I had a midwife appointment on Friday the 15th where I let the midwife strip my membranes to try to induce labor. Since I was due on Monday, they agreed. I also wanted to see if I could get her to come out because my mom was coming up for the weekend and it would be SUPER convenient to just go into labor then, lol. At that Friday appointment I was only 1 cm dilated, very soft, and about 70% effaced. I was a little disappointed. I was hoping I would have been a little bit farther along in that process, but my midwife reminded/assured me that it didn't really matter what I measured at. I could go from 1-10 in four hours if it was time. There was supposed to be some massive snow storm moving in as well, so I figured she might come just because of the sheer inconvenience of the storm.
I spent the rest of Friday getting things done and spending time with Carson. I felt a little crampy, but didn't feel like labor was coming. My mom got in around 4pm and Carson was so excited to see her. I was too, maybe that was the first sign labor was coming, but I was just really happy to have my mom close.
Saturday we woke up to snow, not a ton, but it was still coming down. We cooked breakfast and hung out at the house together. Saturday afternoon it was still wet and snowy, but the roads were clear so Mike and I took complete advantage of my mom (thank you mom!) and went to a movie. We saw My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 since I loved the first one. Afterward we went and had drinks at a CB and Potts (I had an Arnold Palmer :-) and just chatted. When we got home, Carson was just waking up from his nap. We had more hangout time together and then after Carson went down for the night, we watched the first My Big Fat Greek Wedding with my mom because she hadn't seen it. Saturday night as I laid down to go to sleep, Michael and I talked about what to do if I went into labor after my mom left. Since she was planning on leaving after church on Sunday, we figured we should have plan B ready for the week.
Sunday morning I woke up at 5:30am and couldn't fall back to sleep. It took a little bit for me to realize I was having cramps, and then only a little bit longer to realize they were contractions, but super light ones. I was so excited! All during church I noticed the tightening, but they didn't have any kind of pattern or anything. After church, we went out to lunch for Carson at his restaurant (Larkburger) and it was during lunch I really started noticing them as real contractions, but inconsistent still and probably 6-10 minutes a part. After we got home and put Carson down, we decided my mom should stay until after Carson's nap, just to see if this was a bought of false labor or not. We had a seven hours total of false labor with Carson. I laid down to see if I could rest at all. If I was in labor, I had a lot of work ahead of me and needed some rest. I didn't sleep, and the contractions seemed stronger and more regular when I laid down, but they were about 8-10 min apart when I laid down. When I got up, I used the restroom and noticed other labor signs, so it was decided my mom should definitely stay the night since it looked like I was really in labor.
I had roughly 5-6 minute a part contractions the rest of the day on Sunday. They definitely started getting stronger Sunday evening so we started getting bags together, giving my mom instructions with Carson, and prepping anything else we could. We fully expected that things would pick up during the night and we would have to leave for the hospital. Before Carson went to bed, I had timed my contractions at 4.5-5 min apart and they were definitely getting more intense to where I would have to actually stop what I was doing when they came. I called my midwife at 7:30pm and let her know what was going on and told her there was a chance I would be in that night if my water broke or if things really picked up. Michael and I had decided to stay at home as long as possible this time around.
Sunday night we tried to sleep and rest up for what we were sure was ahead. When I laid down, the contractions again got farther apart, about 6-10 min apart, but increased in intensity. I started having some really strong ones that I really needed to breathe through. But I was confused, I knew contractions were supposed to get stronger, and closer together. At 1:00am, I was feeling hungry so I got up and made a snack. Then I read about labor stages on the internet again because I felt there was no way I could still be in early labor, but I had all the signs; contractions that are irregular and farther than 5 min apart and they change in intensity when changing positions. I thought for sure I was in active labor, but it didn't sound like it. I tried to lay down again, but things were so intense! I finally nodded off and woke up around 5:30am. When I woke up, I noticed that the contractions had somewhat subsided. Again, I was SO disappointed. It looked like it was just a long bought of false labor.
