Welcome, Rosemary!

God is so good, so gracious to those who trust him! For some reason this third labor/delivery was giving me much more anxiety than the other two did. I felt unreasonably scared of the experience and how it might unfold. God was my rock. I had to keep leaning on him and the comfort of knowing that he had this. Whatever happened, he was there and taking care of us. And he didn't mind me requesting all the scenarios that would ease my mind--like a quick and easy birth with enough forewarning to make arrangements for James and Sally--and an arrival later in the day so I could still get a full night's sleep beforehand. God is gracious, he answered those prayers! There were still some curveballs I wasn't expecting, but he proved trustworthy to help me through it all. I love that I can trust him implicitly. 

Getting There

Friday morning I woke up early with constant cramps and a couple irregular contractions that stopped when I got out of bed. Just a couple hours later, I was laid up in bed with a fever and cramps and unable to move. This is when I started having visions of being carried off on a stretcher by paramedics taking me to an emergency c-section because I was too weak and useless to deliver a baby. Contractions started coming regularly about 11:30.  Fortunately Bryan had stayed home from work and was able to take care of the kids. I called for mother to come over to help with them, and she arrived about 1:00. I was finally able to get out of bed at that point, but still had a slight fever. Contractions slowed, but I was feeling well enough now to eat and drink a bit. I walked on the treadmill for an hour and that kept the contractions coming long and quick, but they would slow down dramatically anytime I got off. Finally decided to leave for hospital about 6:30pm just as Shmo showed up to help mother with the kids. We breezed down the hospital's long corridor to the maternity wing at a snail's pace. We walked up to the L/D nurse's desk and they all just looked at us. "I'm here to have a baby!" One replied, "Well maybe tomorrow but not tonight!" ...I'm still not sure what she meant by that. They continued to just look at us expectantly. "Soooo, uh... do you have some papers I need to sign to get checked in?" Turns out they don't do patient admitting there. We would have to go back to the ER entrance to get checked in. But they gave us a wheelchair and let us leave our bags there. Back at the ER, they need to see my photo ID. So Bryan makes another trip down to maternity to get it from our bags. Finally checked in, a nurse wheels me back to that L/D nurses' station where I wave my wrist at them saying "I've got the bracelet this time!" This prompts them to do more than just stare at us, and I get taken into the triage room. 

Bryan's Prayer

I'm only at 3cm. So deflating! All those contractions since 11:30am did nothing?! They keep me there to check again later since the contractions are mostly 2-3 minutes apart now. They also give me a large cup of ice water because my urine sample showed I was dehydrated from the fever. Still have a very slight fever at 99. Turn on the tv and Twilight Breaking Dawn was just beginning. It was distracting for a bit, but I started to feel nauseous from the ice water so I asked for an IV of fluids instead. The nurse would have to ask the on-call doctor about that, so she was going to go ahead and check my dilation again since it'd been almost an hour. I was up to 4cm. Well that wasn't encouraging, but at least it was something. After being checked I used the restroom and before I got back on the bed Bryan put his arms around me and said a prayer. It was a short prayer asking for an easy delivery and for things to progress quickly. He said Amen and my water broke. The nurse seemed surprised—maybe even skeptical—when we told her it had just broken. But the evidence was there so they directed me to the delivery room across the hall. I opted to walk there, and in that short distance to the new bedside, my contractions intensified immensely. The nurses took me to the bathroom and wiped down my “watery” legs. I suddenly felt queasy. "I'm going to throw up" and I promptly did. It wasn't much, but I never vomited with my other deliveries. I learned later that is a common sign of transition to the final stages of labor. I was guided to the bed to lie down for another check. Sitting on the edge of the bed I asked if it was too late for an epidural. No, it wasn't too late they would just have to get some paperwork and prepare some things. But right after asking, I knew it was too late. I had the first pushing contraction on the edge of the bed. It took all my resolve to get one, two legs up on the bed while trying to warn the nurse that the baby was coming. She checked for dilation, "The baby's head is right there." By this time I was all-out pushing with each contraction. I couldn't help it! The nurse told Bryan to open the door and call out for anyone in scrubs to come help. She pulled at my perineum (to reduce tearing?) which hurt worse than the contractions. The nurse who answered Bryan’s call popped her head in and casually asked "Is the baby coming?" The nurse at my feet retorted, "No, I'm holding it in!"  But she wasn’t holding it in for long. The entire pushing phase lasted just a few minutes before Rose was born into the reluctant nurse's hands. I was so relieved and happy to be done and happy that nobody told me to lie on my back and hold my knees (which I've always refused to do--it feels so unnatural). She was placed on my stomach where she contentedly cuddled down under some swaddling. To put all this in perspective, I was 4cm at 8:00 when my water broke, and Rose was in my arms at 8:20. The on-call doctor showed up about 15 minutes after her birth. He delivered the placenta and stitched my slight tears. 

More to the Story

I was strep b positive for the first time with this pregnancy. It’s not a big deal, it just means they have to give you antibiotics after your water breaks so you don’t pass it to the baby during delivery. Things progressed so quickly for us that they didn’t have time to give me the antibiotics. Rose was monitored for an extra day in the hospital to watch for signs of the infection but she was cleared to go. Looking back on things now, I think God gave me that unexplained fever earlier in the day to kill the strep b in my body since He was planning to indulge my desire for a quick delivery. 

Although obviously painful, this labor/delivery still didn't hurt nearly as bad as it did with Sally. And I guess I'm kinda glad I didn't get the epidural so I could instead enjoy a quicker recovery and cheaper bill. Rose didn't get the comment her siblings both got from nurses "My, you have a good set of lungs there!" But she already shares their excellent nighttime sleep patterns. I didn't sleep at all that first night though--still too much adrenaline and joy coursing through me! My fever never returned. Rosemary is such a sweetheart baby. Sally initially was not impressed with her, but James immediately adored her. For the past several months in my nightly prayers with James and Sally, I've been asking God to increase our family's joy and patience. So I shouldn't be surprised that Rose is the most happy and patient baby I've ever seen. I wasn't expecting God to answer my prayers through our new daughter, but her addition to our family has already been a wonderful blessing to us!