Krew's Birth Story

On Friday, October 28, I was sweeping and mopping my floors because I just knew he was coming any time. My contractions were in full force that day. I had lots of back pain too. My parents kept Kross that night just in case. Saturday and Sunday the contractions weren't too bad. Sunday night I had alot of back and leg pain from him being on my sciatic nerve.

About 12:45 a.m. I woke up and had to go to the bathroom. I noticed I was going alot but I hadn't had that much water to drink. I only thought I was peeing...my water was actually slowly leaking. I told Kevin I thought I was leaking water so I was going to stay up a bit to see if I needed to call the doctor. Sure enough after I changed several times, more and more came out. I called the doctor and she said she would see us at the hospital. My mom came over to stay with Kross about 2:00 a.m. and Kevin and I headed to the hospital.

I had only had about two contractions since my water started breaking, which was weird since I had so many in the last few months. As we were pulling into the hospital parking lot, the rest of my water broke (I had already showered and gotten cleaned up before we left the house. Don't bother to do that...it won't stop!) and my pants and shoes were completely soaked. Once they put me in a room and checked me in, the nurse checked me and I was 4 cm dilated at about 2:30 a.m. and in no pain. The doctor told the nurse to let me labor on my own (meaning no pitocin) for two hours and to check me again. She also said I could have an epidural whenever I wanted it.

At 5:30, I was dilated 5 cm and still in no pain with contractions. I asked about an epidural at this point but wasn't ready for it because I told her I wanted to labor naturally for a little while since I didn't get to do that with Kross. I was just curious as to when I should ask for an epidural and she said to give them at least 30 mins to get the anesthesiologist. She also said that there was no cutoff point to get an epidural, meaning I could get it at 10 cm if I wanted. She also said "But why would you want one then if you made it that far without one."

Ten minutes later contractions started going full force and were closer together and coming at regular intervals. I told the nurse that I wanted an epidural. She went to page the anesthesiologist and came right back. Then I told her that I needed to use the restroom and I didn't mean that I needed to pee...she wanted to check me again. I was 6-7 cm and I did not need to go to the restroom...it was the pressure from his head dropping down. My doctor was paged to come to the hospital for delivery and said she would be there in 15 mins.

Contractions became unbearable and I was begging for the epidural, but hadn't gotten enough IV fluids in me yet and the anesthesiologist was called to an emergency c-section. Another one was being sent from the 2nd floor. In the meantime, the nurse was squeezing the fluid bag to quickly get the fluid in me so that I could get the epidural once someone came. Kevin said contractions were two minutes apart at this time. I remember them telling me to breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth. That helped me get through the contractions alot easier because all I wanted to do was cry from the pain.

The nurse just kept telling me that he was coming with the epidural. She already had all of the "tools" set up for the anesthesiologist. I asked her if laying on my side would lessen the pain and she said it may help, so I turned to my side. Shortly after, I told her that I was feeling the urge to push. She checked me again and said "Honey, you're complete." At this point, I had a breakdown and cried and continued to beg for "drugs!" She said that the anesthesiologist probably wouldn't give me anything at that point, but he may give me a little something (as she told me this, she was looking at Kevin and shaking her head no because she knew that he wouldn't give me anything).

The nurse called another nurse from my room and asked if my doctor was there yet and she wasn't. Two seconds later she screamed back over the intercom to "Get the hospital OB in here NOW!" About 4 nurses rushed in to set things up and Dr. Phillips (hospital OB) arrived. She was very laid back and as she put her scrubs on, she told me if I needed to push to go ahead and do it. Once I did they realized that he would be here FAST! I gave three good pushes and he was out. It was very fast. Kevin says it was less than 10 minutes. Krew came out screaming and crying as they sat him on my belly. My actual doctor walked in right after I delivered and laughed as she said "Well, I guess you didn't want to wait on me!"

I never expected to progress that quickly or have a natural delivery. It was extremely rewarding and I felt very accomplished. Would I do it that way again, purposely? Maybe. I look back and realize that I was only in pain for an hour. I am so thankful to have a healthy baby boy that was born at 37 weeks 3 days, 7lbs 2 oz, and 19 inches. I am thankful that the hospital OB and nurses were wonderful. And I am thankful that my husband was such a wonderful labor coach throughout the entire experience. And I know that God knew exactly how this was going to happen the entire time! He has a funny way of showing you that you can do things that you never thought you could or even imagined. I just told Kevin last week that I was afraid I would progress too quickly and not be able to get an epidural. I told him that I couldn't do that and he said "Yes, you can. You would be amazed at what you can do if you stay positive."