I Said I Love Surprises...

July 7, 2009

Many posts ago, I talked about the fact that Chris and I weren't going to find out whether we were having a boy or a girl. I L-O-V-E surprises, so why would I want to ruin one of life's only true surprises for myself? Luckily, Chris was along for the ride and also thought it would be fun to find out on delivery day. Well, as it turns out, our little bean is FULL of surprises!

Aside from the whole Kansas City debacle, where Baby Beck tried to make a grand entrance 187 miles from home, we were in store for many more surprises courtesy of the little gem.

On Friday, July 3, I went into labor. Contractions started just after 9 a.m. but were not consistent in time apart, duration or pain level. As the day went on, they became more intense, more frequent and lasted longer. But, they weren't any more frequent than eight to 12 minutes apart. When we talked with the doctor, it was recommended we continue the labor at home since it would be more comfortable there than at the hospital. (More on that later!) I labored all night... Chris did his best to comfort me (thanks honey) while serving as the official "book-keeper" of the times and duration of the contractions. On Saturday (Happy Independence Day!), the contractions were still present and building. Then waning. Then building. Then building more... and more...

This continued until about 8 p.m. when I couldn't NOT call the hospital again. At this point, my contractions were still six to eight minutes apart. They recommended I drink a quart of water and to continue to monitor contractions. They advised that if they became increasingly intense (definitely!) with less time in between (uh-huh!) and lasted longer each time (check!), that I should consider coming in. I made it another two hours. Here's my final "belly shot."

Once 10:00 p.m. hit, it was go time. I could barely throw together the very few items I needed (shoes, purse, phone) in between contractions. Meanwhile, Chris was a champ and gathered all the remaining must have items in case this was actually the "real deal." It was go-time.

We got to the hospital around 10:30 p.m. in true movie style... except I wasn't being wheeled in sitting in a wheelchair. I walked. (I thought the wheelchair would take too long, plus, the bumpy ride was the last thing I needed at that point. Being in an SUV with perfectly functional shocks was bad enough!)

As we came upon the admission desk lined with nurses returning blank stares, I started yet another contraction. They quickly got to work asking about my name, social security number, date of birth and pediatrician (that's what I remember at least). We were taken to a triage room for observation. There, I was given a couple injections to try to slow/stop the contractions. As well, I was instructed to drink two more quarts of water. I did. None of these did anything to stop the progression. I was held for observation for the entire night (i.e. I received no pain medicine as was not officially a patient).

After spending another night battling contractions, I was very relieved to actually be admitted to the hospital on Sunday morning, July 5. In sum, this meant I could finally have some pain relief! After getting settled in my new, very spacious, birthing room (this is the room where I would stay the remainder of the time, including during delivery), I received new "adornments" - an IV, a baby heart monitor and a blood pressure cuff. The most exciting was the IV - because I could finally receive some relief from the growing intensity of each contraction. This relief came fast, but was short. I was having back labor and the pain was greater than any I've ever felt. The nurse would help reposition me for different stages of the labor and for the different pains I was experiencing. Sometimes the pain started in my back - which allowed me to prepare my breathing and get through the contraction easier. Sometimes the contraction would hit my front and there was no preparation... it was all I could do to take one breath during those. After each contraction was on the downslope, my round ligaments would tense up and this was the worst part because there wasn't any position or breathing that would lessen the pain. By this time, I'd had three doses of the pain medication via IV and it was complely worn off. It was then that I was told I couldn't receive any more of that.

At that point, I needed to make a decision if I wanted pain relief: get a morphine injection and potentially slow everything down (2 hours to 24 hours was the range I was given... though they said with the way I was progressing that the 2 hour timeframe was much more likely) or they could break my water and keep the labor moving which would allow for me to receive an epidural and welcome Baby Beck sooner rather than later.

Given the look on Chris's face and the fact that the doctor didn't feel there would be any real developmental benefits for the baby if I would get the morphine injection and hope to fend off progression, I opted to "get on with it" and have my water broken.

Once my water was broken, it was game time. I moved from five to seven centimeters... and then opted to "not be a hero" and get an epidural. Note: I do not recommend getting a contraction while the anesthesiologist is inserting the epidural. Like one can help it...

My Mom and Dad had arrived and since Chris hadn't eaten all day, he and Dad ran out to grab some sandwiches. By the time they came back to the room, I had progressed to eight centimeters and was in a terrible amount of pain - worse than before. The contractions were more intense, lasted longer and were coming faster than before. Mom and Dad left and Chris stuck around to offer his hand (which suffered many a smashing throughout the three days of contractions) and hear what the medical team had to say about the increasing pain. The nurse had me shift to my side to focus the epidural on my left pain - where I was feeling the most pain. Unfortunately, that provided no relief. As I fought through another series of contractions, my doctor said that I just may be ready to push.

WHAT?! After further investigation, it was confirmed - I had reached 10 centimeters. It was time. I was instructed that on the next contraction, I was to push. And push I did. After 58 hours of labor... my eye was on the prize and I was not going to let more time slip away. Twelve minutes later... I had my prize... a baby girl.

At 6:42 p.m. on Sunday, July 5, 2009, Chris and I welcomed a 4 pound, 11 ounce and 18.5 inch little bundle. Her name is Calista Bella Beck.

What a SURPRISE!