The Henderson Family: July 2012

On the 23rd of May, we had our routine doctor appointment with Dr. Busch. At that visit he told us that I was 4cm and that I should go to school the next day but to keep in close contact with him. He also said that newborns are healthiest when born between 39- 41 weeks so he said that he was hoping that we could keep him cooking until at least the 1st of June (which would be 2 days before he was 38 weeks). That night, after our appt. I vacuumed, packed, did laundry, steamed our bottles and got things ready for his arrival. I had a feeling that our little guy was not going to wait until the 1st.

The following day, May 24th, I went to spend the last day of school with my kiddos. While my kids were busy with some of the fun activities we had planned for them, I worked really hard to finish my checkout list of honey do's. Around 10am, I started having some uncomfortable contractions. I called Josh just to keep him updated and we decided that I should try changing positions/activities to see if the contractions would go away and they did. When school got out I was saying my goodbyes and a lot of people asked when my due date was. I told them that my doctor wanted me to wait another week but I thought that he was going to come that night. I made sure to tell my principal that I finished my checkout list and that I probably wouldn't be returning to school on Friday and headed home. Josh met up with me at home and we all hopped in the car to go to my routine NST and Biophysical profile (ultrasound). Josh was sure that we were going to be able to wait until the first so he was a little skeptical when I packed the car with my bags and stuff for us to stay at the hospital.

Our first appt was the Biophysical profile and it went much faster than the others that we've had. The tech didn't printout any pictures for us this time around and in the past we had received multiple pictures from our ultrasounds. During the NST, I was having more contractions that were pretty painful but the NST looked normal so the nurse decided that she was going to discharge me. While we were at the dr. office the day before he said that if I was having contractions that they would probably admit me so I asked the nurse to call Dr. Busch. I was not ready to go home so I asked multiple times to get checked and for Dr. Busch to be called. The nurse was wonderful and very patient as I was adamant about not being discharged right away. Josh was not very happy with me for being so persistent because he was worried about the health of our baby and thought that we could wait until the first (like Dr. B wanted). Well, around 6:30 our nurse got a hold of Dr. B and I was checked and admitted at about 6cm.

Josh took Sophie home and Josh's mom met him there to take care of little Miss Sophie. While Josh was gone, I made a phone call to my parents and they wrapped up what they were doing and headed to the hospital to be with me. This all seemed like deja vu minus the part where we have Sophie with us. My parents, Josh, and Josh's dad all hung out with me in my room while I labored. They were there all the way up to "go time". My plan was to have an epidural as soon as I could but I was progressing quickly and I didn't feel like I needed an epidural. I was able to breath through the pain with the help of Josh and my mom by my side without an epidural all the way up to 9 3/4cm. At that point, Dr. B said that our little guy's head was to the side and that it was preventing me to progress. I couldn't handle the pain any longer so at about a quarter after 11 and almost 10cm I got an epidural. It was such a relief! I was so relaxed and at 11:55 I was ready to start pushing. About 20 minutes later, we were holding our little guy in our arms!!!!