Roughly 25 minutes away, we would be arriving at the hospital about 3:30PM. It was during the car ride I notice the tingling, burning sensation of contractions beginning to appear. Since the moment my water broke, Kevin and I did have this hopeless optimism that somehow, some way my Doctor would magically appear to deliver our Baby even though he wasn’t “on call.” Reality really hadn’t set in that this wouldn’t be the case until we checked in at the Birthday Suites. “So our doctor isn’t even informed we’re in labor?” “No.” It hadn’t hit me yet. I have described how important this was to me previously, and the entire pregnancy my Doctor reiterated “Don’t worry about [this], Don’t worry about [that],” and I was comforted knowing that I could trust the decisions he would make during the delivery process.
Prior to getting strapped up to the machine, I was instructed to lay in bed in hopes to see a puddle under me… this was to confirm that my water had actually broken. In fact, I was encouraged to cough to promote fluid. Every time I coughed I laughed because, yup, I was swimming.
It wasn’t
until after the admitting nurse Terry strapped me up to the machines that
reality set in…. and I began to cry. Doc
would not be present. I had already gone through the “make sure we get a
picture of me, Doc, and Baby when she arrives,” discussions with Kevin. No
matter how much I cried it wouldn’t change the situation. This baby was coming, and he wouldn’t be
there to deliver.
Thank
goodness for Terry. She walked in on my
crying and I informed her why. She went
into a huge explanation of how unimportant it really would be. “The nurses do everything. Literally, the
doctor walks in, catches the baby, and walks out.” In reality, the Doc did quite a bit more
during my delivery but wow did she make me feel better. I don’t know if it was her Talk or if it was
the strengthening of the contractions but I quickly moved passed concentrating
on this fact. Kevin, all the while, was sitting
in a chair at the end of the bed comforting me, doing his best to not have his
phone out due to my strict instructions.
After 20
minutes of monitoring my contractions and sipping Ginger Ale, it was confirmed
I would be moved up to Labor and Delivery.
Terry checked my progress, 4 centimeters dilated and 100% effaced. I had already been 2 centimeters dilated a
couple of weeks earlier at one of my appointments, and then the week prior with
our false start I was 3 centimeters dilated.
The nurses could not believe I was 4 centimeters and really not reacting
to my contractions. Honestly, they did
hurt like hell, but I feel really uncomfortable with people witnessing me in
pain or drawing any sort of attention to myself. So my reaction to contractions was relatively
silent. I handled them with slow, slow
breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth. It was
after her checking my progress did she tell us how I was born to make babies,
how my body was made to have a gajillion babies (HA! We'll see about that!). Progress was steady, and the
baby’s head was low and in position and that she would be here before we knew
it. “This baby is coming!”
Kevin made
his calls informing family that she would in fact be gracing us with her
presence either tonight or early tomorrow (the nurses in admitting saying
surely tonight). My Mom, Dad, and Gramma K made their way out to the hospital.
Kevin’s parents did their best to hit the road from Jacksonville as soon as
they got word. Interestingly, Kevin’s
sister’s family was on a Disney Cruise while my oldest brother’s family was in
Disney for the weekend. It’s a small, small world. Just had to.
It was about
5 PM (give or take) when we were sent upstairs. It felt so strange walking
through the hospital halls in a hospital gown… luckily I only had one
contraction during this trek because I had to pause and hold on to a wall (in
the opened elevator) all the while Kevin and the nurse had to stop and wait.
Awkward.
We began “settling”
into our L&D room as much as one can “settle” into such a room.
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