Adam's Birth Story

Thursday night I started having contractions. Some were as close as three minutes apart, but they were not painful and when I would get up and move around they would lessen in their intensity so I figured they were "fake". The following morning (Friday) I was finally able to get in to see a doctor since my appointment on Wednesday and Thursday were canceled due to the snowstorm. Mike took a half day and came along with me to the appointment. I had progressed somewhat and was about 3 cm dialated, but my cervix still had a way to go. Dr. Bradford "stripped my membranes" again, but we decided if that did not work I would be induced on Sunday at 8pm.

Well, it worked. Almost as soon as I got home I started having more and more contractions and they were getting stronger and stronger. I was only having cramping and pain in the front and they said if it was true labor I would feel it in my back, which I remembered from when I had Owen. I tried taking a nap, but my contractions were too strong and were occurring about every 6 minutes. I walked to Linda's house to pick Owen up and when we got home I started to clean up and get things ready because I had a feeling that maybe I would go into labor that night. I started to keep track of my contractions around 4 o'clock and they were all around 5 mintues apart. My midwife had told me to come to the hospital when they were 10 minutes apart and I was huffing and puffing through each contraction. Well I never experienced them 10 minutes apart, but I was not really huffing and puffing yet so I thought I had time. Mike was getting VERY nervous and wanted to leave for the hospital, but I kept assuring him that we had time. Finally, around 5:30 I knew it was time to leave so we said goodbye to Owen and off we went.

The traffic to Lancaster (especially through Manhiem) on a Friday evening after a major snowstorm is NOT fun when you're in labor!! We probably should have left when Mike suggested. My contractions were getting much stronger and were about 3 minutes apart. Mike began driving with his hazard lights on and about 4 times we had to drive up the turning lane to pass a LONG line of cars. I would put the window down and get the driver's attention in the car next to us and tell them I was in labor and I'd ask if we could cut in front of them. Everyone was very kind and let us go ahead.

We arrived to the hospital around 6:15ish. The midwife checked me and said my cervix still had a way to go and was a little confused as to why my contractions were so close together. In a "round about way" she questioned if I was really in active labor, however the monitor clearly showed how close together and strong my contractions were. I was in so much pain by that point that I wanted an epidural. I told her we were not going home and she said she would call "to see if there was a room available". The nerve! I almost cried. Magically a room became available and my fluids were started and my epidural was ordered. I think the epidural guy arrived around 8:00pm. It only started to take effect around 8:30pm and I know it was not working to its full potential. They broke my water around the same time and after that I had so much pressure I just had to push. I pushed for 7 (extremely grueling) minutes and he was out at 9:10pm.

We couldn't be happier and feel so blessed to have a healthy baby!