Rachel's Birth

Rachel was my least planned baby. I knew I wanted another but I wasn't trying. James was 7 months old and I didn't have a period for 4 months. I was nursing but I always get my periods while nursing. I had gone on the pill but had so many side effects that I stopped. I got my period right after stopping but not the next month. Normally I don't get pg the first month off the pill but I thout there is always a first time. I bought a HPT and it was neg. I did a few test and all were neg. I thought I had gotten lucky and that my periods were just gone. One night I felt like I was Oing and when I O my body just wants to get pg.

Sure enough 3 weeks later I started getting my usual morning sickness of throwing up bile in the morning. I was happy and mixed up. I took a urine sample to the pharmacy with all 6 kids. It was the closest and fasted way to find out. My feelings were confirmed as the test was postive. I made an appt with my OB and started my prenatal care. I told him my last LMP and the day I got pg. He said that size wise the day I got pg was accurate. My morning sickness was a little worse than normal and I lost about 20 pounds. Since I didn't lose any after the last baby I had plenty extra. I was able to keep hydrated so I didn't have any problems.

I had a u/s at 20 weeks which confirmed my dates and told us we were having a girl. I had 3 of each already so this one was going to be a tie breaker. It really didn't matter which sex it was. I had another routine u/s at 32 weeks and everything looked fine. I started having pelvic joint pain around 20 weeks but it never got very bad. I was due March 3rd so it was nice a cool so I didn't have much swelling. We did go to Florida in November and I swelled up there but the day after we got home I was fine.

February 12th when I was 37 weeks a 5 days my water broke. It wasn't a big gush just a dribble but a constant one. I put on a toddler diaper for a pad. It was just before supper time. We feed the kids quickly and packed them up to go to the baby sitters. We dropped them off and drove downtown. We stopped for some Chinease take out. While eating in the car I started to get some bad contractions. I started to ask Reg to hurry. He said ok and we headed towards the hospital.

As soon as I saw the hospital the contractions stopped. We went in anyway to get things started. I went to triage and was put on a monitor. The monitor showed I was having some little contractions. I told them my water had broke but there really wasn't anything to see. The diaper did a great job of soaking it in. I was transfered to a room and my dr came in. He went to examine me and got out an amni hook to break my water. He was surprised to find that it was already broken. Reg asked to look at the hook and the next thing we know he is saying ow. The dr teased him about being careful.

We waited a while and nothing happened. They decided to get the pit started. I asked for the epi too. After both were set up there was nothing to do but wait. Last time it took about 12 hours but they had to stop my pit for a while so I thought it would be at least 8 hours. The nurses were very friendly and were in and out of my room all night. There wasnt much to do so we started getting sleepy. Reg had a couple of chairs together and feel asleep on that. I dozed on and off too. One time I woke up I took a puc of him. Every couple of hours the nurse would top up my epi.

In the morning shift changed and we got a new nurse. She was also very friendly. Still not much was happening. She went on break and I had another nurse for a while. She brought all the stuff in to get ready incase the baby came suddenly. She said she had heard that I was a sudden deliverer. The labor/deliver rooms are very small and all the stuff made it very crowded. My regular nurse came back and moved the stuff back out. It was sad to see it wasn't time.

Just after 12 noon I started to feel some pressure. I just had my epi topped up so I knew it wasn't the epi wearing off. Reg called the nurse and she checked. Finally it was time. She brought all the stuff back and called the dr. They got the bed apart and everything set up. Once the dr had everything ready he said I could push with the next contraction or I could push right then. The nurse offereed me the hand holds but I just laughed. I gave a tiny push and the dr told me to stop. He encouraged Reg to take pictures and moved to the side a bit. The nurse was teasing me to make a face so the pictures would look more realistic. That made me laugh so I have a picture of the baby half out and me laughing. The dr placed the baby on my tummy. He clamped the cord and Reg cut it. I held her for a bit then the nurse took her to the warming table to give her a little check and wrap her up in a clean blanket.

The nurse gave her back to me and I nursed her. They asked me if I was hungry and I was. I don't remember being that hungry after delivery before. I ate my lunch and then it was time to get transfered to a room on the maternity floor. I was asked to stand up and then sit in a wheel chair my epi still hadn't worn off but I had a "walking epi" this time so I could move my legs. It was strange to stand and not feel my legs. After I sat down they gave me Rachel to hold and off we went to my room.

I had asked for a private room and to leave early. I was allowed to go home after 6 hours. I had a nursing student from where I had been in nursing. She was very friendly too. I made a few phone calls and got ready to leave. It was very cold outside when we left. We stopped over at my friends house to pick up the kids and then headed home.

And then there were 7.

Rachel is 3 years old as I write this. I was hoping to finsh all my 7 kids birth stories before my 8th was born and I made it! Right at this moment I'm in the hospital finishing the story up on a laptop while I'm in labor with my 8th. Rachel's birth was a very pleasant experince and I hope that this baby is the same

Catherine (mabear)

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