My contractions were happening pretty consistently, about every 15 minutes. The pain wasn’t bad, but definitely noticeable. We had an OB appointment scheduled for that day and wondered whether we’d actually make it to the appointment or whether we’d be in the hospital. Steen had appointments scheduled for the day and as he left I reminded him to keep his cell close. Thinking that today could be the day, I took the advice of a friend and took the opportunity to take one last shower, blow dry my hair and put on some makeup. By the time Steen made it home to take us to our 2:00pm appointment my contractions had gotten worse and were now happening about every 10 minutes. Steen thought for sure they’d admit us into the hospital, so he grabbed our bags and off we went. We were more than surprised when the doctor said that I was only ½ cm dilated. The doctor advised us that the contractions have to be REALLY INTENSE for the hospital to admit us. Thinking my pain was pretty intense at that point, I could only imagine (and not it a good way) how much worse it would get.
Trying to take my mind off the pain, I decided to go to a movie with my mom and aunt Judy (The Blindside). Somehow it seemed to help. However, the minute they brought me home the intensity of my contractions picked up. Taking the advice of another friend, I tried walking around the house. Pretty soon they were too intense and I laid balled up on the couch. Now they were happening every 5-7 minutes and I was implementing my breathing techniques. Remembering what the doctor had told us earlier in the day, Steen kept telling me that he didn’t think they were intense enough (how would he know). By 8:45pm I couldn’t tolerate it anymore and called the doctor who advised us to come in.
By 9:30pm I was being hooked up to monitors to determine if I would be admitted. In the process of being checked out, I threw up, twice. No one warned me that this might happen, but apparently it’s a sign that you’re in “true labor”. The nurse checked my dilation and reported that I was 3+cm, going on 4cm. Enough for them to admit me; which meant that the epidural was on it’s way. By 10:00pm I had that lovely liquid running through my veins and I instantly felt like I had a second wind. By 12:00am I was officially dilated to 4cm and it was decided that the nurse would break my water. It was projected that I would continue to dilate 1cm an hour, meaning that we were looking at a 6:00am delivery. Steen immediately got on the phone and warned our family. In the mean time Steen and I tried to get a little sleep.
At 4:45am it felt like my epidural was wearing off. The nurse came in and turned up my drip. Fifteen minutes later it still felt like the epidural wasn’t affective. The nurse checked my dilation again and said, “Oh, you’re there”. The nurse alerted the on-call doctor and we began the pushing process. I pushed for about 30 minutes before the doctor arrived. Once the doctor was present the pushing got more rigorous. It wasn’t painful; it was just exhausting. An additional 30 minutes of pushing and I finally saw my boy. That very first moment when the head emerged an overwhelming rush of emotion came over me and tears of joy streamed down my face. At 6:20am on December 24th 2009 we gave birth to our beautiful son Landre David Lundblad. He weighed 7lbs 9oz and was 19.5 in long. The nurse grabbed his little body, wrapped him, and placed him on my chest. The second his body touched mine his tired eyes opened and gazed up at me as to say, “so that’s what you look like”. Instantly I was in love. A moment I will never forget.
