Target, Triage, Chili's and The Real Thing.

I decided to browse Target that Friday because the weather was too cold and windy for my usual walk outside. I promised myself I wouldn't spend a dime--I was just there for my walk and I was just walking to help this baby come out. Still, I found myself in the baby section. I had stopped walking and was now looking intently at swaddlers and clearance clothes and hair bows. I was distracted. When I did start walking again, I felt a weird feeling in my tailbone. It felt like something was grinding up against it and popping. It was so uncomfortable. I abandoned my "walk" and headed for the car. When Chris got home we went to Best Buy to look at TVs and the grinding was getting worse. I stepped outside to call my doctor's office. They said to go to Labor and Delivery because that's where the doctor was. (In reality, their office was closing in 15 minutes and no doctor there wanted to stay late...I bet.) Around 5 we went to the hospital with our bags in the car "just in case." I had been having contractions every 10 minutes for 3 days. They weren't getting stronger or closer together. I tried to explain that to the nurses as I waited in Triage Room 1, "I am not here because I am ready to be here. I am here to make sure this pain in my back isn't my baby's face being squished." We were there for an hour. They said the baby seems fine and gave me two strong pain pills for my back.
This was the Friday before Valentine's day and Chris and I were both thinking Chili's would do us good. I was aching for a skillet queso and thought this might be our last chance to go out to eat together for a while. The 30 minute wait turned into 40 minutes. I was starving but passed the time talking to another pregnant woman. Finally! Our turn. We sat down at our booth. "Chris, I feel...wet." "How wet?" "Ummm. I better check this out." I didn't even see our server yet. We hadn't even placed our drink order. I was minutes away from my skillet queso and sure enough, my water broke at Chili's.
And so an hour after we left the hospital, we arrived again. This time we were admitted right away. I couldn't believe this was the real thing. I was shaking so bad. I thought at first I was nervous. No one told me that you shake when you are in labor. I was shaking uncontrollably and it only got worse. The nurses said that was a normal side-effect of labor. The contractions were coming more frequently and they definitely got stronger after they started me on Pitocin. I got an epidural and life got a little better. I slept a little bit and when I woke up I was 5 cm. Within an hour I was 10 cm and I said I needed to push this baby out. Another hour later she was in my arms. Our little Greta-girl.
My first words, "I can't believe I just did that." A week later, I am still in awe. I had a baby a week ago. A BABY! What? Me? It feels like such an accomplishment and such a blessing. Sometimes I cry. The tears are overwhelmed tears and overjoyed tears and "wow, I am in so much pain" tears. Because it hurts. Having a baby hurts. When the epidural wears off, you feel what your body just did. They give you a lot of pain medication to help, but in my experience, holding Greta and seeing her helps the most.
I love my little girl.
Greta Alyce Marcum
February 13, 2010
6:04 am
7 lbs 2 oz
18 inches