Tuesday April 3rd (My Due Date):
My mom came up for the day! It was SO nice to have the distraction due to the fact that baby was due today and i knew that he wasn't going to come out! We went to lunch at chick-fil-a and met my realtor at the house that we put an offer in on so that I could show my mom! After that we went to my 40 WEEK dr. appt. I was the usual check in, blah blah and then I was called back to do the weigh-in/ blood pressure/ bathroom ck. Everything still overly normal and I think I was up to 30 lbs at this point. Somewhat relieved I think that all of this was over and I hadn't gained 50 lbs.
Katie, my midwife came in. She was surprised to find me not undressed I think. I told her that I was still in pain from my check up the previous Friday and asked her if I had to have my cervix checked again today. She said no, thankfully to my comfort, ha! We had been planning since the week before that if James hadn't come by his due date that I would go to be induced first thing Thursday morning on the 5th. I did not want to see 41 weeks. Baby would have stayed in there in think for another week had I let him! Everything was a go, per Katie and she said she would see me Thursday :)
Mom and I went over to the mall afterwards to walk some and return a couple of things for baby!! That night my mom took mike and I to our "last supper" dinner at Rancho Chico! It was a great day!
Wednesday April 4th (day before induction day):
Nothing happened today.. strangely enough I was calm all day. I didn't think too much about the fact that I would be in the hospital at this time tomorrow and just relaxed all day! Not too much to report! I had all my stuff ready and headed for bed around 11pm with cramping and slightly stronger contractions than just the braxton hicks I had been experiencing for the past 10 weeks. I woke up around 3:15am with dull lower back pains/ contractions and thought that I might as well go ahead and get up because if I am in labor the pains are only going to get worse and I wanted to be clean and ready for the day! So I got in the shower and was just trying to be present and take all of this in! When I went in our bedroom to get my stuff to shower in the guest bath, Mike asked me what I was doing. I informed him of what was going on. He kept saying to me, don't freak out, you need to just relax and stay calm. I remember thinking, I've never been more calm, quit telling me to relax, lol.
Thursday April 5th (induction Day):
Since I had already been up since 3:15am, I was definitely ready to get this show on the road! I called as instructed at 6am to double check and make sure that they had a bed for me, which they replied YES, we are all ready for you :)
We got to the hospital at 7:38am and walked into labor and delivery on the 2nd floor. We got checked in and they put us in one of the new big rooms with the jacuzzi tubs (which I didn't even get to use by the way), I was so excited!! Our nurses' name for the am shift was Angela! She had been doing labor and delivery for 30 years and while a little rough around the edges, she was WONDERFUL!! We loved her sense of humor and she was so helpful. She inserted the largest gauge needle I have seen into my arm, which ached for hours, but was medically necessary in case of emergency! After about 6 hours, the sensation finally went away. Good news was I was beginning to have regular chartable contractions on my own upon coming to the hospital, so things were beginning to happen!
9AM: Katie came in and inserted the pill into my cervix. At that point I believe I was 80% effaced and 1.5cm dilated. Not much change from my Friday appointment. I had to lay there for about an hour to make sure the pill took and was doing it's job. I was then told I could walk around the hospital, or where ever I wanted as long as I was back in about 2 hours to be put back on the baby monitor to check his heart rate and make sure everything was good!
10:30AM: I got dressed again and mike and I walked around the grounds of the hospital, very slowly as to relax while having the contractions. We talked about how crazy it was that we were here and having our first baby, how our life would change and never be the same again, how crazy fast 10 months flew by! It was surreal.
12PM: I think it was around this time, we went back inside. I ordered some lunch, a turkey sandwich at the advice of Angela, so that if I threw it up later, it wouldn't be totally gross, HA! I was checked and monitored again... Contractions were happening about every 3-4 minutes and while I could feel them, they were more than tolerable! I was in it for the long haul.
This is were I lost all track of time, it all runs together for me. All I know is what happened, just not sure when.
5PM: As Katie, my midwife wanted to get my contractions closer together, they finally started the pitocin drip at which they increased every half hour? This was still tolerable, I was breathing through these a little more than the previous contractions I had been having during the day. Mike was really encouraging through the process this far! I stayed having the contractions at about every 2-3 minutes for a few hours.
