Now, the more I think about it, the more amazed I am that I didn’t see her coming from a mile out and NOT go to Lake Fork for the annual camping trip!!
I had my 37 week appointment on Wed, the 3rd. I was GBS positive when I had Belle, so I knew I needed to be tested for sure, with Olive. My test results wouldn’t be in until Saturday, so I wouldn’t know if I was positive or negative until my 38 week appointment. I asked when they start “checking” to see if things are starting to move along. They don’t check unless you want to be. Well, I didn’t want to be… For 2 reasons. #1 I just knew nothing was going on and I didn’t want to be let down with a professional “no” and #2, gross… I didn’t want to be ‘checked’. I told Tren I would submit myself to it at my next appointment, just to get an idea of where things were at, if they were even anywhere at all. –and I bet they wouldn’t have been anywhere near me going to Lake Fork-
So, I had to look it up, and I found it. A chat where I told Tren I thought Olive had dropped.
Friday, August 5th
-Me: I think she dropped, by the way. Olive. I don’t feel like she’s all up in my business as much. -Tren: is that normal?
-Me: yep, one step closer to birth.
-Tren: well do we need to take the car seat to lake fork?
-Me: no goof. I don’t think so, anyways. She isn’t coming this weekend. She’s going to make me go to the 25th, I know it.
Well, well, well! She had dropped. I should have known. I could see my belly-button from an entirely different angle. There was a sign, straight from my belly-button, I shouldn’t be going to Lake Fork!
While we were at Lake Fork, Tren was the wise one and said I couldn’t go on the oh-so-easy hike to Duck Lake with everyone. Good job, Pappy. I surely would have hiked myself right into labor at Duck Lake.
And another sign = Sunday morning, at Lake Fork, I woke up and my hips hurt. I blamed this on the crappy mattress pad in the trailer. I slept like absolute crap Saturday night and woke up aching. Or in the early stages of labor?
Thankfully, my parents said Belle could stay with them at Lake Fork Sunday night. Without Belle, Tren and I headed home. We got home around 3pm or so and took showers and unloaded things from the trailer. These things stayed in the kitchen right where they were left by Tren. We then took about a 3 hour nap. I slept very well. Then Tren woke up and went badger hunting. I chose to stay in bed and do nothing. (good thinking!) I shut the tv off for bed at 9:30. Around 10:30 or so, I don’t really remember because I wasn’t watching the clock, but I kept feeling like I needed to poop. I would get up and go to the bathroom and not even a stinkin’ fart would slip out. I went back to bed and kept getting up and trying to poop, but didn’t have any success. Then around 1:45am I was laying in bed and kept feeling this “poop” wanting to come out and then POP!, my water broke! I shot out of bed and cupped my hand under my(self) and hauled to the bathroom. I sat on the toilet and said out loud to myself “shut up… this is not happening right now…. Oh my gosh….” I sat there for a few minutes and then would stand up to see if I kept leaking or if I just accidently peed the bed. Nope. I would dribble a little more and sit down, denying I was in labor the whole time. “I still have 2 weeks! This can’t be happening right now.” Then I had a mild contraction and felt it in my back. “I better tell Tren.” So I went and woke him up and told him my water had broke. He too, shot out of bed “Are you serious? How do you know? What happened? Do we need to call the place?” and then he started pacing and rubbing his head. So, I told him I was going to go and take a shower and see what happened. What the heck was I thinking? Ohhhh! I know!… I was denying I was in labor… “I’ll just shower this off and get back in bed.” Nope, the contractions in my back were starting to really hurt, so I knew we had to get moving. Dang it! I called The Baby Place and we estimated we’d be there around 2:30. Tren in his pacing frenzy, decided he’d better call Russ to give us a ride. I went into the closet to see what I needed to get for the delivery. I packed my bag and Olive’s bag a few weeks ago, but now, in the heat of the moment (that I am trying to pretend isn’t happening) I don’t think I have everything ready. Tren comes in and asks what he needs to get. I tell him the car seat out of Olive’s room. The car seat that we haven’t even put in the truck to see how it fits. Yep. He gets the car seat and I dilly-dally around trying to delay things. I really wasn’t mentally ready for this one bit. I still had 2 weeks!! Russ arrives and is surprisingly calm. Tren is wild-haired and pacing. I am farting around. Finally we get in the truck and I look at the clock thinking the midwives would ask how my contractions were. 2:10am. Russ is flooring it every chance he gets.. At one point, I told him we didn’t really need to go as fast (110mph) as he was. He would slow down in the construction zones to about 87 and then keep on going. My contractions are now coming every 3 minutes. Good heavens. A coyote crossed the road in front of us at Firebird. Was this a good sign? As we would approach an intersection and I would be looking both ways for other cars and then give Russ the okay to blow through the light. And he would. Tren was sitting in the back seat, rubbing my shoulders and trying to keep me (himself) calm. We arrived at The Baby Place at 2:24am. That’s 14 minutes!! Tren and I are shown back to our room and Russ stays out in the waiting area. I set my bag down and they ask if I need to use the bathroom. “Sure”, I think. “I can waste a little time in there.” I came out and sat on the bed. They checked me and I was dialated to 8 centimeters. Crap. 2 more and it’s time to push. Then Tren asks Samantha (one of the midwives) “Is this going to happen?” because he still isn’t sure if I really am in labor or if it was just a false alarm. “Yep, this is going to happen.” Is what she said. –Tren is deaf. The midwives all were speaking very quietly and calmly and Tren couldn’t hear anything they were saying. Ever. - Luckily, my GBS test came back negative and i didn't need to be treated for it before the birth. Samantha told us there was another mother and new baby there. When Tren went out to the waiting room to tell Russ he could head home and we’d see if his cousin or grandma could take us home tomorrow, Russ had heard this new baby crying and thought it was Olive. “That was quick!!” is what Russ said. And Tren told him I was still pregnant and that that was another mother. Ha! Russ insisted on staying and waiting it out. Tren came back to our room and I just sat there on the bed, trying to prepare for what was to come. Here I am, 38 weeks pregnant and having a contraction (thus the pleased and comfortable look on my face.)
