I figured it was time to get his birth story written down before I forget anything. On Monday, March 2nd, I woke up feeling horrible. I'd had really sporadic and annoying contractions during the night so I was already pretty tired from the moment I got up. I was also WAY more achy than normal and kept having irritating (but not quite painful) contractions. They didn't feel like TRUE contractions, but they were enough to keep me paying attention and not wanting to leave home much. Needless to say, I didn't get much done that day and we ended up eating out for dinner - we actually ate at The Cheesecake Factory because we had a gift card there and we all had a great time. (And a super yummy dinner!) :-) I remember telling friends and family that there was no way I wasn't going to go into labor within the next few days with the way I was feeling. I continued to have several contractions that evening and I paid close attention to them though I also really hoped I WOULDN'T go into labor just yet, as I was exhausted from the long night and day.
I got my wish because on Tuesday, March 3rd, I woke up feeling GREAT! Once I'd fallen asleep the night before, I'd slept really well and I was no longer having any contractions. I was pretty relieved that I was feeling better. The thought, "... the calm before the storm...." actually crossed my mind for a split second but I pushed it out quickly and got ready for the day. I was exactly 39 weeks along. I had a doctor's appointment that morning and was told that I was dilated to a 3. The doctor also stripped my membranes and told me that if that was going to work, I'd go into labor in the next 48 hours. Well, when I'd had my membranes stripped with Kate I went into labor about 12 hours later so I kept in mind that it could be Go Time very soon and decided to try to be super productive that day, especially since I was feeling good.
Even though stripping my membranes had made me slightly more uncomfortable, I still felt decent so I took the kids to the store and let them look at toys and bought some groceries. Then I cleaned up the house a little and made sure I had a hospital bag packed. Then we all went to Costco in the afternoon! Oh how we all love Costco. :-) We roamed every aisle and if there was anything I wanted to buy (a case of water bottles, a huge box of diapers, etc) Michael would tell me that I had to lift it into the cart by myself and then he'd watch, quite amused as his extremely pregnant wife struggled to do so. Ha! He was trying very hard to put me into labor because for the next few days he was going to be between jobs and it was a pretty dang convenient time to have a baby. Anyway, I'm pretty sure that he looked like a huge punk to any onlookers for making his pregnant wife to do all the heavy lifting. ;-) After walking, walking, and more walking, we eventually bought our stuff and then ate a nice Costco pizza and hot dogs meal for dinner since we couldn't resist feeding the family for about 6 bucks. We came home, took it easy, and then put the kids down early since they hadn't napped at all that day.
I'm not exactly sure when the contractions started, but I remember starting to actually wonder about them around 9:45 p.m. They weren't painful and they were very infrequent, but I remember saying to Michael, "I've had a few contractions that actually feel like real labor contractions." By this time I was really tired and ready for bed so I sort of hoped that they weren't real and got ready for bed. I actually started to drift off to sleep but was woken up TWICE by these contractions. That made me nervous. If they were uncomfortable enough to wake me up, I should probably pay attention... so I sat up, annoyed. Michael was still up and started to say the time out loud when I had a contraction. They were getting stronger and closer together, and they were beginning to hurt a little. I started to worry. It is no secret that I think that labor is really horrifying and just awful. I didn't feel ready to go through it again... and I was kind of upset that if this was real labor, I'd be 3 for 3 for going into labor when I was trying to go to bed. (That is seriously incredibly annoying.) When I started breathing heavy through contractions Michael waited until one was over and then gave me a blessing. I was really grateful to get that right before everything went down. And then he told me to make sure that all our bags were ready. I told him to text our friends down the street and let them know that we'd probably be bringing our kids over if that was okay. Big shout out to the Ferguson's for taking our kids at a very inconvenient time and watching them overnight. They are awesome!
