The timing of Callie’s birth couldn’t have been more perfect. On Friday night, August 28th, I started having contractions while sitting on the couch watching t.v. with the hubby. They were nothing to crazy, about 10 minutes apart, but pretty consistent. I decided to go to bed to see if I could fall alseep since they weren’t too strong, and sure enough, I fell asleep and the contractions stopped. The next day was the day we were supposed to go see my dad in the hospital (he was admitted that Thursday) and I am so grateful that my contractions stopped so I could see him. The hospital was in Virginia so we didn’t get home until late in the evening. Sure enough.. contractions started again around 10pm, but this time they were closer together and a little stronger than the night before. Again, I tried to go to bed around midnight, but was unable to fall asleep because each time another contraction came they were strong enough to wake me up. I decided to get up and take a shower (best decision ever!) and if they were still about 5 minutes apart, lasting close to a minute, and getting stronger, I decided I would call the doctor. Around 2am I made the call and the doctor gave me permission to come in! I woke Cam up telling him it was time to go in and I was pretty sure this was it and so we set our plan in motion! Everything was already packed for the hospital so we were out the door pretty quick. I tried not to get my hopes up in case the contractions stopped or it wasn’t real labor. Although walking out of our condo I had to stop at one point since the contraction took my breath away so I was feeling pretty confident this was there real deal!
We checked into the hospital and they checked my cervix and I was 4 cm dilated! Yay! They were going to keep me. August 30th was the day!
The next hours were pretty slow. We waited to call our family since we knew they would want to come right away and it was so early in the morning and we knew we still had some time. Contractions were still consistent and slowly getting stronger, but nothing unmanagable.
At around 5 or 6am they checked me again, but I was stalling at 4 cm. The doctor on call decided he wanted to break my water and start pitocin to speed things up since I had stalled at 4 cm. Of course I asked how fast things were going to progress after that because I knew I was going to want an epidural, but I was trying to wait as long as I could to get it. They said it would still take some time so in came the nurses. Just a whole lot of pressure and a little pop. Then I leaked for days. It just felt like I was peeing myself for a really long time. At one point the doctor tried to dilate my cerivx himself.. basically sticking his hand way up there and attempting to stretch my cervix with his hand.. that was not cool! So painful and unnecessary. Fortunately my doctor came in for the 7am shift.
Once 7am came things started to move quickly. Once I reached around 7 cm I asked for the epidural. I could still breath through contractions but it was getting pretty darn painful. Getting the epidural was a bit painful as well, as the doctor had a hard time getting the needle in the right place. Instead of yelling in pain (that’s not really my style) I started singing! It was the best pain management strategy ever. Pretty sure I was singing something along the lines of “this is really painful now do-da, do-da” to the tune of Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah. Pretty hilarious. Once it was in the pain was more manageable. After I got it, I still felt the contractions but I was much more comfortable. I could still feel my legs so it didn’t affect my ability to push. I continued to dialate and around 10am my brother-in-laws and sister-in-law came in to say hi. We were chatting for a couple minutes when all the sudden I told them they had to leave because I got the sudden urge to push! Like holy cow here comes this baby and I can’t stop it. Sure enough they checked my cervix and I was 10cm! They called my doctor to change (she was totally in her casual clothes since it was a Sunday) and started prepping for birth. I started pushing with just the nurse and my husband holding each leg. Cameron was surprised he was asked to hold a leg.. he figured he would just be rubbing my hair telling me how great of a job I was doing.. boy was he wrong! He was front and center! I sort of surprised the nurse with how efficient my pushing was! She said everything was great and to just keep up exactly what I was doing. I think she assumed I would take more time pushing since I was a first time mom but I was in the zone! I was getting this thang out as quickly as possible! Right before baby’s head was about to pop out they had to roll me over on my side and give me oxygen because the baby’s heart rate started to drop. That was a little scary. We sat out one contraction while baby regained her strength and then we started going at it again. As soon as the doctor came in we were rolling! They had to quickly prepare the table in between a contraction since the doctor didn’t show up until Callie’s head was about to pop out. A couple more contractions and her head popped out and then after a couple more contractions, the rest of her body was out! I pushed for about 35 minutes total. Cam was able to cut the umbilical cord, which sprayed blood ALL over the room! We are talking the ceiling, the wall, MY FACE, everywhere! Way to go babe. I had no idea I had blood on my face until Cam came at me with a wet paper towel to clean me off. Callie got weighed and checked and then we were able to do skin to skin for about 30 minutes 🙂 She nursed for the first time during that time and it was glorious. Nothing too crazy emotional, just sweet sweet moments with our new family of 3!
Neither Cam nor I cried.. but our hearts were flooded with joy and thankfulness. The name Callie Jane means “the most beautiful gift from God” and she most definitely is just that.
We stayed in the hospital for 2 more days and then went home on Tuesday. I really loved my experience at GBMC, and even delivery all together. I was surprised by how manageable the pain was and how I was able to get in the zone and just do it! I am such a baby so that was definitely not my own strength. I prayed through the whole labor and asked for God’s stength to give it everything I had.. He definitely delivered. For those who are wondering.. no my dad was not able to meet Callie girl before he passed.. just a couple days shy. Why?!.. we don’t know. It’s not really our business. What I do know is Cam and I serve a God who is good and righteous and has a plan that works for the good of those who love Him. And that simple truth is what we find peace and comfort in. We also know that Callie was given to us during this time to be the light. She is a constant reminder of the truth that we know and the unconditional love God has for us. It’s our hope and prayer that one day they will meet and in the mean time we will be sure to share plenty of stories of Grandpa Woods with our sweet Callie girl. <3
We love you Callie Jane! <3
One Comment
Kira! This is so amazing, your little Callie is so beautiful and so is your little family. This post made me cry at the end. I truly admire your attitude during such an exciting, but equally hard time in your life. I will continue to pray for you and your family, but stay strong in your faith and remember everyone who is supporting you right now.