Mayan is almost 3 months old so it's about time I wrote this, while it is still fresh.
Disclaimer, this post contains many "womanly issues" if you don't want to hear it then don't read it.
If I could title my last few weeks of pregnancy I would call it "The Waiting Game". Lily was born 3 weeks early and in the back of my mind I always thought Mayan would come early too. My parents flew in from Charlotte 2 weeks before my due date and we all waited.
The day before my due date I went in for my 40 week check. My cervix had not dilated any more since my 39 week appointment. This was despite the fact that I had my membranes stripped and 12 hours of contractions for 5-6 minutes through the night. My doctor told me that the position of my amniotic sac was blocking Mayan from putting pressure on my cervix thus allowing it not to dilate properly. He said I should have gone into the hospital the previous week when I was in labor. He stripped my membranes again and told me to wait an hour and then go to the hospital.
I called Seth and told him to hurry home. He was working an hour away and had a crew of men with him, so this was not an easy task. He hurried as quickly as he could and while he did my Mom helped me prepare to go to the hospital. The whole time I was contracting every 5 minutes or so.
When I got to the hospital it was packed.It was about 1 in the afternoon. There were 2 women waiting in front of me and before I was taken back 2 more came. I knew that since my water hadn't broken I could be sent home. I was taken back into a room and checked again and I still had not progressed past the 3 cms I was at a week earlier. The nurse stripped my membranes again and told me she would check on me again in an hour. The nurse that hooked up the heart rate monitor put it on too loosely, so every time I moved (which is impossible not to do while laboring in a very uncomfortable hospital bed) Finally the nurse called my doctor and he told them to admit me and he would come to break my water. This was at about 245. They checked me again and I had only progressed to a 4 even though I was in active labor.
As my luck would have it, I got a "nurse in training" to put in my IV. She splattered blood everywhere and left a nasty bruise.
This whole time I was in the triage department of labor and delivery. There were no open delivery rooms at the time. I finally got into my room at about 430. The anesthesiologist was waiting there to administer my epidural.
The epidural worked wonders- at first.... Then my blood pressure started to drop.... and then it started creeping up my right arm and through my chest.I could not lift my right arm. Then the left side started to wear off... (which is what it did with Lily also)
At about 530 my doctor arrived and broke my water. I was still only at 4 cm. The next time he checked- over an hour later I was still at 5 cm.
40 minutes later I had alot of lower back pain and pain on my left side. This really worried me because Lily was born "sunny side up" (which is why I pushed for 3 and a half hours with her)and knew that lots of lower back pain could indicate that Mayan was face up also. My doctor came and checked me again to find that I was was 10 cm dilated and ready to push. 3 contractions later and Mayan was born. 6 pounds 12 ounces and 19 inches long.
Seth noted that she was blue and my doctor's response was "Don't worry- she's not an Avatar" I really liked my doctor. I again required no stitches. The nurses let us enjoy our little girl for a good while before they even took her to clean her up and weigh her. It was a very calm and relaxed birth. Nothing was rushed and I felt very peaceful. We were discharged within 24 hours of the birth. We wanted to get home in time to introduce her to Lily before bedtime.
Overall I would say it was a very easy birth. From the time the doctor broke my water to Mayan's birth was about 2 hours. My labor prior to that was painful, but not unbearable. It was all worth it for my sweet little girl.
