As I approached my February 28 due date, I became more concerned about how would I know if I was going into labor. Every mother I talked to said I would just know. But as it turns out, they were wrong.
My weekly doctor visits began on Monday, February 4. During the first (and only) weekly visit, I was showing no signs of dilation. I also asked the doctor that if it turned out I needed a C-Section, could I get my tubes tied? She said it was possible and if I was absolutely sure I wanted my tubes tied, we could schedule a C-Section. I was sure so we scheduled a C-Section for February 20. This helped ease my anxiety because I would not need to worry about knowing what a contraction felt like.
By Thursday, February 7 (the start of my 37th week), I felt more uncomfortable than usual and found it really difficult to concentrate at work. I also noticed a brown mucus every time I went to the bathroom. I called the doctor's office and the nurse told me this was normal as it was probably my mucus plug. She said it might even start to turn reddish. I also read that the breaking of the mucus plug could mean labor is a few days or a few weeks away.
By the time I got home from work that evening, my uncomfortableness was worse and my brown mucus was now red. Randy even had to help me off the couch because I was just feeling super huge. I also had one of the worst nights of sleep ever, literally tossing and turning every minute.
I got up earlier than usual on Friday, February 8 and started getting ready for work. It was at this point where I had pressure and discomfort in my lower abdomen. The only way I could describe it was it felt like a combination of menstrual and having-to-go-poop cramps. Plus, when I went to the bathroom it was almost like I was on my period. Having concern, I decided to call the doctor before heading off to work. Before the doctor's office opened, I spent time cleaning up Petey's accidents on the floor so what I was feeling obviously wasn't too bad.
I called the doctor's office and spoke to a nurse who asked me if I was contracting. I told her I had no idea because I did not know what they felt like. I explained my discomfort and she said that it did not sound like contractions. She also said if I started to free flow bleed to call her back. At which point, I left for work.
When I got to work, my discomfort was worse and the intensity was changing randomly. I got to the point where I felt like I needed to go home and lay down. I just needed to get a few more things done. Around 11 a.m., Randy called me to see if I wanted to go to Jody's for dinner and I told him something just wasn't feeling right. He said to call the doctor's office again just to put my mind at ease. So I did. I told the nurse I wasn't trying to be a hypochondriac but something was not right. She said if I was close to the hospital I should just go and get checked out.
As I was driving to the hospital, I called Randy to tell him what was going on and Jody answered the phone. They were at Costco and checking out. Jody asked me if I wanted her to drop Randy off at the hospital. I told her no because I would just get checked out and head home. She said she would drop him off so that he could at least drive me home.
After I checked in at the hospital and was waiting for someone to assess my situation, I had three bouts of pain in a 15 minute time frame. I still had not been looked at by the time Randy arrived. Finally a nurse came in and hooked me up to a monitor and I was, in fact, contracting. She checked my cervix and I was dilated to a five ... this was one of the most painful things I have felt in my life, so much so the nurse made me cry.
Randy and I were like ok do we go home and wait it out, and the nurse was like you are having your baby today. The next thing I knew, they were prepping me for my C-Section. They gave Randy a cap, booties and yellow plastic gown to put on over his clothes. The gown was about two sizes too small and it looked like he was wearing a form-fitting garbage bag. I could not look at him without laughing.
They wheeled me into the operating room and left Randy behind to wait until they were ready. Once in the operating room, I immediately said my husband is not going to do well in here as he hates hospitals. The nurses said we know, he already warned us. They gave me my spinal shot to numb half of my body and as it turns out, it really did not hurt. The next thing I knew I could not feel anything and my contractions were "gone." They then brought Randy in. I should also mention that one of the nurses assisting in my surgery was the teacher at our child birth classes and she called us out for not going to all of them.
I felt like we were just hanging out and I said ok just let me know when you get started and the doctor said we already have ... then I heard Lydia crying seconds later. They immediately took her over to the warming bed and, while I could not see anything, Randy said, "Sarah, you have a black baby." I said "shut up" because I thought he was trying to be funny. He sometimes uses humor in uncomfortable situations.
The anesthesiologist encouraged Randy to go over and take photos of her, which he did. Upon walking back over to me, he made the mistake and looked at my stomach area only to freak out. He sat down and started to sweat. He told the anesthesiologist he needed to leave and the anesthesiologist was like no you don't just sit on the floor. They ended up taking Randy in a wheel chair back to my room.
The next thing I knew the doctor was telling me my placenta had started pulling apart and they were sending it out for testing, but Lydia is ok. To be safe, they were going to take her to NICU for monitoring. I really had no clue what was going on because I was so loopy. As it turns out, I had placenta abruption and Lydia had meconium aspiration, which means she pooped inside me and had breathed it in. This is all scary because had I had her a day or two later she might have been still born.
Once I got back to the room, Randy, Jody, Jack and Izzy were waiting for me. Jody was so excited that she had pulled Jack out of school. When Amy arrived, she and Randy went up to NICU to see Lydia. She was doing fine and one of the nurses told Randy that they were worried the wrong father was in the operating room because she looked Mexican. She was literally stained from the poop and blood in my uterus.
Four hours later Lydia joined her family and we have all been in love ever since. It is crazy to think I had no idea I was in labor and that I got to the hospital at 11:45 am and she was born at 1:38 p.m. And she is a super good baby. All the nurses loved her because while the boys in the nursery cried throughout the night, she was content. And when she cried, she sounded like a kitten. One of the nurses even made her a special hat with a bow and gave her a special blanket. I think Lydia may have even gotten special treatment because her Dad charmed all of the nurses.
