labor

i've had a couple questions about my labor/delivery for rayna, so i thought i'd just post a little summary... if you're not interested, read no further :)
my very first contraction was at 6.20 pm tuesday, paul and afton were playing/tickling/jumping on the bed, and i was just laying down with them and felt a big contraction, not really painful, but obvious. we then went on a walk, just because, and i continued to feel minor contractions, though none were really big or painful, more twinges than anything else. in fact, i was still able to take a shower around 8pm, and then after we got afton to bed, i thought i should try to lay down too, cause i figured if i wasn't really in heavy labor yet, it would be good to sleep as much as possible, naturally, i couldn't sleep, too excited. just before ten, i decided i could call anna though, cause i had to tell someone i was in labor, though i still figured it could be a long way off (i was thinking maybe late wednesday morning, cause the contractions were still so mild). i think she laughed at me, but i was just glad there was someone in my time zone that would care :).

around midnight, paul decided he was probably going to miss work wednesday morning (i could have told him sooner, but i thought it was a given), so he decided he'd better run to the office and leave some paperwork ready for his supervisor to fill in for him at a meeting. he thought he'd be pretty quick... naturally, it was a comedy of errors at work, his computer was having trouble, the copier wasn't working properly, etc... and it took him almost 2 hours to get home (okay, it was probably an hour and a half, but by the time he got home it felt like a lot longer).

it was about 1 that i probably hit transition though i didn't know it at the time, i was starting to have a lot more pain with each contraction, though they weren't at all regular, sometimes still as much as 20 minutes apart, though sometimes only about 7... this is probably when i should have called the babysitter and gone to the hospital, though i still don't think it would have made too much difference, but i'm getting ahead of myself. naturally, i was mad at paul for not being there when i started to have more pain... i didn't say it made sense, just that it was natural for me :) at that time. paul came home and tried to talk me into going to the hospital, but i insisted i still had plenty of time. i was so tired, that i figured the pain wasn't as intense as i thought it was, it was just feeling more painful because i was so tired. it made sense at the time too. (paul didn't say i told you so, but i'm sure he thought it).

around 4 i said, enough i'm ready for pain medication, and we called the babysitter. it took them a little while to come over, probably 15 minutes. while we were waiting for them my water broke, so it took me a few more minutes before i was ready to leave. soon enough though, we were on our way, and i think we pulled into the parking lot at 4.30am. we went right in to labor and delivery and i told the nurse i wanted medication asap, i was hurting (paul later admitted he didn't think we'd still have time for that, though he still didn't realize how little time we had left). i had two more bad contractions while i was changing, and by the time i got onto the bed for the nurse to check me, the baby was ready. they immediately paged the doctor, who only took about 2 minutes to get there, but while she was still washing up and getting gloves on, paul could see the baby crowning. needless to say, i did not get my pain medication. (rayna was born at 4.53, by the way)

in terms of everything that went on, i still don't mind getting there so last minute, except then i didn't have time for the antibiotics i needed to protect rayna from the GBS, so that resulted in an extra day at the hospital, but i was still glad to get most of the labor done at home, it was more comfortable for me to be there, and i think it was easier for paul too, until he panicked that he would have to deliver the baby himself ;). fortunately, rayna is doing great, and didn't need any antibiotics herself, so that is good. she did go in for a check-up yesterday, and she's still a little jaundiced, but otherwise healthy and growing, she's gained half a pound in her first week. though i did have a moment when the nurse measured her at 19 1/2 inches long... she was 21 at the hospital! so they re-measured her, and when she really stuck her foot out, she was the full 21 inches still :). the only problem now is that she needs to go back to the lab for another heel stick to check her blood for the jaundice tomorrow. she already has three holes in each foot! she's not a good bleeder.

in other, related, news, her bellybutton has already appeared! afton's cord didn't fall off til she was almost 6 weeks old, rayna's was done by 6 days. it's kind of cute :). that's all for now.