The Story

Ok, I know it's been 2 weeks (that's right, Miss Ruby is TWO WEEKS OLD!) and I have yet to tell the labor story. I don't want to do a ridiculously long post, so I'll try to condense it and be as brief as possible!

It started Monday night, the 25th, I thought my water was leaking so we headed to the hospital to get checked. False alarm....very disappointed! Tuesday morning I got up and got ready for my 39 week appointment and felt fine, didn't expect anything to be out of the ordinary. When I got there and they weighed me I was up almost 5 pounds from the previous week. I knew something wasn't right because I had been consistently gaining only a pound a week. Then when they checked my blood pressure it was pretty high for me which I knew also wasn't normal. As soon as the Dr. got in and saw that both of those numbers were up, he said he was admitting me. I was only at a 3 and about 85% effaced. My mom was ecstatic I was being induced, Albert was pretty excited too, I was torn. I was happy she would be here sooner, yet scared to be induced. I had wanted her to come early, but on her own terms. So we headed home to get our bags and let Albert shower and headed to the hospital.

We got to the hospital around 2:30, got to the room and got all hooked up to the monitors, and at 4:30 they started me on the Pitocin. I had been contracting since the exam that morning, but nothing major or close together. The pitocin caused a little more contractions, but still nothing major. I would have a few painful ones close together, then go a while without any pain. At 6:30 Dr. Holmes got there to check me and break my water. I was at a 4 at this point and 100% effaced, and as soon as he broke my water the pain came in full force! Within minutes the contractions were a minute apart, lasting a while, and extremely painful. Back labor is the worst! I've always had a pretty high pain tolerance, and I was in so much pain. I had wanted to try and go natural, but Albert knew me better and suggested I get the epidural since I was in tears and started throwing up from the pain. I felt a little disappointed in myself, but decided to get it so I could try to relax and enjoy labor as much as I could. Albert held me while I got the epidural, and let me say....that thing is WONDERFUL! Why did I ever want to go natural?!? My family got there and visited with me for the next several hours, since they were going to be there for the delivery. I felt zero pain, not even the pressure from the contractions. After a few hours the nurse checked again and I was at an 8 or 9. My sweet husband and dad gave me a blessing because my anxiety started to kick in and I was getting scared. I felt so much better after that and knew I could handle whatever came next.

Just before midnight the nurse checked again and said we would start pushing soon. At midnight I started to push and Dr. Holmes got there about 20 minutes later to deliver. Albert was....incredible. To be honest I expected him to be cracking jokes and trying to make me laugh all through labor. I expected to get annoyed with him haha. Instead he was calm, pulled together, supportive, and exactly what I needed. I couldn't have done this without him. I put him through you know what my entire pregnancy, I wasn't always the most pleasant person to be around, and he was always the best husband to me. He was right by my side while I pushed and talked me through everything he was seeing so I knew my effort was not in vain. He was so cute, getting excited when he could start seeing her and told me how proud he was of me. I pushed for forty minutes which actually flew by! But can I just say real quick....pushing hurt! I've always heard you just feel "pressure," but there was so much pressure it was painful! I felt like I was delivering a watermelon out my butt! I knew she was close because my family started to freak out and Albert said she had a lot of hair. Then when her arm came out Dr. Holmes lifted her arm and waved it at me haha.

After nine months of waiting, 8 hours of labor, and 40 minutes of pushing, my little Ruby Mae was here. I felt nothing as far as knowing she was out, but the look on Albert's face, the look on my family's face, and the amount of crying that was going on told me that she was here. Albert was crying which was so cute, my mom and sisters were bawling, and as soon as Albert cut the cord and the nurse took her over to the warming bed and I got my first look at her I burst into tears too. The doctor got me all taken care of while the nurses weighed, measured, cleaned, and gave Ruby her shots. Finally, after 20 long minutes of waiting the nurse handed my precious baby to me and I just burst into tears. Albert was by my side, my baby was in my arms, and I have never felt closer to Heaven then I did in that moment. It was the most incredible feeling and I could not help but feel an unbelievable range of emotions as I looked at her. I knew her before I came here, I knew her while I carried her for 9 months, and I am so thankful I've been trusted to be the mother to this beautiful baby girl.