Around 4:30am we called the hospital to see if we should come in. My contractions were only a few minutes apart at that point, but only lasting 30-45 seconds. They told us to wait until they were lasting a minute or so. When they got to be 2ish minutes apart we decided, beep it, let's just go in (even though they weren't consistently a minute long).
We got to the hospital around 5:30am and they checked me in. I was only dilated to a 2. I had been dilated to a 1 ever since week 36 of my pregnancy, so that was a little disappointing. They got me on monitors and said they would check me again in an hour. If I had progressed at least to a 3, they would keep me at the hospital. If not, they send you away to labor at home. I wanted nothing more than to stay at the hospital and have that baby, but when the hour was up I had only progressed half a cm and they sent me home. I was a little grouchy about it because the nurse kind of seemed like she was on the fence about discharging or keeping us. She said we would probably have the baby today but she needed to send us home still. The upside was they gave me a shot of morphine for the pain! They told me if I wasn't in official active labor that the morphine may settle the contractions down. It did and I was able to take little naps between the contractions. I didn't really want to sleep because I knew if I was able to sleep I probably wasn't in active labor.
As the day went on I needed a distraction so I started to work on some things around the house. By mid afternoon the contractions started to pick up again. This time I was feeling them in my back. They started to get more and more debilitating and gradually closer together. The nurse at the hospital told us the "411 rule" for when to come back. Having contractions every 4 minutes, lasting at least a minute long, and have this going on for at least an hour. This was one of the worst parts of the whole experience. There isn't much anyone can do while you're laboring and having contractions. You're kind of on your own! Luckily, Austin was there to rub my back and support me when needed. Around 4, he had to take a phone call and told me to come get him if we needed to go to the hospital. During his phone call, the contractions got pretty bad. I was on all fours just trying to keep it together haha. An hour or so later I found myself in the hallway laying down and crying during contractions. I knew my body, and felt like it was time. We decided to head back to the hospital... They were 2 minutes apart and lasting almost a minute each.
The drive to the hospital took 30 minutes because at that point it was rush hour. Greaaaaat timing. Once we got to the hospital I was a dang mess. They got me all checked in, checked me - dilated to a 4.5/5! Wahoo! They said they would keep me. Thank my lucky stars... Haha. I was asking for my epidural and they said it was coming right up. But first, I needed to get my IV in. It took 5 jabs up and down my arms and hands, lots of blood squirts, and 45 minutes to get it in. Talk about frustrating! For me and the nurses. My contractions were like 1 minute apart at this point. Once they FINALLY got it in the anesthesiologist came in to give me the epidural. I was nervous for that for a number of reasons: the possible complications, the pain of putting it in, the possibility of it not working, etc. But it barely hurt at all and kicked in within 10 minutes. Finally! Relief! At that point it was 6:30/7pm and we were so excited about our little girl arriving hopefully that day. The doctor came in to see me at some point in all of this and I honestly can't remember if he broke my water before or after I got the epidural. After I got it though, we turned on the TV and tried to distract ourselves for the next few hours while I progressed. We wanted to have the baby that day because the date was 8/4/16. 8/5/16 just didn't sound as cool. I kept watching the clock and began to doubt it would happen that evening. The epidural numbed my lower half completely and gave me the shakes pretty bad. I really didn't like how it made me feel but it was way better than the contractions.
Finally, at 11:25pm I was dilated to a 10 and it was pushing time!! I felt pretty exhausted and even voiced to the nurse how worried I was about not being able to push. She basically told me I'd get a kick of adrenaline and I didn't have a choice at this point haha. (I think it was a huge blessing the pushing part was relatively easy for me. It was a lot easier than I imagined. I could still tell when I was having a contraction but it wasn't painful at all.) The nurse told the doctor we were about to push and he said to proceed without him. It was just Austin, the nurse, and me pushing for about 15 minutes or so when the nurse said, "I can see her head! She's got lots of dark hair!" That got me pumped. I told the nurse again how I wanted to have the baby that day - mind you it was 11:40ish at that point. Chances were slim since the average first time mom pushes for 1-3 hours. YIKES. I was not having that. Neither was Vienna. Come 11:50 the nurse stopped me and grabbed the doctor, Vienna was coming. When the doctor came in he said I was going to need an episiotomy. I wasn't thrilled about it but at some point in the next few minutes he made the cut and I didn't even notice. Once again, I voiced how much I wanted her to come that day (Haha 10 minutes to go and counting). The doctor and nurse were not convinced. They underestimated me though.
After over 24 hours of labor, at 11:58pm Vienna Brin Cornilles was born! 2 minutes to spare! *fist pump* The doctor was a little surprised I got her out that fast especially because she was posterior. Hence the back labor... I got to hold her right away and Austin was a freaking champ, cutting the cord and all. She had a major cone head but in that moment the world stopped. We couldn't believe it! She was finally here. 6 lbs 8oz and 18 inches of pure perfection. We are completely smitten... and being the first grandchild on both sides, she is going to be one spoiled little girl. We love you Baby V!
