Birth Story, Part I

Wrote this a couple weeks after she was born and never got around to posting it because...well, because I had a newborn to care for. The dust has settled so I'm going to finish the series for you guys.

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As promised, I wanted to take some time to write down Adelaide's birth story. 

Don't worry, I'll leave out most of the gory details. But it was such a special day in our lives that I thought it would be a shame not to share it with you all. It will be coming to you in a three-part series so as to not bore you. Pre-labor, During-labor, & After-labor

Here goes. 

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After a couple weeks of what can only be described as absolute Hell, I had made it perfectly clear that I was ready for our little girl to show her smiling little face. 

My mom and I had walked the blocks around our house for two weeks straight with little to show for it. Every week I would return from the doctor wrought with disappointment from another lackluster showing in the dilation department. 

"It could happen any time," he repeated.

These words don't mean jack when an infant has been playing kickball with your bladder for the past 10 weeks.

Monday the 25th rolled around and my alarm was somehow going off again, signaling the start of another work week.

Two more weeks, I told myself. Just two more weeks.

The previous Friday I had called my doctor to schedule my induction. I'll give her to the 10th. If she hasn't figured out how to vacate the premises by then, she's getting evicted. 

I quickly snoozed my alarm and granted myself another 10 minutes of blissful slumber. As I rolled over to settle back in to the warm comforter, a gush of liquid seemed to escape. 

Awesome. I'm peeing myself now. It's come to this.

I didn't think any more of it until I was at work and the fluid just kept trickling. I can't have to pee this much. After soliciting advice from my sister, I called the doctor's office immediately. 

"Yeah, I'm..er...leaking fluids." I should've been used to sharing these types of things with my OB's office at this point, but you really never get comfortable telling people about your bodily functions. Good thing I'm sharing them on the internet.

"Well, why don't you go home and lay down and see if the fluid continues. Or you can go to the hospital and they can check you to see if your water's broken." She explained. 

I wasn't about to go lay down at home and wait around to see what was going on, so I texted the hubby that I was going to the hospital and asked if he wanted to go or not. He showed up to the office 5 minutes later and I explained to my boss-slash-father-in-law that we were going to the hospital because I might be in labor. He was slightly confused since I wasn't showing any of the signs you often see in movies [cursing the husband, doubling over in pain, screaming - you get the point] when women are in labor, but he wished us well and we were walking in the hospital doors a mere 8 minutes later. 

After going all the way up to the maternity ward and being sent back downstairs to get our registration paperwork, quickly realizing that "pre-registering" was a load of crap ["Can I have your insurance card?" "Sure, I gave it to you two months ago. Check back in time."], we were finally put in a room and I got to change into the lovely hospital gown.

The nurse, Felicia, came in to explain the test she was going to do to check if my water had broken. Apparently there were two tests; the first was much cheaper and quicker. It essentially looked like a PH balance paper you put in a pool to check the levels. After this test turned up negative, she had to call my doctor to see if she could try the second test. This test was much more expensive and doctors are typically hesitant to give it. [I should also note that my actual OB was on his way home from Washington DC at this point so my "doctor" was another guy at the clinic.]

But Felicia had my back. She explained that my story sounded legit and she thought we should at least try the second test. Mr. Doc was still unconvinced, but he gave the go-ahead anyway. The second test was basically a pregnancy test all over again, but the results took about 10 minutes to show up. 

After Felicia left the room, she was back within 2 minutes.

"It turned positive before I even got back to the nurses station. Your water broke so you're staying!"

Awwww yeah! It made me feel great that she was just as excited as I was. Coolest nurse ever.

She left. Matt and I high-fived. It was a total movie moment. 

Shit yeah! No more whining from my wife! - Matt, in his head

Then the calls started. 

I've never been so happy to leak fluid, ya'll. Come to the hospital. Stat! - Me

First to Matt's sister who was leaving that day with her fiance to drive 17 hours for his family Thanksgiving. Unfortunately they weren't able to stay, but the labor part was really just a lot of sitting around staring at the pregnant lady.

Second to my sister. Turns out little Addi had very poor timing. My sister's family had left our house the day before to drive 3 hours back home. As soon as I called, they got in the car and headed back. 

And next to our parents. My dad was out of town that day, so he high-tailed it back as well. I think he must have drove 100 miles an hour to get there since he made it back in record time. 

Luckily everyone else was already in town.

At that point, I sent Matty home to shower & get all of our bags. I had been packed for what felt like four months, so I was confident nothing important would get left at home. 

Suddenly I was in a hospital bed all alone, realizing that I would actually have a newborn in my arms by the end of the day. 

Panic set in.

All that was left to do was the whole "labor" thing.

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