Grady's Story

So Grady is one month old as of Monday and I decided it's time to write up his birth story.  I'm so amazed at God's love and His continual blessings over us and our family.  The following story would not have been possible without Him!

For the people who don't really care (men and maybe some women who aren't birth story junkies like me and a few of my friends), here's your version:
I went into labor, went to the hospital, and popped out a baby!  It's a boy!  The end!

For my birth story junkie friends and any other people who might be curious, here ya go:

**Just a note: I decided to try the natural route this time around and if you know me, you're probably laughing because you probably know that I have a fairly low pain tolerance.

So...My last pregnancy post left off with a pending 40 week check-up.  We went to that on Thursday, December 6.  We had an ultrasound where they monitored Grady's vitals and organ function visually for a little bit.  Then I got hooked up to some things to continue to monitor Grady's heart rate, check for contractions, and I had to push a button every time I felt movement.  Then I met with the doctor (not mine=not completely happy).  He was nice enough and answered our questions and put Kev's mind at ease about continuing the pregnancy without inducing for the time being.  He checked me and I was at 4 cm and a good bit effaced (don't remember exactly how much).  I did go ahead and ask him to strip my membranes just to see if that would kick-start anything.
Fast-forward to about 3 a.m. December 7.  I woke up for the umpteenth time and had another contraction--no big deal since I've been having them for forever at this point.  Ten minutes later, I had another.  Before I could fall asleep, I noticed another one 10 minutes after that.  So now I lay in wait for continual contractions at 10 minutes apart.  I tried to sleep, but I was kind of just awake.  The contractions continued every ten minutes and were strong enough to wake me up once I finally fell asleep around 5.  I dozed in between contractions.  I let Kev sleep because I knew that at least one of us should be sleeping.  At about 6 a.m., I texted my doula (my friend Abbie) to get her opinion of whether I should keep Kevin home or send him on to work.  The last thing I wanted was to keep him home and have the contractions fizzle out as soon as I got up.  We decided Kev would be able to get home quickly enough if things progressed so he went to work while I tried to snooze a little more.
8 a.m. brought calls from the kiddos to wake up and get some breakfast.  I continued to notice contractions, but I wasn't timing them at this point because I was a little busy doing other things.  I called Abbie and we decided I would come over to make salt dough ornaments and then we'd go for a walk to see if that would speed things along.  I called my mom to let her know that I might be in labor and that I'd let her know if things kept up (later I found out that I forgot to call her back).  I kept moving around, got the kids ready, and took a shower.  If the contractions were going to stop, all of this change in activity should have done it.
I finally got to Abbie's around 11.  I talked to Kev during the drive and told him to stay at work because the contractions were still too far apart and not strong enough yet.  I noticed a few contractions about 5-7 minutes apart on the way over there and they continued.  I stayed walking around and started timing the contractions with a timer app and noticed they were soon becoming stronger and closer together.  However, I was still talking and smiling and even laughing a little during them so they weren't bad yet.  I wasn't ready to call Kev yet, but Abbie went ahead and called Mark (her hubby) and finally convinced me to go ahead and call Kev and it was a little after 12 p.m.  Here's how our conversation went:
Kev--Hello?
Me--Hey.  If you wanna come on home after you finish with this class, you can. :)
Kev--What? How far apart are the contractions?
Me--Well some of them are about 5 minutes apart, but...I guess a lot of them are 3ish minutes apart?
Kev--What?  I need to come home now!
Me--Okay.
Can you tell I was pretty nonchalant about it all?  I don't think I had fully accepted that I was in true labor and that Grady was definitely coming that day.
So the contractions are starting to get a little farther apart now that I'm sitting on the exercise ball instead of walking, but they're definitely getting stronger.  I'm still in a good mood through them though.  Now we're wondering whether or not I should drive home, so Kev meets me at Abbie's.  After he eats a quick sandwich, we decide that I'm fine to drive.  Halfway home, I have a pretty strong contraction.  Luckily we were coming to a stop and I had to wait to turn.  As I turned on to our street, I have another one so they're still in the 5 minute range.  Kev's parents are waiting for us when we get there since he called them when he left work.  We get the kids loaded up and sent off while I continue contractions.  They're getting a little stronger, but I'm not ready to go to the hospital yet.
Abbie gets to the house as the kids are leaving so we go inside and hang out.  She crochets while I get back to timing my contractions.  After a few more contractions, I'm ready to try a new position and I've stopped being able to really talk a lot during them.  After a few contractions on the floor and a crawl to the bathroom to pee, I'm ready to go to the hospital!
**Insert sigh of relief from Kevin at this point!

To be continued...