Day 1: October 18, 2009- 9 months and 2 days pregnant. I was totally over it. I was tired, sore and HUGE! It looked like there was a beach ball under my shirt. A very big beach ball.
Jeff and I both woke up around 6 am, but true to his form, Jeff was unable to go back to bed. I however, was still exhausted and decided to go back to bed for a little bit.
I woke up at 9 am and came out to the living room. Jeff was watching tv and I sat down on the couch next to him. Jeff and I were talking about going to the beach and making plans to hang out and enjoy our Sunday. My butt had barely touched the cushion when I felt like I had peed my pants. It took a second for me to realize what had happened. My water broke. I heard that only 10 percent of women have this happen to them and I never thought that I would be one. I looked at Jeff and jumped up and yelled "my water broke, my water broke." Jeff wasn't sure that it really had, but let's be honest, we all know what it feels like to wet our pants, and this wasn't it. I ran onto the tile floor and jumped up and down: The baby that we have waited 9 long months for (longer if you count the 2 miscarriages) was on his way. We called the doctor and we were told that it would still be a while before baby made his debut, so I should take a shower, eat something and get everything ready and come to the hospital in about an hour or two.
This is a picture of me on the phone with the doctor right after my water broke.
I did what I was told. I showered, only a couple contractions that lasted about 20 seconds while I was in there. Thank goodness the shower has walls. Then Jeff and I got our things together and we left for the hospital. I made Jeff take me to Panera Bread on the way, and since we had so much time before baby P was to arrive, I figured that it would be nice to sit down inside and enjoy our last meal as a single couple. That was a bad idea. The contractions were stronger, longer and quite painful. It was Sunday, so there were quite a few people in there. Jeff and I were sitting in a booth across from a table of people that were doing a bible study. I was having contractions, but trying to stay calm and quiet so I didn't alarm anyone. I remember sitting at the table grabbing Jeff's hands and breathing hard trying not to draw attention to myself.
Jeff knew, by just looking at his poor wife buckling over in pain, that it was time to go. We grabbed the rest of our bagels and we were on our way. Thankfully the hospital was only about a 7 minute drive from our house, because I was having contractions every 3 minutes and they were lasting about 30 seconds to a minute.
11:00 am.We pulled into the hospital and parked right up front. We made the incredibly long walk to the labor and delivery ward (I insisted on walking and then halfway up regretted it.) I got there and saw the midwife who checked me and said that I was 6 cm already. Good lord, this child was coming soon. I couldn't even wait!
So, they admitted me and hooked me up to a bunch of monitors to check on the baby and to check contractions, which by the way were coming about every 2 minutes and were very strong. The midwife asked me if I wanted an epidural and I don't think that I could've answered any quicker. Those of you that have had an epidural know that the worst part about it is having to stay still while they give it to you. You have to arch your back and hunch over and stay perfectly still. Well, easier said than done when your uterus is turning inside out and punching your insides.
Once I got the magical epidural, I got checked and was about 9.5 cm. I rested for about an hour and then felt like I had to push. So the nurses got ready and the midwife got set up, and I started pushing. It took about 10 minutes and 5 contractions and baby P arrived! The nurses were asking his name and we announced that our little man was offically named Brendan Shaun Plemons. He was born at 2:29pm, 19.5 inches, weighing 7 pounds 6 ounces. Happy Birthday Brendan!
The whole labor process was 5 and a half hours. That was the easy part. It was Brendan's life and death that was the hard part.
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