8PM?: Katie came in and we discussed breaking my water. she had held off on this because she wanted me to progress before having to do this. If your water breaks, you have to have the baby within 24 hours to avoid infection. She just wanted to make sure to avoid having an emergency c-section. I believe she also checked me at this point and I was at a 4 or 5? As soon as she broke my water, I had the typical huge gush of water! and it kept coming and coming and flowing. I mean it was everywhere I felt like- modesty had for sure flown out the window at this point, lol. Jen, my new overnight nurse was more than comforting to me as I leaked everywhere. It was the contraction right after my water was broken that I knew this was go time! It was SUPER intense and up until this point, I was still 50/50 on epidural, but had already signed the papers to do so if I needed one! I was more than adamant that I HAD TO HAVE one! So the Dr was called but due to an emergency surgery, the on call Dr had to be called from home. It was probably around 10ish??? I don't know. All I do know is that they told me it might be another 30 minutes and while I felt like I was in despair, I held on pretty well. It seemed only like 15 minutes and in walked the Dr, with the goods!! It took about 25 minutes, they kicked everyone out of the room. His name was DR. Harris? And he was all business, with 0 bedside manner. Luckily I wasn't much for talking at that point! Finally relief! I could feel a LITTLE bit of pressure, but 0 pain. YAY!! Well, they then up'd the pitocin as they had been doing and that got things into high gear- HELLO TRANSITION LABOR!
11:30?: Katie and the nurse were having me lay on my side or in different positions to help further along the process. At this point I remember thinking OMG... I CAN NOT do this. I was feeling a lot of pressure, not pain, just pressure! I was then put into this position tilted slightly backward, there's some technical term, I didn't catch that one. All I know is that as soon as I was in it, I HAD TO GET OUT. I had to PUSH RIGHT THEN. Between Mike and Jen (my nurse) they were both telling me that I couldn't. Breath through the contraction... the next 5 minutes were hell. My contractions were 1 minute a part, my breathing had gone out the window, I was on the verge of tears and I was puffing through the indescribable intense pressure. Trying to relax in between, not so much. Jen immediately called Katie as I was demanding to push. Katie came in and looked and it was go time- Midnight, 10cm!
12AM: Every minute and a half I was told to push through the pressure. 10 second increments, 3 times during a contraction. I was expecting a lot of things, but the pressure I wasn't. I didn't feel any pain, thankfully, but I was about to die from the pressure. I pushed and pushed and pushed... I would look at the clock in between contractions trying to relax before the pressure stared again. 12:30 came and went, 1am came and went, 1:30 rolled around and at this point Katie had said that she called the on call OB to come and administer the vacuum to help James' head come out. It was right there, but wasn't budging. I was ok with anything at this point. I assured everyone in the room that I COULD not push for another hour- I was exhausted. I had been up for almost 24 hours already as it was! At 1:55am the executive decision was made by Katie to give me an episiotomy, which they don't really do anymore! I felt two little stings and then nothing. 5 more pushes and at 2:08 am, James was pulled out and laying on my stomach. He didn't cry much. Just little wimpers. He had some fluid in his mouth. It was such a wonderful feeling of not having the pressure anymore. I was in complete awe of this little human laying quietly on my tummy making little noises as he was being cleaned off. Katie was down there doing her after delivery routine as I watched and started to shake. I think it was just hormone release or maybe just my body being in shock I don't know. I told Mike to go be with the baby and I would be fine. I watched as the nurse was cleaning him and as mike was watching him! It was sweet. He finally cried and it was the sweetest little cry. He quieted down after about 20 seconds, to observe what was going on around him. Mike finally brought him over to me.. he had tears in his eyes! It was a special moment, I was still shaking. mike asked if I wanted to hold him and I said no.. My arms were jello and I had no strength to hold him up. So he just held him where I could see his face. I had no idea what he would look like, but not what I expected, lol. He was all mine and perfect though, that I do know!
3AM: The grandparents entered! YES, they were all still at the hospital, waiting for the big arrival! The Grandmothers came in first! They were both so excited! Then entered the grandfathers, They were equally excited :) It was a great experience!! Once everyone left, mike gave the baby his first bath, with the nurses help! I then proceeded to ask if they would be taking him to the nursery. She laughed and said this was it :) HELLO PARENTHOOD!!
More to come on the next post of the hospital stay... whew! And if you made it through this whole story, I applaud you! It was ridiculously long, but I didn't want to leave out any details, even though I know I forgot some!
1 comment:
Congrats on sweet baby James! Aren't you thrilled it's over and he is here. Hope you're doing well.
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