We dropped our kids off just before midnight and off to the hospital we went! I am so grateful that we live so close to the hospital - it is literally five minutes away. As we were driving there, it seemed like my contractions had stopped. I said, "Oh my gosh, if we go through all this and even dropped off our kids for false labor I am going to feel terrible...." but then another contraction hit and I had to tell Michael to hit the dang gas pedal already! Haha. Anyway, at Mercy Gilbert you're supposed to check in through the ER and then they'll take you to triage and THEN you'll get admitted to Labor and Delivery. (In case you never read Kate's birth story, triage is NOT my friend.) When we walked into the ER I basically came in with two other pregnant women in labor! Sheesh. There were jokes made about it being a full moon and how there were lots of pregnant women coming in. This was definitely not funny OR happy news to me - my labors are fast and the idea of super busy nurses and crowded beds and rooms doesn't go together well with women who have fast labors. We sat for a few minutes and finally a nurse came down and had our husbands wheel us all upstairs to triage. My contractions were really hurting me and the other two women were clearly not in as much pain as I was so I was first in getting dressed and into a bed. Michael and I told our nurse pretty quickly how fast my labors are and I could tell she was kinda like, "Yeah okay, whatever." I was pretty annoyed. We both asked her if I could immediately get my labs done and IV going because I was definitely GOING to be admitted sooner rather than later and I really really wanted an epidural as soon as humanly possible and she was pretty much like, "Nope, those don't happen until you've made significant progress and we know that you will for sure be admitted." HAVE I EVER MENTIONED THAT I HATE TRIAGE!? UGH! She checked me and I already knew she was going to say I was something lower than a 5. My body seems to take a while to catch up with what's actually going on. Sounds crazy but it's true. Sure enough, she said I was a 4 and that I'd have to be at least a 5 before they'd admit me, especially because it was so busy. She made a joke about the full moon and since I wasn't fond of her and was in plenty of pain already, I didn't find it funny at all. She told me that maybe I should get up and walk to help things progress and that she'd check me in an hour. HAHAHAHA. Michael said exactly what I was thinking.... "We're going to have a baby in an hour." I could tell she wanted to roll her eyes and didn't believe us at all. SERIOUSLY PEOPLE! This is my third baby! Why does no one listen to us!? (For the record, I was definitely holding Joshua in my arms an hour later.) She left to check on some other women and I tried so hard to stay calm. So far, even though my contractions were beyond horrible, I had stayed calm. I knew that as soon as I allowed myself to start losing control, that was it and I'd be a panicky wreck for the rest of my labor and delivery.
Michael took this relatively soon after we arrived. I can tell because I'm having a contraction but I look pretty calm and haven't even broken a sweat yet. Also, I'm pretty sure Michael would never have dared to take a picture had I been much farther along.... which is smart. ;-)
The nurse came back about 5 or 10 minutes later and checked me again. She said I was still a 4. If I hadn't been ready to kill, I would've just laughed. This was way too similar to my experience with Kate. As my contractions got to the point of me not being able to stay in control, I started to know that there was no way an epidural was happening. All my fears were coming true. :-( The nurse also told me that she'd made a call to the doctor to let her know that I wanted an IV and the doctor had said no. Of course. Michael, forever my hero, said something sarcastic like, "Oh yeah, we wouldn't want her to overdose on saline now would we???" Hahaha. Harsh, but he was right. Hospital rules are so dumb sometimes. After she left I started racking my brain for all the advice about natural childbirth that I'd hoped I'd never have to use. I thought about changing positions, as I've heard that laying down on your back is pretty much the WORST position you can be in. I was already in way too much pain to stand, and walking was absolutely out of the question, but I tried getting on all fours for the next contraction. It was just as horrible. Actually, it was worse. I was progressing so so fast and knew that losing control was on the horizon. Haha. But really though. I was already whimpering and practically hyperventilating through contractions. I was sweating and had to have Michael give me water every minute or so. A couple more contractions and I started getting loud. The nurse came back, checked me, and said, "I can stretch you to a 5." Sigh. I was being admitted but I knew it was too late. She went to get something and during the next contraction my water broke. I said, "Water's breaking water's breaking water's breaking....!" and she came back and checked and just said, "Yep!" Michael was like, "Can we get that epidural going???" and Michael said that apparently the look on her face said it all - she knew I wasn't getting one. I think that that was the last time an epidural was mentioned. RIP epidural.
