Our New Arrival

2012 has been a very busy year for us.  We graduated from nursing school and our third daughter was born.  Shawna Marie Kay-Giauque was born at Ashford Presbyterian Hospital in San Juan Puerto Rico on 20 August 2012.  I was to be induced that very morning but she decided to come on her own anyway a few hours before the scheduled induction.  We decided it would be better to plan for her arrival since we were in the middle of deciding whether we would stay in Puerto Rico or take a job in St Thomas one of the US Virgin Islands.  We were also waiting to hear back about a position in Dallas Texas. Benjamin had been offered a job in St Thomas and made plans to go there for a few days so he could secure the nursing position and housing for us.  He bought a plane ticket for August 23rd after we decided to have the baby on the 20th.  My due date was August 25th and my doctor was not the type to let her patients go overdue. I discussed with her our situation on August 12th or 13th and she said if I wanted to I could schedule to have the baby on the 20th.  I initially told her I wanted to wait for the baby to come on her own.  After discussing it with Benjamin we decided to just go ahead and schedule it for the 20th.  I called back my doctor the same day. On Sunday August 19th right after church I started to feel some back pain that I had never experienced before during the pregnancy.  I thought maybe it could be contractions but wasn't sure until around 2 or 3pm that day when they were a little longer and stronger.  Benjamin was supposed to work the graveyard shift that night but he really didn't feel like going.  He asked me if I thought this was the real thing and I thought that it might be.  He called in to work and told them he wasn't coming in that night because his wife was 'having pains' as they say in Spanish.  He was relieved.  For the next few hours I was just doing things around the house. The contractions were obvious and lasted for about a minute or two every 20 minutes or so.  We had made some plans with ward members to help us out with the two older girls so Benjamin could be with me during the delivery.  Around 7 or 8 pm I felt like it would be a better idea to take the girls that night to our friends' house who had agreed to help us instead of waiting until the morning.  With my track record I didn't think the baby would wait until the morning.  We left our friends' house around 9 pm but I still didn't feel like it was the right time to go to the hospital.  Ben and I went to bed...Ben slept but I didn't.  I had a few contractions then one big one which was my signal that it was time to go.  We got to the hospital at about midnight.  The hospital is very close to the beach in a highly developed area and there is not much parking.  The hospital has a pay parking structure but we didn't want to have to pay.  At that time of night there was plenty of street parking so we found a spot and we walked about two blocks to the ER entrance.  I was told to bring much of my own supplies such as pillows blankets clothes and sanitary products.  The hospital provided the sheets and all that I needed during the birth.  And of course they provided my food.  Ben brought in most of my things but he had to go back because the policy was that you could only bring a camera with you into the delivery room.  In this respect my experience giving birth in Puerto Rico was much different that in the US.  But I can understand that they want to keep costs down.  I paid for all the supplies I used during my others births...they just appeared on the hospital bill.  So Ben took the things back to the car while I waited in the ER waiting room.  When he got back they rolled me in a wheelchair to the delivery area.  They gave me a gown to change into along and a bag for my street clothes.  It took me a while to get changed because I had a few strong contractions while I was in the bathroom and had to stop move rather slowly.  They got me into bed and placed the monitors on me.  By then I was dilated to 7 cm.  The doctor came and broke my water and said that whenever I felt a contraction that I could go ahead and push.  I was dilating well but the baby still had to move down a little more.  So I had about another hour or so of strong contractions and pushing and finally had one last strong contraction and pushed the baby all the way out head  shoulders and all.  She was born just before 2 am which was four hours before I was supposed to be there anyway for the induction.  I'm glad she came on her own.  I had never had that experience before of having the baby come on her own time.  And I didn't get anything for the pain.  I was so relieved to have that over with.