The picture above, is our last photo taken before our lives changed forever.
On August 3rd at 8:30am I started labor. I awoke to a contraction that I knew was NOT a Braxton Hicks contraction. Gabe and I tracked the contractions all day long waiting for them to get closer together.
Around 6:30pm I called the on call physician, which was Dr. Kelley Mathia (my regular physician was on vacation wouldn't you know it!) and asked her what we should do as I did not want to go through another 12 hours of this since they were intensifying just not getting closer together and I was getting increasingly more uncomfortable. There was no way for her to determine if I was indeed in labor and told me to hold tight since there was a good chance that if we went to the hospital I would be sent home. Great.
Mom came over around this time and graciously wanted to make me something to eat, as she knew that I had been having these contractions all day and was probably hungry. And I was! She made me some comfort food - spaghetti noodles with butter and parmesan chees like my grandma used to make me and some tortilla chips with cheese melted on top (virgin nachos). While mom was here Gabe finished doing some last minute things around the house, like watering the garden, just in case we ended up going in to the hospital.
Well as luck would have it, while mom was here my contractions got farther apart! They went from 9 minutes, to 15 minutes to 20 minutes. But all the while intensifying. I was making plans for ice cream later since I was sure at this point I wasn't going to the hospital.
Gabe made his way back in and my dad called and then I had a DOOZY of a contraction. Except this time, I felt like her head moved down and I thought to myself "this is it - I think my water broke..." I didn't want to cause alarm, since I didn't feel that "gush" that everyone describes, but I was laying down. So I calmly said, "Well I am going to head to the bathroom." Gabe hung up the phone with dad, it was 8:18pm.
I got up and walked around to the foot of the bed and sure enough I was right. I felt a warm liquid trickling out. I looked up and said, "Well, my water just broke, so I guess we are going to the hospital after all."
Mom exlaims "I knew it, I knew it!" She helped us get the house closed up and load up everything into the car and off we went. I called my mom, grandma and dad on the way there.
Once my water broke, my labor jetted into hyperdrive. I just wanted to get to the hospital and get that epideral going because the pain intensified by leaps with each contraction, which were about 5 minutes apart now. I about ripped the door handle off my car as we approached the parking garage and hit the notorious Spokane potholes.
We got inside about 8:50 and checked in at the desk and were asked to head to the waiting room because all the rooms were full and we had to wait. What! Are you kidding me?
A nurse did take me back to try and get a slide of fluid to confirm that my water broke. She came back a few minutes later to inform us that she had to do an exam because the slide didn't confirm anything. The exam was one of the most painful experiences of my life. There was no way to hold back those tears! It felt like she went in with the jaws of life and then used a mortar trowel to dig a hole to China. It was awful. She confirmed that my water broke and that I was dilated to a 4 - no kidding! Really?
Not long after that I was shown to my delivery room 2041. They knew my labor was progressing quickly and I made sure they knew that I wanted my epideral STAT! They called Anesthesia and they were on their way as the nurses worked on getting me admitted. Within 45 minutes I had dilated to a 6.5 and having contractions about 3-4 apart and I was praying for relief by this point.
Once I got the epideral life was good. Night and day really. It took awhile for it to kick in but even with part of it, labor was bearable. Why in the world women CHOOSE to labor without pain relief is beyond me. I didn't need to earn that badge thank you very much. Give me drugs!
Grandma came down which surprised me. She said "you told me to wait, but you are in labor for heaven's sake I am not going to sit at home and just wait!" I guess she would rather sit at the hospital and wait with the rest of us. Dad, Lisa, mom, Caleb, Ashley and Beckett joined the party, ahem, I mean waiting game.
There was a lot of waiting involved in the process now. I could feel when I was having contractions and kept confirming with Ashley, since she was keeping watch on the monitors. I loved it when she would say "yeah this is a bad one, it is off the chart!" and all I felt was pressure, it was great!
At 2am on the 4th the nurses adviced us to try and get a nap. The cafeteria was open for the night shift and we suggested everyone head down and get a bite to eat, since they had already been at the hospital over 4 hours and had to be hungry. We TRIED to sleep, but who can sleep when you know that your daughter, which you have been waiting for over the last 39 weeks and 6 days to meet, is on her way! Yeah, right.
The nurse came in around 3am and wanted me to let her know when I felt the urge to push. Well I didn't, I just felt the pressure of each contraction. At 4:24am she comes back in and says, "let's try some practice pushes".
Equipped with Dad on my right leg, Gabe on my left and Lisa at the helm coaching we gave pushing a go. My practice pushes were effective apparently because her head started to crown and we were on our way. Dr. Mathia was called and then we waited some more. I pushed for I think around 5 contractions and then the rest of the time (about 30 mins) we waited for Dr. Mathia and I had to just breathe through the contractions and not push. Funny thing is, that your body is designed to deliver a baby and my uterus was pushing her out all on it own. It was a really strange feeling. And thanks to the amazing Anesthesiologists we have I was able to FEEL that, and the pressure of my contractions. I had a perfect placement on the epideral.
Once Dr. Mathia arrived and got set up, it was a one, two, push and she was out. Bam! At 5:35am Abigail Laurel-Josephine Strine made her debut to the world. All 7lbs 13 ounces of her. She was a beautiful 20 inches long with lots of hair. And she came out sunny side up! Which was why I didn't feel the urge to push, she was facing the wrong way!
Dr. Mathia was very impressed that I was able to deliver her that way, as a first time mom, as 90% of them she said end up in c-section. The trick was this, in my head as I pushed I screamed "GET OUT!!!". I am convinced that made all the difference, hehe.
Because Abigail came out so fast, I did have a partial 3 tear and required some stitches, but all that mattered to me was that it wasn't a c-section. Stitches heal MUCH faster than a c-section and I knew I could deal with that, plus I was within moments of seeing my baby girl.
We had lots of visitors in the next 24 hours between family, friends and coworkers and we were looking forward to going home and starting the next phase of our life as a family.
