We had plans to do something with Joe's parents that day, so I suggested going to the zoo. I was motivated to walk this baby out, and that is exactly what I did. We walked at the zoo all day, my contractions continued to pick up, and by 4:00 pm that evening they were coming ever 5 minutes, and they were lasting 1 minute, and it had been at least an hour. Exactly when they tell you to go to the hospital, so I was pumped. We cooked out at our apartment that evening, I had a big steak, some sweet potatoes, and veggies, and I just knew this was my last meal before his arrival.
We packed up the bags, documented our journey with selfies, grabbed the yoga ball, and left the house to head to the hospital around 9:00 pm. We got to triage, I was only 2.5 cm dilated, so they informed me that they would have me walk for an hour and then we would see from there whether I was ready to be admitted or not. I walked for an hour, my contractions were still coming very consistently and the pain was picking up. I just knew I had to be at like a 5 or 6 by now, so we made the trek back down the hallway, into the room, and I patiently waited to be checked.
My contractions were now coming every 3-4 minutes and lasting 90 seconds. A good sign I thought. They checked my dilation and nicely told me that I was a "barely 3". Great. So I could either stay in the hospital, walk the halls and see if I progressed, or I could go home. I chose to go home. My mom was already on her way from Arkansas since the nurse was convinced I would be back in just a few short hours.
We came home, I attempted to lay down and watch TV only to be jolted awake every 3-4 minutes for a contraction. My mom arrived around 6:00 am and after making some very rational comments about Eli only having animal siblings, I figured it was probably time to go. We left the house by 7:00 am, and I was so excited because this is exactly how I envisioned this happening. I wanted to go into labor in the morning, stop by Chick-fil-a for some chicken minis as my last meal and then head up to the hospital. Wrong. Chick-fil-a is closed on Sunday, so I settled for a granola bar. This trek out the door was not as smooth as the first. No elevator selfies. No slow drives. No calm husband. He was convinced I was going to have this baby in the car so he went 90 mph to the hospital.
We arrive at the hospital, again, and this time I was ready to refuse if they decided to send me home. Fortunately, I was dilated to a 5 so I was there for the stay. They moved us to our private room, I immediately got into the bathtub, and between there, walking the halls, bouncing on the yoga ball, and rocking in the rocking chair, that is where I spent the next 8 hours. My dilation was super slow. After two nights of practically zero sleep, 10 hours of contractions coming every 2-3 minutes and getting very intense, and only being dilated to a 7, at 4:30 pm, I caved and got an epidural. As soon as I got it, I was able to turn on my iPad and catch some zzz's. I finally started progressing and at 8:30 pm I was dilated to an 8, woo hoo. Finally I had some progress. The nurse said she would be back in at 9:30 to check me again. At this point I had woken up from my nap and was comfortable so I was ready for visitors again. I asked Joe to go get my sister and he went to the vending machine to get a drink and snack. As soon as she walked in the door, at 8:45, I told her she had to get the nurse. I just knew it was time to push. She got the nurse who checked me again and was shocked that I was dilated to a 10. From here everything went so fast.
Joe came back in the room, him, Chels, and the nurse helped me with some practice pushes, and then the nurse told me I needed to breath through the next few pushes while they called the doctor. The doctor walked in, 3-4 pushes later, and Eli Kyle was born at 9:44 pm on April 19, 2015. 7 pounds, 6 ounces, and 21.75 inches of perfect. As soon as he was born I forgot all the pain and was ready to do it all again.
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