I had already been trying for days to hurry little Austin along by the time my due date rolled around. Unfortunately for me he had a different plan in mind. I was still working and planned to continue until I went into labor, but Tuesday morning (May 25th) I started bawling just after my alarm went off because I just couldn't face one more day of work. So I called in "done" to work and made it my mission that day to get Austin here.
Toren also stayed home (in my emotional state I really couldn't have been left alone). We vacuumed and carpet cleaned all the rooms and the furniture. I deep cleaned both bathrooms. We washed every sheet, towel, and blanket. And then we went to Buffalo Wild Wings for some Honey BBQ wings (hoping the spiciness would help bring on the labor) and took a LONG walk around Target. Unfortunately, that evening I still felt pretty good.
So I went to the gym. The biggest loser season finale was on, so I got on a treadmill and walked for almost the entire 2-hour show. When I got home I took a bath and got ready for bed. Almost as soon as I was falling asleep the contractions started.
On a scale of 1-10 I probably rated them (at the time) at about a 7. They hurt, but I felt like they could get much worse and I would still be able to endure the pain. I timed them at 10 minutes apart. Eleven hours later they were exactly the same. They hadn't grown more intense or closer together. I was worn out. I spent most of the night laying down, then getting up, then pacing around the room willing them to either go away so I could sleep or get worse.
I decided to call the advice nurse. It was now Wednesday morning (May 26th). The nurse said because it had been so long I should come in and just get checked out. So Toren and I headed to the hospital. By the time we arrived and the nurses got me all set up the contractions stopped...of course. I was only dilated 2 cms (this is only 0.5 cms more than at my appointment 4 days earlier). I couldn't believe it. They gave me a some medicine to help me sleep and sent me home.
I didn't want to go home, though. I wanted to go into labor. So we went to Costco. We spent about an hour browsing and sampling and got chicken bakes for lunch on the way out. Toward the end of our time at Costco I started feeling really uncomfortable. I was having contractions again and severe back pain. By the time we got home the contractions were getting worse and they were much closer than 10 minutes apart, though I wasn't timing.
To help with the pain I took a bath. It didn't really help. We timed them at 3 minutes apart. And the pain was like a 9.5 on a scale of 1-10. I definitely couldn't talk or walk through the contractions. We timed them for an hour and I called the advice nurse. She didn't even let me finish explaining before saying "you need to come in now!" I guess she could tell by my voice what was going on.
We rushed out the door and headed to the hospital. It was around 2 in the afternoon. We'd only been gone from the hospital about 2.5 hours. I was now dilated to a 3, which meant I still had a ways to go but I was most definitely in active labor. At this point I really wanted to get the Epidural.
The nurse said I needed to get some fluids in my body before they could do the Epidural. She tried twice to get an IV in my arm and failed. She had to call an IV specialist. I was still having painful contractions no more than 3 minutes apart. About 20 minutes later I finally had my IV in place and the fluids plugged in. The nurse left. A few minutes later Toren noticed that the fluids bag was not dripping into the IV. He went to find another nurse who came only to discover that the IV was closed! The first nurse forgot to open it so the fluids could run through. I think the nurse could sense my frustration, though to be honest I think anyone at this point could tell what I was thinking. She took over for us and within 15 minutes I was in a delivery room being set up with my Epidural.
Pre-delivery.
Minutes later I felt like I was in heaven. I'd never felt so good in my life. After being so incredibly uncomfortable for 18 hours it was nice to finally be able to lay still. However, my contractions stopped. They just let me rest for a couple hours without doing anything. Then they decided to give me some Pitocin. By now, even though I hadn't been having contractions, I was dilated to 5 cms. Once the Pitocin kicked in I began having regular contractions again, though I couldn't feel anything.
Labor and Delivery was really busy that day, so it was a while before they checked me next. When they did though I was dilated to 9.5 cms. At this point they actually had to slow my labor down because there was an emergency C-Section and no one would've been available to deliver little Austin. At about 11 pm I was dilated to 10 cms and they told me not to push the Epidural button so it would wear off enough that I'd be able to feel the urge to push.
At 12:30 am (now it's Thursday, May 27th) that urge was STRONG and they let me start pushing. The midwife came in around 1:30 am and it was at about this point that I felt like I just couldn't do it anymore. Somehow I got up enough energy though, and little Austin arrived at 1:54 am. The midwife cut the umbilical cord and immediately placed him on me. I was overcome with so many emotions. I held him for at least an hour and I was already convinced we had the most perfect baby.
All bundled up and ready to go.
We're so lucky that Grandma and Grandpa Forsberg live so close. They came to help us load up an get home.
Usually, though, Austin would rather be upright and looking around. Thank you Baby Bjorn (and Maren..again!). (I didn't realize how incredibly tired I looked this day until I saw this picture...wow!)
Plus, who could resist carrying a baby this way when this is the view from the top?
