This baby decided way back in October that she didn't want to wait until January to come. Hence the reason I was in the hospital for a week. I knew she wasn't going to wait until the end of January. I figured she'd come close to the beginning, around the fourth. Luci was 3 weeks early. I thought this one would be similar. Wrong.
At my appointment on December 20th, my ultrasound came out normal. Baby Girl was growing just fine, my amniotic fluid was a little low, but all in all, things looked great. I asked the doctor if he would check my progression, just so that I could have an idea of how far along I was. Eli and I were pretty surprised when he informed us that I was already 4 cm dilated and 100% effaced. With Luci I was 2 cm and 100% and she came 5 days later. I knew this was going to be quite the waiting game. The doc said he would be gone for Christmas, but would be working the rounds at the hospital on New Year's Eve and would be happy to deliver her on that day. I prayed that she would wait that long.
Eli, Luci, and I spent Christmas Day at my mom's house after some festivities at our own house. We opened presents and ate breakfast at Mom's and then just hung out. My mom recently had shoulder surgery, so between the two of us it was a pretty chill day.
I hadn't felt Baby Girl move much that day. Because of all of the scary business beforehand, I decided to go into L & D to be monitored. I got hooked up to the monitors and was surprised to find out I was having mild contractions (not really so surprised since I hadn't been feeling them all along). The nurse checked my progress and I was still the same from the last appointment. She offered a medication stronger than the stuff I had taken before to stop labor, but I was tired of medication. My contractions stopped within the 3 hours I was there. I had an ultrasound done to make sure my amniotic fluid was up (it was) and that BG was okay. Eli and I decided that if she wasn't in any danger, I would be okay to go home. The nurse sent me home with instructions to come back in if I felt anymore contractions to come back in. She also told me that if I laid on my side or took a warm bath and my contractions went away, it was most likely false labor contractions.
We went back to my mom's around 5:30ish. We hung out a little longer, but my mom needed to sleep and Luci was getting tired. Eli and I picked up and headed home. While I was at my mom's, I started feeling some contractions, but they went away when I laid down. False, right? Wrong! As soon as I got in the car, I started having some strong contractions. It was about 7:15 and they were about 5 minutes apart. I could still breathe through them though. I decided I would lay down at home and see if they went away like before. Mind you, we're only about 15 minutes from my mom. So timing-wise, it was about 7:30.
When we got home, I (very slowly) walked upstairs and laid down in bed. Eli put Luci to bed and she fell asleep pretty quickly. I literally was in bed for about 2 minutes before I decided I needed to go back to the hospital. I was definitely in labor. We woke Luci up, put her in the car, and called the sitter on the way to the hospital. Eli was telling her that we'd drop Luci off on our way, but I cut him off and told her that she'd need to pick Luci up and the hospital. We weren't gonna have enough time.
We got to the hospital (7:45) and I walked (again, very slowly) inside, hopped on the elevator, and made it to L & D. I didn't have time to change into a gown, so they just hooked me up to a monitor over my clothes and threw a dressing gown over me while they prepped a room. Another nurse came in to check my progress - 6 cm and my water broke in the middle of the check. Wonderful. The sitter came and picked up Luci and took her home for the night. It was slightly embarrassing as I was bellowing like a beached whale. In fact, I was so loud that a nurse came in to joke around about actually having the baby in the observation room. Little did she know that she wasn't too far off.
By the time Luci was gone it was about 8:11ish. The room was prepped, the doctor had been called at home (it was Christmas after all), and the nurse brought in a wheelchair to transfer me. I got up (slowly) from the bed and told the nurse and Eli (not very nicely) that I was pretty sure the baby was hanging out. Eli said it wasn't possible because I was only at a 6 10 minutes before. The nurse looked at him and informed him that it was possible. TMI: I made Eli peek while I was in the wheelchair. It was very possible after that.
I got on a bed, nearly fully clothed. The nurse told me the doctor wasn't here yet, but there was a midwife who had just delivered another baby. I told her to send her in because I was going to start pushing. The midwife walked in, straight into a scrub jacket, and told me to push. In between my two quick pushes, I was crying and asking the midwife if there was time for an epidural. She laughed sweetly and told me I was doing great and the baby was already mostly here. She told me to stop pushing as the baby had her hand against her chin, which I guess makes it a little more difficult to deliver. That didn't matter. The baby pushed her own way out at 8:20. I'll spare you the rest of the details. Just pray that if you ever have a baby with her hand by her chin that you have an epidural.
We got our best Christmas present that day. Our little Tonia Gabriella was born at 5 lbs. 9 oz and 18.5 inches. Surprisingly, she was an ounce heavier than Luci and a whole inch and a half longer. She is a healthy, chubby cheeked, little one. We only had to stay in the hospital for two days to make sure she was good. We couldn't be happier!
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