Adventures with Annabelle Rose: Real Labor (Yes, for real this time!)

The morning of October 24^th I found myself at Panera having breakfast and making plans for one last afternoon of Christmas movie watching. I headed home, threw some lunch in the microwave and popped in Elf (love that movie!). By the time I got to the raccoon hugging scene (really early in the movie) the whirlwind of Annabelle’s birth started. Honestly, it went so fast I hardly had time to process everything. Here is the approximate timeline:

12:30 p.m. I texted my friend Julie who is a nurse and told her I thought my water might have broken but I felt so silly calling my OB twice in the same day to ask if I should get checked out. Julie encouraged me to call them.

12:45 p.m. Despite feeling somewhat dumb, I called the office to ask if I should come in. The nurse said they had a 2:30 spot and I should definitely come in to get checked and make sure I was doing ok. At this point I called Robbie to let him know there was no rush but if he wanted to finish up his patients and come home to take me to my appointment. He said he would take off in the next few minutes (I was so nonchalant he even stopped at the coffee cart before heading home to get a cookie!!)

1:00 p.m. I decided to hop in the shower while I waited. Two minutes into my shower I realized what a huge mistake that was! My water definitely broke and contractions went from nothing to 1 ½ to 2 minutes apart immediately.

1:05 p.m. I hop out of the shower and attempt to blow dry my hair but have to stop every other minute because of the pain.

1:15 p.m. Rob arrives home to find me on the floor of the bathroom throwing up. His first words are, “I’ll go put our bags in the car…”.

1:25 p.m. We leave for the hospital. Rob thinks I am ridiculous because I am doing my make up in the car, stopping every other minute to whimper through a contraction…LOL J

1:45 p.m. We arrive at the clinic and get put in a patient room to see the doctor. I promptly throw up all over myself and Rob has to give me his shirt. When my doctor arrives she takes one look at me and says, “Girl, you are definitely in labor!” She finds I am 7 cm dilated and sends me to the ER to get checked in to the maternity ward.

2:00 p.m. Arrive at the ER where they ask a series of ridiculous questions (Do you have a living will? Advanced directives? What is your address? Etc. etc.). I was not amused since I had “pre-registered” and naively thought this meant I wouldn’t have to answer questions and sign things while in pain. The nurse looked at Robbie and said, “They lose their sense of humor about now.” I just glared at her and said “I just want my epidural”. I asked Rob, “What happens if I can’t get an epidural?!? Rob’s response was, “You’ll just have to do it without one.” This made for one unhappy wife…someone really needs to tell him there are times in life when honesty is NOT the best policy!

2:15 p.m. We are put into our labor and delivery room where I find out (much to my dismay) that I have to have a bag of fluids, a blood draw and lab work returned before I can get an epidural.

3:00 p.m. Blessed relief! My epidural is finally administered. I am 8 cm dilated. Our friend Chris stops by to join in the fun of delivery and hangs out with us as we wait for me to finish dilating.

5:30 p.m. Final check and I am fully dilated. They get the baby station ready and call my doctor before I get to push.

6:00 p.m. My doctor arrives and says, “I thought you said she just started to push??” She almost missed the delivery and had to rush to get into her gown and booties.

6:10 p.m. After less than 30 minutes of pushing, Annabelle Rose Tanzer was born!! 8 lbs. 14 oz. and 21 inches long J She is a beautiful, healthy baby girl with brown hair and blue eyes.