Almost 7 months have passed and I'm finally settled enough to recall Palmer's birth story.
About 3 weeks before my due date, what I had been telling myself about how there was no way I was going to succumb to a "false alarm" all fell to shambles. If there was one thing I was absolutely certain about during the pregnancy it was that I was NOT going to go to the hospital only to be sent right home. Only people who don't wait it out long enough do that. And CERTAINLY, this first timer knew when it would be go time.
And then I got served a hefty dose of humble pie.
It was almost quittin' time at work and I ran to take a last minute pee break that would hopefully last my bladder until I made it home. As I was peeing, everything that I had meticulously studied over the past 9 months about my water breaking happened. At least I was almost certain it had. The funny part is, that as I was having this pee break, in a bathroom stall at Western Carolina University, I was on the phone with my sister Emily the entire time. I proceeded to calmly tell her what just happened. Naturally, she freaked and I called Bryan. I told him what had happened and that I was going to call the nurse to see what the next step was. While I was waiting for a call back, Bry-guy was filling up the nearly empty gas tank, something I had been asking him to do frequently at this point. The nurse said to get our things together and come on in. And when I mention "come on in," I mean drive the 50 minutes to the hospital in Asheville. So, as I remained calm, Bryan's nerves kicked it into gear a little bit. We went home and, to accomplish another certainty that I wasn't backing out of, I took a nice long shower, washed my hair, shaved my legs and took my sweet time getting out the door. I felt absolutely fine, no contractions or labor pains whatsoever. I think deep down I knew that this was not really happening. It was all going too smoothly and painlessly. But, we followed the doc's orders and pulled into Mission Hospital around 8pm. After 3 hours of pacing around the small outpatient room and feasting on some Chick-Fil-A, my doctor sent my 0cm-self right out the door. And that's exactly how I would stay until the morning of my induction...almost a month later.
And then I got served a hefty dose of humble pie.
It was almost quittin' time at work and I ran to take a last minute pee break that would hopefully last my bladder until I made it home. As I was peeing, everything that I had meticulously studied over the past 9 months about my water breaking happened. At least I was almost certain it had. The funny part is, that as I was having this pee break, in a bathroom stall at Western Carolina University, I was on the phone with my sister Emily the entire time. I proceeded to calmly tell her what just happened. Naturally, she freaked and I called Bryan. I told him what had happened and that I was going to call the nurse to see what the next step was. While I was waiting for a call back, Bry-guy was filling up the nearly empty gas tank, something I had been asking him to do frequently at this point. The nurse said to get our things together and come on in. And when I mention "come on in," I mean drive the 50 minutes to the hospital in Asheville. So, as I remained calm, Bryan's nerves kicked it into gear a little bit. We went home and, to accomplish another certainty that I wasn't backing out of, I took a nice long shower, washed my hair, shaved my legs and took my sweet time getting out the door. I felt absolutely fine, no contractions or labor pains whatsoever. I think deep down I knew that this was not really happening. It was all going too smoothly and painlessly. But, we followed the doc's orders and pulled into Mission Hospital around 8pm. After 3 hours of pacing around the small outpatient room and feasting on some Chick-Fil-A, my doctor sent my 0cm-self right out the door. And that's exactly how I would stay until the morning of my induction...almost a month later.
Sometime during the week of January 18th, my original due date, Bryan and I went in for our 40 week appointment. Much to our dismay, there were no physical changes to my body that showed any sign of labor starting soon. No dilation, the doctor was still not able to feel her head, zero contractions....total bummer. So we were sent into the nurse's office to schedule an induction. Given 2 choices, we went with January 28th. I wasn't super excited that we would share our anniversary with Palmer's birthday but Bryan and the nurse seemed to like it so I just went with the flow. This appointment was on Thursday, January 23 but I left the office knowing that Baby Girl P had no plans of arriving before then. And I was right.
We were told to report to the hospital at 8pm on Monday the 27th. So Bryan and I relaxed and enjoyed our last weekend before parenthood. Monday came and we loaded up and drove to Asheville with a car seat in tow. Things still weren't sinking in for me. We went to our favorite Italian restaurant, Vinny's. I remember asking Bryan, "I wonder if they would give us our meal for free it they knew that we were heading straight to the hospital?" For some reason I didn't ask. The check came and then we were off. Before I knew it we were in the hospital parking lot and then my nerves stopped by for a visit. That's when it hit me, looking from my car window at the glass doors labeled "Labor and Delivery" that there was no going back. We braved the cold and made our way to our little room.
