I was a bit nervous to know how this was all going to happen, since I was induced with Jack but I was just going on my own this time around. I felt some good Braxton Hicks contractions for a whole day (ouch!) two weeks earlier and it scared me a bit. Would the real things be worse? Would I have to just suffer through contractions for days and days until they were a certain time apart and I could be admitted to the hospital? I wasn't sure if I would know when I would need to head to the hospital, so I prayed to know when the right time would be. Luckily, Heavenly Father let me know.
I started having contractions around 8:30 pm on the evening of her due date, November 30. We were watching a Hallmark Christmas movie. We put Jack to bed and I started watching the clock. They were irregular but they definitely felt different than the Braxton Hicks, which were more at the front and bottom of the belly. These contractions were more intense and in my lower back. I didn't feel like I needed to push but when they would come I was on my hands and knees and making Tyson push on my hips. We decided to just go to bed and we called both sets of parents to be on alert. I also called the hospital to get their opinion on when to come in and they told me to come when they were 5 minutes apart and lasting for over a minute. I downloaded an app to time my contractions (so I wouldn't have to try and time them in my head while half asleep) and we went to bed. I fell asleep for a few minutes here and there, but by 3 am I told Tyson it was time to go. They were about 10 minutes apart but I thought it was time. (I was also nervous because my mom told me her labor was so fast with her second baby that she almost had my bother in the car on their way to the hospital!) We called my parents to come be with sleeping Jack and asked them to call my sister Michelle, who we invited to the birth.
We got to the hospital by 3:45 am and were brought to the side room where they check to see if you are really in labor before they admit you. Tyson did not love this first nurse because he thought she was skeptical about us. When she checked me to see how much I was dilated, she broke my water (on accident) and I was at a 4. Yep, it was a good thing I was there when I was. I was having some good contractions this whole time, so that wasn't too fun while being checked. The nurse asked if I wanted an epidural and I said yes. She made a call and he was on his way.
The hospital was quiet that morning. There was only one other couple there, who already had their baby. We got to our room and the nurse hooked me all up to get some saline in me before the epidural (let me just say that I think getting an IV in your wrist is more painful than getting the epidural). My sister got there at 5 am and the anesthesiologist showed up just before that. The nurse told me I was a tough cookie going through all of my contractions. All I remember was trying to just breath through them and telling Tyson to come over and push on my hips whenever they came. I got my epidural at 5:15 am, just in time. Because I was dilating so quickly, he gave me a special dose (he said) that was more potent for about an hour, and would then go back to the normal dose. I remember feeling the same way with it that I did with Jack's birth-from the waist down I felt heavy, tingly, a little out of it and tired. It always makes me throw up a few times and really want to take a nap. By 5:45 am I was dilated to a 10 and they called the doctor.
My regular doctor (Dr. Young) that I really like was out of town (remember how he was out of town on Jack's due date, too? Hmm) so the on-call doctor came (Dr. Judd). He was nice and did the job. A new nurse came at 6 am. By around 6:15 am I was pushing and yes, I asked for the mirror to watch! The nurse held one leg and Michelle held the other. I pushed for about 15 minutes and Bethany was born! I remember looking at the mirror when only her head was out, and then pushing one more time and feeling her body leave mine. It was a surreal experience to feel that. Bethany was born at 6:27 am. She had a smooshed nose, brown hair and crazy long finger nails. She looked like her brother. What a little sweetie. After her vitals were taken and she was cleaned up a bit, they gave her to me. Her eyes were open and she was so alert. She later cried and then slept pretty much all the next day.
My parents brought Jack to see us at about 10 am. Jack seemed to know that she was his "baby sissa" but wasn't too interested. He gave her a hug and kiss and we took a few pictures, but he mostly just wanted to ride on the wheelchair and eat cookies. We stayed one night and left the hospital the next evening. I had another great experience at Orem Community Hospital and we liked all of the staff there (part of the time we had the same nurse that helped us deliver Jack about two years earlier!). Bethany was the first December baby at that hospital! We are so very blessed to have such a healthy, beautiful, baby girl who joined our family that day.
Bump photo taken on my due date, November 30.
Loved it!
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