Setting the scene:
August 19, 2014Matt had been gone for 10 days. He was in Idaho with the Army doing his annual training. He had been calling when he could for the past few days, asking how I've been feeling. Pregnant. I feel pregnant! But he usually doesn't call when he's away on military business, so I feel special. :) He's been given clearance to leave from the Commander, so when I go into labor he'll be on the road to Walla Walla. Wahoo!
August 20, 2014 ~ 1:30 am
I just lost my mucus plug! Keeping my cool, I remind myself that this means nothing technically, just progress. I'm not having any contractions. I sit awake for the next several hours in case contractions start, no dice. Time to get some sleep.
11 am
Matt called! I told him that I lost my mucus plug, and that it doesn't really mean anything, labor could either be hours, days or weeks away. It just means that there's progress. He told me that his phone wasn't doing too well holding a charge, so he gave me the phone numbers of his gunner and another crew member, just in case. I told Matt that I wasn't feeling "labory" at all, so not to worry.
12 pm
Aaaand... my water broke! I was standing in the kitchen doing dishes, and suddenly I was staring straight ahead thinking "Did I just pee my pants? Or did my water break??" I went to the bathroom and went potty (eyeroll), took a look and saw a ton of vernix. I took a deep breath and realized that I needed to be absolutely certain that my water had broken. If I called Matt and he left training only to be told that it was a false alarm, I was going to have some serious egg on my face. So I called my doctor's office to talk to Becky, Dr. Vandersloot's nurse. I asked her if she thought my local hospital would check me to help me cofirm or deny, and she warned me that if my water had indeed ruptured that they would admit me and not let me leave. I was planning on giving birth in Walla Walla, an hour away vs. our local hospital, a mere 15 minutes away. Hmmm... So I had a choice to make. I opted to go to our local hospital to have them check me. I went in telling them that I would not be staying even if my water had broken. After nearly an hour, they confirmed that yes, my water had broken and I proceeded to box my way out of the maternity wing. I signed myself out against doctors orders and to the chorus of nurse's protests. I told them, "The sooner you let me out of here I will be able to get to MY hospital and have this baby. I appreciate your concern, please bring me a pen!" As soon as I was in my car I called my mom at work to let her know where I was and what was happening. It was about 2:30 at this point, and I had yet to have a single contraction. I told her to finish her day at work. I called Matt next, and got his voicemail. I left a message. I called the rest of my labor squad to let them know that it was SHOWTIME!!
4:30 pm
I still haven't heard from Matt, and I still haven't had any contractions. I had called a few times and sent a text, and nothing. So I decided it was time to call Brock, Matt's gunner. I swear, that phone rang for almost a full minute. I could just imagine his face, looking at the number on his screen thinking, "Who is THAT??" He finally answered, sounding hesitant. The following conversation ensued:
Brock: Hello?
Me: Hi, is this Brock?
Brock: Yeah...??
Me: This is Stephanie Endersby. Umm, is my husband anywhere near you?
Brock: OH S#!T!!!! SGT. ENDERSBY!!!!!!!!!!! (yes, he really yelled!)
(in the background)
Matt: Geez, what?? (thoroughly annoyed)
Brock: It's your wife!!!
(muffled shuffling and expletives)
Matt: Honey? Are you ok??
Me: My water broke.
Matt: What?
Me: ...My water broke.
Matt: Ok. Um, I'll talk to you soon. (hangs up)
Me: *blink, blink*
I took into consideration that Matt's main objective at this point was to get off base and on the road. He had a 5 hour drive ahead of him. I smiled and chuckled to myself, knowing that he would call me as soon as he was on his way.
My mom got to the house about 5:15. As I was handing my mom my suitcase I had a contraction. Not at all painful, but it motivated quite a bit of amniotic fluid southward. I promptly went to change my pants. A friend had come to stay with the kids and we were on our way to Walla Walla by 5:30. Before we even hit Pendleton (15 minutes away) Matt called to tell me that he too was on his way. He asked how I was doing and told me again that he was coming. I told him to drive safe, obey the speed limits and I would see him soon.
6:30 pm
Contractions have picked up, but are not painful, merely uncomfortable. I check myself in at the emergency room, politely decline the proffered wheelchair and make my way to the Family Birthing Center. I change into my designer "Pretty Pushers" labor and delivery gown given to me by my doula. Side note: I was skeptical at first but I *loved* this thing!! It was comfortable, breathable, I didn't have to wear a sports bra and the "girls" remained in place, and I didn't even get hot during labor! AND, I didn't have to wear a hideously ugly and itchy hospital gown. Get one HERE. I let the nurse put in a hep lock, but I didn't want to be attached to any tubes or IV's. She was great about it. Our nurse Gracen was amazing. She was just about to leave for the night, but you'll hear more about her later. ;) After a quick check, I am at 2 cm. The on call doctor informs me that since my water has broken, they won't be checking my cervix too often because they don't want to risk introducing infection. NICE!! As soon as they had a baseline on baby, I got up and got walking. I did NOT want to have to deal with Pitocin this time around, and the clock was ticking. I learned that they like for baby to be born before 24 hours after the water breaks. Ok, let's get this show on the road!
Around 9:30-10:00 pm
On yet another trip around the halls, I looked up to see my Soldier walking toward me! Matt was there! He was absolutely filthy! He wasn't kidding when he said that he didn't even dust himself off before he got in the car! We walked back to my room where he took a shower and changed into the clothes I had brought for him. Contractions were still sporadic at best, and they were talking about giving me some Pitocin to help prod labor along. I got hooked up and Matt and I hit the halls together. Pitocin doesn't take long to turn contractions into nasty little jerks, and before long we were stopping every five minutes to rock and breath through a contraction. In between we were talking and laughing together, and Matt was taking his "coaching" role to the extreme in trying to talk me into doing lunges and high knee exercises. LOL!
