I had complications through out my pregnancy and was at risk for preterm labor so from 22 weeks on I was put on restrictions, had to go in for internal ultrasounds every week and had many extra tests run. My doctor said that his end goal would be to get me to 37 weeks. At one point I was getting worse so I had to have steroids to develop baby's lungs just in case.
37 weeks came and went and no baby. Not even a sign that he was ready to make his grand entrance. I was disappointed, after all the anxiety of trying to keep him in, I was ready to get him OUT! Then 38 weeks came and went and still nothing, that was when my doctor informed me that once I hit 39 weeks if I chose to he had no problems with inducing me,then came the but, he was going to be out of town my entire 39th week... fantastic. At my 39 week appointment I met Natalie the midwife and discussed my options with her. I decided to put off an induction and have my membranes stripped instead. All I can say about this is OUCH!! I must have been desperate. That was on Tuesday April 2nd around 3 p.m.
We went home and I was uncomfortable from the procedure but nothing else happened all night. The next morning, April 3rd I got up disappointed that I wasn't feel any different but I went to the bathroom and had some blood but I figured it was just from the procedure like Natalie had warned me might happen so I went about my morning and got ready to go to my nail appointment.
While at my nail appointment me and my friend Jessie were joking about what would happen if my water broke while I was sitting there and I was telling her how I didnt think this little boy was EVER coming out of me and so on. In the mean time Adam and I were texting discussing just scheduling an induction because I was ready to be done and I just wanted my little guy to get here. As we were getting closer to the end of my appointment I started having cramps which again I just pinned on my procedure the day before and I didnt think much of them. Then I started to feel like I was leaking, almost like I couldn't control my bladder so I had NO idea what was going on. I excused myself to the bathroom and decided either there was a problem and i was leaking fluids, which is bad, or my water had broke! That was at about 12:20 p.m.
I went back out trying to decide if I should stay and get my nails finished, or go ahead and leave. I opted for the latter only because that was a little gross to keep sitting there :] I thought Jessie was going to pass out when I walked out and told her I needed to leave because my water had just broke.
Then I tried calling Adam and he wouldn't answer his phone so I stopped over at the shop and hollered for him to come here, he told me to hold on that he was on the phone and I told him no because my water had broke, poor guy almost hurt himself running out the door!
We had to go home to gather our things and so I could finish packing my bag (yes it wasn't done!) So I called my mom to tell her I was going in to be checked. I told her I thought my water had broke and she didn't believe me because she said "Oh honey, trust me, if your water broke you would know it" So I told her my doctor had told her it would either gush, or feel like a steady flow like I was wetting myself, then she started to panic.
Once we got home I took my time packing and gathering my things while Adam tried to rush me along, I figured we had a long road ahead of us with labor seeing as how this was my first baby and my family all had very long hard labor and delivery's.
Once we were finally on the road to Idaho falls to the hospital I started feeling minor contractions so I timed them. They weren't painful but they were coming about 3 1/2 minutes apart.
We got to the hospital to check in and I asked where labor and delivery was, the lady asked if I was in labor and I told her I thought so, so she got all excited and tried to get me into a wheelchair which I refused... I wasn't even in pain so I didn't need a free ride ;]
I got checked into the hospital and into a bed around 1:30 p.m. or so, the contractions still were not bad so I just waited for my mom to get there and for someone to come tell us what came next.
All throughout my pregnancy Adam told everyone he was going to deliver the baby and scrub in so while we waited he practiced his "catching" position ;]
When the nurse got me all hooked up and checked me I was only dilated to a 3 so the Midwife decided to give me some pitocin to help speed things up
Once the pitocin hit the labor got hard and fast. I was having all back labor and was definitely not loving life at that point haha I finally asked for my epidural around 4:30 p.m. so they got the anesthesiologist up to my room and got me the good stuff ;] I was very resistant to the drugs so it took longer that usual to get the right concoction and to get it all the way kicked in but once it did, I was in HEAVEN. I relaxed and became a chatty kathy :]
My nurse checked me again around 5:30 p.m. and I was only to a 5 so we were taking bets on if I would have him on the 3rd or the 4th and my nurse said it would be a close one to have him on the 3rd.
Baby was posterior which was what they thought was causing me to have all back labor so at about 6:30 p.m. my nurse came in to try and get the baby to turn before delivery but when she turned me onto my side we lost his heartbeat on the monitor so she got another nurse to try and find it and neither of them could so they called Natalie and she said we needed to do an internal monitor to get his heartbeat back which its good we did!
The nurse got ready to put the monitor in and when she did she looked really shocked and told me that i was a 10 100% thinned and a +2. I knew what being a 10 and 100% thinned meant but not what a +2 was so the nurse told me that a 0 meant the baby was at the top of the birth canal and a +4 was delivered, I was in shock! That meant baby T had worked himself halfway through the birth canal all by himself and I was none the wiser, god bless those drugs!
The nurse started talking about having a baby by 7:30 and I thought she was nuts! I knew pushing could take awhile especially with the epidural and being my first baby so she left to call Natalie and said they would be back to get me ready to push.
As of 7:20 p.m. nobody was back in my room to get things ready so I figured there was no way baby would be here by 7:30.
Finally the nurses came in followed by Natalie and they got everything ready and got me up into the stirrups and Natalie said she could see the head, who would have thunk??
At my next contraction she told me to push so I got 3 pushes in, another contraction and 3 more pushes then she told me to rest through the next one and let my body do the work and then the next one came she told me to give her a half push and out came Tradlee John William Howard. Born at 7:32 p.m. He weighed 7 lbs 9 oz and was 20 1/2" long. He had a FULL head of black thick hair and was so perfect!! It was the best, most amazing experience of my life. I couldn't have been more blessed.
