Today was Sabrina's birthday! Sabrina was born at 5:48 AM on Thursday, June 5th, 2008. She was 5 pounds, 8.5 ounces, 19.5 inches long - and three weeks early! The doctors said she was very healthy and gave her the all clear!
Our Labor
I woke up on Wednesday and thought my water may have broken, but really wasn't too concerned. I figured I'd call the doctor's office just to make sure - they told me to come in right away. Gerald had a meeting in Rancho Cucamonga that he had to leave for at 10 AM, so I went by myself and made it to the doctor's office at 9:45 AM.
As the nurse was walking me back to the exam room, she said to me "So this is it! You're water broke, huh?" I told her that it might have broken, but I was pretty sure I was wrong. Within a few minutes, the doctor came in to examine me. He found more water, and I was also having a bloody show... so he confirmed my water broke and wanted us to check into the hospital as soon as possible. Funny enough, I was totally prepared for the baby to get here - her room was ready, her clothes were washed, everything was put away... but as soon as the doctor told me that I would be delivering Sabrina in the next 12-24 hours, I almost lost it. I could feel the tears pooling in my eyes... was I ready to be a mom?
It was about 10:15 AM at this point, and I called Gerald immediately so that he could come back home. He called his parents to pick up Callie, and we met back at home to pack up our things. It was such a strange feeling to realize that this was the last time Gerald and I would be in this house as just the two of us.
We made it to the hospital and officially checked in at 11:41 AM. I was immediately taken to the Labor, Delivery and Recovery suite (which was VERY nice!) and put on pitocin to help get labor started since my contractions (which I had been having for three weeks) really weren't doing much. I was only a 1/2 centimeter dilated (which I had been for a week or so) about 50% effaced, and the baby was at -2 station. Within a minute or two of the pitocin being adminstered, I could feel my contractions getting more intense.
The doctor came and checked me again around 2 PM - I had not progressed any, so they increased my pitocin. Around 6 or 7 PM, he came back and I had progressed to 1 centimeter and 80% effaced... but still far from where we needed to be.
Our friend Nicole came by and dropped off dinner for Gerald (which smelled soooo good, but I was on a liquid only diet and could not eat... boo ho!) We asked if she would mind staying since Gerald had to do some running back and forth to the car and speaking with doctors, and I didn't want to be left alone. She ended up staying the night with us which REALLY helped out as Gerald was having to leave my side more than we expected to speak with the doctors and nurses about our birth plan and other things we were wanting to make sure were done.
By 1 AM, I was in HORRIBLE pain; it felt like my insides were being ripped apart... I wasn't sure how much more I could stand, especially since I had no pain medication to help take the edge off. Since I was on pitocin, my contractions were augmented even moreso than natural contractions - so it felt like I was in transitional labor. I was sure I must have been about 7 or 8 centimeters, however when the doctor came to examine me again - I was only a tight 3 centimeters and still 80% effaced.
I lost it. I begged Gerald for the epidural. He asked everyone to leave the room so we could discuss it. Before labor, we were both set on the fact that we would have a natural labor, but I was exhausted and my body began fighting the contractions (making it even more painful) than to let the contractions do their work - which was why I wasn't making any progress. I was bawling and begged him to get me the epidural. 3o minutes later, the anesthesiologist came in - everyone else had to leave so it was just the anesthesiologist, nurse and me. The nurse really was great helping me to deal with the pain of the epidural - really the only part that hurt was the numbing agent before the epidural.
It took about three minutes, and all of the sudden there was no more pain. I could still move my legs, although they felt extremely heavy and felt like they were asleep. I could feel pressure from the contraction, but not the pain - I was in heaven. We were able to get some rest (although I couldn't sleep, just had my eyes closed).
Three hours later, the nurse checked me again. The babies head was VERY low - I was 100% effaced, and 10 centimeters!!!! The nurse, Alma, said it was time to start pushing. She helped me get to the point where the baby started crowning, then had Dr. Matsuda come in to deliver.
They brought in a mirror so I could see Sabrina as she came out - I loved having it as it allowed me to see exactly what was going on so I knew exactly where I needed to push, and helped me to focus. 45 minutes later from the start of pushing, Sabrina was born!
It was the most amazing feeling in the world - all of the sudden you have this immeasurable love for this child - all of the sudden you are someone's parent for the rest of their life. Gerald and I were awestruck - she was the most beautiful little baby we had ever seen.
They took her to get cleaned up, and then we were able to spend some time with her trying to nurse, but unfortunately she wasn't wanting to nurse yet. She was wide-eyed and very alert and barely even cried (she cried a little when they were cleaning her up, but that was it). Then they took her to the nursery for her examinations and we were transferred to the maternity ward. In four more hours, she was brought back to our room and has not left our side since.
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