No, seriously. I am.
But honestly? The last seven weeks have been so extremely different from anything I've ever experienced that blogging has been the furthest thing from my mind. However, now that things are settling down a bit, I remember my love for blogging and how much I want to remember this time of life. If pregnancy taught me anything it's that I can't trust my own brain anymore. I think I'll remember things, but let's be honest-- I won't. So, finally, I am sitting down to write Griffin's birth story. It is not the most exciting story and it is about a birth (which means it might be a little graphic at times, so men, read at your own risk), but it is our story and I get emotional any time I think about the night he was born. It was the hardest and best night of my life
Friday, March 4 was my due date. I didn't feel any different when I woke up and I just knew I wasn't going to have a baby that day. I went to work and taught. When the kids lined up to go home, I asked them to pray that I would have the baby that weekend (I teach at a Christian school). I had finally hit the point of being DONE with pregnancy and I knew that due to work, my dad would not be able to be at the hospital when he was born if I went another week. If I had the baby on Saturday or Sunday, my dad would be able to spend the whole week with us before he had to go back home.
Those third graders? They can PRAY. If you have anything you need, just ask them to specifically pray about it. They get things done.
That night, we went out for Mexican with friends and I ate the spicy salsa in hopes that I would smoke the baby out. No such luck. I went home and went to bed for what would be my last night of uninterrupted sleep. I don't remember if I enjoyed my rest, but looking back, I surely hope that I did. I had no idea what sleep deprivation would do to me. Worth it? Yes. Still hard? YES.
Our last night out. My word, the PUFFINESS and the quality of this picture-- both horrible!
On Saturday morning, I went to a gardening class with my friend Libby and then Tyler and I went walking at the mall. I didn't feel any different, but I could feel my belly tightening and then releasing all day long. I couldn't feel it inside, but my belly would feel like a rock on and off. Tyler and I hung out at home for the rest of the day. We watched a movie and ate homemade deep dish pizza and garlic knots. Around 10:30, we Skyped with my brother in Chicago and headed up to bed around 11:00. No sooner did we get into bed then I started feeling weird. The best way I can describe it is that I felt like I had a charlie horse cramp in my lower belly. I felt a few of these cramps before I thought, "Hmmm, could this be labor?"
I answered my own question pretty quickly
By 11:30, things were feeling more intense and my mind got sort of hazy. I kind of remember watching SNL while trying to fall asleep (HA!), but that didn't work. At 12:40, I got the bright idea to start writing down my contractions so that we could be sure that this was actually labor. Looking back, I'm not sure how I thought it could be anything else. First time mom, right here. My contractions were generally about 7 minutes apart and lasted for 40-50 seconds. At 1:30 AM, we decided it was time to call my parents. I called my mom's cell phone and she answered like she'd just been sitting around waiting for my call. It was actually kind of funny, except I wasn't in a very funny mood. I told her that I thought this was it and I started crying because I was so terrified that it was a false alarm and that they would drive all the way here and have to go back home when I stopped my false labor. Again, there was NO way this was a false alarm, but how could I know?
The notebook where we recorded my contractions
I labored through the night and the contractions definitely got closer together and stronger. Bless his heart, Tyler tried to stay awake, but he definitely started falling asleep between contractions. I would gently wake him up by hitting him every time a contraction started. At about 5:30 AM, he took over recording the contractions because they were too painful for me to think about anything else. That was when I called my doctor-- he is the most PRECIOUS man. He was fully aware of and in support of our birth plan and our decision to have the baby naturally. He knew it was my desire to labor at home for as long as possible. He asked me a few questions and told me I could stay at home if I wanted to. Call me crazy, but I wanted to. Again, personal choice.
Labor progressed very normally and my parents got to our house at 8:30 AM. It was then that I got the bright idea to take a shower and do my hair. Yes, you read that right. I really was under the impression that doing my hair would ensure that it would hold up during labor. HA. My mom and Tyler both let me do what I wanted and I showered and blew my hair out. I'm sure they were discussing how insane I was while I was getting ready, but they made the right choice by letting me do my thing. Don't cross a contracting woman. It will never be a good choice.
I did many different tricks (shower, birth ball, walking, etc.) to help ease my labor. I ended up calling my doctor back around 11:30 AM and it was at this point that he suggested we go to the hospital. One thing I want to mention is that between 5:30 AM and 11:30 AM, my doctor called me THREE TIMES to check on me. He is wonderful. I honestly can't believe that he cared that much, but he really did and it eased my worry about the whole thing. Anyway, we packed up at 11:30 and were on our way to the hospital around noon.
My last pregnancy pictures. Bless my heart, I look so pitiful, but I had been in labor for nearly 13 hours at this point, so I think I have a right to look a little worn out! Ha!
You can read part 2 of his birth story here.
