And here's her birth story:
Eliza was due on June 27, 2015. I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions throughout my pregnancy which was the opposite from Stella. I had none with her, so I didn't really know what to expect as far as going into labor. The contractions had picked up in frequency as my due date approached and I wondered if I would know the difference when my real contractions started. We had arranged to take Stella and Scout to my parents' house when I went into labor. It's a half hour drive, but, based on my labor with Stella, we figured we'd have plenty of time to get them there before we needed to head to the hospital.
I had planned to go over my due date since that's what I had done with Stella. I was very surprised, then, when I woke up at 12:30 am on the 26th with real contractions. They were only mildly painful, but I knew they weren't Braxton Hicks contractions. With Stella, I had had contractions for an hour or two the night before I actually went into labor, so this time around, I wanted to make sure they weren't going to stop. I timed the first few. They were a minute or two long and ten minutes apart. I decided to get up and finish up packing Stella's bag and getting things ready to go.
After getting things all ready to go, my contractions hadn't stopped and had actually gotten a little closer together and some were a little more painful. Still, nothing I couldn't talk through or anything. I decided I better wake up Mr. Frisby so we could get Stella and Scout to my parents'. At this point, it had been about an hour and a half since I woke up and the contractions were about 5 minutes apart. I woke up Mr. Frisby and told him it was go time. His response, "really?" I told him yes and that we needed to get Stella and Scout to my parents'. Then I said, "we better call labor and delivery first to see if they want us to come in right away" since my contractions, while still only mildly painful, were getting closer together. I should mention that, at my last prenatal checkup, my doctor had said I was already dilated to a three and my cervix had started to ripen. She said things could go fast once labor started, so if I wanted my epidural (and I absolutely did), I better get to the hospital pretty quickly.
Well, labor and delivery said to come on in, so we changed our plans. Mr. Frisby called my sister (who lives about ten minutes away) to see if she would come stay with Stella. I decided to take a quick shower while we waited for her to get to our house. While in the shower, my contractions picked up. They got slightly more intense and were about 2-3 minutes apart. My sister arrived and we got ready to go to the hospital. With all the commotion, Stella had woken up, so I explained to her that the baby was ready to come, so Gaylene would stay there with her while we went to the hospital. Then, off we went. We walked into the emergency room around 3:30 am. They checked us in and then took us up to labor and delivery. We got into the delivery room and got situated. The nurse and midwife noted that my birth plan called for an epidural. The midwife checked me and I was already dilated to an 8. She told me they would do the blood test right away so we could get my epidural ASAP. During this time, I was having contractions every few minutes. They weren't terribly painful, but since I was already at an 8, I was starting to get worried that I wouldn't get my epidural. Memories of hours of painful contractions and two hours of difficult pushing with Stella came into my mind. I had an epidural with her and I couldn't imagine doing it without one. The thought scared me pretty bad. With the blood test done, it was just a matter of waiting for the results before they could do the epidural. I answered the plethora of questions thrown at me by the nurse and we waited. I was so nervous about not getting the epidural, that I started shaking. Constant shaking. Which I hated. All of a sudden, I had a really bad contraction. Like, so painful. And then things got real. I would estimate this was probably around 4:15 am. Almost immediately I had another equally terrible, painful contraction. I felt my water break, so I said to the nurse, "I think my water broke." She checked and confirmed that it had indeed broken. She yelled at someone to get the midwife and my heart sunk. I knew I wasn't getting my epidural. I immediately told myself, "I can do this. Mom did it nine times with no epidural. I can do it." The nurse asked me if I felt like I needed to push. I told her I didn't know. I had never had a strong urge to push with Stella, so I didn't know what that felt like. I was about to find out. The midwife came running in and checked me. I was at a ten and ready to push. Then, I had another contraction and I was pushing. They told me not to push. I laughed inside and yelled, "I can't help it!" Which was totally true because my body was getting that baby out despite whatever my brain may have been telling it to do. I tried not to push, but that was a joke. I should also mention that while my contractions had been fairly mild up until the big one just a few minutes before, I was in some serious pain at this point. I heard the midwife say, "If you feel the urge to push, then push. I can see your baby's head, she's almost here." That was all I needed to hear. I pushed as hard as I could push because I just wanted to the pain to stop. I think it took two pushes and out came Eliza. It was 4:23 am. Less than four hours after I first woke up with contractions.
She weighed in at 7 lbs, 1 oz and was 20 inches long. They immediately handed her to me while I delivered the placenta and they cut the cord. Everyone commented on what a very healthy placenta I had. And the midwife apologized that they didn't get me my epidural. She said the anesthesiologist was waiting outside the door to my delivery room. They were just waiting for those blasted blood test results. I told Mr. Frisby later that maybe I would've had time for the epidural if I hadn't decided to take a shower earlier. Oh well. Now I can say that I've delivered a child naturally. But, given the option again, I'd go with the epidural.
It was pretty much opposite to my labor and delivery experience with Stella. But look, a beautiful little girl was still the result. I'll take them any way they come. This little girl has had quite the journey since her arrival and it needs to be documented. I've decided I'll have to make time to update this little blog to tell her story.
