I hopped out of bed and managed to get the floor wet too. I got excited and
woke Jay. It would have been easier to get back to sleep had I not woke
Jay. How was I to know that this labor would be slow to start? By the time
this labor finally kicked in, I had already delivered Andrew the first time.
We got up at 4:30 after trying to go back to sleep. I got a bowl of cereal
and waited. Not too much happened at first. After a few hours, I decided
to shower and make Ivy's birthday cake. I had long ago decided to make
pineapple upside down cake. I got it in the oven and got in the shower. I
let the water run on me and filled the tub. I had contractions now every 15
or so minutes. They weren't all that strong yet. I didn't worry and told
myself that the contractions were as long and strong as the baby needed them
to be.

We took a walk around the yard and looked at the tulips which were just
starting to open. The neighbor told us he didn't think we could do it at
home. We told him how comfortable we were with it, but didn't tell him I
was in labor. I went back inside, had a granola bar and sat once again in
the rocking chair. I timed my contractions which were more intense and
about 5-7 minutes apart.

Eventually I went upstairs where Jay had prepared our bedroom. He had
blankets, washcloths in the crockpot, sterilized scissors and a shoestring
and a piece of plastic on the floor at the foot of the bed. I decided to
try getting on the floor on my hands and knees and kneeling. My
contractions were now 2 minutes apart. By 2:00 I felt an urge to push. I
was kneeling on the floor, facing the bed. I pushed just a little with the
contractions. I pushed for maybe 4 contractions. I felt a gush and thought
my water was leaking but instead the diaper I was using to catch leaks was
covered with a green bm. I too had to go to the bathroom. I also had a bm.
I got in the shower and knew for sure that the bm was the baby's meconium.
I was a little concerned at this point. Jay checked the book and we kinda
felt like the baby was breech. I was so sure of her position during
pregnancy though that I wasn't convinced she was breech.

I labored on, but didn't push anymore until later. My contractions were
very intense. They were 2 minutes apart and lasting a minute to a minute
and a half. I laid down on the bed with lots of pillows on my side. I had
wanted to lay down, but couldn't get comfortable. I could only stay there
for 30 minutes. Then I moved back to the rocking chair (upstairs). That
was the most comfortable place for me and I stayed there except for trips to
the bathroom. It is now about 5:00, 14 hours after my water broke.

The next 5 hours are a blur of contractions and pain. The contractions were
so strong. They started low in my belly. This part wasn't painful at all,
but then 15 seconds into the contraction, the pain radiated to my back and
continued pulsing with the contractions. I began moaning my way through the
pain. Jay asked me what was wrong and I told him that it hurt. He tried to
figure out if I was okay by asking if it hurt like something was wrong or
not. All I could say is that it hurt and it wasn't like when Andrew was
born.

Eventually I began pushing again. I was still in the chair even though Jay
tried to get me to a hands and knees position knowing that it would be
better for a breech delivery. I couldn't move to any other position because
it was too intense except in the rocking chair. Earlier, Jay had done a
visual check to see what was going on, but we didn't do that now even though
we could have probably figured out for sure that she was breech. Jay
ordered pizza and I continued to labor.

At 8:00 we talked about transport. I didn't want to go. I spent the next
couple hours pushing a little and just getting through the contractions
which were still 2 minutes apart, a minute + long. Finally at 10:00 I
decided it was time to go. I had not felt any progress at all and I
couldn't handle the pain any longer. We packed some things, called the
neighbor to come stay with Andrew (he fell asleep on is own at about 9:00)
and left. By 10:35 we were at the ER. I explained what we needed and
headed to the 9th floor to maternity. I gave them a urine sample (which
showed trace amounts of protein due to being dehydrated that day, but
nothing close to pre-eclampsia!) changed and again explained what was going
on regarding a UC birth. It was about time for a shift change, so they
didn't check me right away to avoid too many hands. They noted the green
meconium and figured the baby was breech.

A resident, Dr. J. came in and did an internal. He couldn't tell for sure
if the presenting part was a head or butt, but did tell me I was 8.5-9+ cms
dilated with a lip. He then palpated and asked for a tape measure. He then
said they were going to do a u/s (my only one) to determine position and
make sure there weren't 2 of them! The u/s showed 1 breech baby. They
couldn't tell me the sex as she was too big and by now I really wanted to
know.

I had already decided, before the ultrasound that if the baby was breech, I
was going to consent to a c/section. I discussed my reasons with the
resident. I felt that I was too fatigued to continue. I also could not
stand the pain any longer. It was too intense. The resident did tell me
that I was a perfect candidate to try a vaginal delivery as I had a proven
pelvis. I felt though that to do the breech I needed more energy and the
ability to change positions, etc. I knew that I didn't have much energy
left and I really wanted pain relief. So I went with the c/section. I was
then given some terbutaline to slow/stop the contractions. It didn't stop
them, but they did slow to every 3 minutes. They were still intense and I
was shaking incredibly badly. Everyone was nice enough not to do anything
to me during contractions and waited until it was over.

I was finally wheeled to the OR and given a spinal. Finally I had pain
relief. It was midnight though before I was numb and I am still mad that it
took 1.5 hours to not feel it anymore (and by that time, I was probably
completely dilated). They checked to make sure I was numb and then brought
Jay in. He stood right by me, holding my hand and watched the whole thing.
It's still weird to me to think that he saw my insides!

My little girl was folded in half and it took a while to determine the sex
as she was hiding it. I heard them say I had a daughter and Jay told me it
was a girl. He went to her right away. They suctioned her and made sure
she didn't inhale any meconium. She didn't. Jay brought her to me and I
kissed and touched her. Jay went to the nursery with her while they put me
back together. My little girl was delivered at 12:31 (according to Jay) on
4/28/99. She weighed 8#, 7 oz. and was 20" long.