I asked Mom to come out on Friday to help watch Cali so I could put the car seats in the car and tidy around the house. Well as it turned out I felt the baby drop around 5pm that night and asked Mom to stay. My first contraction was around 9pm and continued through the night. At one point they were even 6 minutes apart. Around 5am I thought that I would try to get some sleep so I laid down and the next thing I knew it was 8:30am. Needless to say I was a little disappointed that I hadn’t had the baby already. My labour with Cali was 13 hours from start to finish so I figured this thing should be done by now.
So I got up and started doing things around the house and my contractions continued on sporadically throughout the day. Finally around 5pm the contractions jumped from 5 minutes to 2.5 minutes. So I figured it was time to go. As we drove to the city I still didn’t think that the pain was intense enough to be checked, so Ed and I were talking about going to the mall for a bit and walking around. Just as we were about to make the turn to the mall I had a strong contraction and suggested that we go to the hospital instead.
So I walked up the maternity triage and told them that I didn’t think that I really needed to be there; however I would like to be checked since I had been in labour for so long. I basically just wanted to know that I had accomplished something. So they hooked me up the fetal monitor and noticed a few decelerations in the baby’s heart rate but weren’t too concerned as she remained very active. I was left on the monitor for quite some time. I still figured that they would send me home as the pain was quite tolerable. I was then checked by the doctor at 9pm who told me that my cervix was very thin and that I was at 6cm, so I wasn’t going anywhere. I was so relived to hear that news I almost cried.
We were then transferred to the delivery room where I jumped in the bathtub and enjoyed the hot water from the shower. The whole time I was able to talk to Ed and we were making jokes. Again with Ed’s help I was able to have another drug free labour and delivery. He is the best labour coach ever, couldn’t have done it without him. After about half an hour in the tub I felt it was time to get out, then I felt the pressure of the baby’s head and I knew it was time to have the baby. Ed found the nurse quickly for me and I was able to start pushing.
Once the baby’s head was out they asked me to stop pushing but as any woman who has had a baby knows that almost an impossible request. So they let me finish pushing the baby out. As it turns out the cord was wrapped around our baby’ s neck twice. They wanted me to stop pushing so they could cut it, but since it didn’t take me much time to finish pushing they were able to unwrap it quickly. Ed said her face was quite blue, but by the time I saw her she had already started to pink up. Her one minute and five minute APGAR score was 9; so she was just fine.
Lexi was born to us on Saturday October 24th 2009 at 9:55pm weighing in at 6lbs 12oz and 19 inches long. Dr. P. Connick was our fantastic doctor and Ingrid was our amazing labour and delivery nurse. We had a fantastic experience at the hospital all the staff were pleasant and very knowledgeable. Without their help I don’t think that Lexi would have made it. It scares me to think that we could have lost her.
So that’s the story of how Lexi came to us and we don’t ever want her to leave!
On May 9th I had a huge burst of energy! I cleaned and organized the entire house. When Ed came home from work he couldn’t believe his eyes as I have been pretty much lying on the couch vomiting for the past 9 months. I called Mom to brag about the work that I had accomplished and she said that the baby would be coming soon; but I didn’t believe her.
That night around 10:30pm I started to have contractions. This was my first time in labour so I wasn’t exactly sure what was happening but I had a good idea. It felt like period cramps occurring every three minutes. I told Ed what was going on, his reply was “snore”. I knew that things weren’t too far along so I didn’t bother to really wake him up.
The contractions continued then around midnight I got up the bathroom and realized that I had passed my mucous plug. This was the real thing, my contractions remained three minutes apart so I decided to really wake up Ed and tell him the news. So we decided to go to Mom and Dad’s house since we had chosen High River Hospital as the baby’s birthplace. Ed was very excited and nervous; just like me. I asked him to give me a priesthood blessing. In the blessing I was assured that the baby would be healthy.
We got to Mom and Dad’s house and Mom was so excited that the baby was on the way. She was a little scared that my contractions were so close together that she sent us to the hospital. Sure enough they checked me and sent me home again. When we got back I sat in the bathtub for a very long time, the contractions seemed eased in there.
The pain became worse and caused me to vomit, so I knew then it was time to go back to the hospital, this was around 9:30am. At the hospital I sat in the shower; the pain became so much that I felt I needed something to relieve it. The nurse suggested that she check me before we tried the gas. I was 10cm! Time to start pushing!
Just then I had another contraction and with it my water broke. I heard the nurse say that there was meconium in it and I got a little scared but I remembered the words of the blessing. Three contractions and ten minutes later Cali was born at 11:34am on May 10th 2007, weighing 6lbs 1oz and measuring 19.5 inches. Her first APGAR score was 8 so everything was fine. We had a healthy little girl just as we were told.
