Today is my daughter's 15th birthday-September 12th. My how time flies. I cannot believe that she is already 15. So much has happened in that time, but I want to remember her birth today. I can remember it like it was yesterday.
Fifteen years ago today was a Sunday. I got up early and walked my usual 5 miles. During my walk I was having painless contractions every few minutes. I didn't really think anything of it. Maybe they were Braxton Hicks contrations. When I got home I told Tommy that I had been having painless contractions while I was walking. He was like...how far apart were they, how long did they last... I told him not to worry, it was a week early and there was no pain. He wanted to time them while I made breakfast. They were coming every 3-4 minutes, but still no pain. He thought we should call the doctor, but I thought otherwise. I was NOT going to be one of those mom's who was sent home because she was not in labor. My mom, aka, Grandmama, had been out of town for a week and she called while I was making breakfast. She wanted to know how I was and if she could come see us. She lived about 30 minutes away. I told her to come on over. When she got there, Tommy told her about the painless contractions and their frequency and asked if she thought I should call the doctor. She said it was best for me to be comfortable and stay home as long as I could. I am not one to panic. Well, that is unless one of my kids is bleeding.
The day before I had done a bunch of work in the yard and steam cleaned Tommy's car so it would be all clean when it was time to bring the "baby" home. I took my mom out and showed her what I had done in the yard, all the while having the painless contractions every few minutes. Mom kept reassuring Tommy that all would be fine. She asked me if I had washed all the baby clothes and bedding yet. I had not. I was scared that if I did it prematurely that something bad would happen to her. I guess it was around 11:30 or so I finally called the doctor. He asked the usual questions, how long and how far apart were the contraction, was I in any pain, etc. He said it would be good to get to the hospital, especially considering my mom's history. I told him I would get ready and be there soon.
I didn't tell him all that it would involve...showering, getting dressed, putting on my make up and fixing my hair and packing. Yes, you heard right...I said packing. My mom did the packing as I yelled from the shower what I would need. The one thing I remember telling her to get was a stack of towels to go in the front seat of the car incase my water broke. I didn't want to mess up the car after I had cleaned it. By the time I got out of the shower the contractions were getting painful. In between them while I was drying my hair I would have to sit down on the floor. I remember hearing, "Gay, is it really necessary to put on make up and fix your hair?" You better believe it was. I was not going to look bad in any pictures. I was finally ready to go. Mom stayed behind and got the baby's stuff in the washer.
On the way to the hospital, which was about 30 minutes away, we had to stop at a friend's house to borrow a video camera. We got the camera and headed off to the hospital. I was in a lot of pain by now. Tommy was driving way too slow to suit me. I told him if he didn't pick up the pace he was going to have to let me drive. I NEEDED something for the pain immediately. We finally got to the hospital at around 1:30. I started the check-in process while Tommy parked the car. Finally we were in our birthing suite. Our nurse Sue came and got me changed and hooked up to the monitors. I don't remember who checked to see how dilated I was, but I do remember I was 9cm when I got there. The anesthesiologist came in and gave me an epidural and I felt SO much better, but my contractions almost stopped. Or atleast that is what it looked like on the monitor. Sue went to get another monitor to see just what was going on. Yep, the contractions had eased off a lot since the epidural had been admistered.
Grandmama finally arrived around 2:15pm. She had gotten everything washed, dryed and folded. She was so proud of herself for getting to hospital without getting lost.
When the epidural wore off, the contractions picked up again. I remember telling them there was no way I was going to push her out without pain relief. They gave me another dose of epidural fluid. At around 3:55 it was time to push. I pushed 2 or 3 times and out she came at 3:57pm. A beautiful baby girl-6 pounds 12 ounces and 19.5 inches long. We all thought Grandmama was going to faint. Dr. Sheussler and Sue asked her if she needed to sit down. She was SOOOO excited that she had witnessed the birth of her first granddaughter. When he held her up for me to see, she peed on him. We still talk about that today.
While Dr. S put me back together, Sue cleaned "her" up and did her footprints. We still did not have a name for her. I wanted to meet her and get to know her a little before I chose a name. Finally after 25 minutes, I got to hold her. She was so tiny and sweet. Love at first site. I only got to hold her for about 15 minutes and then they took her away to the nursery to weigh her and out a tiny diaper on her.
