I know it's a little late, and wanted to post this sooner, but, I have a newborn now and free time is hard to come by! Here is Aubrey's birth story (some may be a little too much information, but it's her birth story.)
Saturday August 4th, I was out shopping with my sister. I used the restroom while at Academy and lost my mucus plug. I had read that after you lose it, it can take another couple of weeks to go into labor, so I didn't think much of it. I was only just past 36 weeks. I texted Kenny who of course wanted me to get checked out (he's a worrier), but I told him it was fine. On Sunday I was feeling a little crampy, but nothing too bad. I figured it was nothing. I took a nap that afternoon. I work up at 2:30 and was even more crampy, and my pajama pants were just a little wet. I was still losing my mucus plug, and on top of that I was having some bleeding. I wasn't sure if my water was leaking or if it was from the mucus plug. I called the on call doctor and he didn't think I was in labor because I was only cramping, not contracting. He said to come in if contractions were 5 minutes apart. Very soon after that the cramping got worse. Kenny started timing them and at that point the were 10-15 minutes apart. I still didn't think I was in labor. It was just too early. I called my mom and sister who wanted to come over right away. I told them not to because I was still not sure I was in labor. By around 10:00 that night they had gotten to be 5 minutes apart. We started grabbing our bags (which we had just finished packing that day!) and grabbing a few last minute things. I finally looked and Kenny and said "Babe, I think I'm in labor!". We headed to the hospital. By this time the contractions were getting really strong and it was hard for me to even talk through them. The didn't admit me right away because I was still early, so I had to go to early labor evaluation for monitoring me. They were going to monitor me for 2 hours. When we got there I was dilated 3 cm. After an hour of really tough contractions she rechecked and I was at 4. She called the doctor and they admitted me. She asked if I wanted an epidural. I was planning to go natural, and still think I could have, but I started to get scared so I said yes. By the time I got in the room and got the fluids I needed before I could get the epidural I was at 6cm. The anesthesiologist came and administered the epidural. I knew it wasn't working. I could still feel my contractions and my catheter was hurting me. I knew I shouldn't be feeling that. She called the anesthesiologist back in. He said he could take it out, and re do it, but couldn't guarantee a better result. I said no, I'll just deal. He put another kind of medicine in and that helped my contractions a lot. Soon after all of that the dr came in. I said my water did break, but not all the way, so he broke it the rest of the way. At this point they realized the baby had already had her first poop in the birth canal. This could have been very dangerous is she had inhaled it into her lungs. At that point they called the NICU nurses and told them to be on stand by. They would have to come to the room when she was born to suction her lungs and make sure she was ok. I was finally at 10 and we started pushing. After only 3 or 4 times pushing with the nurse she was ready to come out. She called the doctor and NICU nurses and everyone came in the room. I pushed with the doctor for just a few contractions. My epidural still wasn't working and I was in a lot of pain and ready for her to come. Finally at 5:52 ( a little over 13 hours of labor!) August 6th, Aubrey Claire Hogan made her entrance into the world, 6 pounds 6 ouncues, 18 inches long. I can't even explain that moment. She was perfect. Because of the meconium in the birth canal we weren't able to hold her right away. The nurses took her and suctioned her. Nothing had go into her lungs and she was perfectly healthy. I was still unable to hold her due to some tearing during the delivery so while the doctor was still working on my Kenny held her and brought her over so I could see her. She was so beautiful! It was a little over an hour before I finally got to hold her. When I did I was able to nurse her for the first time. It was a moment I'll never ever forget. WELCOME TO THE WORLD AUBREY! YOU ARE SO VERY LOVED!
