This isn't written very well (one handed while I hold Daphne), and I'll probably come back and work on when I have more time, but I know I need to get this down before I forget!
I should start off by saying we had a really busy few weeks leading up to Daphne's birth. We went to Disneyland a couple times, Matt had a bunch of dog trainings and a title he was preparing for with Belle, his work schedule changed again, and Jack was in Soccer
My pregnancy with Daphne was hard. I threw up a LOT, and pretty much throughout the whole pregnancy. As much as I wanted the pregnancy to be over a little early, I knew it had to be sometime after the 14th because of all we had going on.
Saturday the 14th rolled around and it was the first Saturday Matt had been home in a long time, like months! I had a checklist of things I wanted to get done. We worked in the yard, I waxed my armpits (very important before birth), and we ran a lot of errands, on the way home (around dinner time) from the last errand I told Matt "we can have the baby now."
That evening, after Jack was in bed, around 9 pm I started having contractions. They were about 20 minutes apart so I figured I still had a long while if this was real labor... I had been having a lot of contractions here and there since about 34 weeks.
I tried going to bed around 10:30 but was having a hard time getting comfortable, so around 11 when my contractions were about 10 minutes apart I decided to take a shower. After my shower they had sped up to 6-7 minutes apart. I know a lot of people would head to the hospital by now, but with Jack when my contractions were 3-4 minutes apart I was only dilated to 4cm and still had 6 hours of labor, so I really thought I had a long way to go still.
I laid down just before midnight and listened to my hypnobabies soundtracks. I didn't study hypnobabies religiously throughout the pregnancy, but I listened to the soundtracks and repeated my birth affirmations as often as I could, mostly as a relaxation technique, but it's hard to find the time to do that kind of thing when you're chasing a toddler around!
I ended up falling asleep listening to hypnobabies. I slept for about 45 minutes, and when I woke up my contractions were getting stronger and were about 3 minutes apart. Again, I still thought I had more than a few hours of labor to go. I paced the house and bounced on the birthing ball for about 15 minutes and then my contractions were so strong I knew it was time to go the hospital.
Although I had been preparing for a natural birth my whole pregnancy, all the sudden I felt like I wanted an epidural. I couldn't handle the pain of the contractions any longer and wanted to get an epidural ASAP.
Just before 1:00 AM I woke Matt up (who had fallen asleep in Jack's room) and we hurried and put everything in the car. I contemplated what to do with Jack. My mom was supposed to fly in the day before my due date, but we planned on Jack going my friend's house if the baby came early, but that night just happened to be her husband's Marine Corps Ball. I also had another friend as a back up plan but I was worried that because it was the middle of the night she might not answer the phone and I didn't want to wait around for her to get back to me so we decided just to bring him with us.
We were out of the house by 1:05. It usually takes about 25-30 minutes to get to the hospital. All the sudden my contractions were coming faster and I remember telling Matt "I really just want an epidural, I really want an epidural!"
Luckily the route to the hospital is pretty much just a straight shot on the CA-5, and because it was 1 AM there was no traffic. Matt was flying--- going around 90 MPH (Sorry mom) and about halfway there, my contractions were suddenly 1 minute apart. Jack was awake in the backseat and I tried really hard to keep my cool, but I couldn't take the pain anymore, and reclined the seat and took my seat belt off and turned around so I could be on my hands and knees to relieve the pressure.
"No Mikelle! Buckle up right now. We need to be safe!" Matt kept saying over and over again while I started screaming during my contractions... absurd things like "I'm going to die! I am literally going to die right now! Drive faster! It better not be too late for an epidural! I'm going to die if I don't get an epidural!" (I knew it was too late at that point.)
"You're Wonder Woman Mom? You not going to die, Mom." Jack kept saying as I faced him from the front seat. That sweet boy kept telling me I was Wonder Woman, he's going through a superhero phase right now.
"I can feel her head! She's crowning!" I screamed. I felt the strong urge to push but tried my hardest not to. "We need to say a prayer."
We finally pulled up to the hospital, and I seemed to be having no relief between contractions. I wasn't exactly sure where to go because we had never done the hospital visit, but my Doctor had told me the general area to go. When we pulled up to what I thought was the entrance my heart dropped. There was scaffolding by the entrance and the doors were covered in plastic. "No! No! No!" I said and dropped to my knees dramatically. Matt ran up to the door and read the sign pasted on it "It says to go to the west side! Hurry get in the car!"
I was having another contraction. On my hands and knees on the ground of the parking lot. "I can't get in the car!" I told Matt. Luckily Matt took matters into his own hands and picked up from the ground and pretty much shoved me back into the car. He whipped around the hospital parking lot to the west side, and all we could see was the entrance for the ER. "I have to get out of the car right now" so he pulled up to the ER and I hopped out.
The rest happened so fast, I can barely remember it, but I walked into the ER and screamed "I'm in labor!" at the attendant working. Matt ran back outside to park the car and get Jack.
"Okay we will get you to L&D. How far apart are your contractions?"
"Like every minute." And all the sudden I was having another one. I heard her page L&D, and all the sudden the urge to push came over me and I felt my water break. I hurried into a small hallway off the side of the ER and pulled down my pants, which were a mess.
"No! No! Don't do that!" I heard the attendant say and then I could hear her paging L&D again and telling them my water broke. But I just ignored her because I was having another contraction. I got down on my hands and knees again and pushed and looked down between my legs because I honestly didn't know if I was going to see a baby or a poop, and I saw a little baby head sticking out, her eyes were closed and she was covered in blood (sorry, so graphic).
"I need someone to catch this baby!" Another contraction was coming and I knew this baby was coming out. The attendant then knew it was serious and came running in, and pulled a curtain behind her so the other people in the ER couldn't see what was going on. I pushed again and the baby was out!
I turned around to look and saw the attendant holding Daphne and telling me everything was okay, and that I had a beautiful baby girl. I couldn't believe I just delivered Daphne and Matt wasn't even there, all my emotions overcame me and of course I started crying.
The midwives and nurses showed up and got me up onto a gurney and delivered the placenta which was worse than actually birthing Daphne. I was so glad that in the whirlwind of the delivery in the ER they listened to me and respected my wish to have delayed cord clamping. The small hallway was very crowded but Matt and Jack made their way in and I think Matt is still in disbelief that I pushed the baby out so fast, he says he was gone for maybe 2 minutes.
I feel so blessed that we made it to the hospital on time and that I was able to have an amazing delivery considering the circumstances. I didn't tear, and recovery this time has been so easy and smooth. We love being a family of 4 now (5 if you count the dog, which Matt does) and we are so lucky to have such a sweet little girl in our family! I definitely know that if I have another baby, to go to the hospital much sooner!
