Brian and I were so excited that labor was finally happening, we settled in at the triage room and answered all the questions asked of us for admittance. My parents and sisters were already in the waiting room and Emily was with Brian's parents who were waiting by the phone for news of the arrival. I wasn't experiencing any contractions at this point but was expecting them to come soon, especially after the painful pelvic check from the nurse. To our surprise the nurse came back with news that the fluid was urine from a bladder leakage and that I was not in labor. I couldn't understand how that was possible since I could still feel small amounts of fluid leaking, but her explanation sounded logical so we all went home.
Ten minutes after arriving home I started to feel slight cramping, which I attributed to the checkup from the nurse at the hospital. Then the cramping turned into very strong contractions, much stronger than I had with Emily. Brian and I started timing them and they were two minutes apart and approximately 40 seconds long. We called the doctor and headed to the hospital going 90 mph with our hazards on the whole way. I tried to focus on the pain and kept my eyes closed the whole way while Brian ate half a bag of gummy bears to keep calm. I just kept thinking how long it was going to take to re-admit back into the hospital, get me in a room, hook me up to IV's and then get an epidural. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get through the pain while waiting for the nurses to do what they needed to get done.
Brian dropped me off at the emergency room while he went to park. I walked in and looked at the security guard and just pointed at the labor and delivery sign. I was unable to really speak at that point as I was trying to breath through the contractions which seemed to be coming closer together. He went to get me a wheel chair while the people in the waiting room offered me their own chairs. I think I was freaking them out, they must have thought I was going to have the baby right there in front of them. Brian wheeled me up to the second floor and got me in the triage room again where the nurse hooked me up to a fetal monitor and gave me a pelvis check. When she said I was already fully dilated, all I could ask was if I was going to be able to have an epidural. She said she was going to try and get me set up as fast as possible then called to the other nurses that she had a rim. At that point I knew I wasn't going to be able to get the epidural I wanted and that my worst fears were happening. Having natural labor with no medication was not in my birth plan but it was going to happen whether I liked it or not.
They wheeled my bed into a delivery room and started to get everything together for the birth. Being in a sit down position was the best way I could deal with the contractions. I had a nurse on one side of me trying to hook the monitors on and another nurse on the opposite side trying to insert an IV in my hand. The nurse asked me to lay back so she could get the baby's heart beat to come up on the monitor. All of a sudden I felt a major contraction that made me yell ouch, ouch, ouch and then a pressure so intense I had the sudden urge to push. I yelled out, I have to push...and the nurse told me, don't push. I pushed a little and then felt another urge at which I yelled, I have to push...and the nurse tried to hold my legs together and told me not to push. There was no holding back, as much as I tried to stop my body from pushing it rejected my commands and did as it wanted. I unintentionally pushed one last time and the baby came out and landed on the bed. The nurse yelled, "We have a baby!"
Avery Michelle was born at 3:12am on August 15, 2010 weighing in at 6 lbs. 3 oz. and measuring 19 in. long. She was born without the doctor in the room and no one to catch her, but was perfect. Her screams were so tiny and sounded so beautiful. Brian saw the whole thing happen and I will never in my life forget the look of shock on his face when Avery came out. It was such a relief after I had her but I couldn't help but worry about not being hooked up to antibiotics for Group B Strep, which I had tested positive for earlier in my pregnancy. Group B Strep is a bacteria that is normal in women but can be fatal for vaginally delivered babies when the mother is not treated during labor. After being examined and tested, Avery came back with a clean bill of health and a high apgars score of 9. Emily came by the next day and welcomed her little sister into the world with an excited shriek. Mommy and daddy are going to have our hands full with two baby girls, but we couldn't be happier to have them both.
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