If I had been writing and keeping up with our blog over the past couple of years, I would have covered this about 10 months ago. This is not at all new, and therefore, I fear it may be a bit boring. However, for my own preservation of memories, I need to write this out.
Caroline was due on March 3rd. Or was it the 2nd? Sigh…my memory is already failing me.
Unlike her brother, who was somewhere between seven and 10 days late, she wanted to be a little early to the party. Friday, February 28th, I woke John up by moaning. I was still half asleep and just remember that I just wanted to go back to sleep. The pain would come and go, and John curled up behind me with his hand on my belly. I did not want to believe that it was the real deal – my babies don’t come early! Clearly after already having one child, I knew all there was to know about having children. For sure.
John gently let me know that the contractions were pretty regular – every 5 minutes by his clock. I resigned myself to getting up and became just a little worried because the contractions were so regular right from the start.
We called John’s mom (our “middle of the night” plan) to come stay with Elijah. She was over at our house around 6. I had gotten myself ready and quickly ate some yogurt since I had no idea when I might get to eat again. Priorities, people!
When we got to the hospital (around 6:30), they sent me to triage (of course), where I waited quite a long time for anyone to show up (or maybe it just felt like that?). John went down to do some registration stuff, so I was just twiddling my thumbs and a little weirded out that I was all alone. My nurse, Amanda, showed up a little after 7; she was fantastic.
She let me know I was 4 cm and it was game on. I was admitted at 7:20 and taken to my delivery room. I think they called it the dungeon or something because it did not have any windows. Really, that was the least of my concerns. (Although, I did have Elijah in a room with huge windows overlooking the “hilltains,” and that was very nice to look at.)
My OB Dr. Gil Villanueva, who is absolutely amazing (I recommend all ladies in San Antonio go see him), came in and broke my water right around 8. After that, John went down pick up a couple breakfast tacos. Around 8:30, I was certain I would need an epidural. The anesthisiologist was pretty busy at the time, but he made it in right around the time Kelly & Michael came on, because I remember finally laying down anticipating relief when they were walking on the set, so that brings us to 9 AM. I had some issues with my blood pressure and feeling like I was going to pass out or get sick to my stomach, but with some shifting around, I was able to get past that. Like last time, I got incredibly cold once the epidural started working, so the blankets got piled on.
About 10 minutes to 10, I was surprised to feel like I might need to push. They checked, and I was full dilated. Less than 5 hours – how overwhelming! I was still trying to wake up!
After a push or two, the nurses called my doctor who literally sprinted to the hospital. I pushed another couple of times and Caroline was born at 10:39 AM. She weighed 8 lbs 13 oz (4 oz bigger than her brother) and was 21 inches.
I was so swollen, because for some reason they gave me pitocin at some point and the nurses refused to turn it off for H-O-U-R-S. It was awful, and I still don’t understand why they would not turn it off. I was upset, and I am certain that is why I stayed swollen for days. I think I got home from the hospital down only 6 pounds, which is ridiculous since my baby was almost 9 pounds. Anyway…just wanted to give you a heads up on the photos to follow.
I only stayed at the hospital for the minimum required 24 hours, because I think hospitals are so uncomfortable and I can’t sleep with all the people interrupting me. We were back at home by 3:45 the next afternoon.
