Let's Adventure!: August 2012

Amelia Rose Kimsey

She was born July 1, 2012 @ 7:28pm

Weight: 9 lbs. 3 oz.

Height: 20 inches

Here is our story. Amelia was due on June 27th. I started having contractions around 2:15pm on July 1st (why do our kids always think late is better?). I had similar contractions 2 weeks prior so I was not convinced that I was in actual labor and it was day time - I have never had contraction in the day; always at night, which led me to further believe they were not real. After about 1 hour I had a REAL contraction so we called our neighbor and told her to get ready for the "real" phone call. Within 20 minutes the "real" phone call was made and she came lickity split. We left for the hospital and I was still in good spirits. We got to the hospital and parked at the wrong door because it was locked for the weekend. Dave offered to get a wheelchair but I declined because I am WONDER WOMAN and I felt fine so I walked around the building. I got to Labor/Delivery and they asked if I had called ahead, which is protocol...silly me to forget that when my uterus is killing me! Anyhow, they asked if I was dilated at my last doctor appt. and if had any other children. I told them I was dilated to 3cm and this was my 4th child. Nurse: "No triage. Let's put her in a room, we don't trust you 4th time mommies." Little did I know that she was foreshadowing my future. The nurse in my room starts the usual questions for admittance into the hospital. My first question to her was "When can I get an epidural?" Then I said, "Seriously, I want my epidural ASAP". She was nice and said "soon" and continued on with her stuff. She seemed to be lolly gagging even to Dave who was not in labor. Finally she checked me to have a base line for how dilated I was and I was at 4cm. Discouraged is not even a good word for how I felt when she said 4cm. I was 4 cm 2 weeks before I had Cat now I am a 4 during labor. Ahhhhh! Anyway, I figured it was great because I had time for my beloved epidural. My contractions started to get more frequent and would not go completely away. This is when the phlebotomist came to draw blood before my epidural. Due to a urine sample before all this I was hydrated. Now after hard labor for an hour they could not get a vein. I asked the nurse in my delirium "if I went to the bathroom would that slow my contractions so I would have time to get the epidural?" She replied, "no ma'am, you are in labor so your contractions are only going to increase." Not an ideal answer but I tried my cure anyway. Little did I know how awesome contractions were while standing. When I got back to the bed, I went to sit down just as a contraction was going to peak so I opted to stand. This is when everything changed from things I had experienced before to something entirely new. That contraction brought on the feeling to push. It is different than I had ever imagined. You not only feel like you want to but your body does it for you. I told the nurse I felt like pushing and she told me to wait until she had checked my cervix. I asked her why I would feel the need to push if I wasn't ready. She told me that my water had not yet broken so I should wait to make sure I was fully dilated. Low and behold there was no need for her to check me for the next contraction and push, still standing, exploded my water onto the ground. That was awesome! Since my contractions were not really letting off at this point I was not much into chatting or saying more than a few words. After another contraction and another need to push but trying to resist it. The nurse then asked "Ma'am, are you going to have this baby?" I exclaimed, "I don't know, I have never had a baby like this before!" She asked me to sit, but it felt so good to stand that I didn't want to. Then my wonderful husband took my shoulders just before the next contraction and said "sit down Now." Obediently I sat and they immediately rolled me over as the doctor walked in so he could check me. He said, "There's the head". The pain around her head was intense so I was kind of hyperventilating. The nurses turned me back over, threw an oxygen mask on my face and the doctor caught my eye and very gently asked me to blow. I blew out all my breath and out came our beautiful baby girl. I had her naturally whether I liked it or not. I am officially in the "my baby came to fast for and epidural" club. If I were to do it again, I would get an epidural! I missed chatting with my husband, watching it all in a mirror and sleeping right through the worst of the pain. Oh and the stitching after is fully worth an epidural!!! Anyway, I love that we have her no matter the pain. Welcome to our family Amelia.