It all started on April 17th, which was a Saturday. I woke up with what I thought was really strong Braxton Hicks contractions. Before the "fake" contractions felt like a muscle spasm in my stomach and didn't really hurt at all. That morning and the rest of the day was completely different. The pains were in my lower stomach and they hurt. In fact some of them hurt so bad I had to stop and breathe through them. Some even made me cry which I chalked up to being emotional and being ready to have my big boy. The contractions lasted all day Saturday and it made it hard for me to do anything. In my birthing class I learned that you shouldn't go to the hospital until the labor pains were 5 minutes apart and mine were so sporadic ranging from 30 minutes to 5 minutes apart. I later found out from my doctor that I was in actual labor and sometimes labor can be a week process!
Then on April 18th, Sunday morning, I woke up about 5:30a to go to the bathroom. On my way to the bathroom, I felt a trickle of water onto my leg. Since I was half asleep I thought, "did I just pee on myself?" Then I walked a couple more feet and felt another trickle. I went to the bathroom and was walking back to the bedroom and felt yet another trickle. It suddenly hit me that my water had broke. I turned on the light and excitedly said to John, "MY WATER JUST BROKE!!!" John in his sleeping stooper opened his eyes and just looked at me. It then hit him what I had just said and he jumped out of bed and repeated back to me "YOUR WATER JUST BROKE?!!?". We both took a shower and I excitedly put the last remaining things in my hospital bag. I barely remember the drive to the hospital. I had so many thoughts going through my head. Would this hurt? Would I be able to deliver my baby ok? What was my son going to look like? Will my mom make it up from Houston in time? We got to the hospital and entered through the emergency room. Since I had already pre-registered it didn't take the nurse long to admit me and have me wheeled back to a delivery room. Even though I had been in a delivery room a few months earlier when I had been admitted for my kidney infection the room seemed different to me. It looked, smelled, and felt different. My water had continued to break as well which I didn't know could happen. I kept feeling small trickles which the nurse explained would happen until I gave birth.
The nurse had me change into a hospital gown right away and they started hooking me up to machines to monitor me and the baby. They also put this belt looking contraption around my stomach to measure my contractions, which later on would amuse and scare me. The doctor also checked me and said I was at a 2. When the nurse walked out of the room for a minute I remember looking at John with a big grin and saying this is it! We are going to finally meet our son today! We both stared at each other with big goofy grins on our face until the nurse walked in. She commented she hadn't seen such a happy patient in a long time which made me wonder why?? After about an hour the nurse came back into the room and said they were going to start me on pictocin soon to speed up my labor and help me dilate more. The concern of having your water break is bacteria and germs getting to your baby since they don't have the protective bubble around them any more. That little bit of news kind of freaked me out because I didn't know what to expect. Plus, I was worried doing that would make it so I had to get a c-section which I didn't want. Three more hours went by and I was starting to really feel the contractions. I wanted to go as long as I could before asking for the epidural so it didn't slow down labor or wear off.
Finally, about five hours into it I broke and asked for the anesthesiologist to come and give me some drugs. It took about another 45 minutes before he arrived and started to administer the epidural. They explained to me what they would be doing and how they were going to give me the epidural. One thing that surprised me that I didn't know, was the epidural remains in your back for the rest of your labor. The anesthesiologist told John that if he was going to stay in the room while he gave it to me he would have to sit down because he's had too many dad's pass out on him from seeing the needle. Needless to say this really freaked me out! The nurse had me lean forward and hug my pillow and count to five. I expected to feel this excruciating pain, but I didn't. It felt like a little pinch and before I knew it the doctor was done. He explained to me how to push the button if I started feeling pain and the machine it was attached to would deliver more pain medicine. Sweet! I thought. It took about 30 minutes for the epidural too kick in but once it did I didn't feel any more pain. I watched the machine they had hooked up to my stomach and watched as one contraction after another was going off the screen. Another weird thing about the epidural that they don't tell you, is it completely immobilizes your legs. I couldn't feel or move my legs. It was the weirdest feeling ever!
Another 2 hours into it and I was dilated at about a 6 and holding. They decided to bump up the dose of pictocin my body was getting to help move things along even faster. Shortly after they did this I started feeling the contractions again. It was like I didn't even have an epidural in. I kept pushing the button, but no pain relief. I must say I give BIG kudos to the women that deliver all natural with no pain medicine because these contractions hurt like a mother. It felt like something was twisting my stomach inside of me and I could barely catch my breath when a contraction hit. I asked the nurse for more pain medicine and she called the anesthesiologist in again. He finally came into the room about 30 minutes later and said he was going to make a special concoction up just for me. He did his magic, mixed his potions and 30 minutes later I wasn't feeling a thing. I am really glad the pain medicine started to wear off when it did, because after the stronger medicine started to kick in I moved quickly into the last stage of labor. My contractions were back to back and were so strong my stomach stayed tensed and felt really hard to the touch. Before I knew it the nurse said I was at a 10 and I could start pushing. I can't explain how I was feeling at that moment. I was excited to finally get to meet our son but I was scared out of my mind not knowing what to expect.
The room then filled up with nurses and the bed I was laying in was being transformed into a birthing bed. The bottom half of the bed was taken away, handles magically appeared on the side of the bed, and foot stirrups were inserted at the end. The nurse then explained to me how to push and said that most new mom's push anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours! I was determined not to push that long so I got down to business right away. I was surprised at how hard pushing was on my breathing. You basically push for 10 long seconds rest 5 seconds and then push for another 10. I had a really hard time holding my breath that long and not feeling like I was going to pass out. It was also a lot more exhausting that I had thought. John was an excellent coach and supporter and my delivery nurse was amazing. After about 30 minutes I heard the nurse say he's almost here go get the doctor! I couldn't believe it! I was about to see my son for the first time and I couldn't wait! When the doctor finally got in the room, it was only a second later and John Evan Chilcoat was born at 6:19p weighing 9 pounds 12 ounces and was 22 inches long. As the nurses cleaned him up, I couldn't quit crying because of how happy I was. The best feeling in the world was when they laid him on me for the first time and I got to hold my son. His cries were music to my ears and John and I just embraced our son while we both cried tears of joy. He was healthy and finally here and I was in love.
The next few hours seemed to slow down and I laid in bed staring at this beautiful boy we created. It is hands down the most amazing experience and feeling I've ever felt.
Feeling the contractions, and they HURT!
The hard part of labor, pushing!
Getting cleaned up by the nurses
holding my sweet angel for the first time
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