Greenberg Baby

On the morning of September 3rd I woke up (in our hotel) not feeling quite right. I went to the bathroom and my mucus plug fell out. We hurried to pack up all of our things and hurried home. We call our parents and they decided to start their trek out to Arizona, hoping this wasn't a false alarm. We got home and unpacked all of our things. I had lots of energy, did tons of laundry and wanted to run errands and get moving. So Eric and I went to the mall. Eric worked and I walked and walked and walked. I started feeling a little crampy so we came home. But I still did not want to rest. We finished up a few things around the house and went to the airport to pick up my mom. We went to dinner at Pei Wei and was feeling stronger cramps but I was still thinking I was fine. We got home and I made lunch for my mom and I. She was going to come to work with me and hang out. We settled in, our first night in our home in about a week, and went to bed. I kept waking up and was not so comfortable. I finally woke Eric up and said something is just not right. We were googling every symptom I had and some people said go to the hospital and other said not. So we got up and showered and took our time. This could be it. We woke my mom up and we left for the hospital around 3am. We got checked in quickly and went to triage room 1. There was a nurse in there waiting for us and got me hooked up to all the monitors. She said "your about 4cm dialiated. You'll be having this baby today." I stayed in the room a little bit longer and then I got up and walked around the lobby for an hour. I was feeling great. Went back into the room for a check up and Jacob was not happy with all the changes going on. He was facing backwards and not handling the contractions well. So I wasn't allowed to get up anymore. I was going to have to wait it out. The contractions were getting longer and stronger. I was coping with it by biting the gown. The whole time I was in labor I kept thinking this is nothing like I thought. Nothing like the movies make it out to be. I stayed calm and Eric was a great coach, assuring me everything was going to be ok. Around 7am they moved me into the Labor and Delivery room. I was 7 cm dialiated and things were moving along as planned. I had to stay on my side to make sure Jacob's heart rate was staying steady. Then I was faced with a tough choice. To get an epidural or not? I didn't want to but if Jacob didn't cooroperate and I needed a c-section, it would be best to get one. So I gave in and got one. Again, it wasn't as bad as a I thought and within minutes I couldn't feel a thing. I was laying there bored. Yes, bored and feeling like it was uneventful because I couldn't feel anything. Our amazing nurse assured me everything was progressing as planned. They were calling Doctor #4 (since my doctor was enjoying his vacation on his houseboat, the doctor on call had surgery and the next doctor was assisting so they called the fourth one, Dr. Donnally). She was watching my contractions from the computer in the office and was going to show up just in time. They broke my water around 10am and said he should be out in the next hour or so. Once again, the movies make it so dramatic when your water breaks, mine was just a little splash. There goes carrying around a towel and extra clothes in my car for the past few weeks "just in case" my water broke and it made a mess. I just hang out and let things happen. Eric's mom made it to the hospital just in time, around 10:30am. Glad she took the early flight, although we assured her it wasn't necessary but she should make her own decision. Around 11:00 the doctor came and things were going to happen quickly. She walked in wearing a nice skirt and dress. Not what I imagined a doctor to be wearing. After a while she put on her scrubs and had me push. Since I couldn't feel anything, I didn't know how hard I was pushing or what was happening. It was kind of neat to be able to see everything that was happening in the reflection of her glasses. All I remember seeing was this head full of dark hair and thinking, yes he is my son. He's got mommy's hair. One and a half more sets of pushes and the baby was being pulled out. I remember looking at Eric and seeing had the biggest smile on his face. They pulled him out and placed him on my chest. It was the most amazing feeling. I counted all his fingers and toes and inspected every inch of his body. It was perfect!! Jacob Gabriel Greenberg born at 11:34am, 6 pounds .8 ounces, 19.75 inches