Our due date Tuesday March 31st came and went. I felt like it was the most anticlimactic event of my life. After 35 weeks of waiting and looking forward to that date it held nothing special. A midwife appointment in the morning showed I was at 2cm (only 1cm further along than the week previous) and 80% effaced and the midwife "had a feeling" Jesse was coming soon, but not quiet yet. Dan went to work that afternoon and I sulked as I walked the neighborhood. Thankfully I knew I was sulking and decided that Wednesday needed to be better, I needed to not be a rain cloud. Since Wednesday is our weekend we planned a date day together.
Wednesday morning, around 6am, I woke and used the bathroom. Odd side fact we have an old school (think 70's) brown toilet. Which makes it impossible to check your urine to see if your hydrated or if there is any blood. The worst toilet for a pregnant woman. Anyway... immediately I smelled blood, my bloody show had started. I called the midwife and she said to keep going about our day and call again if there where heavy contractions. So I went to bed with what I thought was stomach cramping from the blood loss and Dan started his day, excited he could soon be a dad.
Eventually I woke up again and we started our date day. First stop Columbia Employee Store (a latter post will be about Dan's hike up Mt Rainier, don't worry) Dan needed to pick up some gear for his summit attempt in May. While there a very concerned employee watched me like a hawk sure I was going to give birth at the store. At this point I was texting my good friend and mom of 4 asking to borrow her heating pad for my "cramps" she informed me they were not cramps but contractions and to keep track of them. Sure enough the cramping pain was coming at regular intervals. About 15 minutes apart.
Next stop: coffee. Insomnia Coffee is my favorite in the state and they have two spots, one at the beach and one by the employee store. We sat and watched the baristas and other coffee drinkers, and just enjoyed each other. After coffee came REI.
REI is like a candy store for anyone at least slightly outdoorsy. We got more gear for the climb. At this point the contractions are still coming but not really picking up. So onto lunch we go.
At McMenamins I'm faced with the question... what to eat... knowing there was a 50/50 chance I'd be going into labor that day. Turns out I can never turn down a hamburger. During lunch we talked about life and the contractions grew in length almost 20 seconds and were coming about 12 minutes apart. Good time for a walk.
We went to our old neighborhood and walked and walked and walked. The contractions now were about every 7 min apart. Our goal is 1 min long, 5 min apart, for at least a hour. So since we had time to kill and it was a date day we went to go see the Hobbit at a dollar theater and doubled with my parents.
During the movie the contractions grew more intense. I put another call into the midwife she said to wait until I couldn't talk during a contraction. I doubted that would happen seeing how I come from a high verbal family. After the movie we went to dinner with my parents. Telling the server you are in pre labor gets you amazing service by the way :) Also I learned not to give anyone advise while having a contraction because the advise I gave was as intense as the contraction I was feeling. We left dinner with a steady average of 40 seconds long every 5 minutes.
After dinner Dan and I went home to get some rest knowing our baby was coming sometime soon. We crawled into bed and BAM!! Instantly a contraction brought me to tears. I got up to go into the bathroom (not sure why) then crumbled and bawled at another. Dan called the midwife (I just couldn't put in a third phone call in fifteen hours) and she gave us the green light to head to the hospital.
The moment we stepped foot inside the hospital the contractions mellowed out. We were sent to a little check in room where a nurse tried examining me. She had a hard time because of how the baby was laying but she was pretty sure I was at 2 1/2 cm. Incredibly discouraging news after being at this all day, thankfully she brought the O.B. in for a second opinion and the O.B. said I was at 5cm and in active labor (woot!). I was set up with a room, some penicillin for Strep B, meet our doula, and a sweet heart of a nurse who became my hero through her tenderness. It was now about 11pm and the fun was just starting. (
#babyontheway #firstgrandchild )
The next 6 hours was a series of me trying different laboring positions (8 all together). Dan didn't leave my side. The contractions were so intense I found it difficult to "enter" them instead of fighting them. My wish was to give birth without pain killer of any form. As the contractions grew in intensity I wanted the birthing team to offer me pain killers, but they never offered and I never asked. At long last after peeing in the tub, throwing up at the bed, bleeding on the floor and my water breaking on Dan's lap (yep it's true) it was finally time to start pushing.
Pushing is amazing. After hours of having to bare the pain, at last you get to do something... push with all your might.
Who knows why, maybe because my hips pop all the time or because I'm always constipated and have to push at the toilet or any other reason, but the pushing came fast and smooth. After each set I could touch the baby's head and feel my progress. Dan was all set to catch the baby after he was done crowning but the baby shot out in one crazy push. They plopped him on my chest, Dan cut the cord (which remarkably was already drained) and everything was perfect...for a moment.
Then I hemorrhaged.
The midwife and nurse grew silent and went into "go mode". I didn't know what was happening, then looked at the birthing mirror and noticed blood pooling up. More nurses come in. They checked the placenta, it was in tack (so thankful). The midwife started scooping clots out of my uterus by hand (not fun), a nurse was pushing on my uterus trying to get it to contract, two more nurses were silently fighting trying to set up another drip in my arm. The drips stopped working so shots were put into my legs. Meanwhile I'm freezing cold, my legs are shaking uncontrollably, and the pain of the pounding on my uterus is unbearable after the contractions and birth. At this point I'm given a heavy pain killer. I kept saying I just wanted to hold my baby in peace. thankfully they didn't listen.
The head O.B. was brought in. With her causal straight forward way she introduced herself to me, chewed her gum, agreed with the midwife's assessment, and began to save the day.
A hour after birth Dan went to go tell the waiting family that Jesse Ray Steven is here and doing great. At that point I was stitched together and waiting eagerly for breakfast.
The first time Dan got to hold Jesse, Jesse pooped in Dan's hand. Dan quickly ran out of clean clothes during our hospital stay, thankfully we have a pretty great neighbor.
Jesse has been doing well since the first moment he was plopped onto my chest. I've been recovering slowly yet surly, the bleeding is less and my strength is increasing. Dan has continued to be supportive and by my side, loving our little baby and myself with a selfless love.
Jesse has won everyone over with his smiles and blue eyes. Tip of the day: If you ever travel internationally take a baby. Jesse is sleeping 100% better, he still has the occasional bad dream but on the whole has been much more peaceful and rested. 
