Hunter’s Birth Story

The Appointment:

• A week before, around the 6th, I (Teresa) was having false labor. It lasted a couple of days then disappeared. So when I started having contractions again on the night of the 14th I didn’t really pay much attention to them. I had a doctor appointment the next day at noon (Wednesday the 15th). I left Mercedez with a friend, but Ryan came with me. I was dilated to a 3. At my previous appointment I was only at a 1 and really hadn’t expected to be anything more. Dr. Kirkman asked if I wanted him to strip my membranes, I said yes. He told me that it could speed things up a little, but it could also still be another week. You never know.
• I took Ryan back to work then ran to the grocery store. A friend of mine suggested taking candy to the hospital for the nurses (it was a fabulous idea and everyone was very appreciative.) I was having stronger contractions by the time I got to my friend’s to pick up Mercedez, but still didn’t think much of it. I didn’t want to get my hopes up.

Packing:

• We got home around 2:00 and I decided that I should start packing a bag for the hospital so I’d have something ready. Around 3:30 I called Ryan and left a message on his cell phone. My contractions were about 7 minutes apart, but still getting stronger. I told him that I just wanted to give him a heads up and that I’d keep him posted. He called about a 20 minutes later and asked if he could go play golf. I didn’t really know what was going to happen with the labor, and didn’t want him to have to come home just to sit around when he could be playing a round, so I said yes. During our conversation, I had another contraction. I started breathing loudly and Ryan asked what was wrong. I told him it was just a contraction. “That was just a contraction?! I’m on my way home!” he said and was here about 10 minutes later. On his was home he checked his voice mail and got my message. He hadn’t heard it before he called and felt rather stupid that he’d called to ask if he could go golfing when I was in labor at home. . .
• Anyway, he was home at 4:00 and by then my contractions were hard and coming a lot faster. I was starting to panic because I hadn’t got things packed yet and didn’t know what we were going to do with Mercedez, and I felt gross and wanted to shower before we left. I called my mom to tell her that I was in labor. She kept track of my contractions and told me that I had better get to the hospital before I had the baby. I didn’t really think that it would be that soon, but said goodbye. I called my friend Jen and arranged for her to spend the night with Mercedez and Tobie. Now it was 5:00.
• We were almost done packing and my contractions were coming about 3-5 minutes apart and had me doubled over. I still wanted to shower, so Ryan finished packing while I showered. At 5:30 I called Jen back and asked her to come ASAP. She said that she was on her way. . .
• She got to the house 10 minutes later. By then I thought that I was going to die. My contractions were very strong. We gave her a quick run down, then jumped in the car. The hospital was 15 minutes away and I had 2-3 contractions on the way.

The Hospital:

• We got to the hospital just before 6:00PM. We had already pre-registered, but still had to sign a few things. I was hopping around trying not to think about me contractions. We were finally in our room at 6:10. The nurse came in and asked if there was anything that I needed. I said, “Yeah, I think that I’m ready for an epidural.” She looked at me kind of funny because we had just got there, but told me to get on a robe and she’d come back to check how far a long I was.
• She came back about five minutes later. “Well, no wonder you were hopping around out there,” she said. “You’re dilated to an eight!” She ran out to get some help and a couple minutes later there were six nurses scrambling about trying to get everything under control.
• At  6:25 the doctor came to give me an epidural and by a quarter to seven, I was feeling really good. Things started to settle down a little, so Ryan and I turned on the TV.
• We watched the season finale of ED and started watching the West Wing when Dr. Kirkman came.

The Delivery:

• It was 9:20 now. Dr. Kirkman said, “Let’s see what’s going on here.” Some of my water had broke, but there was another part that he needed to break. He did, then said, “Now why don’t you push a little and we’ll see where we’re at.” I did and he stopped me. “Ryan, I think we’re going to need your help here,” he said.
• Ryan came over. I pushed twice and the doctor helped ease the head out. The cord was wrapped around Hunter’s neck twice. Ryan was a little nervous when he saw it, but Dr. Kirkman quickly remedied the situation. He said that it must have just happened in the few hours that I was in labor because she hadn’t been in any distress.
• Another couple pushes later and she was here!! It was a perfect delivery. I came through without a tear. A little bruising, but no stitches!! I felt great. Hunter was perfect. She wailed for about a 1/2 hour “drying out her lungs”. Then she ate and ate and ate.
• We stayed the night in the delivery room and in the morning they moved us downstairs. I was still feeling really good and as soon as the pediatrician came and my doctor stopped by, we went home. It couldn’t have been better!!

The Stats:

• Hunter Tai Fernandez
• 7 pounds, 2 ounces
• 20 inches

Beautiful!!!!