Sooo sorry for not updating the blog! Obviously, we have been a little busy. I will start from the last post and use photos to illustrate!
My contractions seemed to get stronger with every one. They were still very inconsistent, so I still was doubting myself in the back of my mind, whether it was a false alarm or not. My Doula, Xelina, showed up at our house around 1PM. The three of use would have conversations in between contractions. It was like I would go away for a few minutes, and then pop out of it like nothing happened.
Xelina suggested that we relax as much as we could, because she knew things were going to start picking up soon. Tony ran out to Blockbuster to grab a "chick-flick" for us to watch. He returned with "Easy A", and popped it in. I snuggled into the sofa, propped up on a big pillow. I tried to sleep between contractions. At this point I was moaning pretty loudly when they would come. I could hear Tony and Xelina talking about me and about the movie, but I seemed to be in my own little world ("Labor Land").
After the movie had ended (around 4:45PM), I had a pretty hard contraction, and apparently, the sounds coming out of my mouth prompted the conversation I was waiting for. Xelina said, "Amberly, that was a pretty big contraction. It sounds like it might be time to head to the hospital." This was music to my ears. I was wondering how bad it was going to have to get to trigger the hospital journey. I exited my "Labor Land" and helped Tony decide what all to pack in the car.
We climbed into the car, and I immediately started to ball my eyes out. I think Tony probably thought it was because I was in pain, but at that point it all became real to me. I, Amberly Lopez, was on the way to the hospital, to have a BABY! The next time I would see my home would be with my new baby girl. Tony kept saying sweet things the entire way, and I just couldn't stop crying. I could feel every little bump the entire way, which seemed to trigger more contractions. Tony was so distracted, he actually missed the turn for the hospital, so we had to meander through the medical center to get to the hospital.
Once we arrived (around 5:30), Tony ran in and told them I was going to be coming in. I tried to breathe through the contractions instead of my normal moaning, as not to make a scene. As we walked up to the counter, the nurse asked, "What brings you here?"...now, I will back Tony up on his answer, because I do feel like it was pretty obvious why we were there. He answered, "My wife is in labor. She's going to have a baby!" Even though the pain was intense, I busted out laughing!! Of course we were there to have a baby. I just rolled my eyes. They asked me to sit down and fill out paperwork...WHAT!?!?! Paperwork?? Um....so I not so nicely reminded them that I was in fact in labor, and I did not want to fill out any paperwork. I think the nurse finally figured out who she was messing with, because she quickly opened the door and took me to the triage center.
They had me get in a gown, and they hooked me up to a monitor to check the baby's heart rate and to monitor contractions. My doctor had told me that I should stay home and labor as long as I could. She said that if I could stay home until I was 7cm dilated, that would be ideal. I had been dilated at 2cm for the past two weeks, so I was hoping I was around 6 or 7 since I had been laboring ALL day!
The nurse checked me.....and I was THREE CENTIMETERS!!! I seriously wanted to kick the nurse in the face! I had been laboring all day, and the most I had to show for it was ONE lousy centimeter!! I was pissed! She said that they normally send women home until they are dilated at least 4cm, but because I clearly looked like I was in labor, she said she would admit me.
Around 6:30, they took us to our room, and I got to meet my wonderful nurse, Tasha! She said that the doctor on call was Dr. Kruger, and that we would not get to see her until birth. I had prepared myself for that, but I really hoped that she would support my natural birth decision as much as my doctor did.
I continued to labor in the room. I would sway back and forth and lean on the bed. Tony and Xelina would take turns rubbing my lower back. This went on for two hours or so. I was able to get back into "Labor Land". My contractions still weren't consistent, but they were getting much stronger and seemed to linger a few minutes after I hit my peak. The nurse allowed me to take the monitors off and walk around the room 45 minutes out of every hour. She was sooo incredibly patient with me, and she would always wait for a contraction to end before starting a procedure of any kind.
At 9PM, Dr. Kruger showed up and introduced herself. She had a "Hunger Games" book in her hand, and told me that she was the doctor on call that night. She said she was going to check me. At this point, I knew I had to have dilated because my contractions had become super intense. I exited labor land to hear how dilated I was....and I was.....THREE CENTIMETERS!!! SOOO mad at this point. She said that if I did not dilate to at least 4cm in an hour, then we would have to talk about Pitosin and an epidural. These were two things that I was actively trying to avoid. Doubt entered my mind, and I just knew that I wasn't going to be able to go natural.
Tony piped up and told me to start walking the halls. I made laps in the halls for about twenty minutes. I then sat on the toilet for 20 minutes, hoping gravity would help with something. The final twenty minutes I rocked back and forth, leaning on the bed.
At 10PM the doctor walked in and checked me....i was SIX CENTIMETERS. I felt such relief! I had hope that I could still follow through with my birth plan. That hope was definitely going to be needed, because I quickly transitioned into the most painful hour of my life. The contractions were so painful I was literally pulling my hair out. I felt so out of control. The breathing through contractions was no longer an option. All I could do was yell through them. I knew that they wouldn't last long, but it truly felt like they were lasting forever.
Around 10:15, my mom walked in the door. She took the first flight she could find from Naples, FL. We assumed that she wouldn't make it for the birth, but as soon as she walked in, I felt relief. I remember telling her that I could smell her when she came in. I was so excited that she was going to be able to participate in Gabby's birth!
Around 10:45, i started to feel pressure, and I started asking them if I could start pushing. We all kept trying to tell them that my sister only pushed twice, so that they had better hurry. The doctor barely had time to put her garb on, and I started to push.
It is hard to explain how miraculous pushing was. It was quite a spiritual event for me. Every single muscle in my body contracted and convulsed at the same time. It was truly one of God's miracles of how he equips our body to birth a child.
I pushed a total of three times, and our beautiful baby girl was born!
Tony, a proud father, cut Gabby's cord...
I was so eager to get my hands on my little girl!
The did have some trouble stopping my bleeding, but that just gave me more time with Gabby on my chest. It was still quite painful once I had given birth. Because I pushed so fast and so hard, I did have to get 10 stitches or so. I could definitely feel the last three stitches!
Once they had taken care of me, they took Gabby to weigh her and assess her health. She was 6 lbs 9.5 oz. and 18 inches long.
Unfortunately, they were unhappy with her rapid breathing. They said that 60 breaths per minute was acceptable, but she was breathing 80 breaths per minute. We collectively agreed that it would be better for her to go to the "Transition Unit" for monitoring. This was a hard decision to make, because I wasn't ready to have Gabby taken away from me so soon! They said they could keep her up to 6 hours. After that they would determine whether they would admit her to NICU or if she would come back to me.
Luckily, Tony was able to go with her to the Transition Unit. He stayed with her for three hours while I recovered with a big nap.
They finally moved me to my "Mother/Baby Room" around 3AM. Tony took my mom back to our house to rest. He took a shower, but he couldn't resist coming back to sleep by my side. Gabby was released from the Transition Unit at 6AM. I was so excited to see her!
