Rob's Birth Story

On Saturday morning around 4:30am I started noticing some intense contractions. After timing them for 2 hours, I called the ob to let her know they were 5 minutes apart and becoming more intense. She told me to go into the hospital to be checked out since I was already at 3cm. I woke up Jordan, finished packing the bags, called Colleen to let her know Lily girl was on her way and then we all left the house around 7:15am.

Once we got to the hospital, I was still at 3cm. They gave me fluids and told me to walk around for an hour. After the hour was up, and I had made a stop in the delicious cafe, we went back up to Labor & Delivery. Unfortunately, I was still only 3cm. So. I got sent home. Cue depressing music.

The nurse was super nice and told me I was most likely in early labor and gave me a few tips to get active labor going. On the way home Jordan and I were both sad and I was so tired. But I was determined to finish up a few chores (like grocery shopping at Meijer on a Saturday - not a good idea..) to keep my mind busy.

Through out the day the contractions did die down a bit, every 15 minutes and the severity was as bad as that morning. But around 6:30pm the intensity slowly begin to increase. It was misery. At that point, I had no idea if I was in labor or not and I was bound to not go back to that hospital until the baby was coming for real. Jordan went over to his friend Candler's house while his wife Colleen came over to hang out with me. We ate some delicious caramel apple cupcakes and chatted for awhile. The contractions were coming on pretty strong at that point and I told Colleen to be on alert in case something were to happen in the middle of the night.

I went to bed, hoping for a good night's sleep and around 12:30am my contractions were seriously hurting. I finally got up out of bed to walk around, shower and try to ease the pain. Each time I used the bathroom I thought the baby was going to come out of me that minute and boy did it hurt. Around 2:00am I called the ob again who said to go in again. This time I didn't want to wake up Colleen, Jordan and Lily unless I knew it was for real. So what did I do? Brace yourself, I know it's crazy - I drove myself to the hospital around 2:30am. I waited for a contraction to come, worked through it, and then put the car into drive. The hospital is 10 minutes or less away from my house, so I had one contraction on the way there. Once I got to Dublin Methodist Hospital, I had another contraction. Sucky.

After entering through the emergency room entrance, a Labor & Delivery nurse came to walk me upstairs and access me. I told her my story on the way there in between contractions. Once I was registered, the nurse examined me to see where I was. I was 5 cm - active labor!! I shouted praises to God above and then called my husband right as a contraction was coming on. All I could get out was 'I am in labor, I will call Colleen, bring what..ev...errrr!' I then called Colleen who answered with 'You are in labor' more of a statement than a question. She agreed to come over and sleep in the guest room until Lily woke up.

The nurse then told me I had to have a full bag of fluid and blood taken before I could get my epidural. I wondered how long that would take and the nurse optimistically said '30 minutes..to an hour'. At this point the contractions were so strong that I was almost shouting through each one as I tried to breath and grip the side of the hospital bed. Thankfully, the nurses started the fluid and squeezed the bag to make it go in quicker, the called anethesia instantly and within 20 minutes the fluid was gone and I was preparing for the epidural. Right as they are about to shoot up my spine, I had a contraction and had to have the epidural put in while having a contraction. Thank goodness for the amazing nurse I had, she supported me through the whole thing. This is right when Jordan came in right around 3:00am.

After the medicine kicked in, I didn't feel any pain. Absolutely amazing. It felt soooo good. Jordan and I both got comfy to get a couple of hours of rest in until the baby came. Around 4am I was at 6-7cm and then by 6:00am I was 9-10cm. After the nurse checked me at 6:00am, she said she would be back in 20 minutes to check again. During that time with each contraction, I could feel so much pressure moving down the birth canal. The nurse came back in at 10 minutes to move my position to an upright one and I told her 'I feel something between my legs'. She kinda laughed and said she would check me again. As I sit up, I feel a tremendous amount of pressure and when the nurse lifted the sheet, the baby was crowning! She instantly called the doctor to come in (who was thankfully in the hospital already) and I woke up Jordan by saying 'We are having a baby' twice. He got up, went to the bathroom - I told him to hurry because the baby was coming right now. By the time he got out, there were three nurses and the doctor in the room and the baby was already 2 inches out of me.

I push twice and the baby comes out, flawlessly! What an amazing, smooth, quiet delivery. He was born at 6:20am in the early hours of a Sunday morning. His umbilical cord was tied in a knot, which is uncommon and potentially dangerous. Jordan joked that he had already tied his first knot as a boy scout!

It was a miracle delivery compared to Lily's and we were so thankful for it!