Both of these were taken the night before I went into labor.
I had my 38 week check up on May 14 at 1:30. Bill and I went early and met my mom for lunch at Red Lobster for a late Mother's Day lunch. Since the restaurant is right across the street from the hospital my mom went with us to my doctor's appointment. We checked in and Billy decided to wait in the waiting room so mom would be able to go in with me. My regular doctor went out on medical leave the week before so I was seen by another doctor who was very sweet. When the nurse took my blood pressure it came up as 149/96. She took my bp two more times and it consistently ran the same. The nurse forgot to tell the doctor my consistently high levels so she told me to go ahead and go home and be ready for my induction on Tuesday May 19. As my mom and are walking out the nurse chases us down and says my blood pressure is to high that I can't leave yet because the doctor is on the phone with Ellen D. Now in my head I hear Ellen DeGeneres…if you know me you know how much I love Ellen so I start thinking Ellen has found me at the hospital and is going to surprise me with a boatload of gifts. The doctor comes over to me and tells me she was talking to Ellen D I finally ask who the heck is Ellen D which she kindly replied Labor and Delivery where they will begin inducing your labor. I do believe this is the moment I began to freak out. My mom and I then had to go and explain to Billy that we were going to be induced which was an interesting conversation to say the least. After explaining that we were going to be induced we headed over to Labor and Delivery to get checked in. As we got checked in there was another woman who came in immediately after I did who was in active labor. She had a group of about 4 people with her and a huge blanket wrapped around her and over her head. She started screaming and yelling "It hurts, it hurts!" at the top of her lungs while her "supporters were saying "mmmm ok ok" about as loud as she was. It scared the living heck out of me! I've never seen anyone in labor before and this was about enough to make me change my mind on wanting to have a baby!!! The nurses got me all checked in and a doctor came in and explained that they were going to induce me with Cervidil and it was most likely not going to take because I was only 1cm dilated with 75% effacement so we would be going home at 6:00am. I found this to be a huge inconvenience since I did not have my bags with me or my kindle and chargers. I of course read hundreds of Internet blogs telling me what to pack and I NEEDED my bags if we were going to possible going to have a baby. So I sent Billy home to get the bags, my kindle (for all the reading I would be doing), DVDs (for all the movie watching). makeup (for glamour shots) and other miscellaneous items while the doctor administered the Cervidil.
Before Labor shots
Not happy that everything is not going to plan!
Coming back with my Pinterest suitcase.
At this point we called my dad and had him come down to the hospital to visit still thinking we were not going to be having a baby anytime soon. I was still able to eat and drink whatever I wanted as long as it fell within my diabetic diet. We visited for a couple hours and then they both went home because nothing was progressing and we still at this point thought we wouldn't be having a baby.
Feeling great!
Billy and I then hung out talked for a little bit until the nurse came in and took my vitals at 11:00 PM. She then suggested I go and use the restroom before I get my IV placed so I don't have to drag it around with me. I sat up a little bit and to my horror I started peeing! I told the nurse "Oh my God, I'm so sorry I'm peeing myself right now." The nurse tells me it's ok it happens when you're pregnant just to get up and to go to the bathroom. As I continue to move in bed I am still peeing like crazy! I tell the nurse "I'm still peeing it's probably better if I just stay right here and finish peeing so I don't pee all over the room." The nurse disagreed with me and told me to get up and to finish in the restroom. So I got up and water went everywhere like a waterfall! The nurse yelled that isn't pee that's you're water breaking. I then fought with her because she told me there was no way I would go into labor and here I am in labor! She told me not to worry we would be at the hospital for a long time it would take quite a while before the baby would be here. We called my mom and my dad to let them know but not to come because I probably wouldn't start having contractions for quite a few hours. Bill and I then tried to rest for a few hours but did not realize that the belt that monitors contractions had slid off my stomach so it was not properly measuring what actually were contractions. Every time the nurse came in the room I would ask her if I was having contractions she would tell me no you aren't having any just try to go to sleep. At 2:30 AM I started crying because she had convinced me that I was not having contractions and if what I was feeling wasn't labor I was NOT going to be able to have a baby! I completely understood why that woman was screaming if it was going to be a hundred times worse than I felt right now. My mom came to the hospital around 3:00 AM and as soon as she walked in the room she told me "Katie you are in active labor!" It turns out my contractions were a minute apart for at least a minute and a half each! Once I found out that I was actually in labor I decided it was time to take pain medication and nausea medication because of how awful I felt. Unfortunately for me I had an adverse reaction to both of those medications. I immediately started spinning and every time I closed my eyes I had a vision of a cartoon black and white giraffe that would start filling in color until I had a contraction. It was horrible and a lot worse then it sounds. At this point after talking to my mom I decided it was time to get an epidural. I had originally wanted to try to go without but I did not even care I was in so much pain. I called the nurse and let her know that I would like an epidural but she informed me it would be a little while because the anesthesiologist was in with a c-section. When he finally came in at 5:30 I was so ready and in so much pain I didn't even have time to be scared. He went in and started the procedure and missed the first time so he had to pull back out and go in a second time. It took only about 10 minutes and the pain was completely. God Bless the Man who invented the epidural. I felt nothing! Not one contraction after that. At that point I was only at 3 cm and completely effaced so I decided to take a nap. I slept completely pain free from 6 am to 730 am. When I woke up I felt great! I was rested and I assumed I looked amazing with my hair and makeup done. (sadly this was not the case)
Contractions once the machine was hooked up.
The nurse checked me when I woke up and I had gone from 3cm to 6cm in my sleep. Another hour went by and I started feeling the urge to push so I was checked again and sure enough i was right at 10 cm with her head down. I ended up pushing for 45 minutes and baby Halle Fay Thompson was born! I am still so shocked how instantly I was so in love with my little girl. I could not and still can not believe she is here. I remember as soon as they put her on my chest I just started bawling and saying "she's here, she's here, I can't believe she's here!!" She was born 6 lbs 11 oz and 19 3/4 inches long. Miss Halle was so lucky to be greeted by her daddy, both her grandparents and so many loving Aunties and Uncles who have been waiting a long time for her arrival.
My glamour shots with full hair and makeup
Grandma and Grandpa meeting Halle for the first time
Aunts and Uncles visiting in the hospital.
Knotty, Kota and Paul meeting the newest addition.
