My Labor Story: Going into labor during my baby shower -

I am a huge fan of planning, being organized, and making checklists (mainly because I have a horrible memory). When I found out I was pregnant, I was constantly researching everything I needed to do to prepare myself to push a human out of me and how to do this mom thing. I planned SO much for the big day..but in the end, all of that planning went to waste.

The Pregnancy Part

I made a hospital bag checklist of everything I needed to bring for mama, dada, and baby. I mapped out how I wanted things rearranged in my room (both dada and baby were moving in).

I waited until I went on maternity leave, about a month before my due date, to really begin putting my plans into action. I had an entire month to finalize my plans, get everything together and set up, and get some rest.

SIKE. Baby had a different plan..

A week into my maternity leave, I started to not feel so good. That first Friday night, I could barely sleep. I woke up every 20 minutes to stomach pains. I kept telling myself there’s no way I’m going into labor…I still have three weeks to go (and so much to do)! I just tried to sleep and breathe through the pains. I had heard of Braxton Hicks contractions. That’s probably what was happening, right?

I wanted to tough it out because I was excited to attend the baby shower that my grandma was throwing me the next day. I woke up the next morning still feeling sick with a side of sleep deprivation. Just to be sure, I called a nurse who just advised me to stay hydrated. She gave me the “it’s not time yet” news, so I made my way to the baby shower.

We drove a little over an hour to my grandma’s town. I tried my best to get some rest on the ride over so that I would be pleasant enough to be around people, but no luck. My boyfriend, Marco, kept trying to distract me from the pain, but all I wanted to do was punch him in the face.

The Baby Shower Part

I greeted guests as happily as I could for about two hours, but all I wanted to do was hop in bed and get under my covers.

I don’t remember much of what happened while I was there. I spent most of the time going in and out of the bathroom. I remember seeing the cute decorations. I remember refusing a donut when my uncle offered (I should have known the pains were more serious than I thought. I almost never turn down sugar.) I remember my aunt measuring my belly for the “guess mama’s belly size” game.

Many noticed how miserable I looked, so I decided to go to the car in hopes that I could finally take a nap. I REALLY don’t function well with little sleep (little did I know, that would become the new normal once little mister arrived). Marco, my mom, and my best friend followed me to the car with their worried faces. The pains were becoming more frequent, so I started to time them. They were about seven minutes apart. I didn’t want to leave the party and miss all the fun, but my family convinced me to go to the emergency room just in case.

The Emergency Room Part

The four of us left my baby shower and all of my guests. We headed to the ER; my dad in the car behind us and my in-laws behind him – they arrived just in time to follow us to the hospital.

As I got to the ER, I just couldn’t help but cry. I didn’t really even know why I was crying, but the tears just kept coming out (well I was preggo and sleep deprived, duh). I went inside, hoping that they would just send me home with some kind of magical pain relievers.

This location did not have a labor and delivery area, so they sent me to another hospital about 20 minutes away (my grandma lives basically in the middle of nowhere). This is when it began to feel real to me. The nurses had me get undressed and into a hospital gown. They put me on a stretcher and wheeled me out to an ambulance. Marco asked them if we had time to go back to our hometown where we were originally planning to have the baby, but they said it was too far.

I was 1 centimeter dilated.

I just remember looking out the back windows of the ambulance at the cars driving behind us, listening to the EMT try to distract me with small talk as he heard me breathing heavily during each painful contraction.

The Hospital Part

Once I arrived at the new hospital, the nurse checked to see if I was ready to push out a baby. I immediately saw her surprised reaction. I was six centimeters dilated!

This was it. I looked at Marco with so many emotions going through me. Not knowing whether to smile, laugh, or cry. All of the nurses and staff members were shocked because I did not “look” like I was in labor, as I walked myself to the delivery room across the hallway. What can I say. I’m a good actress (not really).

IT WAS TIME!

Well…almost.

The Waiting Part

All I had on me was my phone and wallet. No hospital bag. No baby clothes. Nothing on my damn list that I spent so much time making!! Luckily, my family was very proactive during the waiting hours. People at the party started gathering baby clothes from the gift bags. My mom sent my sister home to finish packing my hospital bag with stuff for me and Marco.

The nurse asked me if I wanted an epidural. I have a fairly high pain tolerance and questioned if I truly needed it. She gave me the option to wait a bit longer to see how I felt later, but she believed I could do it naturally. So, I waited.

A bit later, the nurse asked me again if I wanted the epidural. I told her to give me the damn epidural! (But, nicely). I decided I had been uncomfortable for long enough.

Getting an epidural while having contractions is NOT fun at all. The nurse hugged and held me down as I sat with my back arched for the doctor to stick the needle in me. I must’ve really looked like I was in pain because I remember looking up at Marco who was about ready to cry.

Then, I took the best nap I had ever taken in my entire life. I couldn’t feel anything anymore. It was amazing.

The Delivery Part

It was 11 something that night when the doctors and nurses came in and told me it was time to push!

I couldn’t feel anything besides a bit of pressure thanks to the epidural. It was actually a little frustrating because I had no idea what was happening except for when someone would make a noise or comment. I just heard Marco nervous laughing (because so many emotions were flowing through him) and my mom saying “oh my god” when she saw little mister’s head crowning.

About 12 pushes and many contractions later, my baby boy was born!

I was a little sad that my baby wasn’t born close to home as we planned. I was sad that I missed my own party and that I didn’t get to watch everyone play the games. But when I held him in my arms for the first time, none of that mattered.

Although it didn’t go as I planned (I should know by now that nothing ever goes as planned for me), it was actually perfect timing that he decided to come on the day of my baby shower. All of my family was together. Friends and family from out of town were there to celebrate his arrival. And it gave me more time to hold and fall in love with this little human being that had been living in my stomach for so many months. Not to mention, he would’ve been a lot heavier if he waited another three weeks to come.