I had an appointment with my doctor on Friday, April 10th. I love my doctor. He is warm and loving and makes me feel fantastic every time I see him. He walks in the door, gives me a genuine hug, and tells me how fabulous I look. Conor tells me he says that to all his patients and I don't care. I hope he does, I hope every woman he sees walks out feeling wonderful. During a recent appointment, I asked him who would deliver me if he wasn't available. He said, "I will be available. I will deliver your baby. Doctors have favorites too, and you are one of my favorites and I really want to deliver your baby." I felt fabulous (as usual). I'm one of his favorites, he can't possibly say THAT to everyone! So, Friday, April 10th, he tells me he has a family obligation and that I cannot go into labor from Friday at 10pm to Sunday at 6am. He says, no sex, no long walks, just relax this weekend. I agree, we hug, and I head home. I tell Con the plan, he agrees, we eat a non spicy meal and go to bed. My water breaks at 3:30am.
I got up to use the bathroom sometime before that and just felt. . . off. I felt big, I felt really. . . well, pregnant. I remember thinking, Man, if I go to 41 weeks I will be over this whole pregnancy thing. A few hours later, I woke up with a start, knowing my water just broke. I made it to the bathroom and a huge rush of water left my body. When that exact same thing happened when I was pregnant with Woody, I was panicked. I was a little early with Woody and was nervous but this time I was elated! I was over 39 weeks, I was ready, We were ready! I called Conor into the bathroom and told him the exciting news! We kissed and hugged and realized that some unknown Doc would be delivering our baby and we did not care! She was on her way! We would get to meet our girl soon!
We called Oma and she answered as if she had been awake waiting for our call. She would be on the road soon to watch Woody while his sister was being born. I got in the shower, gave my belly some love and hoped that contractions would start soon. Thankfully, I started feeling crampy by the end of the shower. I got out and finished putting the last few things in my bag. Conor and I cleaned up the house a bit and waited for Oma to arrive. Con asked if I was having contractions and I told him I was but they were not that intense. We finished getting ourselves ready and right before Oma arrived we timed a few. They were about 4-5 minutes apart. Conor and I had previously discussed not being complete jack asses this time around and being aware of when to leave for the hospital. When we had Woody our doctor told us, "Well if you had hit traffic, Conor would have delivered the baby" Conor asked if we should leave as soon as his mom arrived and I said lets just see. In my mind, I wanted to walk the beach and see the sunrise while my labor progressed. The sunrise lets me feel a connection with my brother and I wanted that feeling on the day I was bringing this beautiful new life into this world.
Elwood woke up shortly after Oma arrived. He was sleepy but excited. I started packing a bag for Elwood and Oma asked if we wanted her to time a few contractions for us. I yelled from Woody's room when one would start, peak, and end. They were about 3-4 minutes apart and getting stronger. I could easily move around and talk in between them but I was started to need to concentrate when they were happening. We hung out with Elwood for 20 minutes or so and then Conor made the call to get us to the hospital.
On the way to the hospital, the contractions were getting stronger and I was having to close my eyes and breath through them. I was thankful we were already on our way. We parked and walked in together, holding hands and laughing with excitement. We were met by a triage nurse to be assessed on whether or not I would be staying. I told her my water had definitely broken but I guess they get a lot of woman who pee themselves and think its their water breaking so she wanted to do an amnisure. I was brought into a room and the first thing I noticed was the window. It was huge and the blinds were open, showing me the beginning of a beautiful sunrise. Michael was with me, he was there, helping me, bringing my girl safely to me.
About twenty minutes later a new nurse walks in to tell me she will do the amnisure. I explain that this is my second baby and my water had definitely broken. She gives me that "I've heard that before, honey, look" and proceeds to do the test. She informs me that the test results take 30 minutes. By this point my contractions are coming faster and are much more intense. I tell her that my first baby came pretty fast and I get that same look again. She leaves and Conor and I are left to wait for our results to see if we will be admitted. I am in full blown labor at this point and am no longer concerned if they are going to admit me. I did my part, I got here, I did not have the baby in the car.
The next part of my labor, Elwood was my helper. Lately, in the bath, he likes to say "Here we goes!" before he slides down the back of the tub into laying flat. He looks over at me with those playful, adorable eyes and says, "Ok, Mommy, you say Here we goooes!" I say it exactly how he does but he responds with "No, No Mommy. Say, Heeerre we goooooooes!" I say it again and usually this goes on for a few more times. Then when I finally "get it right", he says, "Yeah, yeah you got it." Gives me the best smile and then slides down into the tub. It's fun and cute and I love seeing his little smile every time "I get it right"
So, in my mind, every time a heavy contraction would start, I would stand up by the side of the bed, hold my belly and say, "Here we goooes" Every time. My little boy was helping me along. It made me smile and focus on how much I love him, and how much I love this new little girl coming.
At some point, the nurse comes back and tells me my amnisure was positive. (yes, I knew that) She checks me and says I am 5cm. My labor nurse comes in shortly after and starts to admit me. I can barely hear her questions because my concentration is focused on staying calm and breathing through my contractions. During a break between contractions, I tell her that my first baby was fast and this baby feels like she is going to be the same. She brings in a doctor and he checks me and I am 9cm dilated. A flurry of preparations begin in my room. I begin to "OM". A yoga friend suggested it to me while I was pregnant and it was just the tool I needed. It felt so good to let out a low, controlled Oooooommmmmm. It kept me in control and calm. That's the best way to describe it, it just felt good to say. It was as if the sound matched the physicalness of what my body was doing. A few Om's later and I told the nurse it was time to push. The nurse did not doubt me, I made eye contact with her and she knew I knew: This baby was coming. She put down her admission paperwork and ran out of the room to get some help. I looked at Conor and said, "I told them my labors go fast." He laughed, we smiled. The energy in the air was so good. I had feared that Woody was a fluke. That I couldn't possibly have two beautiful, fast, healthy deliveries but it seemed I was about to! The door burst open and a slew of personnel came in. They were getting a table prepped and the doctor gowned up. I was on my hands and knees leaning forward in the bed. The contractions were so strong that I couldn't move yet. When my "Om" had finished the nurse helped me lean back and the doctor said she was right there. A nurse said, "Just push and she'll come out" I looked at Conor and asked if she was really right there. He looked at me, his whole face smiling, and told me she was, that he could see her hair. I pushed and Om'd and three pushes later our girl was here. I remember saying, "She's here! She's here! She's here!" She cried and breathed and was healthy and perfect and HERE. She was placed in my arms and Conor came in close, our little world had just changed. Another beautiful, healthy child. We stared at her and smiled and then I don't know if she smiled back or cried or what but she moved her mouth in such a way that we saw she has two adorable dimples, one on each cheek. We both exclaimed, "She has dimples!" and then laughed! Such relief, such happiness. Our little girl had arrived. The world instantly felt more full of love.
