speedy delivery

William Samuel

4.12.14

9:07 AM

8 lbs 2 oz

20 inches

What a crazy morning. I woke up at 6:45 and went to the bathroom. I had some pink discharge and wondered if maybe my water broke. But it wasn't a ton and after waiting for 10 minutes and nothing else seemed to be happening I decided it probably was something else. So I went to the gym as I was planning on and did the elliptical for 30 minutes. I had a few contractions there but nothing more than usual during exercise. When I got home at 7:30 I started noticing more consistent contractions that were lower in my belly than my Braxton hicks ones. At 8 I told Blake I may or may not be in labor. I started packing a hospital bag and doing dishes and didn't really time contractions but they were pretty close, maybe 3-4 minutes apart but not very long. At 8:20 Blake put on some sterile gloves and checked me and thought I was around 5 cm. We ended up getting our neighbors to watch the kids for us at like 8:30 and by 8:40 were on the way to the hospital. In the car I called the exchange to tell my doctor we were going to the hospital and meanwhile my contractions were getting harder and harder. The exchange was really slow and I never did talk to the doctor. When we were exiting the freeway and could see the hospital I started involuntarily screaming and telling Blake I needed to push. Blake said 'please don't push.' Blake was very calm and pulled to the circle at labor and delivery and grabbed a wheelchair. It was 9:00. He said 'Marie, you need to get out of the car.' So somehow I got in the chair and a nice nurse ran to get the elevator for us. When we got to the third floor I was still screaming in pain and this very nice couple checking in just looked at me like I was absolutely insane which was probably pretty accurate. I said 'I'm so sorry!' They said it's ok and someone had us go straight back to room 9 and I got out of the chair and into the bed, asking 'Is there any way I can get an epidural?' Blake says 'I'm going to move the car, I'll be right back' and I said 'I think you better stay here' and the nurses said 'Stay here, we will call security and let them know.' They checked me and said 'she's a 10 plus and at plus 2 station. Call Dr. Pike (the house doctor, mine didn't make it).' Somehow they put in an IV and put a heart rate monitor on the baby. I guess his heart rate was going down so they put an oxygen mask on me and said 'It is time to push!' I guess the doctor used the vacuum to hurry things along even faster and after a few pushes at 9:07 little baby William was born! And I stopped screaming! He looked good with an apgar score of 7 and then 9. They promptly took my IV out and then took 30 minutes stitching up my 2nd degree tear. During that they asked what my name was and admitted us to the hospital! So in hindsight I guess my water really did break at 6:45 but no matter when you count it, from 6:45 or 7:30 when I started having contractions, it was a super fast labor that took us all by surprise! Plus he came 5 days early, which I never thought would happen because I was overdue both times before. And he is my biggest baby at 8 lbs 2 oz. Not the tallest though at 20 inches.