The next day after my false alarm (Monday, May 7), I woke up and my Braxton Hicks were still feeling like mild mensy cramps. I went about my day, business as usual. After dropping my husband off at work, I met up with my friends, Ariel and Vanessa, at the mall. As we walked through the mall (which is a pathetic excuse for a mall if I'm being honest) I had to stop every now and then to get through a contraction. Then Ariel and I went to pick up her friend's son from school since his mom was at the airport about to go to California for the week. I picked up a SNAP application since I need a little extra help with groceries since we only have one source of income now. Then we went to visit Ariel's friend at the airport since her flight had been delayed for two hours. Contractions were still hurting. When we got done, we went back to Ariel's house for dinner. We munched on hamburgers and jalepeno flavored Pringle's. Yum. Contractions felt much worse by this point. Went over to Vanessa's house for a bit (she's pregnant too). Back at Ariel's house I noticed that I was holding my breath and clenching up during contractions.
At 10pm she was headed to bed and I still had an hour left till my husband was off work so I thought I would go sit in the parking lot for an hour. I talked on the phone with my half-sister, whom I've finally found after being separated from her my entire life. My contractions were really hurting and I had a full bladder so I drove to Walmart to go pee. When David got off work, I really don't know how I made the five minute drive home. I did everything I had done the night before, took a bath for a half hour and relaxed for a half hour. David timed my contractions: they were four minutes apart on average. He was practically begging me to call, but I wasn't positive. I didn't want to drive all the way to Whitefish to be sent back home again. My friend Alicia called me wanting to talk for a bit. She offered to give me a ride to the hospital if I needed it later.
I finally gave in to my husband's plea and called my midwife. This time she didn't leave the decision up to me, she made me go. I called my mom who wasn't able to give me a ride right away, but luckily, Alicia was still able to give me that ride. She packed up her children and came to get us. We got checked in around 1am on May 8.
After a couple hours of monitoring and the nurses noticing my pain, they had me get in the Jacuzzi bathtub to help me relax, and boy did it help. Finally my mom made it to the hospital, and so did my dad. My mom helped me in and out of the tub every time I had to pee and she even refilled the tub for me as it got cold. My mom arrived around 3 or 4 am, I had been admitted by the time she got there. Even more surprising, my best friend, Tiffany, showed up despite the distance that had been between us for 9 months. Alicia had to go home, her oldest had school in the morning and was refusing to try to sleep at the hospital.
My mom held my hand and comforted me all night while David got some rest. I labored out of the tub for a few hours cause the contractions were making the water move slightly which was making me sea sick. I labored in bed for a bit and then on a yoga ball and then back in bed until I was9cm dilated. That's when they broke my water and had me get back in the tub. Normally they would've had me in a birthing pool but they hadnt had a chance to clean it yet since another mother had a baby that night. Water births are getting more popular I do believe.
After 20 minutes of pushing (and good Lord did it hurt) I finally had my baby boy in my arms.William Seamus Ayers was born at 11:34am on Tuesday, May 8, 2012. He weighed 6lbs and 13.9oz and measured 18.5in long. He has light brown hair and blue eyes. I am so happy to have him.
All of the heartburn, morning sickness, anxiety, depression, restless legs, hormonal rages, lack of sleep from frequent peeing and more heartburn was completely worth it. I'm so happy to be someone's mom.
