It’s 2:30 in the morning and I just woke up my husband, its time to go to the hospital. My contractions are intense and I waited as long as I felt I could, for whatever reason I kept thinking if I can just check into the hospital I can get some relief from this awful pain. Which makes no sense because I didn’t plan to get an epidural right away (or maybe at all). I had showered, packed my bag and was fully dressed when I woke up Jayson so I just hung out until he was ready to go which only took him a minute. I let my parents know I was leaving and they were in charge of Naysa and getting the church supplies to church in the morning and off we headed! It was cold but not like it was when I had Naysa (rainy/icy yuck!) We got to the hospital and found the check in desk, they took me to the triage to check me out and see if they were going to keep me. I was so nervous that they were going to tell me I was at a 1 and need to go home, I kept thinking if its this bad and I’m still a 1 how will I survive to get to a 5 or more!

I changed into my hospital gown and waited for the nurse to return. She checked me and I was at a 4/5! I was so excited to hear that! All the pain I had been in so far was for a good reason I was actually progressing haha. She strapped me up to monitor the baby and my contractions and then we waited to be moved into a labor and delivery room. It seemed to take forever! The nurse returned and asked if I could walk, I’m trying to play it cool and act extra tough so of course I said I could walk. We got to the room and I didn’t know what to expect but they just leave you in there with a remote and said let us know if you need anything…. well its the middle of the night so I just laid there and Jayson fell asleep… lucky duck.

At about 4:30am I heard/felt a strange pop and then a huge gush of….warm….. liquid. I was so grossed out, it really feels just like they say it does, I thought I may have just peed in the bed haha!  I called the nurse and told her I thought my water just broke (I was really hoping thats what it was). She came in and was kind of rude :/ not the most friendly lady. I was sitting at the edge of my bed because I didn’t want to sit in the “water” mess (gross). She came in and grabbed some things while I was sitting there then she walked up to me and stuttered through some words saying something like, “I need to check if… here…I need… spread your legs”, nice. There was meconium in there made me a little nervous and the nurse didn’t make me feel any better. I went to the bathroom and returned to a clean bed and a towel in the middle of it. The nurse said there is a towel for you to use… and I thought for what? Lol. I clearly did no research on the birth giving process. So I moved the towel out of my way and laid back down.

Nurse shift changes (thank you Lord). The nurse coming on would be the nurse that assist in delivering my baby so, I am hoping that she is a little more kind then the last one. She came in to check me and brought me another towel, she was kind enough to explain that after your water breaks you continue to lose fluid until after the birth, which I had noticed, but now I know what the towel is for! My new nurse was really nice and had a VBAC and her kids were ages 4 and 1, I’m going for a VBAC and my kids will be 3 and newborn lol, needless to say my nurse was very excited for me and she was really happy I didn’t opt for a 2nd csection. (not that there is anything wrong with that!)

After my water broke my contractions became nauseating, its some of the most intense pain I’ve ever felt, all I could think is, I’ve been ok until now but it’s only going to get worse and then I have to push on top of that. So I caved and finally asked for the epidural. I wasn’t nervous about getting it at all, I’ve heard its painful but I was in so much pain already I couldn’t imagine how it could be any worse then that. It took awhile before the anesthesiologist, after you asked for it time slows down I’m pretty sure, and with every contraction you think you might die before she comes. At 7:20 she finally made it, she was the kindest lady ever, and man was I happy to see her. It took awhile to do but I didn’t think it was painful, I little like getting a shot but again nothing compared to the contractions, I only had 1 slightly painful contraction after she got the needle in, after that it was wonderful! Its like a whole new world! I was pretty calm the whole night and quiet but after that I was ultra calm and happy.

I laid down and tried to sleep at this point but I was so excited it was more like “resting”  without falling asleep. After the epidural I was only dilated to a 5/6 so I felt like I had a ways to go. I went through a stage of shivering, that was a little odd so I made my hubby wake up around 9am to talk to me so I could calm down and stop shaking, it helped a lot. I had an orange popsicle because baby’s room in creamsicle themed so I thought it was appropriate . The nurse came in sometime around 10 and checked me, I was feeling a little pressure but I didn’t think it was enough for go time so I waited, when she came in I was at a 10! She asked me if I was ready to have a baby, such a surreal moment! I got really excited. Since I didn’t feel a ton of pressure she said they may not start right away but would ask the doc and be back soon. At 10:50 she was back and we started to push! Right before I started pushing she asked if I had been through classes, which of course, I the unprepared had not, So she gave me a 2 minute pep talk, I’m glad I didn’t use money for a class, I felt it wouldn’t have helped me lol.  It was so quiet and calm in the room I loved it, I would push and then in between contractions Jayson and I chatted with the nurse about our kids, our church, and other things. The nurse kept saying how great I was doing and the baby, she was bragging on me like its not normally this nice. When the doctor arrived she started saying how great my birth was going as well, I was wondering the whole time if they flatter everyone this much or if they were being serious I really was lucky and had a great going delivery. I pushed for about 40 minutes and then she was out! Because she had a bowel movement I wasn’t able to hold  her right away so I watched as they took her and checked her out, I couldn’t help but tear up it was such a beautiful moment and experience, I felt such a great joy and peace, and had no idea this is what it would be like. I tore a little so I had to be stitched up, so I got to lay there in a room full of people with my legs in the air…. that was fun, but I didn’t mind so much because I was looking at my new baby girl . I finally got to hold her after they were done with me and done cleaning her off. I was so happy and I was in love instantly, I am so thankful to God that this was such a peaceful day after the birth of my 1st daughter with an emergency csection and an extremely rough recovery, this delivery couldn’t have been more perfect.

Nova Rae was born at 11:33am on Sunday January 6th, 2013 she weighed in at 7lbs 11oz and was 19inches long.

-B