Hannah’s Birth Story

(37 Weeks, 2 Days)

Saturday night I slept like crap; wide awake from 1-4am. Nora was up by 7am. Sunday we had a fairly quiet day which was good. I lost my mucus plug which made me wary… when I lost my mucus plug with Nora, I went into labor that night. But that’s not necessarily the case every time. 

I tried to take a nap Sunday, was somewhat successful. Tim and I went to bed at 10pm and I’m not kidding, I started having cramps 10 minutes later. I laid in bed for two hours thinking, “Oh geez, is this really happening right now?” Finally at 12:30am I woke Tim up - I think it’s go time! 

At this point, I was so darn exhausted and tired, I cried Uncle and told Tim I’m not going natural - I want the drugs. I’m tired of being the “hero” and being “strong” - I need help! I literally threw my birth plans on our bedroom floor, OUT of my carry-on! 

I took a shower and got my last things in my carry-on. My contractions were a little sporadic, but thankfully Tim called my OB and he said we’d better make our way in. Contractions were lasting 40 seconds, about 5 mins apart. We also called my doula, but told her to be on standby b.c we somehow knew we were’t going to be home long. 

Dottie [Nana] got to our house around 1:30am to watch Nora… we were out the door by 3am. 

I had 6 contractions in the car to Good Sam. No less than 3 mins apart each, 50 secs long. I had to massage my own lower back while reclined in the front seat while Tim drove. Tim told me later as he drove through Clifton [University of Cincy] at 3am, he was dodging drunk college students left and right! Haha! 

We got to Good Sam and I stayed in the car for one more contraction before attempting to walk in. We passed two cool guys smoking outside the doors who were like “Whoa! Good luck!” Thanks guys, your smoke makes me want to vomit right now. 

I made it all the way to check in without a contraction, had one there. They got me into triage and wanted me to change clothes. I had a contraction on the table there. Then those damn nurses wanted a urine sample. I wanted to smack them. I went into the bathroom and knew it wasn’t going to happen. The next contraction came and I had to PUSH. I started yelling on the toilet and the nurses outside yelled for me to come out and stop pushing. Not sure who’s all been without drugs through labor/delivery: if you’ve ever have had to take a giant dump and someone told you not to push - that’s about the same feeling only way worse. TMI, but truth.

Oh did I mention Tim had gone BACK to the car for my purse? The girl at the desk told him he had 15 minutes while I was in triage. Because I obviously wasn’t THAT far along, right? 

I managed to get up on a bed and crushed a nurse’s hand while trying to NOT push through the next contraction - my water had not broken but her head/bag of water was RIGHT THERE. Tim made it back and I crushed his hand through the 2nd contraction I could NOT push through. If you hand’t guessed, I was fully dilated with no chance for drugs. 

Finally, they gave me the go-ahead. After 3 contractions/pushing, I got her out! 3:50am, about 20 minutes after getting into the hospital. Unreal. 

I finally opened my eyes and there were no less than 9 people in the room. My OB wanders in after she's born - let’s be honest, all they do is catch the baby. He stitched me up while they took care of Hannah… 

It was like a movie. Crazy. 

This is me about 1 hour after delivering Hannah. I had my phone to communicate with Tim who went with Hannah to NICU. My adrenaline was through the roof.

My view for 2 hours in recovery alone : P

The hack job the sweet nurse did on my IV. The remnants of my thirst after a fast delivery! I had at least 8 small OJs. 

Hannah in her brief Good Sam NICU stay - about 3 hours after delivery.