Miss Adeline Jane: September 2008

Last Thursday (September 25th) was my first day off of work. I wanted to work until Friday (39 weeks) and Jason was adamant that I begin to stay home and rest beginning Thursday. Thank goodness we compromised! We had a doctor's appointment Thursday afternoon. Everything was progressing. I was still 1.5 cm dialated and 90% effaced. My swelling and blood pressure had gone back down. So, now it was just a waiting game. Our doctor offered to induce labor on Monday (because he was on call) and we decided against it. Well, Jason and I went for a nice long walk Thursday night. We made it home and got in bed around 10:30. My best friend Rachel called right as we were dozing off. We didn't stay on the phone long, but right before we got off the phone, she said "You know what's going to happen, you're going to get up to pee in the middle of the night and your water is going to break." Oh how right she was......

An whole hour (nice long sleep) after I got off the phone with Rachel, I got up to use the bathroom. One of the joys of pregnancy..... Getting up three times a night to use the bathroom only to produce a drop. Not so this time. On my way to the bathroom I realized that things didn't feel quite normal. I sat down to use the bathroom and noticed that everything was wet. First thought, I wet the bed. Second thought, how am I going to explain that to Jason (oh yes, common side effect of pregnancy - he'll totally believe that). Third thought - After I let myself wake up a little, I said "Jason?" No response. "Jason?" He sat straight up in bed. "What? What?" Now for the good part.... "My water broke." All of the sudden, my red-eyed boxer clad husband was standing right in front of me. "WHAT?" I repeated myself. He wanted to know if I was sure. I won't go into the details of how I made him know that I was sure (but it involved smelling) and then the chaos began.

Jason and I are not the most "planned" couple. Everyone else in our family was ready. Bags packed. Not so for us - We had no bags packed, except for the baby's. We both wanted showers. Needed to make sure the house is picked up. Call the hospital to ask what to do. Pack the car. Get baby car seat installed. Well, after calling the hospital (which is another story in and of itself) we find out we have an hour to make it in. Literally, Jason begins his stop watch. Now, I'm in trouble..... I am anxiety ridden and trying to get everything accomplished - ON A TIMER. I finally look at Jason at the 32 minute mark he reminds me of and tell him that he just needs to calm down a little bit. My precious husband just wanted to make sure we were doing everything right. He was completely thrilled and wanted to make sure mommy and baby were doing fine. I appreciate that now, just not after an hour of sleep and complete shock. By the 37 minute mark, I am on the phone with my mom for the second time and we are on our way to the hospital. The contractions started on the way but still weren't bad at all and about 10 minutes apart.

We make it to the hospital and check in (almost 1 am). I get examined. STILL 1.5 CM DIALATED..... UHHHHH. The nurse said, "Oh you've still got a long way to go." The monitor said my contractions were coming about every 6 to 7 minutes and the baby was doing fine. The doctor on call had to be called in for me so we were going to have to wait to see him. We got moved to our new room for delivery. Dr. Marino showed up shortly. They started me on Pitocin. That lasted all of 7 minutes. The baby didn't like it, and I didn't either (made me have a contraction that lasted almost 8 minutes). The doctor told the nurse to start it again in 30 minutes and decrease the dose. Well, the baby was obviously ready, and we never had to start the Pitocin again. At 3 am, my wonderful nurse Wendy examined me. I was only 3 cm. All that work for 1.5 cm! Around 4 am Wendy began preparing me for my epidural. She said once we started the prep it would be about an hour until I could get the epidural. Well, at 4:15 I was miserable. I got sick just before 5 am and was wishing the doctor would hurry up! I started feeling the urge to push at 5. I didn't tell anyone because I heard sometimes you want to push before it's time. I got the epidural at 5:15. At 5:25, Wendy examined me. She got Jason and I to guess how dialated I was. Jason guessed 4 cm. I said I hoped 5 cm. Before she even checked, she said I've got a number better than that. She examined me and asked if we were ready to have a baby. I was 10 cm! She said that she knew I was fully dialated before he got there with the epidural but didn't examine me because she wanted me to be comfortable for the actual delivery. Thank you Wendy! Well, the rest is history.... I started pushing at 5:35 and our beautiful baby girl, Adeline Jane Clark, was born at 5:54. Thank you Wendy, Dr. Marino, and my absolutely wonderful husband (and cheerleader!) Thank the Lord for a wonderful pregnancy, labor, delivery, and healthy daughter.

Just before 1 am and still pregnant.....