She gave me my IV and and started moving fast. Finally! I think when she'd checked my water she'd seen something that had made her finally realize that this was no joke and delivery was very close. Or maybe she just finally started taking us seriously. I don't know. I knew from my last experience that once my water had broken, I'd be a 10 in no time at all and that contractions were about to get REAL! ;-) Sure enough, my next one pushed me over the edge. I was yelling as they wheeled me on my bed out of triage (those poor other women who probably thought I was about to die) and down the hall. There were several nurses and the doctor waiting for me in the room, rushing around trying to get everything ready. There seemed to be no break between contractions and I was more than ready to just get this all over with!! They told me to get on the bed I was to deliver on and the same nurse checked me again. She looked at me and said, "You're gonna hate me." For a split second I actually thought she was going to tell me I was a 5. Haha! Not so much. Instead she said, "You're like a 9+." I knew that already since during my last contraction I had the desire to push. (And actually, had pushed a little.) I heard her tell the doctor that the last time she'd checked me I had been a 5 and it was only a few minutes ago. She said it a little defensively, and I would've had more sympathy for her if I hadn't been telling her from the second I'd arrived that I would be going fast. Ugh. As the doctor was getting into position and telling me that I could push with the next contraction, some lady came up to me with a needle and some vials and asked to do my labs. At first I thought that she MUST be kidding. She wasn't. I was like, "Um, CAN YOU PLEASE WAIT JUST A MINUTE? I'm about to push out my baby, like, right now." She was like, "I'd really really like to do it right now please." What in the world!? I wanted to call her names but for some reason I just let her. She did it at record speed (seriously ridiculously fast) but at a price. My arm is still totally bruised big time!
Anyway, I vividly remember putting my feet up and thinking, "I can't believe I am doing this naturally.... this is the last thing I wanted.... but here we go. The better I push, the faster this can just be OVER." There was actually a bit of a break before the big contraction where I pushed. It was like my body was getting ready for what was about to happen, and giving me a chance to get in some deep breaths and prepare mentally. Finally a contraction (and the urge to push) came on and I pushed with all my might. Everyone was encouraging me and letting me know that the baby was coming out really really well so I did not stop pushing! Michael actually wondered for a half a second if I would pass out, haha!!! The doctor warned me about the ring of fire right before it happened so that it didn't catch me off guard and I pushed through it. And just like that, with one push, his head was out. I took a deep breath, pushed again, and his shoulders were out!!! Two pushes and it was over! OH THE SWEET RELIEF! ;-D They all told me to look down and get my baby and I did. I was so happy to finally be able to hold him! He was much messier than my other two kids were but he was still just the most beautiful baby. Michael actually took a video relatively quick after he came out and it's kind of funny. So many emotions. So much relief for being done, still a little pain, maybe a little traumatized, ;-) but mostly just SO SO happy to finally meet my sweet little boy. I've said it before and I'll say it again- Oh how I love my babies! There is nothing like finally meeting this little person that you already love so much. Heaven was near. :-)
The nurses and doctor were all laughing about how fast that was and telling me what an awesome job I did. The doctor even made the joke, "Too bad your evil doctor wasn't cooperating so you couldn't get an epidural!" My nurse made lots of comments like, "She just went from a 5 to a 10 in no time at all!" And there was lots more laughing about the full moon. But as annoyed as I'd been by everything that happened leading up to the birth, nothing was bothering me anymore once my baby boy was in my arms. Gotta love that baby high! Michael was on a baby high as well, not only because of his studly new son, but also because he knew we wouldn't have to pay an anesthesiology bill. ;-) Anyway, they let Michael cut the cord and then I just got to hold Joshua for a while. It was great. They didn't whisk him away to measure or weigh him or anything for at least an hour! When they got to all that stuff, I found out that he was my smallest baby! (Matthew and Kate were both almost 8 lbs.)
Recovery has been amazing. Matthew's was hard, Kate's was much easier, and Joshua's is a breeze. My hospital stay was okay but I just hate the hospital in general and being interrupted every 2 seconds. As my mom says, "Isn't it nice to get home from the hospital so you can get better?" Haha, yep, pretty much. The kids came to visit at the hospital and that was fun. Kate was sort of indifferent but Matthew loved Joshua immediately and has been so sweet with him. I hope he continues to be a rockstar big brother for his whole life. I'm sure he will be. And I have no doubt that Kate will be an amazing big sister too.
Anyway, my mom stayed for several days and and usual, it was awful to see her go. She basically ran my house while she was here which allowed me the time to actually snuggle my newborn. These days are hard but SO SO fast. Now that she's gone we're trying to get into a groove. Joshua is the perfect addition to the family though and we have loved this last week with him. He looks like a mini version of Matthew and likes to be swaddled. He HATES diaper changes and screams through it every time. He eats well and sleeps okay. And I love his kissable cheeks and gorgeous blue eyes. If only I could freeze time.... but also, I am so excited to watch him grow. I love my family.
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