And Baby Makes Four!

At around 1:30 pm on December 18th I was sitting at my desk at work, trying my best to tie up loose ends. Although my due date wasn't for several more weeks, I had a feeling that it was not going to be much longer before I would be on maternity leave, and I had a lot to get done before then!

I had been having minor cramping for several days, but nothing that could be timed or what I would consider "real contractions". As I was sitting at my desk sending out emails and filing paperwork, I started to notice that the cramping was becoming more intense. It had started going from mildly annoying to mildly painful, but again still wasn't something that I felt I could time. I sent Steve a text message to let him know and placed a call to my doctor's office. I was told that a nurse would give me a call back as soon as possible.

Almost an hour later I still had not heard back from my doctor's office and the cramping was still happening, so I decided to head to the hospital and have them check me out. I sent Steve a text to let him know and he met me there. We arrived in triage around 2:30 pm.

Once in the hospital they hooked me up to several monitors and sure enough all of that untimeable cramping was contractions! They began monitoring Nate's heart rate, my heart rate and blood pressure and watching the progression of the contractions. Due to the fact that I was several weeks away from my due date, they wanted to be sure that this was not false labor and that everything was moving along as it should.

When I arrived at the hospital I was 1cm dilated. After five hours in triage my blood pressure had started rising, but the contractions had begun varying in intensity and at one point were tapering off. The nurses had been in contact with my doctor, and he had decided to send me home with the understanding that I would come back if the contractions started back up again. I also had a follow up appointment to monitor my blood pressure. Before leaving my husband asked the nurse if she would check me for any more dilation, just for our peace of mind. She agreed, and after a quick check she was back on the phone with my doctor because I had progressed to 3cm! 

At around 7:30pm we were admitted into labor and delivery and Nate was officially on his way!

Twelve hours and one epidural later, Nate had still not arrived. I had plateaued at 7cm and my water had yet to break. It was decided, in the interest of keeping things moving, that my water should be broken and it was all downhill from there. My water was broken around 7:30am and after a few more contractions and about 20 minutes of pushing, my beautiful son was born at 8:39am on December 19th, weighing in at 6 pounds, 2 ounces and 18 inches long!

It is amazing how much one's life can change in a single day. Sitting at work on the afternoon of December 18th I was a mother of one. Sitting in that hospital bed on the morning of December 19th, one baby in my arms and the other laying next to me, I am now the mother of two.

I could not be more thankful.