When I woke up on the morning of Thursday, June 25, I knew something had changed and Preslie would be here soon. I had been crampy all night and just felt something different. When I went to the Dr. at 2 he said he thought she'd come in the next 24 hours or by the weekend for sure. I was at a 4 in his office. After I left, I didn't feel anything unusual until around 5:30 or 6 when I started having regular contractions and loosely timing them. They weren't hard enough to breathe through at that point and they were 6-8 minutes apart. At 6, I told James to go ahead and get some work done. I said he had about an hour or so before I might need his help through contractions.
In the mean time, the kids were in rare form. Running and jumping on me, wrestling around and wild as I am trying to time contractions. Fabulous time! When James got home around 7, I told him to take over with the kids and I went upstairs to lay down. I called my mom who was out to dinner and told her that we probably had at least an hour before we needed to go to the hospital.
By 7:30 or so the contractions had started getting closer at about 4 minutes. They were stronger, but not terribly painful. Still, I knew they were close enough that we needed to leave soon. I called her back and said she needed to get her food to go and come home right away. I was trying to read a novel and relax but the in the novel I was reading a pioneer woman happened to be laboring with her first baby at home and the author was incredibly descriptive about her pain in childbirth...what are the odds? So, I put the book in my bag and listened to my Hypnobirthing lady on my mp3 player. It really did help me to calm down and breathe slowly. By 8 or so they had started to get more painful and felt more like cramps and a lot of pressure. I had a hard time focusing on my breathing with all of the kids around and thinking of all that had to be done to get me to the hospital. I prayed a lot and recited Philippians 4:13 over and over reminding myself that each contraction would end and I would have a break. At 8:30 I began to feel panicked like I might not make it to the hospital. My rational reasoning skills had gone out the window and I must have been going through transition because all I could think about was delivering in the car...what would that look like? would the ambulance take me and the newborn to the hospital? could James and my mom handle it? My mom arrived at 8:40and we left for the hospital with her following us. I asked her if we should call an ambulance instead, b/c the contractions were 3 minutes apart, but she assured me we'd make it.
It took us 25 minutes to get to the hospital. With each contraction, I felt her getting closer. I told James that I was indeed getting an epidural when we got there b/c I couldn't take the pain a moment longer. He asked me what made this labor different from the others and I said, "I just can't get a break. The contractions are coming so fast, lasting so long, and causing so much pressure that I couldn't take it much longer." (didn't know how far along I was) I told him not to hassle me about it or try to talk me out of it, I was getting an epidural.
When we arrived, James left the car running, thew me in a wheel chair and wheeled me up to the second floor where I told the lady at the desk as calmly and seriously as possible, "I am in labor. This is my fourth child. I was at a 4 in the Dr's office at 2pm. My contractions are 2-3 minutes apart. My husband's car is running in the drive through and I need an epidural." She sent James to move the car and took me to a triage room...WITH ANOTHER FAMILY laboring on the other side of the curtain. She told me to get into the hospital gown and wait for a nurse. I almost lost my mind. The other family was laughing and talking and clearly not in active labor and I was writhing in pain, trying to breathe and worried my mom and James wouldn't be able to find me. She didn't even ask my name. Then, she came back and tried to get me to fill out some paperwork. I said, "I can't fill anything out! I am about to have this baby and I need an epidural now! My contractions are too close together to fill anything out. My husband will have to and he doesn't even know where I am. Please get him and my mom. My name is Jeanna Lichtenberger!" (Full-on panic-mode)
Then, another nurse came in and started to ask me questions. I told her I'd answer questions after she gave me an epidural. I said I couldn't concentrate until I got one. She said she'd have to check me first, so I said, "Check me now!"
She checked me and said,"Okay, she's a 9, we need to get her to a room right away." I said, "Can I still get an epidural?" Of course I knew 9 was too late and she confirmed that, helped me to a wheel chair and raced me down the hall to the delivery room. Flurry of activity around me...helped me up on the bed, broke the bottom off the bed, brought the Dr. in and the Dr. told me I could start pushing at anytime. I wanted to wait to push and see if the Hypnobirthing Lady was right and my body would in fact push the baby out on its own without me having to push. I asked for lidocaine to numb the area. It became obvious pretty soon that I was going to have to push. How could I not with the pressure I was feeling. He had used enough lidocaine that I barely felt it until her head was out. The head and shoulders were difficult and painful, I'm not gonna lie. But, out she came at 9:45 after a few contractions and good pushes. Beautiful little 7 lb Preslie! We had only been there about 30-40 minutes.
We cut it a little too close. That is the only thing I would have done differently, left sooner for the hospital. I think if I would have been there at 8:30 and already in the room, able to breathe, in a quiet place, with only James and my mom around I wouldn't have panicked. I am so thankful my mom was able to be there. She was a huge support, telling me how strong I was and reassuring me that I could do it. James did an amazing job on putting up with my demands and trying to make me comfortable. He is always so calm in those situations, even when I am not. Looking back at the night, it was way better than getting induced! I am a little sad that it was the last time I am ever going to experience the miracle of childbirth for myself. It is so amazing how God creates us to be able to sustain life and safely bring it into the world. I am so thankful to be a woman and a mother!
