Squirt Arrives!

We went to bed around 10:30pm on Easter Sunday thinking Monday would be an early workday for me and the start of Melissa's maternity leave (her last day at the salon was April 6).


Around 2am Mel went to the bathroom and came back to bed and noticed that she was having some tightening and pain in her lower back that didn't feel like the "contractions" she had had before.  According to her see that pain was similar to a poop cramp.  Haha!  She noticed that they were fairly close together and began tracking them on her app.  After about 30 minutes of contractions ranging from 2-6 minutes apart she woke me up and asked if she should call the doctor.  Since I was still half asleep I told her to do it cause it seemed like the easiest way to get back to sleep.  Naturally, she didn't listen to me and waited another half hour before she decided to call.  In fairness to her, you are supposed to wait until you have had those type of contractions for an hour before calling or going to the hospital.


At 3am she called the answering service and they confirmed that we should come in.  At this point Melissa noticed that she was "leaking" something and thought it was possible that her water may have broke also.  At this point I was alert and raring to get us to the hospital as quick as possible.  I grabbed the bags that had been packed for nearly a month and tossed 'em in the car.  Then I grabbed everything that was on the list and not packed already from a list Mel had written and numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 4.  When I went to check on Melissa and see if she was ready to go she was still in the room making the bed.  Then she brushed her teeth and cleaned the basement living room.  Obviously, she wasn't feeling the same sense of urgency I was.


After I finally got her in the car we were at the hospital in an instant... it's only 2 miles away.  We checked in at 4:15am Monday, April 9.  Both of us thought that this would be our first false alarm and would be back home in a few hours.  Once we were in a Labor and Delivery room the nurse ran a test and confirmed that the fluid she was "leaking" was in fact from her water breaking.  This meant that we weren't going to be leaving without the baby!

The put an IV line in Melissa, which would end up nearly being her least favorite part.  They checked her dilation and said she was 4.5cm with 100% effacement.  We then called all the parents and informed them that this was happening!  At this point we were told Melissa had tested positive for a bacteria known as Group B Strep (GBS).  This meant that she was going to have to get IV antibiotics so that she wouldn't pass it on to baby.  The antibiotic burned something fierce while they were being infused and Melissa kept saying she wanted to cut her arm off.  I informed her that if her arm were to be cut off then they'd have to put an IV in the other arm and it wouldn't solve the problem.

The next 18 hours were very slow moving and our original nurse, Kristina, headed home and we got a new nurse, Carol, and about the only thing Melissa says about Carol is that "she had really small hands".  I'll let you figure out why that was important for yourself.  Mel and I walked the hallway, Meredith came to support Mel while she bounced on the birthing ball and brought me some much needed coffee while we watched Robin Hood Men in Tights.  Her contractions started getting longer, stronger, and closer together. She asked Carol to check her dilation while Meredith went to pick up Mel's Dad and stepmom from the airport.  She was still at a 5.

Because her water had broken they were hesitant to keep checking her dilation as it posed an infection risk to the baby.  It was a bit frustrating since we couldn't really tell if things were progressing otherwise.  Around 1pm she decided she opted for an epidural hoping that it would help her relax and perhaps help move things along.  The nurse anesthetist came and placed the epidural.  Melissa did well for a bit, but eventually the poking and prodding got to be too much and she could be heard saying not to anyone in particular, "Is she done yet?"


Like before, things continued to progress slowly and when Mel was dilated to 7cm she kind of stalled.  The nurse and physician decided to start a pitocin drip, which is what is used to induce labor.  Around 7pm, our original nurse, Kristina, came back on shift and was surprised that we were still in the labor and delivery suite sans baby.  Eventually Mel dilated to 9cm and at this point starting using the bolus button on her epidural pump... regularly.  She says that the hour preceding the pushing as the worst part of labor.  At 10pm she had the urge push and nurse verified that she was dilated to 10cm, which is fully dilated.  Everyone that had been in the room left and it was just the nurse, Mel, and I.  After a few practice pushes, Melissa began pushing in earnest.


The doctor came in just before the birth pretty much to be the catcher.  We had decided earlier that I would be the one to announce what the baby's sex was.  When the head came out we saw the cord was wrapped around her neck twice, but no one was alarmed and they said the baby was fine, so I didn't worry.  Once they had pulled the baby the rest of the way out it was quickly moved to Melissa chest and I never got a chance to see if there were girl or boy parts!  The nurse and doctor were both saying, "And it's a..." in an effort to get me to announce it, but I still couldn't see anything.  Finally, one of the nurses cleaning the baby moved a leg and I could clearly that we had just had a beautiful baby GIRL!  Nearly the instant she came into world she started screaming... LOUD.  The doctor and nurses were all very impressed with her vocal abilities.