16 Weeks

As my sister was telling me the other day about her painful contractions she was having, I said, "I don't even know what those feel like!". She said, "You didn't feel ANY contractions when you had Shelby?". As I got to thinking about it, I realized I did. I had probably 6 or 7 really strong contractions before the nurse gave me some medicine that knocked me out. It's funny how I completely forgot about that.

Anyway, that also got me thinking how it has now been 16 weeks (!) since I had Shelby, and I have not even written down the story of her birth. So here goes.

I was so ready, anxious, excited, etc. to have Shelby. I had everything ready- nursery painted, curtains and bedding made, clothes washed and hung. All that was missing was a baby. I walked, and walked, and walked everyday. I did jumping jacks. I did the bun and thigh rocker. I skipped down the hallway. Yet when I arrived at my appointment on June 21, I was only 1 cm dilated. I was so disappointed. Now, Shelby was not even due until July 1, but I couldn't wait any longer! I begged Dr. Truitt to do something. So, she left the room for a minute, and came back and said, "OK, you are going to have your baby on the 28th!". Since she was already worried I was going to have to have a C-section because the baby was measuring big, and I apparently have a small pelvis, she thought it would be fine to go ahead and induce me. Of course, I was still hoping to go into labor before then. Jeremy was hoping I would, too, because he said he always envisioned my water breaking in the middle of the night and us rushing to the hospital in a panic like you see in the movies. He thought that looked fun.

But no, I did not go into labor on my own. That was the LONGEST week of my life. Finally, the 27th came. I went to the hospital that morning to get some blood work done and to do all the pre-admit paperwork. I went home, cleaned, and unpacked and re-packed our bags. We were ready. We got to the hospital at 8 pm on the dot. The nurses brought me to my "suite" and got me hooked up to the monitors. Then it was the dreaded IV.

At 9 pm the nurse gave me the first round of Cytotec. She said, "Oh don't worry, most women don't even begin to have contractions until the second or third dose". After about 10 minutes they started coming. At first I thought I could handle it. They weren't so bad. But then they got stronger. And longer. After about 30 minutes the nurse came to check on me and she said I could have the epidural if I wanted. I didn't want to go that far just yet, so she just gave me some pain medicine. Whatever it was, it knocked me out! I remember waking up at one point in the night because the monitor was broken and it kept beeping for no reason. I was trying to call Jeremy (who was sleeping on the couch) to tell him to get the nurse, but it was as if my voice was gone. Finally I was able to speak and move somewhat, and after screaming Jeremy's name for 5 minutes he woke up. I don't remember the nurse coming in during the night to give me the 2nd dose of Cytotec, but she did.

Dr. Truitt came in to check on me at 6 am the next morning. I was dilated to about 3 or 4 cm. She said she was going to go ahead and break my water. I asked her if I had peed on myself and she laughed. I was serious. Then the anesthesiologist came in and gave me the epidural. I thought I was going to be nervous and scared, but one of the nurse said, "Just hunch over and lean your head on my stomach". I was so tired that I just fell asleep in that position while the epidural went in, and I didn't feel a thing.

Jeremy's mom came to visit at about 1 pm. When the nurse came in to check me, she went out in the hallway. The nurse checked, and said, "Ok, you're 10 cm. We're going to get you ready to push!". I was so shocked. They had be sit up in bed and "labor down" for about an hour". At about 2:30 they put the stirrups up and told me what I was going to do.

At this point, I have to note that the very thought of labor had absolutely terrified me. Every child birth movie shows this woman screaming her head off in pain. What else are you supposed to be but petrified? Well, the time was here. There was no turning back.

The nurses were so AWESOME. I loved them. They put me at such ease during the whole pushing process. At one point I had to tell them to stop making me laugh because I couldn't push. And then, the next thing I knew, they were telling me to look down. She was coming. One last push and Shelby Lane Jordan was born at 3:36 pm (3 minutes before Jordan's predicted time! ), weighing in at 8 lbs 3 oz, and 20 inches long. They put her on my chest and the first thing I said was, "Why isn't she crying?!". She soon calmed my fears, though, and belted out some screams that were heard throughout the hospital (well, they were heard a few rooms over anyway).

I stared at her in amazement. I didn't know what to do. I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. After so long she was finally here. Jeremy and I have been married 7 years, and for so long it has been just us (and Roxy), and in this one instant that had all changed.

It has been both the longest and the shortest 16 weeks of my life. I love my Shelby Lane more than anything. Each day is better and better. I could not think of a better post to start off my blog than to share the story of my greatest gift.