-I was huge, uncomfortable and depressed about still being pregnant.
-I had been having serious braxton hicks contractions for over a week and had already made one trip to the hospital in false labor. After that I vowed not to go to the hospital unless my water broke.
-I had to get our house ready to have small group over for dinner and study.
-I was exhausted from not sleeping at night.
-A terrible cold/sinus infection was kicking my butt.
-I desperately wished to go into labor but at the same time dreaded the pain that would go along with that.
-At 4pm I was resting on the couch and watching Oprah (trying to numb my brain) when contractions started. They were 5 minutes apart but not strong, (my first trip to the hospital they were 2 minutes apart and stronger) so I decided to ignore them.
-Jed got home from work at 5:30. I mentioned my contractions to him while we continued to get ready to have people over.
-At 7pm our friends arrived. I was still stubbornly ignoring my contractions even though they were coming faster (4 minutes apart) and slightly stronger (about the same as the night I went to the hospital).
-At 7:30 we were eating dinner and chatting when Jed asked me a question and at the same time a contraction came on, I had to pause to focus through the contraction before I could answer him. When I looked at him he looked freaked out and began escorting everyone out of our house and packing us up for the hospital. I tried to argue with him but he insisted, I gave in.
-At 7:45 our guests were on their way home, my sister was at our house to watch Evan and we were breaking a lot of traffic laws to get to the hospital. The pain with each contraction was stronger but manageable.
-We made it to the hospital around 8pm and were immediately rushed up to the maternity floor, they put me in a waiting room where they found I was dilated to 6. The nurses just shy of calm, ran me over to a delivery room and assigned two nurses to me to get me all prepped. One of the nurses was older and shaky, wouldn't you know it they gave her the job of putting the IV in me! It took her like four tries to get it, four painful, slow, shaky tries.
-During my labor with Evan I was induced so labor came on hard and fast, it felt like a charley horse all the way across my belly and through my back. Even though that hadn't happened with this labor yet I was terrified of enduring it for any length of time so I begged for an epidural. Around 9-9:30pm the anesthesiologist arrived and worked his magic. I soon realized that there were parts of my body that weren't actually numb, not cool. I told the nurses but they insisted it was normal and even good that it didn't take away all my pain b/c that would help during the pushing stage. Once I realized that they weren't going to help me so I resolved myself to the fact that I would endure the odd and uncomfortable sensation of having part of my belly numb and part in pain. This ended up being a blessing as it gave me the courage to go to a birthing center for my next pregnancy.
-My water never seems to want to break on its own so around 11pm my midwife finally arrived to find that I was dilated to 8 and broke my water for me. Thank goodness I didn't wait at home for this to happen!
-11:25 I was dilated to 10 and felt the urge to push. Pushing was so much easier than last time b/c I wasn't doped up on Stadol (I didn't feel tired and weak) but way more painful b/c the epidural wasn't working.
-11:45 Seth was born! Again b/c I wasn't all strung out on the drugs they had given me I was able to enjoy this time. It was so disappointing with Evan b/c I could barely keep my eyes open. This time I was on a buzz from all the endorphin and was able to hold and cuddle Seth.
I remember being in awe of how chubby his cheeks were and how different that was from his brother b/c at 6lbs 3oz he was a whopping 6oz bigger than Evan at birth. His eyes were really light blue and he had a darker skin tone than his brother. I thought that I shouldn't have been comparing him so much to his brother but I couldn't help it I was just marveling that I could have two kids that could be so very different yet similar. As Seth has grown up I've noticed that he is impulsive, affectionate, stubborn, charismatic and kind. He's such a wonderful part of our family and I'm so thankful that God blessed us with him!
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