up. Over the next half hour, I morphed into “that woman” and was screaming, moaning, shouting “I’m going to die!!,” thrashing about, biting my husband, etc. Then suddenly through the screams came a sound I didn’t even know I could make and was so loud I scared myself. I started shouting “Something is coming out of me!” because it felt like I was giving birth right then. The nurse said she’d check me and just looked down and said “Oh, it’s just a little bit of show” and left the room. Then it happened again and she came back in the room and went to check again, pulled back the sheet and instantly went to the phone and called the doctor. My now favorite phrase “Don’t push!” made me want to strangle her. I had no way of stopping what was happening, I described it as throwing up, there is NO way someone can tell you to stop once you get that heaving feeling. This is heaving from below. Same uncontrollable feeling. Within what felt like seconds, the nurses and doctor were in there and the doctor said “Baby has a full head of hair!"...WHA???? The stirrups were up, and he was giving me a quick local anesthetic and I remember actually saying, “So...no epidural?” I don’t think I realized how fast it was going to happen. Immediately they were coaching me through the pushing, which compared to the pain I’d been in was actually the best part because even though I was still screaming that I was going to die, I knew I was accomplishing something. The nurse was incredible with her coaching and so was Matt trying to tell me how to push like I’m doing crunches. It was less than 10 minutes from when they came in the room until the nurse said “Look down” and I see baby feet.

Unbelievable. A little person came out of me and I did all the work. Well, it was a team effort. Morgan really wanted out of there BAD! She did the traveling, Matt kept me from freaking out too bad, and I did all the rest.

11:41 was when Morgan made her appearance. 40 minutes after I was still only at 1cm, I had a baby. So the moral of the story is trust the lady who says something is trying to come out of her.