But on Sunday morning I had just moved back into my bed from the couch. (For the last few months of this pregnancy I had such bad hip pain that I could only sleep 2 or 3 hours in my bed before I had to go sleep sitting up, reclined on the couch. But then my back would start hurting, so after 2 or 3 hours of that, I had would go back to my bed for the rest of the night.) So at about 4:45 am I rolled over in bed and felt a tiny gush of fluid. I had just gone to the bathroom, so I knew it wasn't pee. (I have always been terrified of having my water break outside the hospital. What if it broke on my couch, car, or bed? I would have to throw it away and get a new one because how do you clean that up?) Fortunately I had been wearing a pad since I was spotting from my exam a few days previous, so it didn't even make a mess!
So I got up and went into the bathroom. I had a very consistent drip, drip, drip coming out. But it was weird because it was fairly slow and not much fluid was coming out. So I woke Isaac up and told him I thought my water broke.
At 5 am I called my mom and asked her to come watch my kids so I could go to the hospital. My parents got to my house around 5:30 am and I got to the hospital around 6 am. Normally I'm scared of going into labor on my own because I progress so quickly, but when I was being induced with Aspen my OB broke my water to see if it stimulated labor and nothing happened. So I knew I didn't have to rush to the hospital immediately.
We walked into the labor and delivery area with a towel between my legs (I didn't want the big gush to get all over the car). I told the nurses that I thought my water broke. They asked how much liquid came out and I said just a tiny amount. They looked at me like I was one of those women who come in for false labor all the time and seemed annoyed they had to deal with me (Isaac said it was because their shift was about to end and they didn't want to have any more patients). So they stuck me in a triage room and made me wait a while (good thing nothing happens once my water breaks). A while later a nurse came in and asked about my water breaking. Again she seemed to think I was making it up and probably just peed my pants. She said (very annoyed) that she would have to stick a paper in the fluid to see if it turned blue. Then she would have to take a sample and check it under the microscope to verify it was really amniotic fluid. And she didn't act like she wanted to do all that. So she checked me and said (surprised this time), "you're dilated to a 6". And as soon as she pulled her hand out the big gush came. Then she was all happy because she didn't have to do any of those tests and could pass me off to the real labor and delivery staff.
So they sent me to another room and got me started on antibiotics. I tested positive for group B Strep, so they wanted to have me receive an antibiotic for 4 hours before delivery, if possible. Some of the nurses were worried I wouldn't make it that long because of how far progressed I was. So I got the IV and just started to wait. I honestly don't remember too much of the wait, but Isaac said, "I guess we should decide on a name..."
Around noon my 4 hours of antibiotic were up, so they called the anesthesiologist in to give me the epidural. It hurt really bad when he stuck the needle in, but then it was good. I could still move quite a bit. The nurse then started the pitocin and said she'd be back in 30 minutes. I said, "and then I'll be ready to start pushing." She laughed like I was joking. The nurses never believe me when I tell them that I go fast. A little less than half an hour later she came back and asked how I was doing. I said I was having regular contractions and ready to start pushing. She laugh and then checked me. I was crowning, so she got serious and was surprised that I was serious. She told me that my OB wasn't available and the on call doctor would have to deliver. And said not to do anything for 15 minutes until the doctor could get there. (Like I can control that.)
After a few minutes my contractions were pretty strong and I was starting to worry the doctor might not make it. So I was just telling Isaac that he might need to glove up and get ready to catch the baby when the doctor came in. Dr. Craycroft was the on call doctor. I had never met her before, but she was really nice. She got ready quickly and I started pushing. In between contractions she and the nurse commented that Isaac and I were really calm and relaxed through this process. I told her I was just excited to not be pregnant anymore. Hazel's head was turned the wrong way, so at one point the doctor rotated her so she came out correctly.
About 45 minutes after starting the pitocin, Hazel was born. Hazel Gwen Lloyd was born at 12:45 pm and was 8 lbs 9 oz. We were relieved to finally know the baby's gender definitely. The incorrect determination at the beginning had us unsure the entire time. Hazel's nose was a little squished from being smashed the wrong way for so long. On of the nurses kept laughing and saying "she looks so grumpy". But she was a beautiful little girl. I was so relieved that she was born on August 18th. She has her very own special day and doesn't have to share with me or Jane. But we have a busy few days of birthdays in our family. Hazel was born 10 days early and was a little too big for her gestational age, so they had to check her blood sugar every 2 hours to make sure she wasn't diabetic or something.
Later that day my parents brought Sophie, Aspen, and Luke to the hospital to meet their baby sister. At about the same time, Hannah and Gabe, and Jamie, Kevin, and Jason, and Barry and Karla showed up. So it was really crowded in my hospital room. I was super hungry and tired so when they all left Isaac took the older kids home and I had some alone time with Hazel.
She was such a good baby. She slept really well and didn't even seem to be very hungry. Around 10 pm that night the nurse came in to give Hazel her first bath. I love once they finally clean all the birth yuckiness off of them. Then we tried to go to sleep. It's impossible to get any rest in the hospital. Before the birth I thought I would stay the 2 days to get a "break", but that first night was terrible. I was bleeding more heavily than they liked, so they were checking on me more frequently. And they were still checking Hazel's blood every 2 hours. So it seemed like someone was in my room every 30 minutes to an hour. At one point Hazel started sneezing over and over. She got pretty stuffed up and a nurse had to come suction her out so she could breathe.
By morning I was ready to go home. They brought me breakfast of a nasty cheesy omelet, which was not what I requested on my meal form the day before. And that about did me in. I called Isaac and said I was ready to go home (it was my birthday). But it took him and the kids a few hours to get ready to come back to the hospital. So Isaac showed up for our celebratory couples lunch (of the tiniest steaks I have every seen), and then we packed up and went home. (And the other kids were like caged animals having to wait in my hospital room for a few hours before they would discharge me.)
It was so nice to be home. Hazel and I immediately went up to my room and took a little nap. Later that night Isaac got Cafe Rio for my birthday and a few neighbors came to meet Hazel.
Hazel was the sweetest little baby and I was so ready to begin taking care of her out of my belly.
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