My due date came and went on Monday and Lane and I were both feeling that at that point we either wanted a leap year baby or we wanted the kids to share a birthday. I mean, with the possibility of either one, we were thinking that those were the 2 special days that were surrounding my due date. Once the evening of the 28th came around we decided that I'd try the castor oil myth and see if it worked. After all, I had tried every other myth up until that point - spicy food, raspberry tea, and walking. I took 1 tablespoon of the stuff and...nothing. So an hour later I took another tablespoon. Eventually I started feeling contractions and they were pretty regular, but not very strong. I decided that since it was 11:30 I should try to sleep in case this stuff started working for inducing labor.
Low and behold, 1:30 rolled around and I had to go to the bathroom and I couldn't go back to sleep because the contractions were getting a little stronger. Just before 2:30 we dropped Eden off at our friends house and we drove off to make the trek to the hospital. It took us about an hour to get to the hospital and they immediately put us in a triage room to see what kind of progress I was making. My contractions measured about an average of 3 minutes apart and they were staying regular. The only problem was that I was only dilated 3cm and wasn't considered to be in active labor until I was 4cm. I couldn't get a room until I was in active labor...ugh. They told me that I should go for a walk and come back in 2 hours. So that's what we did - we walked and we did stairs and we got breakfast.
Two hours came and went and I was still only 3cm. The good news was that it was almost shift change, so we went and walked again and then went back to triage. It was almost 8:00am and we were finally awarded a hospital gown! I was 4cm and my cervix was thinning out more and more. I couldn't have been more relieved. I did not want to go home to have to come back because it was happening and I knew that was for sure.When they put us in a delivery room the nurse wrote Hunter his first birthday wishes on our dry erase board! You can't read it too well, but the top right of the board says "Happy Birthday Hunter!"
Time seemed to creep by as we waited and as I contracted and we tried to sleep. Eventually Lane started making his text message list so he could send a quick message when Hunter arrived. I played games on my phone and took deep breaths to help me get through the contractions. I was definitely uncomfortable, but my contractions were not unbearable by any means.
When lunch time arrived I actually got to eat something! I was totally surprised to be delivered a lunch tray. I wasn't all that excited about the contents, but I think I ended up eating it all anyways. I got 2 cups of hot water - one for beef broth and one for hot tea - and I got grape juice and jello. I was shocked because when I was in labor with Eden I wasn't allowed to have anything at all. I loved that I was technically on a clear liquid diet and that I got to eat anything at all. You would be surprised at how delicious beef broth can be when you aren't allowed to eat anything else.
At some point after lunch - I think close to 2:00 - I started getting more and more uncomfortable despite the fact that I had an epidural. I didn't realize what the discomfort meant until the nurse told me she thought I'd be having a baby soon. She had the doctor come in and check my progress again and then recommended that I push my pain button to give me some extra medicine because it was almost time to push. As they were getting things set up for delivery time I was asked if some nursing students could be a part of my delivery. At that point I didn't care and I knew I couldn't hold my legs up on my own anyways, so I needed the extra hands to help out! They came in, put my feet into the stirrups and I was told to start pushing when I felt the need to. Fifteen minutes after that we got to welcome our sweet screaming little guy! He came right up onto my chest to be cleaned off and meet me and pose for his first pictures! We were beyond happy to see this little guy and to know that he looked healthy.
And with that our little man was here! He was perfect and he was more than we could have ever imagined! We were beyond excited to have him in our arms finally!
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