A Birthing Story

Dec 31, 2012

It is New Year's Eve, and I've vowed to relax as much as possible since tomorrow, January 1, 2013 is induction day.  I will be exactly 41 weeks pregnant on that day.  For one last hurrah, before baby arrives, I log into my online game where hundreds of players around the world are either fighting against evil, or partaking in the online Yule Fest of the year.  The latter, is where I take my character, where snowball fights and eating contests reside.  I am also chatting in-game with my sister, who is also enjoying some Cheer at the Yule Fest.  Meanwhile, my evening contractions have started, but I don't quite believe that I am in labour.

You see, I've been having contractions on and off for the last month, all seemingly irregular, and then regular, and then irregular again.  The contractions aren't even very painful, nor are they at regular intervals.  And besides that, I wanted to finish all my quests at the Yule Fest before logging off and going to bed.  I also wanted to stay up for the countdown.  I also didn't want to go to bed before my husband, so I continued to play my game.  I warned my husband around 11pm that I thought I might be in labour - but I still wasn't positive, I added.  But no matter, since if this was false labour (again - as I've had many), then I would be induced at 9am the next day, anyway.

I said good night to my in-game sister, logged off, and Husband and I promptly went to bed.  We both needed a good nights sleep before the induction - assuming that I was in false labour at the moment.  Husband fell into a comfortable sleep while I lay uncomfortably in bed as the contractions grew closer together, although the pain was not intense.  Somehow, the contractions quickly escalated from 7 minutes apart, to 3 minutes apart.  At 3 minutes apart, I was still wondering whether I should go to the hospital, since I was not in any intense pain.  I decided to call the hospital to confirm when I should go in.  Come in immediately, the nurse said.  I rouse my husband from his slumber, who surprisingly is now wide awake and alert.  "3 minutes apart??" he asks in alarm.  I am still not convinced that I'll be having the baby soon - the pain I feel now, is nowhere the intensity that it should be.  But we do as the nurses instructed.  We move as quickly as we can, to get to the hospital.

We wake our toddler, Little B, from her bed.  She is sleepy and confused.  We arrange for Grandma and Grandpa to meet us at the hospital, so they can be Little B's guardians during our hospital stay.  We pack the car with our bags, and off we go.  I believe it may be 6am, by the time we arrive at the hospital.  A labour room was prepared in advance for me, since I had called ahead.

And now, in as few words as possible, here are the sequence of events that led to the birth of Baby N...

-Internal exam; fetal monitor; IV; antibiotics; contractions and labouring; nurse and doctor remark how calm I am; doctor breaks my water; oh now the pain really starts with more painful contractions; I am definitely not as calm anymore; laughing gas; more labouring and increasing pain; wondering when in the world I can start pushing because I'd like this to be over with; some more labouring, and thinking about how the 2nd labour should be easier than the first, but somehow the 2nd labour seems harder and is much more painful; still wondering when I can start pushing; Fentynol; still waiting; then suddenly true labour begins and I can push!  And... let's just say that after some interventions from the doctor, baby is born, and I am being stitched up.

Jan 1, 2013, 11:37am:  Baby N is born.
A brand new baby, in a brand new year, makes 2013 all that extra special.
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Welcome to the world, Baby N!