As you might have noticed, the pregnancy ticker that was on the front of my journal is now a birthday/age ticker for Gabriel. I even managed to find one with a bunny. Okay, now for those details I promised. To make this more manageable, this will come in installments on different days.

Friday evening right after posting and while I was playing around on Neopets I had a huge contraction. The kind where I knew labor was coming. People always say you'll know real labor when it starts, and those people are right. Damn that hurt. I called Rob and my Mom to let them know that there was a good chance labor was starting. But because I didn't need to be on my way to the hospital until I had contractions lasting one minute that came every five minutes for at least an hour I thought I had some time before having to run to the hospital. I was wrong. A few minutes after the big contraction I heard the dryer stop. I got up to go to it and my water broke... everywhere. My panties and pants were soaked. The amniotic fluid had also drenched my slippers and a good part of the floor. I didn't need the nitrazine papers Carmen had given me to know that this was my water breaking. I stood there dumbfounded for about a minute as I leaked all over the place and then ran into the bathroom and got on the toilet. I called Rob back to let him know my water broke. He was stuck on side streets in the rain in horrible Friday night traffic. I also paged Carmen (who had just gotten home from three other births in a row) and called some friends and family who wanted to know when I went into labor. Until Rob got home I stuffed a towel between my legs, finished up the laundry, and finished up the rest of the packing I needed to do at the last minute.

When Rob got home I put on some clothes and put a hand towel and a maxi pad into my panties and we headed down to his car. We covered the seat in a trash bag and another towel. Once your water breaks your body keeps making more amniotic fluid so you're pretty much leaking like a sieve until the placenta is out. In the car the contractions were lasting for over a minute and coming every four minutes. Not only was I in labor, I was also in back labor. For those who don't know, back labor is probably the most painful thing in the entire world. I've fractured my knee cap before and that was a walk in the park compared with the pain of back labor. Back labor while driving on the 101 and then down Vermont and 6th in LA is particularly bad because of the potholes. Needless to say, by the time we got to the hospital, I was in severe pain. I didn't think it could get any worse, but once again I was proven wrong.

When we got to the hospital, Rob checked me in and they put me in a room. Good Sam is super nice in that every room for labor and delivery and recovery are private. Soon after I got into the bed Carmen got there. Let me say right now that Carmen is a Goddess and there is no way I could have gone through this without her. I would highly recommend to every pregnant woman to find a doula they're comfortable with. After being set up on the bed I was examined. I was dilated to 4cm, the baby was still at -2 station, and there was maconium (yeah, I probably am spelling this wrong) in my amniotic fluid. This means that the baby was under severe stress and pooped himself inside of me. They stuck a hose like thing into my hoo-hoo to wash myself and Gabriel since he just kept on pooping. Because of the maconium I wasn't allowed a water labor. I had to stay in bed and remain hooked up to a contraction monitor and a monitor that made sure the baby was doing all right.

As the hours passed the back labor got worse and worse. I cannot even begin to describe the pain of being in hard labor and having back labor. And all the pain was for nothing. I wouldn't dilate any more than 4 and Gabriel wouldn't come any lower than -2 station. I couldn't stand the pain and Carmen recommended that an epidural might be a good idea at this point. Both for my pain and so that Gabriel might be able to move down. I took it. After six and a half hours of excruciating back labor I took the epidural and am so glad I did. While I hate being numb, sometimes it really is better than the pain. I have a really high pain tolerance and couldn't take the back labor. That should tell you something. Before I could receive the epidural they had to hook me up to an IV (one that would be in there for days). It took about an hour to get it working from the time I asked for it. And my back was hurting so bad (it wouldn't even let up between contractions) that I didn't feel the needle going into the spine.

Okay, I've been typing this for awhile now and have other things I need to do (and a newborn I don't want to be away from for too long even though my Mom and Rob are here as well). I'm going to stop the entry at this point and I'll pick up with what happened after the epidural when I next post.

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What Your Face Says

At first glance, people see you as warm and well-balanced. Overall, your true self is reserved and logical. With friends, you seem dramatic, lively, and quick to react. In love, you seem intelligent and a bit intimidating. In stressful situation, you seem like you're oblivious to the stress.

What Do People Think Of Your Face?