Little did I know that it was going to be an entire 24+ hours until we would meet Palmer. But in the meantime, Bry-guy kept a good video record of any updates that we got :) I wasn't really in the recording mood at the time but looking back I couldn't smile bigger while watching these. This first update came after I was hooked up and poked to death. You might remember that I am NOT a fan of needles. So naturally I was over the labor preparations by the time Bryan captured this gem.
Rough right? You would think that I had just delivered triplets or something. So, moving onward. Just as things were supposed to be moving right along, Palmer protested her arrival and kicked things into gear, causing me to have to wait for the first meds to get things going...
She eventually lost the battle with the Ambien and Bryan and I got our last "peaceful night's sleep." This next update will be the last before she arrives. Not because Bryan was busy helping me with the labor process but because literally all day went by without anything happening. Also, we only had 2 visitors due to the big snow storm that came. The snow stayed constant all day and through the night. Bryan's parents barely made it to town in time and some good work friends were able to come by 2 days later. Because of how bad it was my mom's car got iced into our driveway and not even she could make it. But Palmer was clearly nice and cozy and had no intention of coming out...
After 2 doses of Pitocin, things FINALLY started happening around 2pm. I was a full 2 cm dilated and when you compare this update to every update prior to this, I'm sure you can understand my excitement. The doctor came back around 4pm only to say that I hadn't made any progress and that they'd give me a little more time to see if anything happens before calling a C-Section. Again, I was totally bummed. So, when the doctor came for a final check, I wasn't mentally prepared to hear that I had dilated to 6cm. No C-Section for this momma! But patience is a virtue and Bryan and I had to hold tight until I was finally able to push around 10:30. Then, at 11:21 pm, over 24 hours after being admitted and 10 full days past my due date, we finally get to meet Palmer Caroline.
We were told to report to the hospital at 8pm on Monday the 27th. So Bryan and I relaxed and enjoyed our last weekend before parenthood. Monday came and we loaded up and drove to Asheville with a car seat in tow. Things still weren't sinking in for me. We went to our favorite Italian restaurant, Vinny's. I remember asking Bryan, "I wonder if they would give us our meal for free it they knew that we were heading straight to the hospital?" For some reason I didn't ask. The check came and then we were off. Before I knew it we were in the hospital parking lot and then my nerves stopped by for a visit. That's when it hit me, looking from my car window at the glass doors labeled "Labor and Delivery" that there was no going back. We braved the cold and made our way to our little room.
Little did I know that it was going to be an entire 24+ hours until we would meet Palmer. But in the meantime, Bry-guy kept a good video record of any updates that we got :) I wasn't really in the recording mood at the time but looking back I couldn't smile bigger while watching these. This first update came after I was hooked up and poked to death. You might remember that I am NOT a fan of needles. So naturally I was over the labor preparations by the time Bryan captured this gem.
Rough right? You would think that I had just delivered triplets or something. So, moving onward. Just as things were supposed to be moving right along, Palmer protested her arrival and kicked things into gear, causing me to have to wait for the first meds to get things going...
She eventually lost the battle with the Ambien and Bryan and I got our last "peaceful night's sleep." This next update will be the last before she arrives. Not because Bryan was busy helping me with the labor process but because literally all day went by without anything happening. Also, we only had 2 visitors due to the big snow storm that came. The snow stayed constant all day and through the night. Bryan's parents barely made it to town in time and some good work friends were able to come by 2 days later. Because of how bad it was my mom's car got iced into our driveway and not even she could make it. But Palmer was clearly nice and cozy and had no intention of coming out...
After 2 doses of Pitocin, things FINALLY started happening around 2pm. I was a full 2 cm dilated and when you compare this update to every update prior to this, I'm sure you can understand my excitement. The doctor came back around 4pm only to say that I hadn't made any progress and that they'd give me a little more time to see if anything happens before calling a C-Section. Again, I was totally bummed. So, when the doctor came for a final check, I wasn't mentally prepared to hear that I had dilated to 6cm. No C-Section for this momma! But patience is a virtue and Bryan and I had to hold tight until I was finally able to push around 10:30. Then, at 11:21 pm, over 24 hours after being admitted and 10 full days past my due date, we finally get to meet Palmer Caroline.
She might not have wanted to arrive when we wanted her to but she was worth the wait. She weighed in at 7lbs. 9oz. and was 21 inches long. Six months later she's 16.5 lbs and 24 inches long and has every ounce of our hearts!
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