On Wednesday evening I started having fairly regular contractions. It was similar timing to how I went into labor with Wilson so I kind of figured it was happening. We had already laid the kiddos down so I walked around for a bit while we timed some contractions. After about an hour or so they slowed down so I tried to go get some sleep. I would fall asleep and wake up to a contraction and this happened throughout the night. I would have a few good ones per hour. As morning started to come I was kind of bummed because I felt like I missed it for some reason. I know that sounds silly but it was like, "Oh man, now it will be another week before I go into labor." Daniel had taken a couple of days off so it was so nice that he was home on Thursday. We dropped the kiddos off at The Playroom and headed to the gym. I walked on the treadmill for 20 minutes and then we headed to the pool. The pool felt so good. It took some of the pressure off of my body. After that we called Daniel's dad and asked if he wanted to meet us for lunch, which he's always ready to do. So we went to Champs and I got a "french dip" sandwich. Daniel kept calling it the "last supper." I was not as hopeful. During lunch I did have a couple pretty strong contractions. After lunch we picked up the kids and headed home. After we had laid them down for a nap I started having some pretty strong and regular contractions. I told Daniel if he had anything else he wanted to throw in our bag this might be the time to do it. Daniel called his mom to see if she would come stay with the kids while we ran up to the hospital to see if it was the "real deal." Daniel kept assuring me that it was for real, while I kept trying to tell myself that we may get sent home. He told me he had "seen that look before" on my face and that it was time to go! We went into Lillian's room to tell her what we were doing and she was so excited. It was quite precious.
We hopped in the car and took the short drive east up Woodmen Rd. I told Daniel to park and not drop me off because I wanted to walk and then we both had a good laugh about how people would probably give him dirty looks because he didn't drop me off. We went up to labor and delivery and I signed some paperwork at 2:18pm. We went into our little triage room and waited for about 20-30 minutes. During this time I felt a little nervous that I would be sent home. Once the nurse checked me she said I was 6cm dilated but that baby was still a little "high." She asked if I would want an epidural and I said yes but lets wait a bit since he was still high I didn't want to get confined to the bed and have labor slow down. She said that Dr. Weary was in his office until 5pm so hopefully he could come over and check on me before he leaves. We let our family and friends know that Wakley was on his way. We walked over to our room and got situated. We got into our room a little bit after 3pm.
After we got to our room we met our delightful nurse Nicole. After we got in there I let Daniel and Nicole know that I wanted to walk around. We walked some laps and had some good laughs along the way. We came back to our room and rested for a bit and then I asked Nicole if we knew if Dr. Weary was going to be able to come down and check on me. I wanted to know where I was at in the process so we could get the epidural planned and just so I could kind of know what to expect. Nicole said she would call Dr. Weary. She came back after a few minutes and let me know that Dr. Weary said to go ahead and check me. Daniel's sisters and mom left the room during this time. When she checked me her eyes got really big and kept saying things like "no" and "you can't be." I told Daniel later that I started to wonder if she was going to say that I had regressed or something. Then she said that I might be "complete" but she continued with, "how are you still smiling?" and "you are being so nice to be so far along!" She said I was at least 8cm. She decided to call in her supervisor and she checked me and said I was 9cm. I kind of got a little nervous now because I had planned on an epidural. I think at this point I even hollered out "call the epidural" and both nurses kind of chuckled. I was kind of joking--but not really. Nicole called Dr. Weary and he said he would be over in 5 minutes. While we waited for Dr. Weary I called my mom and asked her what I should do--try to get the epidural and see if it works or just go unmedicated?
Dr. Weary walked in at 4:46. He asked me what I wanted to do. My water was still intact and he let me know that as soon as he broke my water Wakley would be ready to come out. So he said if I wanted to get an epidural I better do it quick but he also let me know that it may not do any good. He explained to me that he is an "epidural guy" and he encourages people to get epidurals, but he said I had done all the hard work and that I was totally managing my pain. During our conversation I had a contraction (I just go really quiet and close my eyes). After the contraction passed he asked if that was a contraction and I said yes. He said "Oh Lisa, you've got this. You can totally do this." That was all I needed to hear. Once he said that I said, "Ok, lets get this done." He broke my water and soon after that we started pushing. He said to Daniel, "You're going to deliver him, right?" Daniel said sure and asked for gloves. (When he delivered Wilson he was in total scrub gear with protective glasses, clothes, etc). Dr. Weary explained to Daniel that he didn't have time. Dr. Weary was in his plain clothes with just a cloth over his shirt and gloves. I had told Daniel that since I was going unmedicated that I didn't think I wanted anyone in the room but right before he got ready to deliver Wakley I told him to grab the family. So Dave, Becky, Christine and Jessica all joined us. (Dave is always the quiet praying machine hiding behind the curtain. He's 3 for 3 on our deliveries!)
At 5:06 our precious son Wakley Daniel Grothe was born. He weighed 8lbs and was 21inches long. Everything went perfectly. It was not how we planned, but I wouldn't change a thing.
