The Big Day: Preface and Part 1

Thursday, February 7, 2013, 1:13 PM
   It is Ben's day off and, tired of being cooped up in the house all week, I convince him to go to Good Stuff for burgers and shakes (didn't take much convincing). During the 40 minutes we're out, UPS comes to deliver Ben's birthday present and leaves a notice that they will try again on Friday. No problem, we'll be home then.
  Later, we walk to the store to pick up a couple things and come back home with a movie from Redbox. Dinner, phone call with Ben's parents, a movie and then bedtime. I go to bed disappointed. Tired as I am of being pregnant, our daughter shows no sign of coming soon.
Friday, February 8, 2013, 10:20 AM
  After a late breakfast of knock-off Cinnamon Toast Crunch, I ask Ben to let me use the bathroom before he takes a shower... wait a minute... that is NOT pee.
   "Ben. I think you should get ready to go to the hospital... my water broke."
   I've been waiting for this moment for nine months and now that it's here, I panic. I expected to have more time, to feel it coming. But that morning brought no back pain, no contractions, no cramps - nothing. So I'm running around, trying to put clothes on and pack last minute essentials like phones and wallets, describing what happened to the nurse from Kaiser, and Ben asks if he can take a shower. I give him 2 minutes. Impressively enough, he accomplishes a 2-minute shower and is ready to walk out the door before me. We see my doctor at Kaiser first. She confirms my bag of waters ruptured and we are sent to Washington hospital center.
12:10 PM
  I'm checked into my labor and delivery suite at the hospital... still no contractions. I'm told we will wait a couple hours and see what happens.
2:30 PM
  Two hours later and nothing happened. Four hours into this saga and I am no further than where I started. Needless to say, I am quite frustrated. The process of inducing labor begins.
8:24 PM
  As the hours go slowly and somewhat painfully by, the nurses and doctors change for the night shift. They tell me the contractions are increasing but we still have awhile. At this point, things are getting quite painful and they check how I'm progressing. In the 10 hours since my water broke, I've barely gotten anywhere but the pain has increased to almost unbearable. Enter epidural - not originally in the plans, but this was taking forever. The pain subsides almost instantly and I prepare to wait into the morning.
10:33 PM
  The pain is returning. The nurse tells me I'm contracting fine on my own now (I can feel it - not pleasant) but there is a small blip in my baby's heartbeat so I'm on oxygen and laying on my left side to try to help baby.
11:52 PM
   Something needs to be done. The baby's heartbeat hasn't gotten better. They want to put something next to baby so they can continue inducing without disturbing her (or something like that, I'm kind of out of it by this time). They check the baby's position and how far dilated I am. I guess I jumped really far, very quickly. The doctor says it is time to prep for delivery. An announcement is made to the nurse station and the preparations begin.