Around 3:00am-ish, I decided I would get in the tub. I was wanting to do a water birth. I had heard it was less painful and that was what I was after. I climbed in and immediately start sweating. The water has to be 98° or hotter because if it is anything less, the baby would be born in cooler water and take a breath before reaching the surface. I sit there for a few minutes and soon the contractions are really starting to get stronger. Tren offered several times to get in the water with me. I was so hot and starting to get to the irritable point, so I nicely told him there was no need for him to get in. I know he was just feeling useless standing there. And I appreciate his offers. Tren asked Samantha when I would start pushing and she said “whenever she wants to. I’ll check her and make sure it’s safe for her to push and then she can start pushing.” A few minutes later, after ignoring a couple of those contractions that give you the urge to push, I confessed I should start pushing. She checked me and said “You can push. This isn’t going to take long at all. Baby is very low.” Whew!, I thought…This isn’t going to take long at all. Thank goodness! So, with my next contraction, I push. And it wasn’t bad. Soon Jerusha and Rachel are in the room, perched on the edge of the tub next to Samantha. Tren is crouched behind me, outside the tub, and rubbing my shoulders. I have a few contractions and push with all my might and Jerusha, Samantha and Rachel all nod their heads and say “good good good good good”. This makes me feel very good. I ask between contractions “how much of her head can you see?!” think that with all this positive feedback she’s about out. Jerusha holds up her hand and shows me something resembling a quarter and says ‘about this much’. What the heck?! A freakin quarter?! Crap. So, I start pushing even harder and trying to keep pushing as long as I can. But oh no!,… It’s really starting to burn. There is that dreadful ring of fire. I didn’t remember that from when I’d had Belle!! So, I push again hard and long and holy nurse, it’s getting worse. Then I really waited for the contractions that had the urge to push with them, because I so badly didn't want to push and feel that fire. I screamed and cried and yelled and told them it hurt and would stop mid push because it hurt. I did not like it. Also, in the mix of things, my right leg was getting a cramp. This would cause me to stop my pushing so I could straighten it out and get rid of the cramp. What a show I was putting on. Note- Through all of this chaos, they would randomly check the baby’s heart rate. Through it all, she was a mellow happy little heart beat. Such a good girl.- I remember at one point pushing and being hunched forward so much, I could see her little head and she even had hair floating in the water. Oh my word! I wanted to see her and for it to be done. Tren said while I was pushing, he was behind me pushing and taking breaths right along with me. Finally, I gave one last really big painful push and her head was out! Hallelujah!! Then in the same contraction at 3:45am, I pushed her sweet little body out and instantly, the pain was gone. Just like that. Oh my girl. She was screaming and flailing her skinny arms around. I could have squeezed her guts out! I turned to Tren and said “do you see her?” and he was teary eyed and smiling. A proud Pappy. Tren noticed her little mouth was just like his and that she had big hands like his. I was able to hold Olive there in the tub for several minutes. Then Tren cut the cord and they took Olive and wrapped her up in a nice warm blanket and Tren held her for a while. I climbed out of the tub and into the bed and then I fed her. She latched on very well. A few minutes later, I asked if we could have Russ come back to the room and see her. Rachel (I think) went and got him and in the mean time, Jerusha and Samantha cleaned up the crime scene so Russ wouldn’t be scarred for life. (haha!). He came back and if I remember right, he held her for a few minutes. Then he ran to the store for a few items and came back. We had to stay at least 4 hours and Russ again insisted on staying. Russ slept on a couch in the waiting area until about 6 or 7am when another mother was on her way in to have a baby. Then he came back to our room and slept in the recliner. Tren fell asleep immediately. He was exhausted. I think it was more work for him than it was for me. I on the other hand, did not sleep. I was too busy watching and looking at my little lady. I still couldn’t believe she was here already. 2 weeks early! 6 lbs, 3 oz and 20” long. She was perfect. Around 11:30am, Olive’s vitals were taken one last time and we were able to head home. (Something I want to say, so I won’t forget it, but probably never will anyways. When we were ready to leave and Jerusha was done checking out Olive, she gave me a hug. Jerusha did. And it was a real hug. Not just an arms around you buddy-pat-on-the-back hug. It was a hug. A sincere hug. To this day, and even as I type this, thinking about that hug, I tear up. It was just what I needed, though. From someone who knew what I had just been through. If that makes any sense to anyone. Anywho.)
Look how tiny she is in her big car seat.
We headed home and at regular speed. When we got home, Russ headed to work, and Tren, Olive and I took naps. Well, Tren and Olive did. I just couldn’t sleep. I didn’t sleep until 3:30am. The first night was rough. Olive was talking all night long. Just making noises and coo-ing. All night long. And that was just fine. She is here, 2 weeks early and sweet and perfect and healthy.
And I’m in love.
And I’m in love.
