Rhyan's Birth Story

My second child was due March 13, 2005. When I went to my appointment on February 22, I was already dilated to four centimeters. My doctor offered to induce me on March 2 because she was leaving for vacation March 4. I told her since I wasn’t having any problems, I would let God determine my child’s due date and not base it on her vacation. She informed me that if I went into labor that weekend, the doctor on call was not in their practice. They enlisted other doctors in their on-call circle.

On Friday, March 4, I started feeling a lot of pressure in my lower abdomen, right above my pelvic region, but I wasn’t having any contractions. After work, I picked up my four-year-old, and we stopped to get a pizza. At home, the contractions started coming around 8 PM. While they were regular, they were too far apart to count. I called the doctor on call, and he told me to put my feet up. He said the contractions would stop if it was not true labor. I told him I was four centimeters at my last appointment. He then asked why my doctor didn't induce me before she left. I explained that she'd offered and told him my reasons for declining.

I called my mom and told her that Saturday was definitely the day. I labored through the night and at 4:30 AM, I took a shower, preparing to go to the hospital. The shower felt so good but I think it released my contractions because when I got out, they seemed to have magnified! I called my mom again to tell her to meet us at the hospital. She had an hour drive and planned on meeting us to get my four-year-old. At 5:30 AM, we were on our way to the hospital and my contractions were coming strong and hard. By the time we made it to labor and delivery, I could barely breathe through the contractions. My mom arrived seconds after we signed in. I got to my room at 6:48 AM and I was at eight centimeters when the nurse checked me. The staff hooked me up to an IV and brought in the incubator. When I asked for an epidural, they told me it was too late. They had been expecting me to come in much earlier since the doctor called them the night before to let them know I was in labor.

Since I was already so far along, the staff doctor would make the delivery. At 7 AM, I started pushing. My baby was coming along with the bags of water so the doctor broke the sac. At 7:08 AM, Rhyan was born, exactly 20 minutes after I had checked in! The doctor I spoke to Friday night arrived just as I was being stitched up. He apologized for telling me to just put my feet up instead of telling me to come in. He did say that if I ever had another child, to come in quickly since my delivery was so fast!