Fifteen years ago today was a Sunday. I got up early and walked my usual 5 miles. During my walk I was having painless contractions every few minutes. I didn't really think anything of it. Maybe they were Braxton Hicks contrations. When I got home I told Tommy that I had been having painless contractions while I was walking. He was like...how far apart were they, how long did they last... I told him not to worry, it was a week early and there was no pain. He wanted to time them while I made breakfast. They were coming every 3-4 minutes, but still no pain. He thought we should call the doctor, but I thought otherwise. I was NOT going to be one of those mom's who was sent home because she was not in labor. My mom, aka, Grandmama, had been out of town for a week and she called while I was making breakfast. She wanted to know how I was and if she could come see us. She lived about 30 minutes away. I told her to come on over. When she got there, Tommy told her about the painless contractions and their frequency and asked if she thought I should call the doctor. She said it was best for me to be comfortable and stay home as long as I could. I am not one to panic. Well, that is unless one of my kids is bleeding.
The day before I had done a bunch of work in the yard and steam cleaned Tommy's car so it would be all clean when it was time to bring the "baby" home. I took my mom out and showed her what I had done in the yard, all the while having the painless contractions every few minutes. Mom kept reassuring Tommy that all would be fine. She asked me if I had washed all the baby clothes and bedding yet. I had not. I was scared that if I did it prematurely that something bad would happen to her. I guess it was around 11:30 or so I finally called the doctor. He asked the usual questions, how long and how far apart were the contraction, was I in any pain, etc. He said it would be good to get to the hospital, especially considering my mom's history. I told him I would get ready and be there soon.
I didn't tell him all that it would involve...showering, getting dressed, putting on my make up and fixing my hair and packing. Yes, you heard right...I said packing. My mom did the packing as I yelled from the shower what I would need. The one thing I remember telling her to get was a stack of towels to go in the front seat of the car incase my water broke. I didn't want to mess up the car after I had cleaned it. By the time I got out of the shower the contractions were getting painful. In between them while I was drying my hair I would have to sit down on the floor. I remember hearing, "Gay, is it really necessary to put on make up and fix your hair?" You better believe it was. I was not going to look bad in any pictures. I was finally ready to go. Mom stayed behind and got the baby's stuff in the washer.
On the way to the hospital, which was about 30 minutes away, we had to stop at a friend's house to borrow a video camera. We got the camera and headed off to the hospital. I was in a lot of pain by now. Tommy was driving way too slow to suit me. I told him if he didn't pick up the pace he was going to have to let me drive. I NEEDED something for the pain immediately. We finally got to the hospital at around 1:30. I started the check-in process while Tommy parked the car. Finally we were in our birthing suite. Our nurse Sue came and got me changed and hooked up to the monitors. I don't remember who checked to see how dilated I was, but I do remember I was 9cm when I got there. The anesthesiologist came in and gave me an epidural and I felt SO much better, but my contractions almost stopped. Or atleast that is what it looked like on the monitor. Sue went to get another monitor to see just what was going on. Yep, the contractions had eased off a lot since the epidural had been admistered.
Grandmama finally arrived around 2:15pm. She had gotten everything washed, dryed and folded. She was so proud of herself for getting to hospital without getting lost.
When the epidural wore off, the contractions picked up again. I remember telling them there was no way I was going to push her out without pain relief. They gave me another dose of epidural fluid. At around 3:55 it was time to push. I pushed 2 or 3 times and out she came at 3:57pm. A beautiful baby girl-6 pounds 12 ounces and 19.5 inches long. We all thought Grandmama was going to faint. Dr. Sheussler and Sue asked her if she needed to sit down. She was SOOOO excited that she had witnessed the birth of her first granddaughter. When he held her up for me to see, she peed on him. We still talk about that today.
While Dr. S put me back together, Sue cleaned "her" up and did her footprints. We still did not have a name for her. I wanted to meet her and get to know her a little before I chose a name. Finally after 25 minutes, I got to hold her. She was so tiny and sweet. Love at first site. I only got to hold her for about 15 minutes and then they took her away to the nursery to weigh her and out a tiny diaper on her.
The story of my now 15-year old daughter's birth.
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