My Labor Story

In honor of "Labor" Day today and all the young ladies I know out there who are expecting, I am going to share with you my labor story. (By the way, I am feeling insanely jealous of you for some reason. I'm not ready to have another baby yet, but I LOVED being pregnant and having a baby! I'm so excited for all of you!)

Carson's due date from the beginning was August 28, 2009. On my weekly visit Thursday, August 13, I was dilated 1cm and 70% effaced. If you don't know what that means, ask somebody! I will say when you get to 10cm you're ready to have a baby, which most people know, but if you're 100% effaced your water might break. So, because I was 70%, the doctor was concerned my water could break within the next week, so she told me to come back Tuesday instead of waiting until Thursday. She would check me again and if too thinned we would talk about inducing labor. I was ok with that. I like to have things planned out, and that would give me time to prepare, right? I also figured that was the most likely scenario, because with my body things are usually late or slow! I kept telling everyone at work I was ready for Carson to come, but I was so "small" to everyone else they didn't think it would happen.

The next day, on Friday after my appoinment, it is typical to have some discomfort after the doctor visit. I was hurting and just kept feeling worse and worse. At lunch I drove down the road, trying to decide if I wanted to just get lunch or go home. I opted for home. When I got there, I ate my lunch in the quiet all by myself, and decided these cramps could be contractions. I started timing them, and sure enough, they were 8-10 minutes apart, very regular for just cramps! I took it easy the rest of the evening, and eventually they stopped. I slept good that night, no more pain.

Saturday morning I got up at 6am, went to the bathroom, and got a surprise! I don't want to get too graphic for all you weak stomachs out there. Don't worry...it wasn't a baby! LOL! Let's just say it was a plug. I knew that this could mean I was going into labor soon, or it could be a couple of days. But I knew it wouldn't be long. I woke Marty up, told him to get in the shower, then I took a shower and we finished packing our hospital bags. I said "Today might be the day!" We called our parents and told them. I started having contractions and kept timing them. My brother-in-law came to baby-sit me so Marty could finish whatever farm work he was doing. Late in the afternoon I went to the bathroom and saw (hold on weak stomachs)blood. That's when I freaked out. I had some bleeding early on in the pregnancy, and it turned out to be ok. This time I was scared again. We threw our stuff in the Jeep and rushed to the hospital, and I called from my cell phone on the way. The doctor said it was normal and no reason to panic, just come in and get checked. Well, guess what? Still just 1cm and 70%! Actually, I might have been 100% that time, I don't remember. Anyway, they kept me for an hour, saw no change and sent me HOME!!! I was LIVID!!! It takes us 30 minutes or so to get there, and I'm in LABOR! Oh yeah, and I'm upset because my doctor is not on call and I really wanted her!

So since I felt horrible and we didn't think it would be long, we decided not to go home. Instead, I wanted to eat just in case. I didn't feel like going into a public place and trying to sit down as much pain as I was in, so we went to Sonic. I had a bacon cheeseburger toaster (which has BBQ sauce on it, always my craving!), tater tots, and a Dr. Pepper. We ate in the car, which was not easy to do in between contractions. Then we went to Grandmother's house in town and I labored on her couch for a while and drank some water. My contractions never would get as close as 5 minutes apart, but they were regular, and very hard and painful. Eventually I got tired and decided to go home. I got into bed and tried to sleep or rest, but the contractions kept coming. Finally, at 10:30, I called the hospital again and spoke to Dr. Short. I had a contraction while on the phone with her, and after hearing that I couldn't talk through it, she told me to come back in. We took our time getting ready, AGAIN, and I grabbed my box of Cap'n Crunch on the way out. After all, it had been 5 hours since I'd had anything to eat! And I knew this was it.

We got back into the maternity ward around midnight. This time a different nurse, not Kim who I had seen earlier and loved, was on shift. When they checked me, I was like 2 or 3 cm. They said wow, you have been laboring hard! Well, no kidding!!! They got me all hooked up and Carson was on his way. They gave me Stadol in my IV for pain, but it just made me dizzy. The contractions hurt so badly I remember saying "If this is what pain relief feels like I'd hate to feel the real pain!" I was goofy, but I knew what was going on. I had to lay there for what seemed like hours before I was far enough along for the epidural. Actually, they told me it was time, and then it seemed like hours went by before the lady even got in there. I was worried about this part, but it was a piece of cake. Except for the part where you have to hold still. When they sat me up in the bed, I had the most monstrous contraction EVER and I screamed in pain. Marty, who was forced to stand outside, was upset because he thought the epidural hurt me. I barely even felt it, and I sure was thankful for it, because that contraction HURT!!!

After that I finally was able to settle down and rest a bit. Unfortunately, there was one little section at the bottom of my abdomen and top of my thigh that didn't go numb. And if you have never been numb from the waist down, let me tell you it is a weird feeling! I couldn't stand it when they touched or moved my legs. I could see them, but my brain was telling me to feel like they were still in the original position. I yelled at Marty several times to stop touching or moving my legs, and cover them up with the sheet so I couldn't see them! They were freaking me out! Anyway, I could still feel when a contraction was coming, although it didn't hurt anything like before. By 9cm I was stalled out for a long time. Dr. Short said it worked out good because she had to deliver several other babies too! She was a busy lady that night.

In fact, I laid there so long that the next shift of nurses came in at 7:00am Sunday, and my original nurse, Kim, was back in time to deliver Carson! Yea! I was so happy, because I thought she was great. But by this time, I was all out of Cap'n Crunch energy, and I had been awake for over 24 hours with no sleep even after all the medicine! Pushing was hard, especially being numb and so exhausted. I started around 8:00. By 9:45, Dr. Short had finally come in the room to help. She looked about as tired as I felt! Then at 9:49 am, officially, Sunday, August 16,2009, my little Carson Allen Rice popped into the world! Why couldn't she have helped sooner?! is what I was thinking. The worst part is the shaking afterward, I guess from the meds wearing off, or maybe it's natural. But I wouldn't hold my baby boy until the shaking let up some because I was afraid I would hurt him! When I finally got to hold him, it was the most wonderful feeling in the world. I am so proud of my little man!

I love the fact that I went into labor unexpectedly, which is obviously not what I expected. And I love to tell the story. God bless each of you out there who is expecting a new bundle of joy. I hope you have the same happy story to tell and enjoy every minute of it. Thanks be to God for blessing us with Carson.

Happy Labor Day!