Taylor's birth story really begins on Dec 18th, her original due date. It was friday and I had been off all week enjoying some much needed Amanda time on the couch and I was ready for this little girl to come out. I ran errands all morning picking up some last minute Christmas gifts. I started feeling what I thought were contractions while at the mall. Mom and I then met for lunch and it was then that I started feeling regular contractions every 10 or so minutes. I called Scott to come home around 2 p.m., but by the time he got home the contractions had stopped. We went on a marathon walk that afternoon, taking wide steps, as directed by our Doula. Nothing happened that evening so we enjoyed watching some TV and went to bed early. As it turns out, going to bed early was a good decision.
I woke up at 12:30 feeling contractions and waited through 2 or 3 of them before I woke Scott up to start timing them. Scott dutifully got out the iphone and started the stop watch (which is still going) that kept a running tally of the contraction times to the .1 second! They were consistently coming every 6 1/2 - 7 minutes. Because it was so late I didn't really want to call Sharon, our Doula, but since she told us she stays up late I told Scott to check facebook and see if she was online. As luck would have it she was! Scott facebooked her and told her I was having contractions. We then called her, and she said she was going to head this way. I was concerned that these might have been false labor contractions again, so I called Sharon back and told her that she might not need to head over just yet because the contractions weren't that bad. It was now 1:30 am and she insisted that she come over before things started getting bad. I then got up to take a shower and wash my hair. I didn't want to be in labor without having clean hair! Scott stayed asleep in the bed. I still don't think he was convinced that this was really happening. After my shower, I got in bed to cuddle with Scott until Sharon arrived. The contractions were still coming in 6 - 7 minute intervals but were bearable.
Sharon arrived at 2:30 am and checked the baby's heartrate. She was doing well, but was not in a good position. I was just 1 cm dialated and the baby was really high so she started me doing positions. We started with me doing lunges through the contractions and I have to admit that these started to hurt a little more but still somewhat bearable. We did this for about an hour and the time seemed to fly by. I started telling Scott to go and finish packing and he kept putting me off. Sharon finally told him to take advantage of doing this now because he might not have the chance to do it later. We had rented videos the night before so at 3:20 am, Scott went to return the movies to Redbox while Sharon and I kept doing positions. At 3:30, Sharon examined me again and I was still only 1 cm. I started to get discouraged at this point because I had labored for 3 hours and it was starting to be painful and there was no change. Sharon thought that I was in for a long labor and suggested that I take a Tylenol PM and try to get some sleep. Then I had a massive contraction that made me scream and we decided that I wasn't going to get any sleep any time soon! I labored on all fours for awhile and then to get the baby to move I labored on my right side while Scott cuddled me and Sharon read scriptures. These were very painful contractions but it was such a beautiful and peaceful hour of listening to praise music and scripture. I could really sense God's presence through the labor. At 5 am Sharon examined me again and I had progressed to 3 cm and the contractions were starting to come in 3 - 4 minute intervals! We then decided that we should start getting ready to go to the hospital. This took longer than expected because I had to stop every three minutes and bear the contractions. Scott decided it was a good time to make coffee...REALLY! So we gathered the bags, made some coffee and fed the dog before finally starting to pull out of the driveway around 6 am.
On the way to the hospital we called the doctor's answering service to let them know we were on the way. They asked what my pain level was on a scale of 1 - 5 and I said it was a 5! I was having a contraction at the time so it was really more like a 10! I don't know that they really took me seriously because the Dr. was not there when we arrived at the hospital 45 minutes later! I told Scott to call my mom and dad after my next contraction to tell them we were on the way to the hospital. And then he called his mom after the next contraction. I told Scott he had to be off of the phone within 2 minutes before the next contraction started. He made both phone calls quickly and drove the speed limit to the Woodlands. I zoned out around the Hardy toll road. I had moved into 2 minute intervals and was in the transition phase of labor. I prayed through each of these contractions because I could feel that my water was about to break and I felt pressure like her head was starting to come out. During each contraction I prayed that God would let me make it to the hospital before my water broke and that I would not have this baby in the car. I don't think we talked much on the way, I was very focused on surviving the drive. There were literally moments when I thought I might die! I do not recommend going through active and transition labor in the car for future reference! I do however remember telling Scott in no uncertain terms that I was getting the epidural as soon as we got to the hospital. He also tells me that I told him to get a vascetomy, but I don't remember saying this!
