I went to bed that evening with contractions about 15 - 20 min apart, with mild pain that was bearable. I am a heavy sleeper, so was luckily able to sleep through the night. The next morning, we got up at around 6am, and my contractions were much stronger than before. I told Andrew that we should eat a large breakfast and that I'd be calling the doctor's office as soon as it opened at 9am. They were able to get us in 45 minutes later. We loaded the already packed hospital bags (full of everything I could think of including: tennis balls, heating pad, back scratcher, several nightgowns/pajamas, toiletries, clothes for Andrew - and of course two baby outfits ... one for a boy and one for a girl to come home in). A few weeks prior, Andrew and I went to Janie & Jack and picked out a boy and girl outfit - a gift from the two of us for Baby Doran to come home.
When we got to the doctor's office, Dr. Gallagher checked me out and I had dilated a little further to 5cm. It was a quick appointment - once we knew that she asked if our bags were packed and to start making our way over to the hospital. The doctor's office and hospital are literally just a few blocks away from our house, so it was a super quick drive.
Once we were there, they informed us that all of the rooms were booked up and that I needed to do "laps" around the hallways until a room was available. By this time, my contractions were definitely coming on stronger and stronger about every 10-15min or so. Andrew was frustrated that they didn't have any rooms, but for me, I appreciated the time to just do some walking, stretching, and breathing.
At a little after 12 noon, a room came available and we began getting settled in. By this time, contractions were stronger and more painful. I helped ease the pain with an exercise ball, heating pad, and rocking chair. The contractions at this point were about every 5 minutes. We went through this routine until approximately 6pm. At this time, the nurse asked if I wanted to be checked to see how dilated I was - absolutely! She checked and told me I was still only 5 cm. I was truly devastated and had felt like I had been enduring natural contractions at high rates of pain for nearly 7 hours, but with no progress whatsoever. At that moment, I broke into tears. It felt like so much work for such little progress.
The next step was to have the doctor break my water. Right before 7pm, Dr. Gallagher came in and manually broke my water. Once that was done, there were considerable traces of meconium, which was concerning for the baby - but, no action was taken at that moment - they were just monitoring the baby's heart rate. Within minutes, my contraction pain spiked to unbearable levels: I remember enduring 2 contractions that were excruciating and at that time I adamantly requested an epidural - I felt like I was going to faint. Simultaneously, there was a shift change happening and I was introduced to my new nurse Angie. Little did I know at that time - she would absolutely be my godsend.
Angie came in and took control over the situation. She assured me that the anesthesiologist would be coming shortly and he did. For the first half hour, my contractions seemed to definitely decrease significantly. However, after the first half hour, the contraction pain slowly increased. The next several hours were quite a blur - I remember receiving a breathing mask, the doctor coming in periodically to check the heart monitor, the pain increasing and needing to squeeze a tennis ball and Andrew's hand. I also remember shaking uncontrollably. Throughout these tough hours - I couldn't understand why the pain was coming back so intense, but was grateful for the advocacy that I had from Andrew and Nurse Angie. Throughout this time, the anesthesiologist had come back a couple more times to "top me off" and administer more pain medicine. None of this seemed to be working.
Between 11pm and midnight, Nurse Angie decided that it'd probably be best if I had the epidural redone, as the pain was just becoming unbearable. Simultaneously, Dr. Gallagher had come in a few times to check the fetal heart monitor. At one point, we attempted to get me to "practice pushing" and this affected the baby's heart rate. Whenever I moved from my side to my back, she would get a concerned look on her face and it seemed that the baby was in distress. At around midnight, the anesthesiologist came in and readminstered my epidural. I finally felt like I had relief! I had no pain - and no feeling whatsoever.
This definitely was not what I had imagined for my labor. The first 7 hour of being at the hospital was what I had imagined and that I'd be able to endure natural contractions. But, once my water broke, everything changed.
At close to 1am, Dr. Gallagher came in and told me what would happen next. She indicated her concern for the baby's heart rate and stated that we would try to get the baby out via vacuum extraction, but that she would only allow 3 pushes. If the baby did not come out after 3, I would be rushed in for a C-section. I was game. Whatever it took - whatever needed to be done to have a healthy baby was ok with me. At this point, I was a bit dazed, tired, and overwhelmed. A slew of people started coming into my room - probably close to 10 or 12. It didn't register for me what this meant, all I knew was that I was in awe of the number of people that were there to care for me and ensure a healthy baby. Andrew was by my bedside the entire time and was an amazing support and advocate for me.
Next, everything seemed to happen so quickly. I remember Nurse Angie to my left and another nurse on my right with a head bandana. Andrew was directly beside me, holding my hand. It was time to push, and the nurse with the bandana led the charge with a loud booming voice - she was truly my lead cheerleader getting me to push as hard as I could. I was ready. I began pushing as hard as I possibly could 1 ... 2 ... "go, go, go" everyone was chanting... 3 ... and I kept going for a fourth. The baby arrived.
Once the baby came out, I remember silence and then a cry. Everything was quite hazy, but I remember the doctor holding the baby up in front of me and I held out my arms to grab and hold it, but they took the baby back to care for it and clean it. I remember laying there thinking - when are they going to tell me if it's a boy or girl? I finally said, is it a boy or girl? Dr. Gallagher told Andrew to look down and see. He came back to my bedside, tears in his eyes, and said, "It's a beautiful little girl. She's beautiful." I was so overwhelmed. So much emotion and intensity was in this moment.
I was eager to hold her. The doctors and nurses all commented how beautiful she was - perfect skin and complexion. She had her umbilical cord around her neck/body when she came out, but luckily was healthy all around. Next, Scarlett Grace and I cuddled skin to skin and she fed almost immediately. She is amazing. For almost an hour, I snuggled with her and then, Andrew got to hold her. It was an incredible experience.
From there, we made our way into the recovery room where we'd be spending the next couple of days. The sun was getting ready to rise and we needed to get some sleep. I remember Scarlett waking up a few times and finally, I just cuddled her in my arms and we fell asleep together.
The day of the 10th was a blur altogether, with little sleep, we had nurses coming in constantly checking on us, administering shots to help with Scarlett's short-lived jaundice - an after effect of the vacuum extraction. The good news is that her head barely bruised and the jaundice lasted less than 24 hours. Our first day with Scarlett passed quickly as we headed into another night with her where we learned to feed together and sleep and change diapers and bond with this little one. The next day we would be heading home. We were told on the 11th that checkout time would be 11am. I knew I wasn't quite prepared for that and asked if we could stay a little longer so that we could get lunch, pack our things, and get a shower. By 2pm we were ready for our (short) journey home. It was exciting to open the little girl outfit for Scarlett and prepare her for her homecoming.
A nurse came in and began the discharge paperwork. It was time to go home! A nurse escorted us to the parking garage and Andrew brought the car over to the door. We loaded miss Scarlett into her carseat position and I sat in the back with her for our journey down the street. This was the moment we had been waiting for - to take our healthy baby home and begin the journey caring for this most precious cargo. We love Scarlett more than anything and while her birth story isn't what we'd planned or necessarily prepared for, I am extremely grateful for well-trained medical professionals - especially Dr. Gallagher and Nurse Angie: both of whom I can't even imagine getting through the birth without. Most importantly, I am so grateful for my husband who was calm from start to finish and was my biggest champion, supporter, and advocate. I love him so much.
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