Ruth's Birth Story

Now that it's been two weeks, I thought it'd be a good time to get to telling the birth story! ;)  (I'm always on top of things!)

*  There will be some TMI things in this story- sorry in advance, but they're necessary *

My due date was 1/10, which was a Thursday, so when I had a dr's appt on Friday (the week before), the doctor did a membrane sweep (see, gross but necessary).  She told me that I wasn't dilated at all, which was pretty frustrating considering this was my 4th baby.

Anyway, after the appt, I went home and honestly spent the rest of the weekend bouncing on my exercise ball- I had kinda had it w/being pregnant!  I was getting so antsy and anxious, I couldn't take it!

I had another appt on Monday- this time w/my doctor- and I had dilated to 3cm!  Pretty exciting, but then she did another membrane sweep...which felt terrible!  She definitely got things moving- I had cramps for most of the day, and just sacked out on the couch when I got home.  I had plans w/a friend that night for dinner (she was supposed to come over), but I cancelled bc I just felt so gross.  I also started to feel like time was running out- that the baby would be coming soon, so now was the time to clean the house, pack the kids, and make sure things were in order.

While I was running around getting things ready, I started having contractions- pretty bad ones, not just BH contractions.  They started about 11p and lasted until about 1am, when they abruptly stopped.  Ezra made jokes that I should hold off until we'd all had a good night's sleep, and that he'd take me to the hospital in the morning- which, as it happens, is exactly what we did :)

I felt contractions through the night, but only when I'd roll over or something.  They were painful, but not so bad that I couldn't sleep.  However, at 7am when the kids came in to our room and I tried to get up and get ready, they really kicked in.  Like, every 2-3 minutes kicked in.  I actually started to get really scared bc they were so close, so fast, and we had a million things to do still before we'd get to the hospital- ie, dress/feed the kids, pack them into the car, drive to Ezra's parents where we'd leave the kids, and then finally drive to Center City...just thinking about how long it all could take was making me freak out!  Also, shuffling around having pretty painful contractions every few minutes didn't help, either!

At about 9am, we'd finally made it to the car and were on our way- my contractions had gotten a lot worse, and the ride was almost unbearable- it just felt like we'd never get out of the car.  One thing, though, that helped a lot was the seat warmers- sooo nice during contractions :)  Anyway, we dropped off the kids, and made our way to Philly- luckily they have valet parking out front, which saved us taking the car to the parking garage, and getting back to the main entrance.  We got to the maternity floor, and as I was getting admitted, I could barely talk- the contractions had gotten so bad.  When a nurse checked me, I was dilated to 6cm- that was around 10am.  By 11am, I was in the delivery room and had gotten to 8cm.  I was freaking out by this point, and all plans of trying to have a natural birth went out the window- all I could think of was making the pain stop!  But...the hospital had other plans- ie, waiting to get me the epidural until they got lab results back.  Hearing that made the pain so much worse bc...it's just nuts- labs??  At this point, I felt like a crazy person- the pain was the worst I had ever felt!  There's a point w/contractions when the pain increases, and as it's getting more intense, I felt able to take it, and then suddenly it reached a point when I wanted to say "ok, that's enough," bc it reached my limit, but it just kept climbing.  Anyway, the anesthesiologist came in, asked me a few questions, and went ahead w/the epidural before the results came back bc they won't do it after you've dilated past 8cm- my window was closing quickly!  And, minutes after I got the epidural, my water broke.  A short time after that, the pain vanished, and I was sending texts :)

Ezra went to grab some food, bc he had skipped breakfast, and was literally gone for 15 minutes when the resident checked me again, and I was ready to deliver.  He made it back just in time- they had me do one "practice push," and immediately told me to stop bc the baby was coming!  The doctor wasn't even in the room yet!  But...I couldn't stop- the baby was coming, and w/one more push, Ruth Emma Church was born at 12:11p!   I couldn't believe she was a girl, bc I'd been thinking we were having a boy for nearly my entire pregnancy- she was the best surprise, and as we're hoping she's our last baby, it made us both feel so much more settled.  Two girls, two boys.  Perfect :)  I just kept thinking how happy Eve would be- she would finally have a sister!

After that, I got to my room, and felt amazing- her birth was so fast, not at all what I was expecting bc all the other kids were induced, which resulted in long, tedious, exhausting labors.  The five hours w/Ruth were a breeze (time-wise!), and by 5p that night, we'd already had a few guests.

Whew!  So, that's that- our little teeny lady is here!  I still can't believe how it all worked out that we were able to get to the hospital in time, everything worked out perfectly :)  There's a bit more to the story, but I'll save that for the next entry- it has to do w/how I found out that I cannot handle surgery, and will most likely never go under the knife in any capacity... ;)