I am so thankful and joyful that God answered our prayers by taking me to full term with no preeclampsia, and bringing baby Samuel into the world healthy and robust and ready to nurse!

So, here is how everything went:

At 9 pm Monday night, I started having contractions that were about 10 minutes apart. I wasn't sure that I was actually in labor. But as the contractions got a little bit stronger and closer together, we decided it was better to be safe and go on to the hospital, even if they sent me back home. We left for the hospital at 10:11 pm. We were taken back to a room around 10:45 pm, and after giving the nurse some vital info, she checked me at about 11 pm and found I was 3.5 cm and 80% effaced. This was progress since my last OB appointment, but we couldn't know if my contractions that evening had caused it or if it had happened slowly over the last few days. So, they planned to come back at midnight to check me again and see if I was progressing before officially admitting me.

At midnight I was 4 cm, so they called my OB with the expectation that she would admit me. They asked if I wanted an epidural, so they could get her authorization for that as well. In the hour since I had been taken back to the room, my contractions had gone from a slight cramping to searing pain requiring all my energy. I had already decided I wanted the epidural as soon as possible, and the intensity of the contractions only underlined that decision. I was officially admitted and the epidural ordered around 12:30 am, and my nurse and the anesthesiologist's assistant began to set me up with an IV and ask all the questions necessary before giving an epidural. The anesthesiologist got to the room around 1:15 am and was finished by 1:30 am. I was so, so relieved. My nurse checked me again, and I was 5 cm - I seemed to be gaining about a cm per hour. My water broke when she checked me, and I asked if she needed to check again because of that, and she said it wouldn't immediately make any difference. Heath and I tried to settle in for some rest before it was time for delivery.

We were so grateful that our nurse took our concerns seriously about me having a tendency for very fast labors, and she stayed in the room through my entire labor. She sat right next to my bed and watched our vitals while she entered information into the computer. We were having a hard time getting the sensors to stay on my belly in order to pick up the heartbeat and contractions, so she was continually adjusting the heartbeat monitor. Around 2 am, the baby's heartbeat slowed way down, and then we lost it completely. The nurse jumped up to readjust the monitor, and she quickly found the heartbeat again, which was still much slower than normal. She told us it was okay, that he was just getting squeezed by the contractions. But she had to move the monitor down low to pick up the heartbeat, so she checked my dilation again. She said, "Well that explains it! You're completely dilated!" I had gone from 5-10 cm in 30 minutes.

She called the other nurses in to help, and in a flurry they prepared the room for delivery. They called my OB right away, but knowing it usually takes her 30 minutes to get to the hospital, they also contacted the resident OB with the expectation that she would actually deliver the baby. I was pretty much ready to deliver, and if not for the epidural I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to resist the urge to push. The resident OB was in the middle of a c-section, so we waited for my OB to get there. The nurses watched for any signs of distress with the baby, which might have necessitated delivering before my OB arrived. My OB arrived around 2:30 am, I pushed 3 times, and his head was delivered. The doctor eased out his shoulders and body, and they placed him on my stomach while they rubbed him down with a towel. He looked at me with his bright eyes as he startled from being moved around so quickly. I spoke to him, and he reached out both arms for me, like "Ah, there's that familiar voice! She'll get me away from these rough people." Heath cut the umbilical cord after it stopped pulsating. Unfortunately, Samuel wasn't taking his first breath like he should, so they had to move him from my tummy to the warmer to suction his lungs and make sure he was breathing well. The warmer was right next to me, so I was still able to watch as they cared for him. After making sure he was breathing well and getting a diaper on him, they let me hold and feed him.

He was born knowing how to breastfeed! I was so amazed. He was wide awake and couldn't get enough of sucking. He was a model for how a newborn is "supposed to" react when you offer them the breast. He wanted to suck constantly for the first few hours of his life. Ethan had feeding difficulties, probably due to being born early, so I had been praying for this baby to be able to nurse.

I was very pleased with the entire experience. It was amazing to go into labor on my own, to know that it was just the right time for Samuel to be born. Before I got the epidural, I was able to walk around during contractions, drink water or juice, and use the bathroom when I needed to. That was so much better than already being hooked to an IV, internal fetal monitor, blood pressure cuff, and baby heartbeat monitor at the very beginning of labor, and made to stay in bed lying on my left side.

I was very happy with my medical staff, except for one uncomfortable encounter before I was actually admitted. (Heath and I kept asking the nurse when she was going to check my dilation while she was asking me questions, and she got irritated with us. We were just nervous about the baby being born suddenly like Ethan.) The nurses were helpful, sensitive, and seemed very qualified. They were attentive to our preferences, like letting the cord finish pulsating, putting the baby on my tummy right after being born, doing all the newborn procedures in our presence, and using a local anesthetic for the circumcision.

The facility was also very nice. I had previously thought it was pretty equal to the birthing suites at GC hospital (except GC's are newer), but I have now decided the Birthcare Center is superior solely because of the whirlpool tubs in each room. I also think the rooms are more spacious than GC's, and the fold-out bed for Dad is a double. However, the bed in our room was broken, so that didn't do much for us.