Friday, May 25th...another day closer to my due date, another day that I was sure I would remain pregnant. :) Little did I know the events that would take place later that day!!
We had some friends over for a yummy pancake breakfast that morning. They stayed and visited and let the kids play till almost lunch time. It was a wonderful, relaxing Friday morning. I had already arranged with some other friends to babysit their 5 year old for them at 12. Around 2pm, I was getting some laundry out of the dryer to fold when I felt a small gush of fluid. The amount was not concerning and for those of you that have been pregnant more than once know that gushes of fluid don't always mean amniotic fluid. :) But the force in which it came out made it almost a definite for me that it was my water starting to break. I was having ZERO pain at all and actually spent the next hour or so doing squats trying to either have more water come out or an increase in pain. :) It, of course, did nothing but made my legs sore and after Joshua left at 3, I called the doctor. They said I needed to come in just to be checked out if nothing else.
We waited for Megan to wake up from her nap, got the house in perfect order, the laundry was finished, the kitchen spotless, the kids pjs laid out by their beds, toys picked up...and then took the kids down to Jay and Nancy's, our faithful babysitters, for the evening. It just so happened that my mom had taken all of her packed bags to work that day so that she was 30 minutes closer to us when we called to let her know we were headed in to the hospital. We got to the hospital around 5:15. The nurse checked me and said that I was 4-5 cm (which I had been already) and about 50% effaced. I hadn't been effaced at all at my doctor's appointments earlier that week, so to me, I had progressed! They had me walk for an hour and in that hour they wanted me to keep track of every braxton hick contraction, every bit of tailbone pain, pretty much anything that would resemble me in labor. During that hour, though nothing could be considered painful, I had 20 different "contractions." With my history of a precipitous labor with Megan, they figured they should go ahead and keep me. The nurse agreed with me that it seemed like my water was leaking and then explained that it sounded like I was probably going to go straight into transition after a "quiet active labor" stage. It made sense to me and sounded like just what had happened with Megan's labor. They started my IV (completely worthless) to start me on preventative antibiotics and then sent me walking again. With a 6'5" husband to walk with, we didn't exactly walk slow. About 45 minutes into the second walk, I was starting to notice the contractions a little bit more. I started getting too nervous to be away from the room in case things did happen quickly and so we settled into our room, probably around 7:30 or so. The doctor asked if I would be willing to let her break my water to see if it helped speed things up a bit to which I agreed but was so scared. I knew that the contractions would come on hard and fast and I knew that within minutes of her breaking my water, it would all be almost unbearable. Unfortunately, I was right in all of my fears. She broke my water at 8:30pm. I immediately got in the tub to labor which was SOOO nice but along with that, the contractions were INTENSE! And, right on top of each other. I remember screaming from almost the first one or two contractions that I couldn't do it anymore. I would stare at that worthless IV in my hand knowing that I could be given drugs to alleviate some of the pain. I rocked through contractions in the water and literally and audibly begged God to help me through it. I also remember feeling sorry for the neighbors in the room next door...Tim was sooo good and loved me through it all. He stroked my hair, whispered softly in my ear that I could do it and that I was doing a good job. Before I had started contractions, I told the nurse that even though I was normally a nice person, I would become loud and mean when I was in bad pain. I told her about how I yelled at Tim when I was in labor with Megan not to touch my belly. She told us that usually when someone was at that point, where touching the belly at all would bring pain, that it was near time to deliver. With Megan, I was still at home at that point...
After about 30 minutes in the water, The nurse wanted to check the baby's heart tones, which, of course, involved her touching my belly. I remember yelling, "is the baby alright?!" to which she responded, "she sounds perfect" to which then I said "Then stop touching my belly!!" I remembered what the nurse had said earlier and the nurse did too to which she strapped on a glove and checked me and I was 9cm! I had progressed 4-5 cm in 30 minutes!
