The "big day" timeline

I've mentioned this before but I'm not a journal keeper so this blog entry is mainly for me to remember but it's also for me to rub it in to those who have long labors. Ha ha! I have to brag about something, right?



Monday, July 8, 2008


6:00 am - Both Mark and I are showered and ready to go when I call the hospital to check what time they want us to come in for my induction. The crazy thing about the way they do this is that you have to be ready to go whenever the hospital is ready to take you. When you call they tell you a certain time to come in and that time could be right when you call. Well, the nurse tells me that I'm next on the list to come in and she'll call when they are ready, most likely in a couple hours. What!? I have to wait a couple of hours? Ugh. So I lay down on the couch to see if I can sleep and I say a little prayer to somehow make it happen that I can go in sooner.


6:05 am - The nurse calls back from the hospital to tell me she talked to the woman who was scheduled before me and tells me that she couldn't come in to be induced until 3 pm and if I wanted I could come now. I almost shouted into the phone "YES" but managed to keep it to a simple 'we'll be there soon'.


7:15 am - I'm suited up and ready to go in my not-so flattering hospital gown. The nurse gives me an IV and we wait for my doctor.


7:30 am - Dr. Gourley comes in and breaks my water and gives me petocin to get the labor started. I'm dilated to maybe 3 cm. We play the waiting game now.


8:15 am - Mark is up walking around the room every few minutes to get the blood flowing. According to him the room is an ice box. He did find that the heater over the baby table was on a little so he'd go over there to warm up.


8:30 am - The contractions have started but are very mild and I hardly notice them. I can see on the computer monitor that I'm having them and I can see the baby's heart beat go down just a little with each contraction. Watching the screen entertains me for a while.


8:45 am - Those mild contractions are no longer mild. They have picked up in intensity and now the waiting game just got longer. I no longer have to look at the monitor to tell me when contractions are happening. I forgot to mention that I hear a little beep-beep-beep of the baby's heart beat coming from the computer in the room the whole time. It's almost hypnotic.


9:15 am - The contractions are every 2-3 minutes and it's getting a little hard to talk through them. Mark talks to me about anything and everything without me even asking him to. He can tell the pain is getting more intense. I'm managing through the contractions fine but I'm wondering how long until they get to be too much.


9:45 am - OK. I'm getting tired of being tense through all the contractions which are still 2-3 minutes apart. I've reached my pain tolerance level and I'm done playing super woman. It's time for the epidural. I ask the nurse for it and she tells me the anesthesiologist will be in in a few minutes. He is giving another woman an epidural. I can wait. No big deal. The nurse checks me and I'm dilated to 4 cm. So much pain and only at a 4?


9:50 am - The last five minutes have seemed to last an hour. The guy comes in to give me the epidural. He flips me around and I feel like a rag doll. He's not gentle in forming my body to the exact way he wants my back aligned. He's doing this while I'm trying not to writhe in pain from contractions. When he starts poking I grab Mark's hand and pretty soon his hand is purple from my grip. Getting the epidural has always been the most nerve racking part for me. It doesn't hurt much but knowing he's shoving something into my spine is a little scary. During this Mark had to pry my fingers from his so he could take my nails out of his skin. I forgot that my nails were so long on that hand and they were digging into his palm. He started laughing and then I was trying not to laugh. The anesthesiologist asks if he's hurting me and I have to tell him I'm trying not to laugh. Then we all start laughing.

10:00 am - Ahhhhhhh. Sweet relief. I'm already forgetting the labor pains and I'm in heaven! I'm once again blessing the people who came up with the drugs for epidurals and I'm thankful I wasn't ever bearing children in the pioneer days.

10:15 - 10:45 am - I have the most wonderful little cat nap. I can't even keep my eyes open. My body feels heavy so I give in and fall asleep listening to the baby's heartbeat. Mark watches part of a movie on his iPod while I sleep. He's also wrapped in a blanket because it's still an ice box according to him. I'm still really hot. Since I'm in labor I get control of the thermostat!

10:45 am - After my nap I'm a little rejuvenated and Mark and I just talk and continue to wait.

11:10 am - Still just sitting around waiting. The anesthesiologist comes in to hook up a push button for the epidural so I can get more when I need/want it. As soon as he leaves I push it.

11:15 am - I call my mom to give her an update on how things are going and to check up on the kids. The kids are having so much fun with Nonna and they've played pretty much every game in the house and were moving onto reading books. Also, the nurse comes in to turn me to my left side. The baby doesn't seem to like me on my right and her heart rate was getting too low on each contraction. The nurse checks me and I'm dilated to 7 cm.

11:30 am - I'm feeling the pressure of the baby with each contraction. No pain, just pressure. I call the nurse in to tell her and she checks me. Oh, there's the baby's head. Time to call the doctor. Apparently switching to the left side was magic.

11:47 am - After two pushes our little one comes into the world. What an amazing thing. All I see is black hair as they put her on my tummy. It's not just dark brown but black. Definitely a Randall trait. We decide that Piper is perfect for her name and I'm relieved to finally have my little baby girl here and that she finally has a name.