Birth Story Part 1: No room at the hospital

So last I left you, I had just gone to bed on a Wednesday night and I was desperate to get labor started.

I woke up just before 2am, and something felt different. I always wondered how I'd know I was in labor, and what people say is true- You Just Know.  While still in bed- I downloaded an app to start tracking my contractions.

I think I spent about 30 minutes in bed tracking contractions- little cramps, every 7-10minutes.

Finally, I had to get up.

Since I had heard that the first stages of labor take so long, I decided to let Mr. Spice sleep.  I knew that as soon as I woke him up, he'd start to panic and be going full throttle.

So I waddled into the living room; put on some mind numbing TV; and spent three hours on the couch tracking my contractions. What I didn't expect- by 4:30am my contractions were coming pretty quick- between 4 to 6 minutes apart. I knew that at 5 minutes apart, I should head to the hospital. My contractions were also starting to get painful enough that I couldn't sit quietly in our living room any more.

I set a goal to get to 5am before I woke Mr. Spice up. I don't know why- but for some reason, that sounded reasonable to me. At 4:55am, I couldn't take it any longer. I woke Mr. Spice up and told him that not only was I in labor, but I was pretty sure it was time to go to the hospital.

After some shock, surprise, and a bit of panic, Mr. Spice called the hospital to let them know that we were on the way. They asked the typical questions, including:

Was this our first baby? Yes. And:

How far apart were my contractions?? Since I had just woken him up- he didn't really know and said 4 to 7 minutes apart.

Well, we got an answer that we really weren't expecting: Labor and Delivery were full!! They couldn't have me come in because there would be no room!!

Holy Crap!!

The nurse told Mr. Spice that we needed to wait until my contractions were 'more consistent' and that I should get in the shower and call back in an hour.

Talk about a memorable shower- I spent at least 45 minutes sitting in our shower- yelling out expletives every 3 to 5 minutes.  I have no idea what our neighbors heard, but I was LOUD and full of four letter words.

In between contractions, I apologized to Mr. Spice for my horrid language and directed him to grab the last minute things we needed to pack for the hospital- like our cell phone chargers. I also shouted at him from the bath tub to change out of his ripped pants with the wine stains. Yes, in the middle of labor, I told my husband what to wear to the hospital.

Finally, at 6am, Mr. Spice called the nurse back and told her that we were on our way. My contractions were already 4 minutes apart and I was a hot mess.

At this point, Mr. Spice asked if I wanted to walk the 5 blocks to the hospital. Holy Hell. That was funny before I was in labor. It was 6am, raining and my contractions were right on top of each other- Hell No.

Right around 6:30, we made it to the third floor of the hospital and were put in the waiting room.

Where we waited for 45 minutes.

Those were the  WORST 45 minutes. The room was HOT. I was sweating and having contractions about every 3.5 minutes apart.

Little did we know that the Nurse's were in the middle of a shift change and 3 babies were in the process of being delivered. URG. I could have hurt someone.

At one point a nurse walked by and told Mr. Spice to use his thumb to put pressure on the middle of my forehead. Ahhh. This little gesture really worked, and ended up being the only thing that felt good while I was in active labor.

Finally at around 7:15, I was directed into the triage room to see how far along I was. Again, this took quite awhile. I was full on shouting four letter words during my contractions at this point and I was more than ready for an epidural. I was NOT going to make it without drugs. 

The nurse checking me in jokingly said- I am going to go ahead and say that you are at a pain level of 10. I was not about to contradict her.

In the mist of checking me in- a couple strolled into the triage room for their scheduled c-section. I was barely dressed and shouting expletives at the top of my lungs. I couldn't believe they brought someone else into the room.  A second nurse came in and asked who she should check first??

Seriously?? The women shouting in pain or the lady just chilling?? Luckily, she checked me first. And I have to say- she wasn't gentle. I was almost fully effaced and only 3 cm.

Crap- I had a long way to go.....