After a VERY short break in contractions, I got out of the tub, by choice, and back to the bed to deliver. With Megan delivering so rapidly, I wanted the doctor to be able to control the delivery as much as possible to help prevent any trauma to the baby, and of course, to help prevent as much tearing as possible to me. I must say, the doctor, who was the doctor on call for my regular physician, was amazing. She helped me control my pushing and just went above and beyond the "doctor duty" of delivering my baby. She helped me put my gown back on to give me some decency after being in the tub, she helped do some of the dirty work after delivery and was just downright awesome. I had never liked her prior to delivering on Friday and actually even made a face at Tim when we found out it was her on call. But I was definitely impressed with her delivering abilities and am so thankful for her help to bring Morgan in to the world!
So, to the bed I went and was preparing for pushing, all the while screaming that I couldn't do it. The pain was just too much. My legs were shaking uncontrollably, I had no strength to even hold them up by myself. I literally had my eyes closed the whole time and was just trying to survive. Or, so I felt. With the doctor giving me instructions on what to do, Tim stroking my hair, one weirdo nurse telling me to basically become one with my body, the one thing that my favorite nurse ever, Betsy, said that truly was what I focused on the whole time while pushing was "Shannon, she has lots of hair!" It was like saying those simple words helped me to stop focusing on what I was experiencing and instead focus on the beautiful girl I was moments away from holding in my arms.
After 36 minutes of intense labor, Morgan Alysia Schramm was born!
I repeated probably a hundred times, "Morgan, you are so beautiful!" and was again overwhelmed with adrenaline and a rush of love for my baby girl. Its those first few moments that make every ounce of pain worth it.
Even after only 4 days, I would do it again in a heart beat. I remember looking up at Tim and seeing him smile and feeling him gently kiss my forehead...those first moments are priceless to me. I remember stroking and kissing Morgan's head and admiring that beautiful hair of hers. I remember crying the most happy tears...and I remember being so thankful for God's hand in orchestrating the perfect labor and delivery experience I had hoped and prayed for.
8lb 11oz 20 3/4 inches long
There is certainly no denying how God really did work out even the most minor details in the perfect way. I had feared delivering so quickly that we wouldn't make it to the hospital in time. God allowed for my water to leak just enough to give me confidence that "it was time." God allowed for my Mom to be able to have her things ready to go that day and was even able to get her required things done at work before coming for a week stay at our house. She was there in time to put the kids to sleep in their own beds only a short time after their normal bed time, that way, it was the least traumatic on the kids as possible. God even allowed us to have the same nurse, Betsy, that delivered Megan be the one that delivered Morgan. She knew my history and literally never left my side. She knew just what to say when to say it and was just so encouraging to me. God even allowed little things that we now look back at and are thankful for, like the fact that Tim and I walked into the hospital hand in hand, excited about what was about to happen instead of scared and dramatic like Megan's birth. He gave us over two hours together where we talked and walked, hand in hand, before Morgan was born.
Those of you who have children know that walking hand and hand with your spouse is many times a forgotten past time. We laughed and joked as we walked up and down stairs, exploring different areas of the hospital. That certainly didn't happen with either Tyler or Megan's labors! God was so good to us! He allowed me to be able to labor in the water, which had been part of my birth plan with all three kids that had never happened before. God certainly knew what He was doing and knew just what I was able to handle. 36 minutes is not much time but I truly believe was all I could physically do. Though I hate using the words "easy labor and delivery" together, I have to admit that of at least all three of my labors and deliveries, this was certainly the easiest.
Though I am terribly sore from the squats, speed walking, and stairs that were done BEFORE delivery, I have very little pain from delivery itself. I didn't tear at all, which I believe is a God thing in itself given that Morgan was my biggest baby. My bones are sore, back, pelvis, hips, etc, but certainly nothing unbearable. Though God doesn't always answer our prayers the way we feel they should be answered, we are so thankful that He choose to bless us with this labor and delivery experience, just as we had prayed.
We are blessed beyond measure with our little Morgan and are so excited to see what all God has in store for her little life.
