October 8th, 2013..
This is how the second best day of my life went..
I feel like it should start with the fact that I had Braxton hicks contractions for the 3 weeks prior to Sadie's arrival. Because we had a 2 hour drive to our doctor/hospital and I was nervous about not knowing what to expect, I will admit that I jumped the gun once or twice. Unfortunately for Ryan, he had to deal with me crying wolf. So, we burned a lot of rubber during the last month of my pregnancy.
On October 3rd we had a check up with our doctor so we did our routine 2 hour drive that we were getting way too familiar with. We learned that I was 70% effaced and had no dilation. I will admit that I was disappointed. I was so ready to see her at that point after a few false alarms and felt like I was progressing so slowly (which I know is normal for first time babes). I was just sure that because I was having pretty consistent pre labor contractions that I would have been further along than that. So, as we started our trip back to Leon our car started acting up and broke down quickly after. To make this part of the story short I will just say that we ended up taking Sadie home on Tuesday in a tiny rental car.
The weekend passes.. and slowly the due date creeps up.. I wake up on October 8th, exactly 40 weeks pregnant, to what I thought was possibly my water breaking.. but it wasn't near as much as I was expecting so I was very skeptical and will admit flipping out. I woke Ryan up and he had to tell me to calm down a few times as I called my aunt, who is a nurse, to ask her what I should do. I really really didn't want to go all the way to the doctor again for him to tell me that I had just peed on myself (tmi) but my instinct was telling me to go. My aunt said to go and get it checked out because it was better to be safe than sorry. We didn't tell anyone because again, I didn't want to have to call and say, "Just kidding, I just can't control my bladder anymore." So we packed up, climbed in to the tiny rental car and left for the doctors office at about 6:45 am. The car seat was hooked up in the back of the little car and I had to get Ryan to pull over and unbuckle the car seat and turn it sideways because my knees were squished against the dash and I couldn't touch the floor. The beginning to an interesting day :)
We went in to our appointment around 9:00 am. I was 90 percent effaced and 1 cm dilated. She was still looking good and had a great heart beat. So he checked me to see about my amniotic fluid. Turns out I was right and we made the best decision on going to the doc. My amniotic fluid was leaking from the top and so it was a very slow leak but could cause infection and be dangerous for the baby so he said that I would have to be induced that day (It was such a surreal feeling when I finally realize that I WAS having that baby within hours). So Ryan and I got in the car, excited but nervous, and went to grab a snack and then head to the hospital. On the ride over we kept looking at each other and smiling in disbelief. We couldn't believe the long anticipated day was here. We were not going to go home without a baby.
By 11:00 am I was started on a slow drip of oxytocin which he turned up every hour. We excitedly got settled in and immediately started face-timing family to let them know what was going on. Ryan and I went in to the hospital expecting a long day of face-timing family and playing netflix movies before my labor contractions kicked in but apparently when we pay for our doctors services in Nicaragua we really get his undivided attention. He came in around 12:30 and sat down next to Ryan and didn't leave us all day. ha So he got to meet our parents via computer and as the contraction pains started to kick in I had Ryan and my doctor sitting on the couch just watching me in the quiet... It was as awkward as it sounds! Starting around 2:00 pm my doctor started asking me to rate my contraction pains from a 1-10. By 4:30 they had gotten to about a 5-6 so he checked to see where I was at. I was 3 cm dilated and still 90% effaced. While he was checking me he saw that my cervix was not in line.. Kindly he decided he would take care of that really quick and just took it and wiggled it to where it needed to be (the
first time that day I could say "that was the worse pain I have ever felt"). AWFUL. After that he broke my water the rest of the way to get the process to speed up some. Ryan then proceeds to tell me, "that was the coolest thing I have ever seen". ha He should have been a doctor. Breaking my water did the trick because those 5-6 level pains almost immediately jumped to a 7-8. At this point I was beginning to realize what everyone meant when they said I would not be able to talk through my contractions. I was miserable but still trying to stick it out with out an epidural. I had a very loving husband who did everything he could to ease the pain. He is a keeper.
At 7:30 P.M. Doc decided to check the progress once more. I was 100% effaced and just 5 cm dilated. When I heard this I thought I was going to go crazy. I was just sure that I was going to be so much further than that. At this point my doctor had started his really obnoxious piece of advice that he shared with me all night, "Summer, don't make noise. If you are making a noise you aren't breathing correctly".. He would yell it at me as I was making some pretty funny noises during contractions. This is when I started to dislike him. ;) He repeated that to me the rest of the night during each contraction. NOT what you want to hear ha. After finding out I had only progressed by 2 cm and my doctor then proceeding to tell me that I shouldn't be having her any later than 2:00 A.M. I decided I couldn't take the pain I was in for 7 more hours. So I told him I was interested in an epidural.. At this point, I learned that in Nicaragua they do not have an anesthesiologist at the hospital but one is "on call". So he steps outside to give him a call and comes back in to tell me that he did not answer but he should be calling back soon and I should be able to have one no later than 9:00 P.M. I try to act calm but it just wasn't happening. PANIC PAIN PANIC PAIN repeat. An hour later he has called 2 others and no one has answered. I really didn't think I was going to make it through that pain for 5 more hours. He checks me at 9:00 and I am expecting him to say I was 6-7 cm dilated. Turns out those horrible contractions I was having were it! I made a HUGE jump from 7:30-9:00 and was 9 cm dilated. He said, "Well, we need to go to the delivery room now! It is time". What a relief. I think I even smiled for a second.
I switched beds (not fun) and they rolled me in to the delivery room. My doctor changed his clothes and got everything around me ready which seemed like it took 20 minutes and during this time was yelling "Summer, don't push!", mothers who have done this before know how difficult this is. He tells Ryan that my uterus is not in the right position so he has him lean on my stomach and center it (not cool). Doctor finally tells me to push and I give it all I've got. Ryan calmly leans over and tells me I am doing great with the biggest smile (I am blessed). For .03485 seconds I forgot the pain and smiled again. Two pushes later she is out. Dr. Juan Carlos says "Welcome to Nicaragua, Sadie" and lays her on my chest. Immediately all pain left and my heart filled with joy. I have never felt so much love and pride well up so quickly as I did in that moment. I am now thankful for the circumstances that occurred and that I was able to experience everything naturally. What a beautiful little baby girl. What a gift from above.
It was such a beautiful day. Everything went so smoothly. I couldn't have asked for a better experience. Ryan was so calm, patient, and kind. Our doctors and nurses took such good care of us. Sadie was perfect in every way. I am so thankful for such a wonderful experience with my best friend. God has blessed our little family so much. I have never been so proud or full of love for my incredible husband(he's a great daddy), my beautiful daughter angel, and my Lord who blessed us with this miracle.
My awesome Doctor, Juan Carlos!
The best moment.
8.4 lbs 20 in.
Best friends already
Our Family!
Thanks for reading! We are so thankful for all the love and support we have received since we moved to Nicaragua but especially in the last 10 months. There were concerns about having sweet Sadie here but thanks to prayers and a wonderful medical staff sweet Sadie came in to this world in perfect health. God is so good!
