Labor and Delivery

I started having contractions on Wednesday night around 6 pm. I wasn't sure if they were contractions or not so I called my sister-in-law, Leatha, and asked her if what I was feeling were contractions. I asked...do they kind of feel like gas pains?? lol. She said that they do and were probablly contractions. Marlin came home around 8 and we started timing my contractions but they were really inconsistent. On average they were about 8 minutes apart. So we decided to wait until they were 5 minutes apart. Around 11:45 pm my contractions were getting stronger and stronger. They were still really inconsistent though. One time they were like 2 minutes apart and the next they were 5 and the next they were 8. Marlin and I were debating whether or not we should go into the hospital. Marlin told me we should wait..so we got ready for bed..read our scriptures..said our prayers..Marlin was all tucked in bed and almost asleep...then I couldn't take it any more. I told Marlin we needed to go in. He got kinda mad at me..and said, "They're just going to turn you back,"but at that point..I didn't care if he was mad or not. We checked in to the hospital around 12 am. I was so nervous! I started shivering as soon as I got into the hospital. (thats what I do when I'm nervous). A nurse took us into our room and hooked me up to a monitor where they could see my contractions and the baby's heartbeat. They found out that my blood pressure was high and so they had to draw blood to do a few labs. The only problem was, my body was swollen and so it was hard for the nurse to find a vein to draw blood from. She probablly tried 7 or 8 different places to draw blood! Finally, she called another nurse to come and do it and the other nurse was able to draw my blood on her first try! After about 2 hours of waiting in the room, the nurse checked me and said that I was dialated to 2 cm. At that point, the nurse asked me if I was planning to get an epidural..my response was YES! She said that we would have to wait a little longer to see if I had dialated more in order to get the epidural. So we waited for about 45 minutes and I had dialated about 1/2 a cm so I got the O.K. to get the epidural. The nurse and Marlin helped me walk down the long hall to our room to get the epidural. At that point, I had been poked so many times by needles, that I wasn't afraid for the first epidural needle. I was just ready for the pain to leave. I got the epidural around 3 am and could not feel a single pain~! Marlin and I slept in the room while we waited for me to dialate. The nurse came in and checked me again and said that I wasn't dialating. Around 6 am, the nurse came in a gave me potosin to help me dialate. I tried to sleep from 3 am to 6 but I was so anxious, excited, and nervous. Around 8 am the nurse came in and said I had dialiated more ( can't remember what to). The doctor came in and broke my water. When he broke my water, the baby's heart beat started becoming really irregular. The nurses got really scared and were preparing for a c-section. They gave me an air mask, put water back inside of me and had me lay on my side. They also put a monitor on the baby's head to better track her heart rate. I had to take really deep breaths and stay as calm as I could. After a few minutes, the baby's heart beat went back to normal. What a relief! Finally around 8 45 ish, it was time to push. I pushed for about an hour before the baby actually came. We found out later, that her head was turned to the side, and because of that, she got stuck. The doctor had to use a vacuum to help get her out. Once she was out, she was perfectly fine and healthy. Marlin got to cut the umbilical cord and then the doctor laid her down to clean her up. I was so happy when I saw her! Marlin and I just looked at each other and smiled. We did it!!! Labor wasn't as bad as I thought...but I was so glad when it was over...and so excited to hold my baby girl! She was 8 lbs and 20 inches long. She was born at 9:42 a.m. on June 16, 2011.