On Tuesday night, May 5, we went on walk as a family and I was having back pain. I just thought maybe I overworked myself planting our garden the day before. I had back pains come and go every time I moved throughout the night but just figured it was due to being 40+ weeks pregnant...I really was no stranger to aches and pains! I woke up in the morning and began getting ready for my Dr appointment that day. I was determining in my mind what I was going to say to the Dr about an induction plan. All the while having back pain come and go. A couple of times the pain wrapped around the front of my abdomen and that is when I realized that they were contractions. I tried to time them but they were so inconsistent and were rarely intense so I thought I was likely in early labor. I debated calling my mom and texting Peter (who was on campus at a review for finals which were starting the next day) but I didn't want to get everyone's hopes up if it was false labor or really early labor. I even debated not going to my appointment but then worried I would cancel saying I was in early labor and then it would stop because the contractions did not seem consistent in length or intensity.
That morning I was planning on taking Afton with me to the appointment but she asked to go play at her friends' house who we often traded babysitting with since their mom was pregnant too and saw the same Dr. Luckily, they were home that morning, so I dropped Afton off and went to my appointment. I hadn't had them check my dilation since 36 weeks at which time I was about 2cm dilated. So I went in and told them I had been having some inconsistent contractions all morning (this was at 9:30am) but nothing too intense. They said well let's see how your dilation is and then we can talk induction. He checks me and says "hold on let me make sure this is correct before saying it out loud...yep, you're 6, no 7cm dilated! You better head downstairs. Do you need to go home first?" Then I'm like, "well Pete is on campus without a car, can I go pick him up?" And he said "these things can happen fast, but it's ip to you." He left saying "see you in a bit!"
I immediately called Pete who, of course, didn't answer. So I called my mom on my way out and I'm telling her I'm amazingly 7cm dilated and in labor as I'm walking out through the waiting room and everyone is gaping at me like I'm that crazy lady you hear about! The funniest thing is that days earlier I was reading some forums on Baby Center and this lady said she was 7cm before she started active labor and I told Pete about it saying that lady must have been crazy because that just didn't seem possible! Ha!
So my mom is on her way and I call my neighbor to ask if she can continue to keep Afton until my mom can get there. (My appointment was at 9:30 so this is all around 10:00am). My neighbor says her girls and Afton are singing to Frozen and having a ball so it would be no problem. I wanted to go say goodbye to Afton and tell her I was having the baby today but I remembered that when I had Afton the urge to push came on quickly and so I didn't want to push my luck!
In the meantime, I had texted Pete saying "Pete! Answer your phone!" Turns out he didn't have cell reception in the room but he was taking notes on his computer and received the text message on there. He immediately left and called me back. I told him the situation and he found a friend to give him a ride to the hospital.
I checked into the hospital alone and began filling out the paperwork. Pete showed up soon afterword and we got to hangout and chat for a bit and share in the excitement. I had a great nurse who loved natural birth so she was helpful. They told me they would have Dr. Yamashiro come in on his lunch break to discuss options. Things were moving along but I still wasn't in too much pain and was able to chat and talk in between contractions and sometimes through them. When Dr. Y came in he asked if I wanted to just keep plugging along and I said, "let's not drag this out anymore than we need to!" So he broke my water and about a half our later I was really feeling the contractions. The nurse said to just let her know if I felt an urge to push and other than that she would come in occasionally, say I was doing great, and then leave. There was a little while when baby Peter's heart was not getting picked up by the monitors so they came in a little worried and wanted to get a good reading on his heart which really made it hard for me to stay in the groove and just focus on the contractions, instead I was having to hold more still and hold the monitor in place. Not so fun.
But soon after that I felt the urge to push so we called the nurse in, I climbed in the bed and she checked my dilation. She said I was a 9 and really close but one side was further dilated than the other so she told me to lay one side. This was my first time laying in the bed since they broke my water and I was uncomfortable but unwilling to get out of the bed again since contractions were so strong and I knew I was close. She called Dr. Y down and after a few "I can't make it through another one" statements during contractions they had Pete all suited up next to the Dr at the foot of the bed.
When the Dr came in he knew our plan was to have Pete help "catch" the baby and he was planning to let Pete be as hands on as possible. But he asked me before they suited him up if I needed him up by me holding my hand or something. I remember being so frustrated by someone asking me to make a decision in a moment like that! Haha. I ended up eventually saying "Whatever! Whatever Pete wants!" I just wanted to get that baby out!
I loved seeing Pete right there with the Dr to help bring the baby into the world (although let's be honest, I did all the work). I was so surprised by how badly it hurt to push that baby out. For some reason I do not clearly remember being in that much pain while delivering Afton but I kept saying (or maybe I was just thinking) "this hurts!" I surprised myself with how much primal grunting I did (TMI?) but I really wanted, and had predetermined with my Dr beforehand that I would just follow my instincts when it came time to push (because with Afton I felt the way they coached me through it felt unnatural) and I guess that's what it took to get him here. Really it was only a few contractions, like maybe 5 or something, of pushing before Baby Peter was in my arms and I was so grateful to no longer be pregnant! He was born at 2:45pm weighing 7lbs 14oz.
The aftermath of this delivery was a bit rough. I was EXHAUSTED, and possibly experiencing some shock. Hours after I nearly blacked out a couple of times and I just wasn't quite myself. But I came around after some food and rest (sort of). We got to show him off to family and spend those precious moments, just Pete and I, soaking in the newness of this little spirit that we got to welcome to our family. It's inexpressible in a lot of ways but such a special and neat time.
During this pregnancy I really wanted to go into labor on my own. After being induced with Afton I felt like this was the one part of natural birth I had yet to experience. And Pete reminded me when he arrived at the hospital that I did it! We feel blessed to have Baby Peter here and couldn't have asked for a better scenario to bring him into this world...officially.
Last thing:
We waited a while to have him bathed since we had family waiting to see him and just wanted to wait until things quieted down. So it was around 6pm when they took him to get his first bath. When Pete returned with baby Peter the nurses had parted his hair and combed it over. We had been calling him Baby Peter, although we weren't certain what his full name would be and if we would call him by his middle name. But when I saw him come back with his parted little hair I knew he should be named after his dad (who is named after his grandfathers). He was the perfect little boy and I told Pete that his name was Peter Michael Sundwall, Jr.
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