Disclaimers:
* I am very honest and have no shame.... I don't sugar coat anything. While no graphic images are contained... the pain felt is very real and may be described.
* There are a lot of pictures below of a newborn infant. Some do not like what newborn's look like. Just beware. :)
Just a little picture of the "PRIZE" at the end of this story
My week was progressing as normal. Madison and I hosted music time, I taught my English classes every morning, went on our typical grocery shopping trips, finished sewing two little Fall dresses, and had similar plans to begin the next week. On Thursday, the 16th, we went to our weekly doctor visit and everything looked healthy. I was dilated to a 3, but my cervix was still fairly thick. I told the doctor to strip my membranes that would hopefully get labor started soonish so that I didn't go over my due date and have a monster baby like my first.
Friday night, possibly around 3 am, I started to have cramps every 15 minutes that seemed pretty consistent. They kept me awake, but were not any more painful than any minor period cramps that I tend to have. They continued into the early morning and got a little bit closer and harder. I didn't want to get anyone overly excited in case they stopped, but I had a little feeling that they were just going to progress. Between contractions I tried to get things done to get my mind off of the anxiety. I cleaned the car, installed the car seat, set up the bassinet, and straightened up my house. By 11 am, I had to stop what I was doing in order to concentrate through the pain. However, they were still about 7-8 minutes apart.
Jordan and I decided to make a list of things we needed at Walmart and went on a little outing. By this time I couldn't get through a contraction without squeezing Jordan's hand and making a little bit of painful noises. However, we got through Walmart and even decided to stop and get some Panda Express for lunch. I was in pain about every 6 minutes, but liked the distraction of eating out. We made it home from our errands and put Madison down for a nap. Jordan went to the table to do some grading and I turned on my TV show and started timing my contractions.
For the next couple of hours they were between 5 and 6 minutes. They were painful. But if I got on my hands on knees and rocked back and forth I survived them. They were about 45-50 seconds long and I seemed to be okay. I had never experienced hard labor before, with my first, the water broke before contractions and they had me on Pitocin and in a bed before I even dilated to a 3. I got a epidural real fast. Pitocin makes those contractions terrible! People told me that I should go to the hospital when I couldn't handle it any longer. I had no idea how hard they were supposed to get. However, I called my mom, she said that if I went in now I would be admitted, but that I would probably have to lay on a bed which may slow the delivery down. Because I didn't have any tears in my eyes I decided to wait a little longer to give Madison her full nap before dropping her off at the neighbor's house.
We had Madison dropped off a little before 5 and were headed to the hospital. Contractions were very painful, but the hospital is about 5 minutes away. I told Jordan I wanted to be done and I was tired, to me the end was in sight. If I wanted, an epidural would be on it's way.
We got to the hospital only to find that the doors we were told to go through were locked. Mind you, this is a large hospital. It isn't just a parking lot with an entrance. There are multiple parking garages, entrances and walking distance. This is where my labor picked up and I thought I might never make it. Between walking from door to door finding them locked and threatening to sue the living daylights out of the hospital, I would stop and very possibly scream through contractions. I felt so much pressure to 'push'. Walking just made the contractions harder. I will probably never look at that parking garage the same.
We finally got in the door and I actually had a 40 sec break where I was calm. The nurses thought about checking before I was admitted, but as soon as we started to walk down the hall I had to scream through another contraction. I was admitted and led to a delivery room immediately. This was around 5:20ish PM.
I stripped off my clothes as fast as I could to get the gown on trying to beat the next contraction. They tried to check me to see how far along I was, but every time a new contraction would start and I would go into hysterics. LABOR PAIN IS REAL FOLKS! I thought I was going to die. No one tells you this, but the pressure of wanting to push, but having to hold it in is the WORST! Finally, they broke my water and told me I could push. 3 or 4 minutes and I had that girl out! PUSHING PAIN IS REAL TOO! Jordyn Leslie Fuqua was born at 5:45 PM, 20 minutes after getting to our room at the hospital. She weighed 8 lbs and 8 oz.
I joined the 'no pain medication' mommy club! (not that I had a choice) Yay for me. I am still a tad traumatized and not sure if I want to be a second time visitor. Ask me in a couple of months.... but the recovery has been amazing and fairly easy as of late. It may have been worth it. Plus I got a ton done that day. :)
Enjoy the pictures!
WE LOVE OUR LITTLE JORDYN LESLIE!
