Abigail’s
Birth Story
The day before Abigail was born, at
41 weeks, 1 day gestation, I had my last OB
appointment. I measured 3 cm, 80%
effaced and -2 station. Dr. VanZant
scheduled me for induction the next Tuesday, August 9th and I
obviously didn’t make it to that day. He
said he was just going to break my water since I was so far advanced and see if
that did anything before he actually used medicine to induce. I think Dr. VanZant checking me had something
to do with me going into labor the next day.
On August 5th, I woke up
at 2:24 am for the typical pregnant woman’s 15 millionth visit to the
bathroom. Shortly after getting back in
bed, I had my first contraction. I
didn’t wake David at first because over the previous couple of weeks, I had 1-2
hours of contractions occasionally, so when these started, I wasn’t sure that
it was going to be the real thing. I
woke David up about 3:20 am after the contractions were around 10 min. apart
since the first one. He started timing
them and I was having them about 10 – 13 min. apart with an occasional random
one that might be 7 min. or 20. I
actually slept between contractions from about 4:30 to 6 am which was such a
blessing! David’s parents had traveled
up the day before and I called my parents at about 8am to let them know that we
thought I was in labor. David’s parents
took Caroline to Chick-fil-a so we could have the house to ourselves. The contractions continued throughout the
morning and were getting progressively painful as they went. I definitely had back labor along with the
regular labor contractions and it was so good to have David there to massage my
back! It was definitely really hurting!
The contractions weren’t getting
any closer together and that was a little frustrating so David suggested we all
go out for lunch for a little distraction.
We decided to go to Texas Steakhouse and headed out. For some reason, I had
really been wanting a steak and it was so good! Just after we got out of the car there, I had
to stop because I was having a contraction.
It was so weird to be in labor and be trying to go about our day as
normal! We had a good lunch and I
continued to have contractions through it, stopping to breathe and get through
each one.
We headed home and when we got
there, I had to lay down. I was so
tired! It turns out that I slept between
25-35 minutes and I had no contractions during that time. If I had any doubts about whether or not I
was in labor (and believe me, I did), they were about to end shortly! I woke up to the longest and most painful
contraction I had had yet. It was
aweful! I had another one that was so
painful that David said that if I had another one like that we were going to
the hospital despite the fact that they were only 7 minutes apart and I would
have only had 3 by that time. My doctor
told me to come in when the contractions were 5-7 minutes apart for an
hour. I had that third contraction and
we decided that the contractions were so painful that it was time to go. I really didn’t want to miss my window for an
epidural and the contractions were so painful at that point that we thought I
might just miss it if we didn’t go. David’s
parents had prayer with us before we headed out the door which was such a
special time!
We arrived at the hospital about
2:45pm. I had now been in labor for just
over 12 hours. Caroline’s birth from
start to finish was only 8.5 hours so I was already over that. I had to check in through the ER and when
they called the nurse in L&D, she asked to speak to me. I had no idea why she asked this, but she
(Mary) told me later that when they told her my due date (9 days previous),
several things went through her head including the possibility that I may not
have had prenatal care since I was so far over so she wanted to talk to me to
get an idea before I headed up. We
arrived in what I will call the “triage” room by about 3:15 or so. It took a little while for the doctor on call
to come in and when she did, her first words to me were, “so why are we here
today?” I was shocked at her asking
that. I didn’t know whether she was
kidding or not. Here I am in the L&D
triage room hooked up to a fetal heart monitor and a contraction monitor. DUH!
I’m in labor! I finally just said
rather timidly that I *thought* I was in labor.
She just said, “ok, I’m going to check you now.” Needless to say, Dr. Bullard has a weird
personality. She checked me about
3:50. I was already at 6 cm, 80% effaced
and -2 station. It’s so great to come to the hospital so far along! I had been able to be at home, laboring with
David by my side instead of at the hospital.
They took me straight to my L&D room after that and it was
4:00. Also, as I said earlier, my
contractions were super painful by this point.
I was very ready the moment I arrived at the hospital to have an
epidural and had told the nurse immediately when I arrived that I wanted one
and didn’t want to miss my window. They
have to take blood work before they can do it because they have to make sure
your platelets are up. Not to disappoint
from my last labor, my veins were horrible to get the needles in! I normally have great veins and it is usually
easy, but with both of my labors, it has been so hard! I didn’t walk away with the horrible bruising
this time though! It also took them
forever to get my IV in. The nurse had
the same issues and she even had someone else come to try to get it in. So, even with all that, I still got my
epidural at 4:55 pm. It was just like
last time. I felt absolutely nothing,
but this time both legs were so numb I couldn’t lift them! David’s mom got to the hospital around 5:15 and
my best friend, Angela, showed up at some point in there too.
At 5:30, the doctor came in to
check me again and I was 7 cm, 80 % effaced and -1 station. Baby was moving down and I was dilating at
the rate they like. They like to see you
dilate 1 cm an hour. At 7:15pm, the
doctor checked me again and I was 8 cm, 90% effaced and 0 station. While Dr. Bullard was checking me, she also
discovered that my water had broken. It
broke on its own sometime between my last check and this one. Around 7:00 pm is when nurse shift change
happens. So, the doctor (who had been
checking me every hour) didn’t come in for 2 hours and by the time she came in
to check this time at 9:19pm, I was 10 cm, completely effaced and ready to
push! Just as with Caroline’s birth, I
had no idea that I was at that point. Also,
somewhere between these last two checks, my parents arrived! They made it for Abigail’s birth! None of us thought they would, but they did!
The hustle and bustle began. On my next contraction, the nurse asked me to
push then she immediately called the doctor and nursery nurse in. Dr. Bullard entered asking if we were ready
for her. I think she was shocked that I
was so close to pushing Abigail out. I
think they have the nurse push with you until you get the hang of it and are
almost there. With Caroline, it was
different, Dr. VanZant had me push the first time and saw that I was ready so
he started getting ready. So anyway, Dr.
Bullard got ready and settled and asked me to push and it only took 2 pushes
and she was out! I had NO idea she was
out. In fact, I was still pushing and
heard someone say something. I opened my
eyes, saw Abigail, my eyes filled with tears and I said, “Oh my goodness! She’s out?!?!” I was shocked that it happened so fast and
she was here! She suctioned her mouth
and nose and put her on my stomach. My
eyes were still filled with tears and I was in awe of the beautiful baby that
was laying on me! This was the first
time I had had this experience and it was amazing! I didn’t get this experience of having your
baby laid on your stomach with Caroline and I am so glad I got it with
Abigail! From the moment they checked me
last to the moment Abigail was born was only 30 minutes!
Abigail Kathleen
Stanford was born at 9:49 pm on August 5th, 2011
after just over 19 hours
of labor.
She weighed 8 lbs.
10.6 oz. and was 21 inches long.
I LOVED
going into labor on my own this time despite the fact that I was 9 days over my
due date. I really didn’t mind at
all. It was so amazing to labor at home
for the majority of it all and to arrive at the hospital already at 6 cm
dilated! I definitely enjoyed Abigail’s
labor and delivery more than Caroline’s even though it was over 10 hours
longer! It was amazing and I just can’t
express how great it was. I am so
blessed to have had two wonderful labor and delivery experiences. I hope the next one is just as great or
BETTER!
