Lilah Elizabeth Taliaferro ~ Part 2

I left my last post with this comment... "

And it's a good thing it didn't matter in the end because labor and delivery certainly did not work out exactly how I had it planned in my head..."

Do you ever get the feeling the Lord laughs at you and your crazy plans? Because I'm pretty sure I might have been a pretty good source of laughter for Him over the course of the days leading up to Lilah Bear's arrival :)

Monday, after having my membranes stripped, there was some serious cramping going on. But I didn't think anything about it. Why? Because my doctor told me that I would cramp and bleed...all perfectly normal. So I went to bed thinking well, we will see what happens. I'm sure it will all stop. I mean my goodness...how many weeks did I contract consistently for several hours and then have them stop just as suddenly as they started?!

Little did I know. Around 2:00 Tuesday morning I woke up in pain. A. LOT. OF. PAIN! And it wasn't getting better. Showers, baths, positions...the pain in my back was not letting up. Eventually Kevin called James and Jaime to let them know this was probably "it". He finished packing the bags and was ready to head out.  However, I wasn't going to go until we called the on-call doctor to make sure we needed to head to the hospital. It was not a trip I wanted to waste. And certainly didn't want to jump the gun unnecessarily. But I did sort of expect her to say that yes, this is labor...or at least the beginning of it. Nope! Needless to say, her answer was not quite what I expected. She basically told me that the back pain I was experiencing didn't count as labor. Um...ok. Eventually I fell asleep for about an hour around 5:45. I woke up and we went about our morning routine. All the while me feeling like poop. At 8:30 I called my doctor's nurse and asked what to do...do I come in and get checked or should I just go complete my pre-op for Thursday as originally planned? She suggested that I go ahead and head to the hospital to do pre-op, and then, if the contractions were consistent I could just walk over to the doctor's office and get checked.

However, at this point, I was absolutely certain I had no idea what labor felt like. I had been wrong so many times before. I mean after the night I had endured and still this wasn't "it" according to the on call doctor?! So clearly, since I was a "labor idiot" I was convinced we'd be home after lunch. In fact, I was so convinced that I wasn't even going to bring our bags, the camera or anything else we had prepared for delivery day. And to add to that, I didn't even take my 40 week belly pic before we left the house. Oh, I thought about it! But since I just knew we'd be home again in a few hours, I just wanted to get going and be done so I could come home and sleep. Heck, I was even prepared to just drive myself and handle pre-op alone so Kevin could stay home and work. Thankfully, Kevin insisted he come with me and that we bring the bags "just in case". Somewhat haphazardly I threw all my last minute stuff in a completely random bag. The very things I had literally just pulled out of the bags Kevin had packed earlier that morning.

Well, let's just say that the contractions were very consistent the entire trip. So consistent Kevin had talked to my mom a couple of times to keep her informed. So consistent my Contraction Tracker app was definitely being put to good use. So consistent I spent more of the trip breathing through the pain than actually even being aware of the drive. But stubborn me, after all that "work" to attempt to send myself into labor, I was STILL convinced this was just another false labor situation and there wasn't anything to worry about. Besides, no one else on the medical side seemed concerned.

So we arrive. And when we walk in the door, the security guard says, "Does she need a wheelchair?" We politely decline and just let him know we are just going to do pre-op. I noticed he gave me a funny look and so I jokingly ask Kevin, "Man, do I look THAT bad?" And my sweet husband, says "Yes". I'd like to say I had a witty comment or something, but I just didn't. I just said "Ok. Good to know." We get to the elevator and I am so confused about what is going on. People are telling us to go to labor and delivery and I keep asking Kevin "Why?" I don't understand. I just want to do pre-op and go home people. Please just tell me where to go and what I need to do! PLEASE!!! God bless my sweet husband. He must know I'm out of it because he just keeps leading us where we need to go and politely answering people's questions. And then we FINALLY get to the nurses' station who are supposed to get our pre-op started.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The sad part is that this is probably all a mere ten minute period of time. However, it seemed like an hour to me. But then the sweet nurse who first sees us says, "Honey, you are in pain. Are you ok?" And I say "Yes mam. Just here to do pre-op." She has the same funny look as the security guard but this time a little more concerned. She begins the questions...Contractions? How far apart? Bloody show? I respond appropriately and tell her we've already called the doctor's office and they said to come do pre-op. Kevin proceeds to tell a shortened version of our night and morning. And then the words I had been waiting to here for so long..."Sweetie, you are in labor. We are admitting you."

But do you think it sets in? Nope. I just do what people tell me to. They take us to the same room we were in with Sophia. Except it's a pre-op room. Then they realize we are a potential VBAC and move us to an actual delivery room. The whole time I keep asking Kevin why we are doing this. I just want to do pre-op and go home. Little did I know it was going to be several days before we went home!

Our sweet nurse Jenny was shocked that we were told back pain didn't count because it apparently really does. Especially considering little Miss Lilah was "sunny side-up". Once I was all set-up and had come to the realization that I really was in labor, I sent the necessary text messages and prepared to HAVE A BABY!!!!!!

My sweet Lilah Bear was coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!