August 21, 2014 ~ 1:00 am
Even with the Pitocin, contractions aren't building. We decide to turn off the drip and try to get a few hours of sleep. I slept peacefully until about 4:30 when Lynn (our nurse) woke me to tell me that we needed to think about starting up the Pitocin again. I told her that if she gave me until 5:00 I would make sure she got Starbucks before the end of her shift at 7. Ha! She promptly agreed.
5:00 am
Pitocin is reactivated. I decide to let Matt get some more sleep. He didn't sleep much in the last week and a half, and I have a fantastic support team with me. Lucky for him, Matt could sleep through a hurricane, so active labor didn't disturb him at all. LOL
7:00 am
I decide to wake Matt so he can join the show. I needed to go walk to help contractions along. I was told that Dr. Vandersloot had called to say that he would be in soon to get a feel for where we were at. Contractions are definitely more intense, but still about 3-4 minutes apart. And, Gracen the nurse rejoined the party! Hooray!
7:30 am
Dr. Vandersloot checks me, I am at 3 cm. Seriously. After 13 hours of labor I have dilated 1 BLASTED CENTIMETER!! I was so frustrated I could have cried. He decided to try to rerupture my water, thinking that a larger tear would help move labor along. Yeah, that sucked. I had a massive contraction just as he was performing the procedure and it left me breathless and shaking. It was the first big upset since the onset of labor. I calmed down at got back out of bed. Labor really got going then, so we turned off the Pitocin. And then labor slowed down. Way down. Contractions went from every two minutes back to 4 minutes. Begrudgingly I told Gracen to kick the Pitocin back on.
Side Note:
In my birthing plan I had decided to go completely natural this time around. I delivered Michael naturally (the epidural wore off during transition) and I labored naturally with Karleigh. She was born 30 minutes after the epidural was put in. So I figured I've done both, I might as well do them together. BUT, if Pitocin was going to come to the party, the epidural was back on the table as a possibility. I didn't plan on utilizing it, I was going to muscle through, but I told Matt, my mom and my doula that if I said I wanted the epidural, I wanted them to do their best to encourage me through, but if I insisted not to try to talk me out of it. Back to the story!
12:30 pm
Labor is intense, and it has been beautiful so far. Insanely painful, but beautiful. Matt and I are in such unison and working as an amazing team. He is keeping my focus and helping me breath through every contraction. I've internalized this entire labor, repeating affirmations to myself during every contraction. I am strong. I am capable. I am bringing my baby closer to being in my arms. My body was built for this. I am strong. With every contraction I closed my eyes, connected with Jack and breathed through it. WAY different than my labor with Karleigh... I sounded like a dying gorilla with her! Then something changed, I wasn't sure if the Pitocin was increased again, but something changed. And I changed my mind. I wanted the epidural. Matt began encouraging me to breathe, change positions and work through it, but I started to cry and told him that I wanted to enjoy this. This was our last baby, I wanted to enjoy it. He said OK. Gracen was tinkering with a machine (I think), Matt was encouraging me and it occurred to me that no one was calling the anesthesiologist! I said, "Why is no one calling the anesthesiologist?" Gracen made the call, and within 2 minutes he was in my room. They sat me up and Gracen was explaining how this particular epidural worked. It was on a self administered system. I had never had one like this before. I was told that as soon as I pushed the button they would lay me down on my left side and it would take 5-10 minutes to take full effect on that side of my body, then I would push the button again and they would flip me to my right side. How ridiculous! I was thinking, "This is the dumbest system I've ever heard of!" Anyway, Gracen handed me the Jeopardy! buzzer and I pushed the button. I was halfway down on my left side, my head not even on the pillow yet, when I said, "I feel like I have to push!" Matt looked at me and said, "Seriously?" Yep. Ok, change of plans! I laid down on my back and Gracen checked me. Lo and behold, I was completely dilated and ready to push. Dr. Vandersloot was in the room a minute later and gloving up. I actually told him, "Hurry up!!!" He sat down and Jack was in my arms 5 minutes later. I will spare the details of his delivery, but I will say that I'm pretty sure I traumatized the poor woman in the room next to mine. Jack was much bigger than we had originally thought. And the epidural was not in my system. At all. I was pretty vocal (understatement of the year) during delivery. I'm not sure if they were joking or not, but the nurses told me that just a few minutes after Jack was born my neighbor asked for her epidural. This was her first baby. LOL!!
August 21, 2014 ~ 12:55 pm
Jacob Wesley Endersby is in my arms!! Puffy, crying and perfect, my sweet boy had finally arrived 25 hours after my water had broken. He was 8.5 pounds and 20.75 inches long. (A good pound and a half larger than what my doctor estimated!) What a day! We were both healthy, the kids were on their way with Matt's mom to meet their baby brother. Gracen the Amazing Nurse actually thanked us for letting her be part of our labor and birth. And as she gave me a hug she whispered, "The epidural didn't count! You did it natural!" LOLJack is now just over 2 months old, and he's not even 10 pounds yet. He's still tiny, but healthy. Karleigh was super slow to put on weight too, so we're not worried about it. He's a good nurser, is sleeping through the night and is rolling over from his tummy to his back. Yeah, he HATES tummy time! His smiles are so precious, and I'm so, so, SO excited because I finally got a blue eyed child! Michael and Karleigh both have their daddy's eyes, a gorgeous hazel, but Jack has vivid blue eyes. HOORAY!! Jack was a surprise for our family, now we can't imagine life without him. God is SO good. His blessings never cease. *happy sigh*
~Blessings!
Stephanie
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