My husband is coming home from being gone on a school trip in China and then Boston for 10 days. I had been staying with my in-laws that week to get help with J.R. while I worked. (I work from home-but since it is full time- it is hard to not have help with my active little man. :)) I was so incredibly excited that Robby was on the plane back to Utah. I was counting down the hours and a little sad that his plane was coming in at 11:55 P.M. The time finally came-I drove to get him-we ate In N Out on the way home and were sleeping by about 2 in the morning with plans to drive back to Logan the next day.
March 15th
At around 5 in the morning I woke up with extreme back pain. I let Robby know I was in pain, but not to worry since I was only 34 weeks and 4 days pregnant. I went and took a shower to help with the pain. After showering, I still was in pain and it wasn't going away. I let Robby know and at about 7 we decided to go to the hospital.
When we got there, they hooked me up to the machine that tells you if you are having contractions. I guess that buckling over in pain every 5-6 minutes doesn't tell you that anymore. They checked me and I had not dilated yet. They checked me again in an hour and still nothing. The nurse sent me home saying that yes I was having regular contractions, but with water, they would go away.
I have always been a believer in what doctors say. I've had a lot of experience with them growing up and they have always been very helpful.
I have not always had the best luck with nurses. (After them telling me that I was no doubt going to miscarry with J.R. and to not come into my appointment because it should happen by them-my trust faded in them.) So even though it's the doctors who tell the nurses what to say, I guess I need to hear it from the doctor to be right. Anyway-back to the story-
I went home and was still contracting a lot. I was embarrassed that I hadn't been in labor and that I had made my in-laws get up to watch J.R. I said hi to J.R. and a huge contraction came-perfect time so I could pretend I was just giving J.R. a hug while actually buckling over in pain. (I don't think I fooled anybody.) Robby asked if I wanted to lay down and I said yes. My mother in law gave me a water bottle and I rushed downstairs.
I fell asleep on the bed for about 4 minutes then woke up in pain. I fell asleep again for about 4 minutes then woke up in pain again. I don't really remember how long this went on, but I was getting very annoyed.
I decided to use the restroom then come sit on the floor in front of the space heater to help with this silly back pain. About every 3-4 minutes I would be irrationally pounding on the floor for no reason other than this pain that would come for about 30 seconds-then fade away. I remember while sitting on the floor thinking,
"Man, I really wish that these contractions would stop because I have a busy day ahead of me! I am so excited to go to Carter's with Robby to pick out clothes for our baby girl." I completely thought that they were just going to stop because I had been drinking A LOT of water. They didn't stop though. They just got more painful and closer together.
Robby came down to check on me. He wanted me to go back to the hospital since I was still in so much pain. I told him that I was not in labor and I was fine and that I didn't want to look stupid and that I was not in labor and OWWWW! That's about how the conversation went. I then told him to go back upstairs.
I hear that women are kinda crazy when in labor. Yeah. That's probably true.
He went upstairs. I went and sat on the toilet because for some odd reason that was the most comfortable place. I was there for a bit having contractions. Some would make me lay on the floor in pain. While I was having one of those lay-on-the-floor-in-pain contractions, Robby came in. I jumped up and said I was fine. (Yeah, I guess I am a little stubborn?) I felt like he had caught me eating candy that wasn't mine. I was mad that he saw me in such pain and he didn't even knock! The nerve! (To his defense-he heard me fall onto the floor. I guess I would run in too.) But remember, I am in labor. I am right.
He finally told me that even if I wasn't in labor, something wasn't right and that I couldn't possible go about the things I needed to for 6 more weeks in this kind of pain. That finally clicked with me that something was NOT right and that we needed to go NOW!
After screaming and laughing and telling Robby to stop making me laugh because it hurt and screaming some more- we arrived at the hospital. I could barely walk into the hospital-but I did! (I wouldn't let Robby drop me off by the door--why am I so stubborn with such weird things??)
They checked me. I was at a 9. My heart dropped. I knew I wasn't getting that beautiful epidural that made my labor with J.R. so blissful. I was scared. Really scared.
Everything happened really fast. Everyone was rushing. Nurses were yelling to call the doctor and he needed to be here now! I remember I was in tears...I think? But while I was in tears, I was secretly happy that I wasn't crazy. I had been in labor. They were the crazy ones-not me.
My doctor came in with an amazing can-do attitude and humor to boot! Honestly, I could not have gotten a better doctor.
One of the nurses told me that I needed to get it together so my son wouldn't be traumatized. OH MY HECK MY SON IS IN THE ROOM?! I think I had forgotten about that. I actually was able to stop screaming for enough time to have him leave the room (Robby's parents were at a funeral and came as soon as they got the message-luckily it was before the baby arrived.)
I told the doctor that it felt like I needed to poop. He told me to start pushing when that feeling came. I proceeded to tell him why I did not want to poop on him and that he did not deserve that. I was completely serious. Once he told me that it was okay and that it was his job-I started pushing. It hurt. I only knew what I had seen from the movies-which actually helped? Weird. 9 minutes later Zoey Olivia was here. She was beautiful. Oh so beautiful. But it wasn't like how it was after having J.R. It took them a long time to give her to me. Once they did, she didn't start nursing. They took her away again.
She stayed all day in another room at the Hospital where they could monitor her. She was having a hard time breathing. They decided to fly her to a hospital with a NICU that night. I was discharged the next day and went and saw her.
She's been there for a little over 2 weeks now and is progressing beautifully. She still has some oxygen flow, but the main thing we are working on is feeding. She is wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.
