So when I started timing my contractions it turned out they were 8 minutes apart. And they hurt! My doctor had given Joe and I the 5-1-1 rule...don't come to the hospital until the contractions were 5 minutes apart, 1 minute long, for an hour. Well, the contractions decided to stay 8 minutes apart until 7:30 that morning! That was 7 plus hours of agonizing labor because they wouldn't come any closer together! Finally I decided I couldn't take it anymore and I woke Joe up. He told me to see if they would get any closer together for just a little bit longer. When he woke up, they decided to come down to 7 minutes apart! 20 minutes later they came down to 6 minutes apart, and I said, that's it, we're going to the hospital! We got up and brushed our teeth, gathered our things, and headed for St. Francis South Hospital. Driving the 15 minutes from our house to the hospital dropped my contractions down to 2 minutes apart! Right when we pulled into the parking spot, I decided to sneeze and ended up peeing my pants!
We got up to the third floor and they put me in Labor Room 6. By the time I was checked and admitted they told me I was dilated to a 6! We checked in at 9:05 am. By noon, I was dilated to a 10. However, Dr. Williamson was at the other hospital delivering a baby, so I waiting until sometime in the 3 o'clock hour to begin pushing. Less than an hour later, at 4:14 PM on Sunday, January 18, Connor James Coakley was born weighing 7 lb 13 oz, 20 inches long and absolutely beautiful!
After labor, I apparently lost too much blood because I got faint and nauseated. It took a few days for my blood levels to return start climbing.
