This pregnancy sucked, plain and simple. I thought Harley's was bad--this was worse. Not only was my sickness way worse, I now had a toddler to take care of when I couldn't even take care of myself. To say I was getting impatient towards the end of the pregnancy would be an understatement. I was miserable, eager to meet our sweet baby, and had a bit of a time crunch. Jason has to leave for a work trip on Friday the 13th. My doctors wouldn't induce me until at least 41 weeks, which would have been January 9.
I had been having labor symptoms for weeks. I'd have contractions for hours but they would never lead anywhere. I remember telling Jason that after this pregnancy and all the false labor, this baby better come flying out and give me the easiest birth ever.
Sunday morning I went into the hospital, begging to be induced. I had a terrible headache that had lasted more than 3 days, I was really nauseous and I just wanted to be done. I got excited to see that my favorite OB and my favorite hospital doctor were both working. Unfortunately, since I wasn't in labor and they were full of moms in preterm labor (grrrr) they told me I was dehydrated and just sent me home.
I was on the verge of a meltdown but decided that all that stress just wouldn't do me any good. I told Jason "I still think the baby can come today." I went home, ate, and took a nap. When I woke up from my nap I started immediately having painful contractions. Jason was playing soccer so I texted him that I was contracting, but didn't think they would turn into anything. They were already about 5 minutes apart, with varying intensities. I started believing maybe I was actually in labor, but refused to get my hopes up. I really felt like if I were to go to the hospital, the contractions would stop, I'd be sent home and be devastated all over again.
By the time Jason came home from soccer I could barely talk or breathe through the contractions. He decided for me that it was time to go to the hospital. We packed up, told my mom to come get Harley (Jason's brother Brandon was here to watch her in the meantime) and headed to the hospital for my second time that day. When we got there my contractions were two minutes apart and I was in so much pain I could barely walk. It took us forever just to get inside the hospital from the parking lot. We arrived at about 7pm (two hours after my contractions started).
After assessing me in L&D, they decided I needed an IV right away because I was "very dehydrated." Cue eye rolling from me when I saw the stupid nurse from earlier who sent me home without trying to hydrate me first. Thanks to her, my current nurses had a really difficult time finding a vein because they were collapsed. I remember them apologizing to me for not numbing me, and for having to poke my arm so many times. Meanwhile, I am having the worst contractions ever (they were just as bad as my Pitocin induced contractions with Harley, which I was not expecting at all) and am in so much pain I want to scream. I didn't even feel the arm pokes haha.
It just wouldn't be an Elise pregnancy story without some vomit ;) I had eaten Burger King earlier that afternoon and had some onion rings. Once labor started, I regretted that decision immediately. Every time I threw up that's all I could taste and it was disgusting haha.
I asked if Dr. Bell was still here, and they told me he just went home and I was going to have a midwife named Sylvia. She is the ONE provider from my OB office that I had never met. Luckily she was amazing! I loved my nurse as well, Tanya. She was like a sweet grandma with a British accent.
Just before they took me back into a labor room, my water broke on its own. I was able to get an epidural about an hour after that, which was heaven. I could still feel when I was contracting but the pain was 98% gone. When I got to the hospital I was dilated to 4cm (I had been for about a week). After a few hours I was dilated 6 but Mila was kind of at a funny angle so they put the big peanut ball in between my legs to help her position. Kim came and brought Jason some Taco Bell because he hadn't gotten to eat dinner. Sylvia told me she was going to go take a nap, but came back into the room about 15 minutes later. She said she just had a feeling she should check me. She takes one look and goes "Oh! Don't cough, laugh or sneeze--she is right there! Baby's coming!" Good thing she didn't go take her nap! :)
I sent Kim out of the room, they called the pediatrician in and it was time to push. With Harley I pushed for over two hours and it was awful. With Mila, I pushed for about 15-20 minutes. In between pushes I asked what day it was because I knew it was close to midnight. They told me I could still have her on the 8th if I pushed hard, or I could rest and have her on the 9th haha. No sense in waiting so Mila Quinn Katwijk entered the world at 11:59pm (5 hours after arriving at the hospital) Sunday night. They joked that I had my baby on the 8th but I was still pregnant on the 9th because my placenta took forever to come out--longer than it took Mila. The first thing I noticed when they placed Mila in my arms was that she already had a double chin haha. Despite that, and her HUGE cheeks, I thought she looked so tiny! She wasn't. She was 8lbs 11oz. Even being super sick for 9 months I still managed to make a large baby :)
We are thrilled to welcome Mila into our family. Harley is excited and loves her sissy already. I am so happy to not be pregnant anymore! I can't believe how fast everything happened this time, and although I was mad about not being induced, I am SO GLAD I wasn't! Everything went so much better since it happened on its own. I felt way better afterwards and my body has been recovering quicker.
