Safe and Fast

Mike and I told people prior to Hannah's arrival to pray that we would have a "safe and fast" delivery. In His goodness God answered, but we were not prepared for how!

[warning: if labor and delivery stories are not your thing, you might want to skip this post]

I shared HERE that we had some pre-labor contractions on Sunday (5/24). In fact, I contracted off and on for days. It was tiring and extremely frustrating. I'd had very little sleep for 3 days. On Tuesday (5/26) I woke up at 2am with contractions (again). They continued all day with varying time in between them (7 minutes apart, then 20, then 4... very strange). And they were already pretty painful. By late afternoon and evening they increased in intensity and started to become more consistent in the time between them. They were very intense contractions at this point. We jumped into action and called the doctor, grabbed the bags that been packed for weeks, and took Jackson to our friends house to spend the night. While on the phone with my doctor she asked if I'd want an epidural. I assured her that I would and she said she'd let the anesthesiologist know. Reassuring words for me at that point!

Arriving at the hospital around 10pm, I had my mind focused on getting that epidural so that I could finally rest a little and prepare for delivery. They checked me and I was still just 2cm - basically unchanged since my Dr appt the week before. A nurse asked me how long I'd been in labor. Um... for days! I honestly did not know how to answer her. I was told that they didn't know if they could admit me unless I walked the halls for an hour and progressed further. My frustration level reached new heights, my friends! The next hour was very difficult as I slowly made the rounds of the maternity ward, pausing every 2-3 minutes with a contraction. Surprisingly, I did not leave bruises on my husbands arms for squeezing them so hard. He was so great through it all.

I was checked again at 11:30pm -- 5cm! Then, I'm told I was required to have an IV for an hour prior to receiving the epidural. Are you kidding me??! That next hour was excruciating. The contractions I felt FAR surpassed any I had with Jackson - even with back labor. (Funny how I've always thought I had a pretty high pain tolerance.)

At promptly 12:30am, the anesthesiologist arrives, which is good because I'm sure Mike would have hunted him down if he were any later! For the next 15 or so minutes he started the process of giving me the epidural. And, I do my best not to move through 3 different killer contractions. He puts a small test dose in me and asks a series of questions...then I'm told to scoot back and lay back down in the bed. He had not turned on the epidural pump yet. As soon as I tried to move I knew things had changed. My water broke and and I felt the baby coming RIGHT THEN. The next few minutes were insane... the room filled with nurses, the doctor was rushed in, I'm told repeatedly to "just breath through it and NOT PUSH" (a ridiculous request, by the way)... I inform them repeatedly that I have no control over it and that she was coming. The anethesiologist is told not to turn on the epidural because it was too late. During all this Mike sees me at pain level he's never seen before and is so upset by it that he had to go sit in a chair so he doesn't pass out. It can only be described in one word -- CHAOS.

At 12:55am, my daughter is placed on my chest and I stare at her in complete awe. I had been so focused on getting relief from the pain that it was shocking to suddenly have this tiny person looking up at me. She was absolutely beautiful. And so completely worth it all.

She was safe, and although the labor was slow, the delivery was fast.