June 23 - I went to bed around 10pm. Uncomfortable with sporatic contracions for the 3rd night in a row. I managed to doze off. I am just so tired, so mentally and emotionally exhausted.

June 24 - Woke-up in pain around 12:30am. I shifted postitions several times, but that didn't help so I got up and went to the bathroom. Then, the contractions came full force. They were long and painful. I never expected that labor would be like this. I mean, I knew it would be painful, but not like this!
I managed to get back to the bedroom and wake him up. I told him that these must be the real thing. So, we started timing them. 5 minutes apart and lasting 3-4 minutes long. 3 minutes apart and lasting 2 minutes long. We headed to the hospital.

When they checked me I was almost 2cm dilated. Contractions are very painful!!! I was told the pain wouldn't get any worse. (He told me afterwards that the contraction would peak, then just start to come down, then literally shoot higher...off the chart!)

3 cm dilated, They put me in the jacuzzi to help me to relax. Maybe they thought I was fighting against the contractions.
After a little time in the warm water, there was no more pain.
Totally exhausted, I started to doze off when he asked me, "What is that stuff floating around in there?" I told him I didn't know, then fell asleep.

Not sure how long I slept. The Dr woke me to check me with the monitor.  Trouble finding the baby's heartbeat, but that wasn't a surprise because this little one did not like anything on my belly, anyways.  It was always quite comical that this little one would move out from under the doppler at most of my appointments.  I was going for an ultrasound to see if the baby had turned into the head-down position.
I could not see the screen, but too exhausted and out of it to know what was happening. After they finished, we were sent to wait in the hallway. Not long afterward, Dr comes out and says, "we need to get the baby out *NOW!* Heartrate is 30 bpm."

Got back to L&D and was prepped for an EMERGENCY C-SECTION. I was so scared. There were nurses, techs, Drs, etc... coming at me from all directions, poking and prodding, inserting a catheter, the mid-wife was inside me trying to push the baby back up and out of the birth canal to release the pressure off the umbilical cord.
I told them that I wanted my baby as soon as possible.
I was wheeled into the OR alone and scared. He was not allowed in.
They scubbed my belly. As the were putting up the blue screen, I felt myself going far away. A heavy sleep took over my body.

Chelsea Melissa was born on June 24 @ 8:06am
7 lbs 1 1/2 oz 19 7/8" long

I remember waking up briefly. The nurse in the Recovery Room says, "You had a baby girl!" I drifted far away, again.

They are trying to wake me, talking to me. I can't understand the garbled noises.
They are telling me things ... She is not breathing on her own. She is on a ventilator. She is having seizures. They are bringing her in to me before they take her to another hospital that has a NICU.

Where am I?

I am fighting, with myself and this heavy sleep, to try to comprehend. I need to wake up. I want so bad to see my sweet baby.

Focus!

Wake up!

Focus!

Look at her!

You need to remember this moment!

They brought Chelsea to my bedside. She is in an isolette, lying on her right side. She has a ventilator tube taped to her mouth, a hat on her head, and she is wrapped in blankets. Her right hand is shaking. I reached out and touched her. My sweet baby girl. I love you.
And ever so quickly, they take her away.

Heavy sleep takes over my body. I am going far way, again ... waking every now and then with the excruciating pain of someone pushing on my belly. Then, drifting far away.

I can hear voices. They seem so far away. I drift even further way as the heavy sleep has control of me.