It's Friday and we're relieved to have the weekend to rest. The doctor said at the morning appointment I am 1cm dilated and 50% effaced. She says to keep walking and moving, things look good. I have a hair cut scheduled and friends visiting in the afternoon on Saturday and church on Sunday morning. I talk about going to Disneyland/California Adventure to watch the World of Color show on Sunday as a birthday gift to myself. Overall a laid back weekend. Little did we know what was in store...
June 26, 2010
5:50am
I wake with a feeling every girl can recognize when it's that time of the month. Haven't had that sensation in 8.5 months. I rush to the bathroom to check and... I call out to Will, "Uh, hunnie? I think my water broke!" Half asleep, he literally jumps out of bed, grabs our 'hospital bag' and is about to leave me stranded in the bathroom. After we get me changed, we nervously make our way to the hospital.
6:45am
We are so glad we took the maternity ward tour at Huntington Memorial. We got there just as shifts were changing, so some people weren't at their desks. By the time we go up to the window they showed us on the tour and was brought into triage for assessment, I was thoroughly soaked. I had no idea there was that much water in there!
They checked me out and I was still only 1cm dilated. My doctor asked them to put me on pitocin (something that will move things along) and they officially admitted me into Labor and Delivery.
7:30am
They've moved me into the LDR (Labor and Delivery Room) where I will stay until after the birth. Huntington's LDR's rock. They try to make it look as 'un-hospital' as possible. The contractions haven't started yet, so we have time to relax and get settled in the room. I don't remember when the contractions started and now that I think of it, I really can't remember what they feel like! I guess at it's worst, it felt like a really REALLY bad cramp. I do remember needing to stand and bend over at the waist at the side of the bed and really focus on deep breathing to get through the pain.
I already decided that I was totally up for pain killers when the time came. They first gave me a narcotic to help with the pain because we had to wait for the anesthesiologist to get out of surgery. I have to say I didn't care for it. It made me loopy, but didn't really do anything for the pain. It might've taken some of the edge off, but the most it did was help me relax between contractions.
11:30am
Yay epidural! The anesthesiologist comes to give me relief. From what I read about epidurals, I thought I'd be paralyzed from the waist down, unable to move or feel my legs. In reality, I could move and feel but with difficulty and numbness. They checked and found that I was about 4 cm dilated so they anticipated me delivering about 5 or 6pm. We got to get some sleep.
3:30pm
My nurse came in saying my OB wanted her to check my progress. She took one look and said, "Ok, keep your knees together and whatever you do, don't push." She called another nurse to page my OB 911, because the baby was crowning! I had felt some pressure, but because of the epidural (and the fact that I've never given birth before), I couldn't tell what was going on...um down there.
3:45pm
My OB arrives and dons her 'suit' and 'face shield' (OB's on TV never wear face shields. But I guess it makes sense...). Sparing the details, 2 contractions and 5 pushes later, they placed my little girl on my chest.
3:55pm
Introducing Elizabeth Yi-Jie Yeh.
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