Welcoming Noah Christopher Bandstra!!!

I just want to continue with where I left off in the last blog because I've been unable to update it since WE HAD A BABY!!! :D

So, the contractions continued at about 5 minutes apart that started at 6:55pm on April 8. We decided that if they continued to be that close at 7:45p, we would call the midwife. Lisa wanted me to wait until she got to our house to call. Well, we ended up calling around 8:15p or so (Lisa still wasn't at our house) and I was having some contractions at 3-4 minutes apart for 90 seconds or longer. Cynthia, one of the midwifes was on call and called Chris back. At 8:30pm, while Chris was on the phone with her, my water broke and I lost my mucus plug at the same time. The fluid was clear (YAY, no meconium) and Lisa showed up about 5 minutes later. We decided to wait another hour before going to the hospital because I "wasn't serious yet" and didn't want to drive 45 minutes to find out that I wasn't far enough along in labor and risk being sent home.

So, we hung up with Cynthia and I decided I would shower again because it felt so good! I spent about 20 minutes in the shower and my contractions continued. When I got out, I decided I wanted to go to the hospital because I was getting really uncomfortable. This is when it all really becomes a blur...

We left for the hospital around 10pm and my contractions were still consistently 3-4 minutes apart. It was challenging getting into the car and finding a comfortable position. I laid on my side in the front seat with a pillow to hug and a pillow behind my head. THE TRIP WAS SO LONG AND TERRIBLE!!! About 2 miles from the hospital, I threw up in the car (in the middle of a contraction) and was absolutely, completely MISERABLE!! I remember driving down the street the hospital was on was the longest part of the trip and we kept hitting EVERY red light. Once we pulled up to the ER, we walked in and they were able to move me up to the labor and delivery unit. Unfortunately, there was quite a bit of a walk and the hospital staff wanted me to sit in the wheel chair because "it's against hospital policy for patients to walk the halls". So, I put up a big fight and they let me walk. Remember, it was EXTREMELY painful to sit and I just wanted to stand up.

to be continued...