Going into labor on my due date...what a cliché

I'm a little intimidated to sit down and write this (and not just because of the sitting down part). I feel like I'm going to leave out all the important parts and I already feel like I can't remember everything. I'm warning you now that it is unnecessarily long and detailed. In my defense, this blog doubles as a journal.

First, the end of pregnancy. I was loving the end of my pregnancy to be honest. I was so distracted with school that I wasn't constantly aware of how uncomfortable I was. I accomplished so much homework, and was so caught up on everything that I kept getting bored. It was great. Every day when I came to class people would greet me with, "no baby yet, huh?" Here are pictures from the last couple weeks:

38 weeks

39 weeks

40 weeks

        The last picture was taken around 8 the morning of my due date-I guess that's a good enough place to start. We left for campus and I was having contractions that made me have to stop and hang on to Andrew every so often. I'm sure the people walking passed us were so confused, considering I had my coat on and you couldn't tell I was pregnant. Anyway, it was pretty normal for me to have contractions on the way to school, so I didn't think much of it and they stopped by the end of my first class. I was celebrating that it was my due date since I figured I wouldn't be celebrating having a baby yet. I was also celebrating the fact that I had officially made it to all of my classes (even though it wasn't yet the last day of classes, my Tuesday classes were cancelled). I took one of my finals last Saturday and I had just scheduled times with my teachers to take two other finals early (one Tuesday and one Wednesday). So now I had it in my head that I just needed to make it to Wednesday afternoon, and then baby girl could be born.

       Anyway...as soon as my classes ended, I went for my weekly doctor visit. At 37 weeks I was 1cm, at 38 weeks I was 3cm (and my doctor thought she would come that week), at 39 weeks I was still 3cm, and so I was very curious what today would tell me. Now I was almost 4cm. This made me think that things might be happening pretty soon because I didn't feel like it was likely for me to stop progressing, start, and then stop again. But since no one can really know these things, my doctor talked to be about how being late can be bad for the baby and so he scheduled a non-stress test for Wednesday (since I told him that was the day I wanted to make it to). He said that if the test didn't look good, then he would induce me that day and if everything seemed fine, he would induce me on Sunday. So either way, this baby was going to start coming in less than a week. It was so concrete, it was a little crazy to me. On the way back to campus, I called Andrew and my mom to fill them in about everything. My mom panicked a little because they were having a crazy blizzard in Denver and she was planning to drive out once I went to the hospital. So we both decided that this baby would come on Saturday and everything would be great. 

       I went back to campus for a review and to study for the final I was going to take on Tuesday. I was super uncomfortable and baby girl was moving so much. Then I went grocery shopping and now was moving pretty slowly. I was having contractions, but they were so spaced out, really not that uncomfortable, and it's not like I hadn't had tons of them before anyway. (I felt like things were different, but I didn't want to tell anyone that I was in labor cause I didn't want to be wrong and get people's hopes up!) So I went to pick up Andrew from school and  had a couple contractions that made me realize that perhaps I shouldn't be driving... But we went home, had a nice big dinner, I finished and submitted a paper, worked on a final project, and watched Psych. I was timing my contractions (just in case) but I wasn't convinced that I would know when/if we should actually go to the hospital. I REALLY didn't want to be wrong and get sent home. So we waited, and I squeezed Andrew's hand while he worked on his homework. 

        At 9:15 I started another episode of Psych, thinking I'd have time to watch it and still make my 10:30 bedtime. A few minutes in, my contractions suddenly changed. They HURT!! I told Andrew that we were going to be going to the hospital tonight, because if I wasn't in labor, something else must be very wrong. I called my mom and she was so bummed that the blizzard was going to keep her from coming. Andrew ran around the house packing things from the "pack last-minute" list that I made and holding me whenever I'd yell his name. My contractions were only a minute, maybe 2 apart from each other now, and lasting long enough that they were basically overlapping. Andrew got me to the car, and I squeezed the door handle the whole way to the hospital. I was incredibly proud of myself for how calmly I asked Andrew to, "please drive a little faster honey." We got to the hospital and I left my wallet in the car, so I grabbed a mailbox to get me through my contraction while Andrew went and got it for me. 

         We checked in around 10:30, aka I signed some papers without reading them because I was having almost a constant contraction by now, and were taken to a room. I changed as fast as I could, thinking somehow that would get the nurse in their faster. She FINALLY came (it was probably less than 2 minutes in reality) and got me hooked up to some monitors that proved I really was in pain. She checked me and I was at a 6. Yes! I didn't have to go home! She called my doctor and he said to have them break my water because it wasn't very firm and wouldn't be able to put the right pressure on my cervix. She also asked if I wanted an epidural and I didn't even hesitate before giving an emphatic YES. Luckily, the anesthesiologist got there super fast and placed the epidural even faster. The epidural was just kicking in when they came and broke my water. This was only 30 minutes after she initially checked me and I was already at a 9. Things were going so fast! They slowed down a little after the epidural, but since I was already so far along, it really didn't make much of a difference. Andrew was great through everything: letting me squeeze his hand (and occasionally digging my nails into his hand), getting my tiger's blood flavored ice chips, running around asking people questions for me, and just generally being awesome. 

          I was so relieved to see my doctor, but I was also really freaked out that things were happening so fast. I just wanted time to slow down (now that I wasn't feeling pain) so that things could sink in a little more. Luckily, every time my doctor checked me he said, "you could start pushing, but I think she'll come down some more on her own if we just wait." So we waited. It was nice because I was comfortable and Andrew and I got to just enjoy some time as the two of us before we became the three of us. 

       Around 1 am, my doctor came back in and said it was time to push. He got all set up and she was already crowning. He showed Andrew her head and he got the BIGGEST smile on his face and said, "Sarah, she has so much hair!" I've never seen him look so excited. The nurse had to tell me when my contractions were so that I would know when to push, because I still couldn't feel a thing. I was afraid that because of the epidural, I wouldn't be able to push and that it would take forever, but 5 pushes and less than 5 minutes later (at 1:11 am) we had a beautiful daughter. Andrew cut the cord and I just lied there in shock while they cleaned her up and weighed her and everything else. Then the nurse put her on my chest and we just cuddled for about an hour. Andrew and I just couldn't believe she was here so fast. I couldn't believe that I'd done it, and that none of my fears had happened. I felt so blessed.

Adaline Jane Glenn
7 pounds 2 ounces
Born Tuesday, April 16, 2013, at 1:11 am

       The nurse came back and wheeled me up to nursery to drop her off and take me to my recovery room. Andrew stayed with baby Adaline while my old nurse traded information with my new nurse. I'm not really sure what happened between then and 7 in the morning, but I know there wasn't much sleeping. All her little noises kept me awake and her occasional crying kept Andrew awake too. The cafeteria finally opened at 7 and life was good from there. My mom was going to wait until the snow cleared so she could drive out, but she just couldn't stand not being with her granddaughter. She caught a flight that day and it's been wonderful having her around. We stayed at the hospital till Wednesday night (technically we could have stayed till 1 am on Thursday...HA!). Things have really been better than I expected since we got home. None of us are sleep  deprived zombies, Adaline is eating and sleeping well, my mom and mother-in-law are making sure we all stay fed, and Andrew and I have the most adorable daughter. The only bummer is that I have 3 more finals to take and Andrew has 4 more. But, before we know it, the semester will be over and we can cuddle with our baby girl to our hearts' content. :)