Remember on Tuesday when I had that scary doctor appointment and my body was showing NO FURTHER signs of progress? Yep, so do I. Yet here we sit, crazy story to tell and beautiful baby to show off just DAYS LATER!
How did we end up here? It was the shortest, craziest experience. And so fitting, since it will be my last!
On Friday, just 3 days after being told I was on my way to induction or a possible C-Section since my blood pressure was acting up and my body wasn't progressing, I started having some cramping during the day. Nothing consistent. Nothing worth timing. Nothing super painful. These pains felt like period cramps but stronger and came and went throughout the day. I would have 3-4 during a 1-2 hour time frame then they would go away for hours. So, I didn't pay much attention to them.
At about 8pm, I was feeling pretty worn out and just BLAH so I asked my loving hunny if we could finish watching the movie we had on, in bed. We climbed in bed and the cramps started up. I still didn't really think much of them since I had been having them intermittently all day. At about 10:30pm I was getting annoyed with them actually. I just wanted to get some sleep and they were getting strong enough to feel painful. I was having to grab John's hand and that made me take notice. I decided to get out of bed and eat some ice chips, walk around and see if that made a difference. They were 15 minutes apart (give or take) so I wasn't ready to go to the hospital yet. PLUS, I still hadn't finished packing my bag... (Yep, somehow I knew that was going to happen!)
I spent the next hour to hour and a half eating ice chips, walking through the house some and putting things in to my bags.
(When you are in false labor those things can actually STOP the BH or false contractions....and I was trying to make sure if that's what these were) Close to giving birth yourself? Click the link below for signs of labor! I definitely had some of those going on!
MY BAGS!!!!
So at about 12am, I decided the contractions were consistent and strong enough that we needed to get the bags out and start heading to the hospital. I didn't want to get there last minute like I did with Sophie. Mostly because I wanted to make sure my blood pressure was being monitored for the baby's sake.
SIDE NOTE!! I LOVE these bags. For those wondering, these are 31 Bags! I am NOT a 31 Bags Consultant! I am a LOVER of 31 Bags AND my "BAG LADY". I use these bags for EVERYTHING. The striped bag will, essentially, be Emma's diaper bag. I say essentially because it will hold Emma's things, Sophie's things, my things and basically whatever other THINGS I put in it. Because it's THAT awesome. We had been using it for Soccer and Sophie and LIFE so I had "On The Move" monogrammed on it. We are ALWAYS on the move somewhere, somehow. So that fits us well!
When my husband saw me gathering the bags he knew it was time. We helped each other to the car. We had to. I was in pain and he's still healing. We were quite the pair! "Here, let me help you! NO, let me help you!"....
At that point the contractions were still 12-15 minutes apart but getting pretty painful. The hospital is about 25 minutes away. We were convinced we had plenty of time. We pull out of the driveway and start heading that way. We weren't on the road for 5 minutes when I had a REALLY STRONG contraction. Then another. My husband says to me "Stacey, that was 4 minutes apart".... I just grabbed his hand. 3-4 minutes later another, each one getting stronger. I start praying. My favorite Christian station was on in the car. I ask John to turn up the radio and I sing in between contractions.
We pull up to the ER, I get out and go inside while John parks the car. Then we head up to L&D. The L&D triage nurse leads me to a room where they will assess my condition. I change in to the gown and explain to her that this is baby #6 and what's been going on since we left the house. She steps in to SUPER SPEED and checks me. "Well, you are at a 7-8!"
My husband looks at her wide eyed..."You guys better get ready. That baby will be out in 20 minutes, give or take." (This is at about 1:10 am when this conversation is happening) The nurse runs out of the room and I hear her tell the other nurse to "Call the doc NOW"...
From there, things got kinda crazy. I had about 3 nurses working on me to get my IV going and labs drawn in a hurried state to finish before I had to start pushing. All the while my contractions are coming almost back to back now. The nurses finish promptly and wheel me to the delivery room. I had just moved to the delivery bed when I felt a contraction mixed with pressure and I know what that means. I looked at the nurse and said "When will the doc be here?" She says "Well, she doesn't take that long to get here. You are doing awesome with your breathing. Try to hold on if you can."
Another contraction... LOTS of pressure....
Me to the nurse... "What if I can't hold on?"
The nurse comes over and grabs my arm..."If you can't then...do what you need to do. I GOT THIS"... I saw the confidence in her face and knew it would be ok. The next contraction, Emma wasn't waiting. My water broke, one push, head out...next push... HERE'S EMMA!!! Born at 1:39am!
WOW.. I couldn't believe it. It all happened so fast. The doctor came in shortly after. She looked the baby and I over and did all the fun "after birth" stuff then told me everything looked great! And she would see us in the morning! The nurses giggled and said "Thanks for stopping by!"... HEHEHHEHHEH
7lbs 1oz..... 19 1/2 inches long and healthy as can be!!
Dad's role was soooo different this time. He couldn't stand next to me and hold my hand. He isn't strong enough to stand for long yet. He couldn't even gather his strength to cut the cord. But you guys, he was THERE!! He knew just what to say to me and when to say it. He coached me from this couch in the room. And when I tell you that I could hear him say "Slow your breathing down." And "You're doing great honey. It's almost over". It calmed me. Just as if he was next to me. Just as it has every other time. AND HE WAS THERE!!!
He was THERE! He was THERE!!!
Welcome to the world EMMA GRACE DOMINGUEZ!! You are LOVED!
Momma's to be, if you are looking for a hospital bag or diaper bag or any other type of bag I highly recommend my BAG LADY! I will post her link. I got so many compliments on my bags while people were in and out of the room. Our household lives in the things.
Go check her out!
And check back for the rest of the birth story!! Part two coming soon!!
