She entered into our world on a winter’s day. Friday, December 10, 2010, at 2:02 p.m. in St. Clair Hospital, Pa. to be exact. I always thought I’d give birth in the early hours of the morning. It never occurred to me she’d arrive in the middle of the afternoon. This would be my first lesson of motherhood – expect the unexpected because the marvels of life this wonderful new creature will bring to me is more than I ever could have imagined.
But let’s rewind 48 hours earlier. I was working at my job, trying to wrap-up loose ends with my co-workers since I anticipated to only be in the office for a few more days before her arrival. Keith was in New York City on a business trip. Yes, that’s correct. He was flippin’ in NYC two weeks before my due date! Needless to say I was slightly nervous. I had countless of conversations where I looked down at my belly and gave Nugget strict instructions not to make her grand entrance until Keith safely landed in Pittsburgh.
Keith’s plane was delayed – of course – and he didn’t make it home until after 10 p.m. on Wednesday night. I was already in bed trying to stay awake. The funny thing is that he probably hadn’t been home for more than a couple of hours before I started to get an unusual feeling in my belly. Are these contractions I wondered? Keith had a look of concern – and exhaustion since he didn’t get much sleep during his first trip to NYC – but the tension I was feeling slowly subsided and we both drifted back to sleep.
Thursday morning arrived and I decided to work from home since I was still feeling “not right.” Keith went into the office and I spent most of the day on the phone working on projects with co-workers. A slight cramping in my stomach would come and go throughout the day, but nothing I was overly concerned about. In between my conference calls I did manage to cook a nice pasta dish for dinner that night (I’m an overachiever).
When Keith came home we had a nice meal on the island of our new kitchen. However, that darn cramping in my stomach was starting to get stronger. I left Keith in the kitchen to clean up the dishes so I could rest on the sofa in our family room for the remainder of the evening…an OSU Men’s Basketball game playing on the TV in the background.
Little did I know I’d get no rest that evening. I spend 11 p.m. – 1 a.m. walking around our bedroom, trying to remember to breathe as the contractions became more frequent. Eventually I was experiencing contractions every 5 minutes and we both knew it was “go time!” I called the doctor’s office and left a voicemail message on the Emergency Line. Within minutes Dr. Rankin called me back and said it sounded like I needed to go to the hospital.
So Keith quickly packed our bags in the car, let Walter out and made sure he had fresh water before we got in the car and drove to the hospital. Fortunately, Pittsburgh wasn’t experiencing a snow storm at the time and the roads were clear. Whew! It was just cold and dark outside with that sharp crisp air that nips at your nose.
We walked into the Emergency Room around 2 a.m. to check-in and I was quickly plopped into a wheel chair as we made our way up in the elevator to the 5th floor Family Birth Center. Being the “Type A” couple that we are, Keith and I already had a fairly good idea of what to expect next. A month prior we had taken an 8-hour labor and deliver class at the hospital and during the hospital tour they mentioned that once we arrived we’d be taken to a side room for an examination before being moved into a delivery room. So imagine my surprise when I was wheeled right into a delivery room with three nurses waiting to take my blood, change my clothes, ask questions and get me situated in the bed – all at the same time!
My nervous anticipation quickly changed to panic. Oh God! I’m really going to have a baby! I guess I had this small thought in the back of my mind that a nurse would examine me and tell me to go home because I wasn’t really in labor. Nothing like a few IVs in your arm to make that thought quickly disappear.
I was only 2 or 3 cm dilated so the nurse gave me medicine to relax my contractions and instructed both of us to get some rest. I tried to take the advice and Keith opted to open his laptop and get a few things done for work – yes, he’s crazy.
By 6 a.m. I was ready for my epidural. I was never under the delusion that I would have Nugget naturally. It’s times like these where it’s okay to view drugs as your new best friend. Unfortunately, I had to wait until Dr. Rankin arrived to examine me and break my water. I was told he’d be there by 7 a.m. Yeah right! It was more like 8 a.m. and I was ready to claw someone’s eyes out to make the pain stop. I guess I don’t have a high pain tolerance after all.
Finally feeling happy and ready to enjoy the experience of labor (if that is possible), I was given good news by both the doctor and nurses that examined me. Nugget’s head was super low and they imagined she’d arrive well before noon. Hallelujah! That was music to my ears. I wanted an easy and quick delivery and it appeared I was going to be granted my wish….yeah right!
Noon arrived and still no Nugget. My nurse Sherry decided maybe I should start pushing. With a little encouragement from Sherry and my sweet husband, I pushed as hard as I could. Half hour went by. Nothing. Another half hour went by. Nothing. Another half hour went by. Nothing!
I was starting to stress that maybe I wouldn’t be able to do this. Tears were welling up in my eyes when Dr. Warner (he had taken over the deliver shift from Dr. Rankin) finally arrived and decided I might need some assistance with getting her out. I won’t go into all the painful details from the last half hour of my labor – it turned into a posterior position delivery. (Yes, Nugget arrived “sunny side up!”). All I will say is that Keith was an amazing support! I know I was frightened and if he was frightened, he never showed it to me.
In the end, all that matters is that I had her snuggled up in my arms moments later. Ten fingers, ten toes, healthy, happy and all mine. What a miracle. What a blessing. What an overwhelming feeling of love.
I’m very thankful for Dr. Warner and the nurses who took such wonderful care of us!
And yes, she definitely looked like a Peyton Bailey Meckstroth. All 6 lbs 8 oz and 19 inches of her! So here begins her journey. I’m so thankful I get to be a part of it.