So we arrived at the hospital around 7 am and I walked in while Scott parked the car. I planned on waiting for him, but when Sharon saw my face she said that we couldn't wait and needed to start walking. He caught up with us before we got to the labor and delivery ward on the 2nd floor. It was apparently shift change time and the front desk was full of nurses who were laughing and joking about something to do with christmas carols. I remember seeing another girl who was checking in but she must have been scheduled to be induced because she was in no kind of hurry and looked to be in much better condition than me. I just sort of cut in line when I slammed both of my hands down on the desk to bear the next contraction. I think I made quite an entrance..Scott does a great impression of this by the way. They started with their usual barrage of questions and needed to see my license...REALLY...do you really need me to fumble through my purse to show you my drivers license while I am obviously having some pretty serious contractions! Again, I don't remember all of the details, but Scott tells me I put a finger up and shushed 8 nurses so I could make it through the next contraction. I think that they got the point because they quit asking me questions and directed me to the triage room.
A really nice nurse named Kathy was assigned to me. She gave me a gown and told me to go to the bathroom and change. I sat on the toilet and no sooner than I did, my water broke. I started feeling the baby coming and I started screaming for help. Kathy examined me on the toilet and said she felt nothing but head and that this baby was coming now! At this point I realized that I wasn't going to be able to get the epidural and I was pretty freaked out at how fast things were moving. Kathy pressed the help button and 3 more nurses rushed in and started making me transfer to a different bed. I remember saying something to the effect of "I don't want to" and Kathy just got in my face and said "I need you to do this now!". So I got on the bed and they whisked me away to the delivery room. Scott and Sharon were somewhere behind me. Scott was grabbing bags and trying to keep up. Everything was pretty much a blur at this point. I did have enough wits about me to remind them that I was Strep B positive and needed my antibiotic. I kept asking if the Dr was there and if I could get my antibiotic. They told me that the Dr. wasn't there, but they were going to get me through this. There was no time to get the antibiotic, but they gave me the IV anyway around 7:15 am. I still have a bruise from where they jammed it in!
At first they were going to make me wait for Dr. Collins to start pushing, but after suffering through 2 contractions they let me start pushing. Dr. Collins arrived after a few tries at pushing. Pushing was hard but not as painful as the transition contractions. I finally got the hang of it and everyone could see the head. It seems like her head was there forever and even though I kept pushing it wasn't coming out! At one point I asked the Dr. what her plan B was if I couldn't push the head out. They all just sort of laughed and said I had to push the head out. At this point I was unsure if I would be able to do it. My mom had arrived by this point and I could hear the nurse say that she was waiting outside the door. I was so focused and kept my eyes closed the entire time that I wasn't really aware of what was going on and who was coming in and out. I knew that Scott and Sharon were on each side of me giving me love and support to get through this. I remember praying "God please let me push her head out on this one". He didn't respond right away. It took several contractions of pleading with God before her head came out. Once the head was out, there was no stopping the rest of her! After 45 minutes of pushing our precious angel came into the world at 8:19 am with the sweetest cry I have ever heard. She was absolutely perfect!
Taylor Aubrey Rovira
7 lbs 5 oz, 19 in long
I can't believe that my little girl is 5 weeks today! She is starting to focus on our voices and faces and will even smile at us sometimes. It seems like we are finally starting to get the hang of things. It's like I woke up from a haze this week and started feeling human again. We got out of the house to go and visit all of my co-workers and they all thought she was adorable. And everyone thinks she looks just like Scott. I keep joking with Scott that she is adorable despite the fact that she got all of his genes! 
