Carter's Birth Story

Saturday started off like any other day. Both of us had worked the day before and the plan was to cross off any last minute things off our to-do list since I was technically due the next day. We had been moved into our apartment for exactly one week and my stress levels about not being "ready" were finally leveling off. Richard woke up around noon (he works graves, he's not just lazy haha) and we returned some totes that we borrowed back to my work and then went grocery shopping. Richard let me splurge on a big chocolate bundt cake and some strawberries as a "happy due-date to me" treat since I was just sure at this point that I'd be overdue.

After we got home and unpacked the groceries we just kind of hung around the apartment and I decided that I still felt up for going to the General Women's Meeting later that evening. I opted out of the dinner, but joined my Mom for the broadcast at 6:00pm. During the conference, I was pretty sure that I was starting to feel a few contractions. They felt different from the prior braxton hicks because they were accompanied by some dull cramping. I considered timing them on an app on my phone but didn't want my Mom (or others sitting next to me) to freak out so I just decided to watch the clock a bit just to get an idea of how consistently they were coming. 4 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 3 minutes. My doctor told me to go to the hospital when the contractions were 5-7 minutes apart.

...Oops?

At this point you'd think I would have started to take things seriously but I was still totally in denial about it possibly being labor because I just wasn't in any pain. The cramping continued throughout the broadcast and at 7:28pm I texted Richard a heads up that I was having some mild contractions just so he would be aware since he was scheduled to work that night. He asked if he should call his boss and I told him no because I know first time labors could last days and I didn't want to jump the gun, especially because I wasn't in pain, just uncomfortable.

I said goodbye to my Mom and had an emotional thought of, "Maybe this is the last time I'll see her before the baby is born" but still decided not to say anything. Turns out she had a feeling something was up anyways. Moms always know. On my way home from the conference, I called Richard to tell him that I was going to head to Target to buy some spray on tan (priorities, I know haha). He thinks I'm crazy and tells me to come home. Since I am the most stubborn person alive, I proceed to head to Target but then I come to my senses, flip a u-turn and take my pasty-white self home. I figure if I can't be tan, then I should at least do my hair since I was on day 3 hair at this point. I hop in the shower and the warm water feels amazing and basically stomps out any of the contractions that I had going. All my previous thoughts of it being a false alarm are validated, and I proceed to blow dry my hair.

At this point, it's about 9:00pm, my hair is dry and the contractions start to creep back. I am in a dilemma because when my hair is just blow dried, not straightened, it is an absolute mane and NOT cute. I knew if this was really labor I was going to have tons of pictures taken and I really didn't want to look like a hot mess in all of them. How vain am I really, you ask?

Well...

My contractions are about 3 minutes apart and at this point I am doubled over on the bed but I am determined to fix my hair. Standing up is impossible, sitting down is even worse...the only thing that helped relieve the pain was being on my knees folded over at a 90 degree angle with my head and chest flat on the bed. In between contractions, I get about 5 chunks of hair done at a time and then proceed to run back and forth to the bed.

At this time, Richard is scavenging around the apartment putting together the rest of the hospital bag with a big dorky smile on his face and I am coming to my senses and realizing that this is really it...we are going to the hospital! He tries to ask questions on whether to bring certain things or not and I put my finger to my lips and just keep whispering "shh, don't talk to me" lol. My pain coping mechanism was apparently silence and darkness.

After he got everything together, he convinces me to give up on my hair and make-up, I slip on my comfiest maternity dress, grab the body pillow and waddle out to the car. I don't remember much of the car ride because my eyes were sealed the whole time but I do remember Richard trying to coach me through breathing because I had a tendency to hold my breath during contractions. Since my eyes were closed, he would tell me how close we were getting to the hospital which I really appreciated. I also remember him calling the hospital ahead of time (10:19pm) and asking for a wheelchair to be brought out because his "wife was in labor". It was so weird to actually hear that since at this point I was still kind of in denial. I had no idea what my pain tolerance was because I've never broken a bone, sprained an ankle, been stung by a bee or anything. For all I knew I could just be wimping out through some intense braxton hicks.

Around 10:30pm we pulled into the emergency room and I hide behind the body pillow as I sign paperwork and am wheeled past everyone into triage. I got changed into a gown, was checked for progress, and was told I was at 6 centimeters. A 6! Hearing that number was absolute music to my ears because that meant this was the real deal and I wasn't going to be sent home. I was then asked if I had a birth plan and I said all I really wanted was to hold my baby right after he was born and to get an epidural haha. I asked how long the wait would be for an epidural and they explained that I had to get a full bag of fluid administered before it could be ordered. After about 10 minutes of getting the IV and monitors all set up, we were moved to our labor and delivery room.

When we got into the room, Richard asked if he could call my Mom and I finally agreed since we no longer risked a false alarm. This call was made at 11:08pm and very shortly afterwards I felt like I needed to push. I felt sooo silly telling my nurse this because I had just been checked 10 minutes prior, but she took me seriously and checked again and told me I was at an 8 or 9! Say...what?! At this point I start to panic a bit and ask if I could get the epidural. She was very sweet but firm when she said, "Oh honey, I don't think there's time for an epidural." I immediately look at Richard and his face was calm and reassuring, which helped me to stay calm even though I felt like I could cry. We didn't take any classes and only watched like half of our childbirth DVD. When I was pregnant I'd read birth stories of moms who prepared for all 9 months of their pregnancy to deliver naturally and here I was with nothing but my body's instincts up my sleeve.

After being checked, my nurse hurried to call my Doctor who was about 30 minutes away. She called in about 3 other nurses and assured me that they could deliver the baby if he didn't make it in time. They told me I could do short practice pushes if I wanted because telling a woman to not push is clearly impossible. The nurses instructed me to push when I felt the urge and helped remind me (along with Richard) to breathe. Breathing through contractions was definitely the hardest part but everyone was very reassuring and told me I was doing a great job which ended up being so important for me. What was weird was that the contractions that were once on top of each other seemed to really slow down once I started pushing. I felt like I could actually take a few minutes rest between each push...which I did take advantage of because I knew pushing could still potentially take hours.

Wrong again.

Once the Doctor got there... he suited up, I pushed three times and at 11:35pm our baby boy was born! I was sooo surprised. I wasn't really told if he was crowning or if I was at a 10 or anything so I still thought delivery was far away. I just couldn't believe that everything was over that I couldn't really wrap around my head that my baby boy was now laying on my chest! He shocked me with a full head of dark hair and had the cutest pair of lips I've ever seen. After soaking him up for a few minutes, Richard followed him over to the table to get checked while I delivered the placenta and got stitched up.

The rest of the hospital stay was a glorious, hazy blur. Watching Richard become a Father was probably my favorite experience to date. Seeing him hold his son just seemed so natural. Like he's always been with us. My recovery was a breeze which I heard is often the case with unmedicated births. I hardly slept in fear that I would miss out on him doing anything cute. Turns out EVERYTHING my baby did was cute to me ;) Laying him in his bassinet was also not an option, I only wanted him in my arms.

Carter's birth was a total whirlwind. I thought Richard and I would be at the hospital for maybe 5 or 6 hours, document with some pictures, maybe play some Words with Friends after I got my epidural, chat with the nurses, watch my contractions on the monitor...you know, the usual. Instead, he was born less than an hour after we were checked into the hospital. Even though it's not what I had imagined, I absolutely wouldn't change a thing. We are so, so in love.

Carter Michael Rindlisbacher
Saturday, March 28th 11:35pm
7lbs, 11.5 ounces & 20.5 inches