For weeks and weeks I have had braxton hicks so on Monday I didn't pay too much attention to them, but in the evening (around 5PM) I was driving home from a park where I had met my friend, Nina, and noticed that they were getting stronger and that I had been having them for awhile. So when we got home I tried timing them in the midst of cooking dinner, helping Ethan with homework, etc. Around 5:20PM, I emailed Sean asking if he could leave work early, as I didn't feel 100% and had had some painful contractions (he works over an hour away). Sean made great time and was home by 6:35. I was giving Owen a bath when he got home and he helped me finish that up and we put the boys to bed at 7:30. Since I had been moving around all evening I decided to lay on the couch for a little bit to see if the contractions stopped. Sean finished packing the hospital bag while I was still in slight denial that I was really in labor. (one of my fears was that I would be 'the girl who cried wolf' by thinking I was in real labor and get the sitter over and go to the hospital just to find out that it wasn't the real thing.) At 8PM Sean convinced me that it would be a good idea to be safe than sorry and go to the hospital at some point. So I called JoAnna and gave her a heads up that we would probably be calling soon and asking her to come over. I then called my doctor and she told me to go to the hospital. Being stubborn, I waited until 8:30 and Sean then called JoAnna back and asked her to come over. Then the contractions were getting closer and noticeably stronger, so we called our neighbor Rachel, to see if she could come over and wait for JoAnna to get here (she lives about 25 minutes away). So Rachel ran over and we set off for the hospital!
We arrived at 9PM and were taken to the triage room where they hooked me up to the monitors to determine how frequent the contractions were. After 10 minutes they told me that they were every 2 minutes and the doctor checked me and I was 6cm and officially going to have a baby that night! At this point I realized that we forgot my purse that had the camera in it, so Sean ran home to get it. While he was away, the doctor and the doctor in residence did an ultrasound to check the baby and the fluid levels. Once it was determined that all looked well, the nurse helped me get all of my things and we went to the labor and delivery room (Sean met us in the hallway while we were walking there).
The nurse had asked me what I wanted to do for pain management. I told her that I really wanted to try and do it natural, but if it got to be too much, I would want an epidural. She was completely supportive! (much different than the nurse with Owen was). I told her that I wanted to be out of the bed as much as possible and not hooked up to the monitors, since it hurt much more when I was laying there and with the monitors on. So she got me a big yoga ball to sit on, which did help, and a super warm blanket, since I was really cold. Once the jacuzzi tub was full, she helped me get in (yup, every labor and delivery room at this hospital has it's own jacuzzi!). She then left Sean and I and we were just talking and joking around. I had a really painful contraction and then we were commenting on the time and how the baby didn't have much time left if he wanted to be born on the third of December. The next contraction was incredibly painful and I couldn't help but push - I told Sean and he was pushing the call bell and yelling - the first time the nurse answered I don't think she realized what was going on, and when she answered the second time she must have heard me in the background and Sean saying that he could see the head, because the next thing I knew, there were at least 6 doctors and nurses in the room! They asked if I wanted to stay in the tub or get out - I definitely wanted OUT! It was so so hot and I didn't want to have a water birth, so they helped me out and onto the bed. Two contractions later, Baby Ben was born! They put him on my chest while they cleaned him up and we were amazed at how much hair he already had and how perfect he is! The baby doctor was really sweet and told us to just let her know when she could take him to finish cleaning him up and weigh him (unlike at Reston Hospital, where they just snagged Owen without asking).
Overall, this birth experience was, by far, the best I've had yet. The staff at the hospital was so helpful and supportive and were really all about doing what
I wanted. I think the only thing I would do differently if I could do it again was to ask the doctor to check me again
before I went into the jacuzzi, as I had a feeling that I should have asked... Also, this is the first time we didn't have any visitors while we were at the hospital (unless you count the endless people coming in to check on Ben or me). So when familiar faces stopped by to say hi, such as my OB Dr. Gillotti and the nurse who really helped us when Sean passed out during the hospital tour (that is a whole other story...) I was probably more happy to see them than most are.
NAME GAME: Deciding on the perfect name for Ben was really hard!!! We had a list of names (Benjamin, Austin, Jonathan, Eli, Isaiah, and Gabriel) that we both liked but just couldn't decide which ones were the best fit for our new baby. We really liked Gabriel, but Sean preferred not to have it as the first name.
I have always liked the name Benjamin but never really thought of potentially naming one of my son's it... But while I was pregnant the name popped in my head and I never could really get it out:) Plus, King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon is my favorite prophet.
The story behind the name Gabriel is this... Last week I went in for my weekly appointment and my doctor told me to go immediately across the street to the hospital to get a non-stress test and ultrasound done to make sure that the baby was OK - since she was worried, I was, of course, worried! So I went to the hospital with Owen and while I was getting the non-stress test done, the name Gabriel popped in my head. It was a name that we hadn't even talked about and I hadn't even slightly thought of, so I was surprised by it. That night I laid in bed and started reading a new book and one of the characters' names was Gabriel! I then told Sean about the name and he mentioned that he had thought of it, too. Over the next couple of days I kept thinking about the name and the more I thought about it, the more I liked it. Not only for the name itself and how it came to both of us, but also because of the Biblical tie-in that it has.
Tuesday morning, after Sean came back to the hospital after helping JoAnna send Ethan off to school, we sat there looking at the baby trying to figure out what he should be called. We decided that he looked too 'wise' for the name Austin. Then Sean said, 'how about Benjamin Gabriel?' I told him that I liked it and that if he did, too, then it should be his name. So our sweet baby finally got his name!!
Sitting on the yoga ball with a super warm blanket on my shoulders (I was freezing!) This is about 20 minutes before I had Ben.
He's here!!!
All set to go home!
The stork Sean surprised me with:)
