Emily's Birth Story
My due date was Monday, November 20th, but my daughter insisted on waiting to be born until after her grandparents from North Carolina arrived on Thursday.
I went into labor early Friday morning, November 24th, at about 2:30 a.m. My water didn’t break so I was able to labor at home until my contractions were about 5 minutes apart, lasting about a minute and getting more intense. We went to the hospital around 1 p.m.
At the hospital, the triage nurse examined me and we were both surprised to learn I was already 5-6 cm dilated! They checked me in right away and sent me to a labor and delivery room. When they asked how I wanted to manage the pain, I was suddenly unsure. I had thought wanted to try to do it without an epidural but it was so tempting to get one since the contractions were getting so intense. But I decided to hold off, knowing that I could still get one later. I'm not against epidurals but I didn't really like the idea of that long needle. I was also concerned that an epidural might slow down my labor and keep me from feeling when it was time to push.
So I labored on for a few hours, thinking with every single contraction that maybe I should just ask for the epidural. I was already so very tired. My Labor & Delivery nurse would have gotten it for me if I said the word but at the same time, she was very encouraging and kept reminding me that I was doing a great job. Richard was also very supportive, giving me water when I needed it and reminding me that I COULD DO IT!
Finally, I was able to start pushing. It seemed to last forever and I didn’t feel like I was making any progress at all although the nurse assured me that I was. I wished there was some way to know how much longer it would last. I was so worn out and just wanted a break but I knew I needed to just take it one contraction at a time.
A couple hours later, the nurses offered to set up a mirror for me so I could see what was going on down there. This turned out to be very motivating – I could see the top of Emily's head and finally had proof that I really was almost there! Finally, after a few more strong pushes, she was born! I’m really grateful for the terrific staff at Kaiser and especially Renee, my L & D nurse. She was so encouraging and positive and helped me find the strength I didn’t think I had.
Emily and I spent one night in the hospital and came home Saturday evening. Kaiser generally allows a new mom and baby to go home 24 hours after a normal, uncomplicated birth. Since we had to share a recovery room with another new mom and baby, I couldn't get any sleep that night and was very happy to go home as soon as possible where I could sleep better and enjoy my mom's cooking.