Did you miss Getting to know me: We are having a baby! – Part 1? Check out the Baby AB page too!
It was Saturday, January 12th and I decided that I wanted to go look at buy some cars. Well, just one car really…the Subaru Outback. I have always wanted one and they are very roomy and perfect for a growing family. Chris and I along with my parents ate breakfast at Cracker Barrel (yes, I eat there way too much and we have a waiter who considers us regulars) and then headed to the Subaru dealership. Long story short, my dad is a super negotiator when it comes to buying cars and I ended up getting a great deal on an Outback. Since Chris was trading in his truck and we had not brought it with us, we planned to pick the car up on Monday night.
First reason why this weekend was the best weekend in the history of weekends: Subaru Outback!
We headed home and prepared for the next part of our day. At 4 pm our beloved Baltimore Ravens were taking on the Denver Broncos in the AFC Divisional round of the playoffs. The Ravens were underdogs and this was going to be a tough fight. Before the game even started I remember telling my mom that I wasn’t feeling well. Since I was 37 1/2 weeks pregnant, I assumed I would probably not “feel well” for the next few weeks. This game proved to be the most exciting and stressful game I can ever remember watching and I kept going from laying on the couch covering my eyes to jumping up and down cheering. It was about 6:30 pm and something happened. I’ll spare you the details, but I lost the plug and I started to panic. I quickly texted my good friend who is a physician’s assistant and she assured me that this was normal and it did not mean that I was going into labor. Often times this happens and the woman does not give birth for days or even weeks. I felt fine when I went to bed so I assumed all was well and I was planning to hit the gym the next morning…lol. Oh yeah, I packed my hospital bag before I went to bed…just in case.
Second reason why this weekend was the best weekend in the history of weekends: The Ravens beat the Broncos!
This picture was taken at the Ravens game the prior week. I was happy that I could squeeze into my Ray Lewis jersey in honor of his last home game!
At 3 am, I started to feel some light cramping. I was pretty much thinking that this was it, but since I had never experienced it before I really had no idea. I was able to sleep for a few hours and kept checking the time when I woke up in pain. I was only waking up every 45 minutes so there was plenty of time between contractions. This would not last long. By 6 am I was in a lot of pain and had to get out of bed. I started timing my contractions with the Full Term Contraction Timer app and I was having a contraction every 3 to 5 minutes. The picture below is a sample and not actually mine…I wish the duration of my contractions were only 13 seconds. I was experiencing many that were 30 seconds to a minute in length.
I called my mom and she of course told me to call my doctor. Since I had just been to the doctor two days prior and I wasn’t showing any signs of progress, she told me to get comfortable at home and see what happens. I decided to get a shower and then reevaluate the situation. By the time I finished showering, I was stopped dead in my tracks when I had a contraction and I was actually getting sick with some of them. I was in a lot of pain, exhausted, and dehydrated because I couldn’t keep down any fluids. I woke Chris up and told him to shower and pack his bag. We headed to my parents apartment because they live very close to the hospital.
On the way to the hospital, Chris stopped at 7-11 to get gas….and a buffalo chicken taquito. The smell of that thing was gross and I was having enough trouble as it was!
Gross!
While he was inside buying this nastiness, my water broke…or at least I think it did. It was not that gushing bucket full of water you see on TV, but I was convinced that it was time to get to the hospital. We arrived at the hospital around 10 am. It was a very busy morning in the labor and delivery department and I had to wait a little while to be checked. I was finally checked and I was 3 cm dilated. Since it was so busy, we stayed in this “check to see if you are really in labor” room for quite some time. At this point I was in so much pain. The pain was so much worse than I could ever have imagined. My contractions were coming one right after another and I didn’t have any time to catch my breath. I was sooo ready for an epidural at this point and I couldn’t get one fast enough. I was really bummed that I NEEDED one because I really wanted to try and do this naturally. I just couldn’t imagine having to feel that pain with no breaks for who knew how much longer.
We were finally transferred to the delivery room and they gave me the biggest one because I had been waiting for a while. It was a little while longer before I was given the epidural (2 ladies were ahead of me), but I finally got it and it did not hurt one bit. The anesthesiologist (who was gorgeous, lol) was finished in a matter of minutes and I started to feel some relief. The labor and delivery nurse checked me once again and I had progressed to 9 cm!!!! I progressed from 3 cm to 9 cm in very little time and this is why I was in sooo much pain. My doctor was amazed and she was glad that I ignored her advice and got to the hospital. I was at 10 cm a short time later and we started pushing! After 2 hours of steady pushing, Annabelle was born at 3:05 pm weighing 6 pounds, 3 ounces!
Third and by far the most important reason this weekend was the best weekend in the history of weekends: Annabelle Grace was born.
She is a happy and healthy baby girl and we are so blessed to have her!
I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. I am one proud mama :).
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