new baby, new house (part 1)

well well well, sorry for the hiatus!  but, you know, i had a baby.  and then bought a house.  more about that later.  for now, i'll talk about the baby thing/birth story.  lil man was born on saturday july 6th at 12:32pm.  i was in labor for about 13 hours---starting around 11 pm on friday night.  for a few days prior, i had noticed that i was having very intense braxton hicks, not painful at all, but just more frequent and intense.  hubby and i were walking down at greenlake after he got off of work at night for a few days hoping to get things moving.  i had an appointment scheduled with the midwife for monday for a checkup and to talk about possible induction strategies if necessary.  i was hoping that we wouldn't have to deal with that, and the midwife sounded pretty confident that i would go into labor before then.  so anyway, we walked.  during the day on friday i did some grooming; plucked my eyebrows, clipped my nails, gave myself a pedicure, and then got some other things together like a box of supplies that i could carry from one room to the other after baby was born, stuff like chapstick, hair ties, hand sanitizer, diapers, wipes, etc, just stuff that would be handy to have in one place so that i wouldn't have to go running back and forth between rooms.  i did some other nesting-type stuff like that as well.  hubby came home from work, we ate, we took a walk, and i noticed that my braxton hicks were getting pretty heavy duty.  once at home, we decided to finish packing our bags for the hospital just in case, and we asked a family member to pick up my in-laws at the airport the next morning.  a little bit after we were done with our walk, i noticed some back pain and it was increasing in intensity.  i told hubby that this could be a sign of labor, as i had read in a few different books.  at about 11 pm, the back pain had increased and my braxton hicks were now becoming painful (but not too bad, just like menstrual cramps).  at about 11:30pm i was sure that i was having contractions so after a few, hubby pulled out his stop watch and starting timing them.  we couldn't believe that this was it!  after awhile, the contractions became more and more intense and painful, and hubby starting charting them on excel (he was so excited to do this the entire pregnancy).  i had been lying in bed during this time trying to get some sleep, and had one very powerful and painful contraction that brought me upright.  i decided at this point i could no longer lay down during the contractions, i needed to move.  hubby was very helpful and did deep breathing exercises with me, reminded me to breath and not tense up.  i labored on the exercise ball (thank you brother for picking that up for me!) for quite awhile, the bouncing was helpful and soothing, and it was a great tool to help me get into a rhythm with my breathing.  at some point i started humming through the contractions and that was oddly soothing as well.  during the contractions i would be sitting on the ball still, but bent over at the waist with my head and torso resting on the bed.  at a certain point, the contractions were becoming much more intense and i had hubby call the birthing unit.  the nurses asked their questions, and then decided that we should come in.  it was about 5 am at this point.  so after we grabbed our stuff, hubby loaded up the car, and i labored through some contractions on the stairs and in the car, it was about 5:30.  we got to the birthing center, i labored through some more contractions in the parking lot, in the elevator, and in the lobby.  they were coming much more frequently now.  i was sent to triage where the nurse hooked me up to a monitor, one for the baby's heartbeat and one for my contractions.  at this point, i was sweating and nauseous and each contraction was getting much harder to handle.  after about an hour or so, the nurse decided that we could stay (my cervix hadn't been checked yet) and a little while later, they wheeled me up to a L&D room.  i remember as soon as we got there, i had a few really hard contractions while bent over across the bed and i told hubby that i didn't think i could do this anymore, that i think i wanted an epidural.  we had set up a magic word that i was to use to let hubby know that i was serious, so he told me if i was for real, then i needed to use the magic word.  he encouraged me and told me what a great job i was doing, and that i could do it, just get through one contraction at a time.  i wanted the pain to go away, but i just couldn't say the magic word.  i pictured myself bent over my belly while the anesthesiologist inserted a catheter into my epidural space and trying to stay still during a contraction with all this taking place----and decided, no way.  that just wouldn't work.  the nurse (who was super duper amazingly awesome) suggested that i get into the tub.  once i got into the tub, i was so much more comfortable, i can't even describe it.  i think a huge reason that i didn't get an epidural is because of the tub!  it was just so much easier for me to labor there, and the nurse kept filling it up with warm water so i was never too hot or too cold.  hubby was right there next to me being awesome and encouraging.  after a short while in the tub, maybe an hour (i really had no concept of time at this point), i had this crazy visceral urge to push, i couldn't help it.  the nurse urged me to follow my body's lead and said that if i felt like pushing then i should.  she had checked my cervix when i first got into the tub and i was 6 cm dilated at that point, and when i got the urge to push they checked me again, i was fully dilated except for one part of my cervix and was almost completely effaced.  the nurse asked me to try not to push on purpose through the next few contractions and try to just breath through them so that i could give my body a chance to dilate and efface completely.  at some point during this time my water broke.  the contractions were very close together and very intense and i found myself grunting through them.  everything that my body did was innate, i pretty much had no control over what i was doing, except mentally.  in my head i tried to visualize waves and beaches and was chanting "Ya Baha'u'l-Abhá" which means "O Glory of the Most Glorious".  after a short amount of time the nurse and midwife decided that i was pretty close to pushing and decided that i should get out of the tub (they don't allow you to actually deliver in the tub there).  i don't remember if they checked me again in the tub or once i got onto the bed, but at that point they told me i was ready to go and that i could push with all my energy when i felt like it.

i will finish this story in part 2!!!!!!!!