Birth Story part 2

So, I had finally decided to tell Ryan to call work and tell them he was coming in late. Mind you, I was still telling him he needed things wrapped up by lunch or at least that afternoon. Then I showered and KNEW he wasn't going to work, but didn't want to scare poor Ryan. I got out of the shower and called the on-call dr to see what he said. He told me to go to the appt, but take my bags with me. CRAP! This was for real! I rushed to finish packing my bag!

Oh yes... I called my mom around 7 a.m. to let her know that I thought labor was coming. I wanted her to have a chance to be ready to leave at any moment. I asked her to call my sister, too. HA! She didn't really believe me and went on to work w/o packing. SUCKER!

So, on the way to the dr, the pains are coming every... oh 3 minutes. I was being brought to tears during the contractions, but was laughing in between. I check in at the front desk and didn't tell them what was going on. However, while we were waiting, I went to the bathroom because I didn't want anyone in the waiting room to see me crying. That scared one of the nurses! She was knocking and knocking and telling me, "DON'T PUSH!" Ding dong. I just was in too much pain to let anyone see! I got in to the see the dr... she checked me and said, "oh my!! You're 4 cms already and 100% effaced. I'm hoping you have your bags and someone to drive you. I'm calling the hospital... go straight there!"

Off we went. A quick stop at CVS to get some chapstick since I forgot my keychain w/ it in my race out the door!

From here on out... I'll give you a timeline!

10:30 - arrive and check in. Nurse was taking her time. I started asking for the Epi right then.
In our room... monitors hooked up. Yep, pretty sure I'm in real labor.
11:00 - still asking for the epi... I was SUPER nauseated. FINALLY puked. Woo! Felt TONS better!
11:30 - Start asking for SOMETHING, anything to take the pain away. I was bawling during each contraction. Ryan laughed at me - which did NOT help! Ryan was so great at letting me just hold on to him through each contraction. He was making sure my family was in the know for everything. He was calling all grandparents and letting them know that Riley was going to make her appearance soon! He constantly updated me on what was going on w/ my family that was driving down - they were waiting on Mandie's drs appt to be over!

Before the stadol...

12:00 - Stadol given. HEAVEN. I called the people I worked for to let them know I wouldn't be there the next day. haha. Called a couple of friends. Nurse checked me - 6-7 cm's already!

After stadol...

1:00 - FINALLY given my epidural! Checked at 1:15 - 7-8 cm's! My family is now making the mad dash and we're all praying they make it here on time. But not really worried... first baby, surely I would have to push forever.

After the epidural... my little brother visiting!

2:00 - Completely dilated! CRAP! My family wasn't there... I couldn't push! I asked if I could just relax for a bit longer and watch Baby Story until I HAD to push.

3:00... nurse comes in and suggests a few practice pushes. I told her to wait a second... let's see where my sister and parents were. Good! They were only 15 minutes away... I agreed to a few practice pushes. 15 minutes later, I pushed... shocked the nurse! This baby was going to come WAY faster than she'd thought! My brother was in the waiting room and told my parents where to go. When they came in, it was chaos! Lots of nurses... the room was being flipped! It was baby time! My dad and brother left the room...

3 pushes later at 3:44 p.m. on October 22nd... Riley Elizabeth arrived! 6lbs 9oz and 19.5 inches! She was a peanut!