As you may know from my posts (or lack of posts) since January, I had a hard pregnancy. I was sick almost immediately after testing positive and it never got much better. I was constantly hungry and nauseus, which is not a fun combination to endure for 9 months. I honestly wonder why I didn’t gain more weight than I did, because it seems like I was constantly stuffing food in my mouth, both day and throughout the night. So, by the end I was done. Done, done, done. I hate that I felt this way, because it was my last pregnancy. I’m still processing the whole “last baby” thing, and all the emotions that go with that, both negative, positive, and everything in between. And I’m sure I’ll be processing it for quite a while, as Nolan grows and meets milestones that I’ll get to witness for the “last” time. Sigh.

Anyway, already having had two babies that were two weeks early, I assumed this one would follow suit. As I approached full term, I got more and more uncomfortable by the day, and honestly was in pain and just miserable most of the time. I was ready. I briefly considered scheduling an induction, but my doctor said she couldn’t do it until 39 weeks and she didn’t think I would make it that far anyway. At my 37 week appointment, I was dilated 3 cm. The next day, I started having mild contractions.

My appointment was on a Thursday, and the next day I got an email from my doctor with the subject line being “Stay Pregnant!” I adore my doctor, and I would have been crushed if she wasn’t able to deliver my third baby. She was going out of town that weekend, so I had to stay pregnant until at least Monday, August 31. Right after reading that email, I went to the bathroom and eek, I was starting to lose my mucus plug. Shoot. I emailed her back and she replied that she was going to be covering for the on-call doctor starting Sunday at 5:00. Ok, new goal- make it to Sunday at 5:00. That weekend, I tried to lay around and relax as much as possible and “stay pregnant”- ha! I was having contractions and generally didn’t feel very well, but I was determined.

Sunday afternoon, I decided to start walking, because I knew I would make it to 5:00 and like I said, I was ready- done being pregnant. I took Charlotte around the block a few times, and then my mom came and got her for the night. I went upstairs around 3:00, went to the bathroom, and honestly thought my water broke. I was contracting, “leaking”, and ready- so I took a shower and off to the hospital we went.

Once I got to L&D and changed into a gown, the doctor (not mine) checked me- still at 3 cm, and no, my water had not broken. Aaaa! I was having regular contractions and my blood pressure was high, so they took a lot of labs, which came back normal. The doctor told me to get dressed and go home, but my amazing friend J, who helped me with Charlotte’s birth, was there with me and encouraged me to walk to see if that helped jump-start things. I walked for a few minutes, but got frustrated quickly and just decided to go home.

Monday, I really don’t remember- really, I have no recollection of what happened that day. I woke up Tuesday morning about 6:00 having strong-ish contractions- definitely painful, but nothing I couldn’t talk through. I called my doctor and she said to come in to the office at 8:30 and she’d check me. My mom offered to help, so we drove to the doctor- she took Charlotte to Chick Fil A down the street and I took Grayson in with me. In the office, my blood pressure was high again but I was still only dilated 3.5 cm. My doctor said because of the BP, she could induce me that day if I wanted (I was exactly 38 weeks). I didn’t hesitate at all- YES. By this point, I was so tired of the uncertainty, and the stress of coordinating where the kids were going to be. I just wanted to have the baby!

My epidural worked just as it should and all I felt was pressure. At about 8:15 pm my doctor arrived and I got ready to start pushing.