It was the morning of March 17th and I was into day 2 of a muchanticipated maternity leave. That morning I had a 9:30 am OBappointment (week 37), so I got up early to take my DH to work and havethe car. I had joked with him the night before that this could be theday we had our baby, but he teased that with two guys out at work, itreally wasn't a good day. Besides, I can't give birth until I get thehouse cleaned up!

I dropped the DH at his office at 9am and headed to the OB's office. Once there I did the routine things, Blood pressure, urine sample, stripto the waist and wait for the doctor. First thing he says to me is"Your BP is up for the third visit in a row" (it was 138/92). Next word is "You're dilated to 3cm. Let's do a non-stress test and see what's up. I get moved to another room and I get a couple of elastic belts strapped to my belly and I'm given this little push-button thingy to hold with instructions to press the button each time I feel a kick. It turns out I'm have contractions about 3 to 4 minutes apart although they are imperceptible to me other than a nagging lower back ache. Dr. Turner says he'd like to see me deliver today and to please go downstairs to labor and delivery and check in. I beg for time to go home, get my bag and pick up my husband. I promise to be at the hospital by noon.

Aack! We're having this baby today! This is the third time I've done this - why am I so nervous? I call my husband and tell him I'm coming to pick him up after I run home for my bag. He asks me to pick up a change of clothes for him and reminds me to call his sister so she can pick up our two year old. And I've got to call work, and my mother and OH WOW! We're having this baby today!

Somehow I got home. I was so excited knowing that by the end of the day I would see my baby and yet I was having some anxiety about labor. I had to keep reminding myself that I had done this before and could do it again.

Once I picked up my husband my anxiety level dropped dramatically. He is my rock and his reassuring presence calmed me. Plus, he was driving - something I was having trouble doing. We arrived at the hospital and went to the check in desk where they were expecting me. I had already pre-registered so I just had to sign a couple of forms and we were sent to our birthing room. It was the same room I had delivered my second baby in - a good sign for some reason. My L&D nurse, Tammy, seems awfully young, but confident and reassuring. She gets me a gown and leaves my DH and I to change. DH takes a couple of final profile pictures to remind us what I looked like in full bloom and then I call the nurse to tell her we're ready.

First I am hooked up to an external fetal monitor. Then since I am being induced and plan on an epidural, I will have to have an IV. My veins do not want to cooperate. The first stick and my noodle vein rolls. I end up nauseated and Tammy calls another nurse. Nurse #2 tries and again the vein rolls. I am about to barf. They call another nurse and she brings a local anesthetic. They get the thing in the back of my left hand, but not until I've been stuck 5 times, nearly vomit and leave a pool of blood on the floor next to the bed (I didn't see it, but my DH did). The anxiety is creeping back in and I ask my DH to come and hold my hand and talk to me. We turn on the tv for distraction.  

Dr. Turner comes in and checks on me. We're about to start the pitocin and he is going to break my waters. This usually gets me going pretty good and I am looking forward to getting things started. In about 30 minutes I am feeling contractions. They are good and rythmic but I don't feel like doing much more than sitting quietly and talking to my DH as he helps me remember how and when to breathe. I'm asked if a student nurse can come in and observe my labor and delivery. Since I'm feeling pretty good, I agree. Carol is graduating in December and I will be her first birth. She's really nice and having her around is almost like having a doula present. This is great since my DH has decided to take a nap (at my urging - he was up half the night at work and I want him rested for the delivery!) Every now and then I get up and walk around, but my back really hurts. A check of my cervix shows I'm still dilated to 4cm. The contractions are getting more painful and I finally ask for the epidural. I feel better afterwards, but at every internal exam, we find that I'm not dilating anymore. The nurse thinks my bladder is overfull so they cath me and what a relief that is! In less than an hour I've dilated to 10 cm and the nurse asks me to try and push. ½ a push and she's going for the doctor. I end up with Dr. Stephens delivering because Dr. Turner is with another patient who's baby is in fetal distress. Dr. S tries very hard to help me delivery without an episiotomy and I watch in fascination in the mirror as my labia tears to make room for the babies emerging head! Boy am I glad I didn't feel that! I end up with an episiotomy as well, but just a small one.

6:18 pm and 6 pound, 7 ounce Casey James Heath arrives with a lusty cry and an 8/9 APGAR score! Mama is only a little worse for wear and ends up with methergine shots for most of the night to stop uterine hemmorage. We still aren't sure why that happened, but it did make post-birth lochia very slight this time around (every cloud has a silver lining…). Within a day, both of us are feeling great. Carol, our student nurse, arrived the next day with loads of BF and sibling rivalry information and a beautiful photo album as a gift. I was really glad she was a part of our birth.