My mom got up and wondered why we hadn't come to tell her what was going on. We were all kind of disappointed at breakfast on Monday. I was worried about baby girl's heart rate and just kind of wanted to be seen by my midwife, so I called the office and got in for a checkup at 9am. Right around when I was calling in, I noticed my contractions were coming back. By 9am, they were back at 5 min apart. At the appointment, baby girl's heart rate was steady and I was dilated to between a 4 and 5. My midwife said they would admit me then if I really wanted to, but that maybe I should try walking the halls or stairs to see if I could get the baby to move down. She thought that as soon as my water broke or the baby moved down, I would have this baby very quickly. After an hour of walking through the halls and stairs, my contractions were very regular again at 5 min apart and kept coming. After doing that for an hour, we went back and talked to my midwife again. She said she would admit us if we wanted to, since I was having contractions as was almost a 5. But she also said we were free to go home and wait for things to pick up. Michael and I decided to head home for a little while longer.
I'm glad we went home, we were able to see Carson again, eat some lunch, and again try to lay down and get some rest. When I got up from laying down, Michael and I went for a walk outside. My contractions were about 4 min apart on the walk and were getting very intense. We decided it was time to head back to the hospital. Thankfully, Carson had woken up from his nap so we could say goodbye. It was a very uncomfortable ride with the intense contractions, but thankfully we were only 15-20 min away. We checked in and they took us to triage for some fetal monitoring and to check me. I was about 6 cm dilated and baby girl's heart rate was great. As I laid down, my contractions once again moved to 6-8 min apart, but were still very intense. We arrived to the hospital around 3:00pm, and it was about 3:45pm we were put in our room. Right away we decided to walk the halls.
For the next three hours, we alternated between sitting on the birthing ball, squatting chair, shower, and jacuzzi. I definitely noticed that when I was in the shower or jacuzzi, things were more manageable and I felt like I made more progress. It was about 6:30pm that I was in the jacuzzi, and I was feeling discouraged again because while I was in there, my contractions again went to about 8 min apart, although VERY intense. I felt like things were never going to speed up! My midwife reminded me that these contractions were working for my body and that I would have this baby today. They could always break my water. I got a little too cold in the jacuzzi so we decided to move back to my room for the hot shower. One thing that was just so different with this labor was how present I was. I mean, we were talking about real estate, and kids, delivering babies, etc with my midwife while I was in the jacuzzi. I only had to check out when I had a contraction. With Carson I felt out of control and it was an out of body experience, where this time, I felt so present.
In the shower, I really kind of started to lose it. They were not close together, but they were strong, and I was starting to get scared of pushing the baby out again and how I remember that feeling. I hadn't let me midwife check me to see how far along I was because I didn't want to be disappointed. I let her check me again because we talked about maybe breaking my water at this point, when she checked me, I was between 9 and 10 and so soft that she said she could stretch me to a 10 if I wanted to get this baby out. We were so happy! Baby girl was still not quite engaged yet, so I had to breathe her down before we could start pushing (she was still -1 position). It was about 7:45pm at this point.
As soon as I laid down, contractions once again went to about 8 min apart. Which was nice, but not nice because I wanted to get this baby out! So waiting for the next contraction felt like forever. After only two contractions, I felt a huge pop! My water and finally broke! After that, I tried to breathe her down again and found myself pushing! She was definitely coming out and there seemed to be nothing I could do to stop pushing, even though I was yelling and asking someone to help me. When she finally crowned, they made me actually stop pushing, which was the hardest thing to do! She had me just pant and feel baby's head. I could feel that she had so much hair! My midwife had me stop pushing to try to stretch things out so I wouldn't tear. It was so hard to do, but she was so right, I didn't tear at all delivering her. Then she let me push one more time and her head was out! Then it wasn't so bad to get her shoulders or anything else out. They did say the cord was around her neck, but I had a very long cord so we were lucky that she didn't have any issues. They put her up on my tummy and didn't take her away for 2 hrs. It was amazing. She latched on right away and started nursing, and then proceeded to poop all over me and Michael.
We couldn't believe she was here and we got to announce her name for the first time to the midwife and nurses: Selah Joyce Funk. The only snag in my labor is I wouldn't stop bleeding, so they had to give me some drugs to stop the bleeding. I only started feeling really tired and not well after I kept bleeding. But soon after the drugs, I started feeling better, just a little tired. But overall, I felt pretty good for just having a baby! And it was so nice to stay in the same room and not have to move to a postpartum room. I feel so blessed to have had such a good, safe delivery. We stayed in the hospital for 24 hrs after she was born and then we went home. We got home Tuesday night around 9:30pm.
We love you Selah and feel so blessed God saw fit to add you to our family.
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