A new chapter, a new life.

5:45 am April 20th 2010 I woke up thinking I was peeing the bed. Yup, sometimes you pee yourself when your hugely pregnant. It happens.
I got out of bed to change my clothes and realized that even though I was awake and had control of my bladder, liquid was still running down my leg. I guessed that it might be amniotic fluid but since I didn't want to have my baby in April I was very tempted to go back to be and pretend like it was nothing! But I finally talked myself into going to the hospital to get checked out. Since I wasn't 100% sure my water broke I told Chad that I was going and he could stay home. It wasn't like the baby was coming that instant. After 1.5 hours at the hospital I was told that yes, my water broke, I was maybe 1 cm dilated if that and to go home and rest and if nothing happened by 6am the next day to come back. Home I went and I was pissed off. I had a full schedule of things to do before my due date. I had two prenatal classes left, a breastfeeding class, pregnancy pictures, a pedicure. All that day I felt mad at the baby for deciding to come now, in April. Didn't he know he was 2 weeks, 2 days early??

37 w 5 days

Nothing exciting happened that day, a couple of barely noticeable contractions. I finished the last minutes set up of the baby's room and also swept and mopped the floors, cleaned the house etc. That night I went to bed like normal as still nothing was going on. At 2am I was awoken by stronger contractions and while they didn't really hurt, they were strong enough to keep me from sleeping and they were close together 3-4 minutes. I thought "Wow if these are as bad as they get I'm in luck". I woke up my husband and we went to the hospital because I thought the contractions being that close together meant something. I was checked out and was told I was still about 1 cm and the contractions weren't doing anything. I was given a sleeping pill and sent home. We slept until noon and then got up and puttered around the house. My mom, sister, niece and nephew came over and we walked around the yard for a bit. Around 3 pm the contractions were beginning to hurt, enough that I stopped walking through them. Once again we went back to the hospital. This time I stayed. When the nurse checked I was about 2-3 cm but her doing the internal hurt so bad I cried out and refused to let her check again. I had to wait until 11pm until my doctor was off his ER shift to come up and check me. By then I was on a IV for dehydration, given a shot of morphine for pain (that did nothing), tried the shower and the tub but only found a bit of relief on the ball. My doctor came in, broke my water again (baby had come down and sealed it off, leaving fluid up above) and offered an epidural. I immediately said yes, I was only 4 cm. By midnight I was sleeping.

By 7am (April 22nd) I was ready to push and did so for 3 hours. The doctor came in and talked about using the vacuum but after doing an internal decided that baby was face up and stuck so a c-section was the way to go. By this time I was in so much pain I just wanted it to end. They topped up my epidural, just enough to last til I got to the OR. They wheeled me downstairs only to bring me back up again because another emergency c-section had to go first. That baby was in distress. The medication was wearing off and I was back in horrible pain as my body was still trying to get the baby out, not knowing he was stuck. My contractions were never ending, right on top of one another so I didn't have any breaks. I remember saying "I just need a break" over and over. I got a little more epidural, again just enough to get me to the OR (after being told by the male anesthesiologist that I would just have to deal) and was taken back downstairs. When I finally got into the OR and on the table, the spinal was done.....and didn't take. I was strapped to the table, still in pain. I was finally put under general anesthesia. Colin Derek was born via c-section at 1:43 pm April 22nd 2010.

It was after 3pm before I woke up after the surgery. Chad was told I lost more blood the usual and the placenta was attached oddly or where it shouldn't have been and so the surgeon had to remove it. I remember having my eyes closed but hearing people moving about around me. A nurse said something to me, I think she asked if I wanted to know the sex of our baby. I said yes and in my head I was saying "It's ok if it's a girl, it's ok if it's a girl". My whole pregnancy I was convinced the baby was a boy. The nurse said it was a boy and I couldn't help but smile.

He was 7 lbs 8 oz and 50 cm long. He had dark hair and brown eyes from the beginning. He had a cut on the back of his head from being brought back up the birth canal and out of my stomach but it healed quickly. I don't remember him crying very much for the first day or so, he just slept and had to be forced to nurse. He was very content.

Disclaimer: I would have been more then happy with a baby girl, I was just so sure he was a boy, I wanted to be right! ;)