On Monday, November 19, I started having some contractions in the morning. They were fairly irregular and not real painful, so I knew it wasn't quite time yet. As the day progressed, the contractions worsened and were about 5 minutes apart. At about 2 pm my mom took me to the doctor for a "labor check". The doctor said I was about 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced. He said he thought Elizabeth would arrive within the next day or two. I went to my mom and dad's house and laid on their couch for a couple of hours. As time went on, my contractions became more painful and quite close together. At about 5:30, my mom took me to CVS to pick up a few things. Within the 15 minutes that we were there, I had 4 or 5 contractions. They were getting quite painful! I called my friend, Sharon, who is the nurse at our school. In the midst of our conversation, I had to stop talking several times because of the contraction pain. She said, "Becca, how far apart are your contractions?" I told her that they were about 3 minutes. To that she replied, "Why aren't you at the hospital?!" I called Jason and he headed home from work and was going to meet us at the hospital.
At the hospital, they hooked me up to the monitors. I asked for something for the pain, but they wouldn't give me anything until they knew that I was going to be admitted. I was told that my contractions were "moderate". They felt pretty severe to me though! They were also very close together. The baby's heart rate was elevated--around 170, which caused the doctors and nurses some concern. After awhile, two of the nurses came in and turned me on my other side. Unbelievably, her heart rate went back down to normal.
Around 10:00 pm, I was about 3 1/2 cm dilated. They decided to put me in the whirlpool tub. The nurse said it would either stop my contractions and I'd go home or that it would help me dilate, in which case I would be admitted. Once I entered the whirlpool tub, I had immediate relief from some of the pain (although I was still in pain). After I got out, I was 5 cm dilated and they decided to keep me. I, once again, asked for something for the pain. They decided to go directly to the epidural. At about 11:00, I got an epidural from Dr. Cohen. I think he's my favorite doctor on the planet. After the epidural, I did not feel a THING! I was able to relax and get some rest between the nurses poking and prodding my monitors and me.
At about 4 am, Dr. Tilley (my OB) broke my water (this was also the first time I had seen him with bedhead). At 5 am, I started feeling sick. I threw up (which was not uncommon during my pregnancy). They checked me after I got sick and we could see the baby's head--a very hairy head at that! They said that it was time to get the show on the road. I pushed through 3 contractions, 3 times per contraction. Keep in mind, I still couldn't feel a THING. It was great. Elizabeth was born at 5:21 am. She let out a tiny little cry for about 3 seconds and didn't cry for the next 24 hours! Daddy and Mommy had tears of joy. We called the grandparents to let them know she had arrived.
Grandma and Grandpa Updegrave, Grandmama, and Uncle Cody came to the hospital around 6:15 am to meet Elizabeth. Grammy and Papaw Cline would meet her in a couple of weeks. We're all so grateful for our beautiful baby girl! Uncle Cody is still referring to her as "it". "What's wrong with it?" "Look at its face." "When is that going to start eating real food?" He'll learn--eventually. Cousins Olivia and Lauren will meet Elizabeth in January and cousin Kaylee will meet her in December when they visit Maryland from Guam for a month.
Elizabeth, mommy, and daddy are doing well and enjoying their time together!
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