So on November 30, 2010 I felt eerily euphoric. I made Christmas cookies with Lucy, took a shower, shaved, painted my and her toenails blow dried and flat ironed my hair and cleaned the house. I went to bed at about 11:30 and woke up at about 2 with some contractions. They were not horrible and were 5 minutes apart. I tried to go back to sleep, but they were coming steady every five minutes. After about an hour or so I got up to empty my bladder, had some more strong contractions and got back in bed. After about 15 min I decided to get up and take a shower and I felt and heard a splat on the bathroom floor. My water broke. Or so I thought. I woke up Jude and told him that my contractions were 5 min apart and my water broke. My biggest fear was that this would happen in the middle of the night and we'd have no one to care for Lucy. We have no family within 200 miles of here, and only one close friend and she is a school teacher, and had exhausted her sick leave already taking care of an ailing family member. I had a "big sister" backpack I had bought for Luc and packed it full of stuff to keep her occupied; toys, coloring books, crayons, snacks. We headed to the hospital. Luc got nervous when I requested a wheel chair for that long corridor to the elevator. I assured her that I'd be fine. When we got there, the nurse had me change; I changed into my own night gown and got into bed. She came and checked me and said that my water did not break, and that I was only dilated 1 1/2 cm. I was irritated. I was like what the hell? I didn't piss myself...It wasn't pee, it was slimy and more the texture and viscosity of glycerin; and certainly enough to make a splat through my pajama pants. She said that if I didn't progress that we'd have to go home. I was devastated. We had already called our folks to start the drive, his 200 miles South and mine 200 miles West. I started to pray because I was nervous. How would I know when to come back when my contractions were now 3 minutes apart? I am already am a high risk pregnancy, are they seriously gonna send me home??? Two hours later I had progressed to a 3. Thank the LORD! By noon I was a 4 and having contractions every 30 seconds. Lucy did amazingly well having gone to bed at 11:30 and gotten up at 3 and having to chill with us in the hospital. She was starting to get whiny, and between her being scared and tired, my husband being exhausted (he got off work at midnight) and F-ing Disney Channel on my hospital TV' I could not concentrate at all or relax so I asked for the epidural. After the epidural his parents arrived and were able to take Luc home for a much needed rest. My parents arrived at about the same time and it was nice to have them there. The Dr. came in to check me and my dilating had stalled and it was now 2pm and I was stalled at 5cm. I became really upset, I was exhausted and started having major anxiety. I actually called in a Dr. for a c-section consult. She came in, gave me some info but was so sweet, calm and encouraging. She kept soothing me, rubbing my back, telling me everything was fine, I was gonna be able to do it vaginally and that she had faith in me. She was a resident Dr and I was quite impressed. About that time, the OB on call had come in (I didn't have an assigned OB due to the fact we don't have insurance) and wanted to start me on pitocin. I refused, and my resident Dr. asked him to please give me an hour or so to see what would happen on it's own. My dad came in and we held hands and prayed that I wold progress quickly, and all anxiety would leave and that my baby would come fast. My epidural had started to wear off and I could feel contractions pretty good again. By 3:30 I was at a 10 and ready to go! I couldn't believe it! I was nervous but excited. My mom and husband were on either side of me, holding my legs and I was ready to push, only NOTHING was happening. I couldn't feel what I was doing and I was completely frustrated. I didn't want 4 hours of pushing like I had with my previous child. I asked my resident Dr. if we could shut off the epidural so I could feel what I was doing. She said she didn't recommend it but it was up to me. I had them shut it off, and everyone left the room to give me a few minutes to myself. Holy HELL those contractions were literally OFF THE CHARTS. All I could muster to think was "Come Jesus, come Jesus" while biting a wet wash cloth. After like 3 minutes I felt that pressure everyone talks about; like I had to poo. I paged the Dr. and she was like, "are you sure". I said "If you don't get in here, I'm gonna do it by myself". My mom and hubster barely got in, grabbed my legs and I was ready to push. After 3 pushes the head was out. Mom and Jude drop my legs and peek down to see baby Lizzy's black hair! I was like "HELLO!!! CAN WE FINISH THIS PLEASE???" One more push and I felt her pop out with a gush of fluids. She was perfect!! I got to hold her right away, unlike I did with Luc ( I fainted when I had her ). I was so impressed. The baby never left my side. The cut the cord, did her apgar test, bathed her and gave her back to me. She never went to the nursery!! She stayed with me until we went home the next day. The hospital staff were amazing. There were 10 births that day, but I was still able to get a private room (Yay GOD!!!) The baby did have jaundice, and poor little thing had to get her blood drawn 4 days in a row but she pulled through and was a trooper. She weighed 8lbs 13.5 ounces (3 ounces from 9 lbs!!) and was 19 inches long (Short and fat like Mama!!). Today she is 11.5 pounds and 21 inches long!! :O)
