Labor and Delivery

I recently realized that I've never posted our birth story. Most family members are aware, but I'm also recording this for myself and the longer I wait . . .

I posted in the late afternoon of July 23rd about my doctor's appointment and being at 1 to 2 cm. After going to the doctor, Bloss and I came back home -- we'd done some shopping that morning and I was exhausted. Dh came home and mowed the yard while we made dinner. Fajitas sounded good to me. I'd never made fajitas at home and I made quite the mess sauteing the chicken. I also made rice and black beans and Bloss made queso. I had lots of quickly aging bananas so I also made banana bread.

As we sat down to eat our spicy Mexican food, a thought crossed my mind. Both of my sisters had their firstborns after having had Mexican food for dinner the night before. We all laughed. After cleaning up the mountain of dishes, Bloss decided to go for a walk. She thought it might be good for me too. It sounded nice in theory, but after cleaning up from dinner, I'd crashed on the couch and I didn't think I could manage to get up and go for a walk. Something just wasn't right. (After the doctor's appointment, I came home and discovered that I'd been bleeding quite a lot. My book said this was normal after a cervical check, but it continued all evening.)

I stayed on the couch till about 10:15 p.m. I decided to get ready for bed and headed to the bathroom. Suddenly, I felt very bad. It was sort of like severe gas pain centered in my female parts, radiating from the back through to the front. Going to the bathroom didn't help though, so I took a really hot bath. After soaking for about 15 minutes, I felt well enough to go to bed. It felt good to lay down in our bed even for a little while (I usually moved to the couch shortly). Dh asked if everything was alright and I told him I didn't know what was going on. We were exhausted and quickly fell asleep.

At 11:30, the pain returned. The exact sequence of events that followed is kind of a blur. I didn't know what was happening or if this was really labor. It just hurt and I was bleeding. At first, the pains were about 15 minutes apart. Around 1 am the frequency began to increase to 12 then 10 minutes. I could not sit or lay down. I was walking or on my knees at the coffee table swaying. Swaying helped so much. I tried a heating pad and took lots of really hot baths. (I lost count, but it was at least 5 or 6). In case this was real, I finished packing and loading our bags -- this required several loads of laundry. During all of this (and I wasn't quiet), no one came to check on me.

At 2:30, I became concerned about the color of the blood I was losing so I called the hospital -- it was very bright. They told me to drink a big glass of water and take a really hot bath to see if the pains continued. If they did, I should wait till they were 3 to 5 minutes apart to come in. I took their advice (although I'd already tried it earlier.) The pains in no way subsided. The contractions were increasingly more frequent, lasted longer, and were more painful. After I made the call to the hospital, Bloss finally came to check on me. She said that until she heard me call the hospital, she didn't take me seriously. She suggested the heating pad. I told her not to stay up with me, that I'd rather be alone. We discussed calling mom (who was scheduled to head up that morning anyway). I didn't want her driving narrow little roads in the middle of the night so we decided to wait. She went back to bed, but promised to check on me.

I continued to labor and alternate between swaying, the bathtub, and the toilet. The pain was pretty bad, but I was able to get things done. I can't remember if I even turned the television on. I did read for a while -- Blossom gave me a good page turner and it really helped. I was lost in the book between contractions.

This continued until about 4:45. I was determined to make it till 5:00 before waking dh, but I could not. At that point, I needed back support. So, I went to wake him up. I said, "it's time." I think he said, "time for what?" He was really tired and didn't feel very well. But he quickly realized what was going on. I'd been logging contractions (although not very scientifically -- I know I missed some). He started writing them down for me, because the hospital wanted them to be 3 to 5 minutes apart for an hour. They were quickly fitting that pattern. A little before six o'clock I became insistent that we needed to go to the hospital. Dh thought we should wait, but it was time. I remember him asking me what I wanted him to wear for the birth of our baby (for pictures). I managed to help him pick out something. I was really dreading the car ride because sitting really hurt and it's a 25 minute drive on a good day. I had to move the trash cans before we could back out of the garage. I was afraid my water was going to break in his car!

I survived the drive well and the contractions were 2 to 3 minutes apart. We called dh's mom. I told her it was time -- I think I woke her up and caught her off guard. There was more traffic than I expected but we made it in 30 minutes. We had to walk quite a ways, but it wasn't too bad. We got to the floor and they were in no hurry. They were in the midst of changing computer systems, so our info had to be taken on the computer and on paper. It was almost 8:00 before they ever checked me to see if I really was in labor! Oh and I got stuck with a nurse in training, so I had to get checked twice. The student said I was at a 4. The nurse checked and said I was at a 7 and in active labor. That was very good news -- the pain had accomplished something! I let them know that I would probably need something to take the edge off, but like everything else, they were in no hurry to help me. They did call Dr. K who came by, joked a little bit, and patted me on the head. I told him that my baby decided it did not want to wait until the next week to be born and it didn't want to be delivered by a stranger!

FIL was the first visitor to arrived, followed by MIL, SIL, niece and nephew. I'm not sure when other people arrived. I had expected my mom to leave around 5 a.m. anyway, so expected her to be there pretty early. But she was in no hurry apparently, until my oldest sister called her and told her to get on her way! Mom and Bloss arrived around 9:30. They came in just after I received my wonderful shot of Stadol. That stuff is great. For about an hour and a half I felt great even though I was having good contractions.

I started pushing around 10:30 I think. Everything was kind of a blur. The nurse checked me and we did a little pushing that caused my water to finally break. Then they set up for delivery and they called the doctor. They called again because I was at a 10. Once the doctor arrived my contractions suddenly slowed and he had to wait on me for once.

I pushed for what seemed like forever -- about an hour. I tried too push as hard as I could, but the doctor didn't think it was enough. He told me to push like I'd been constipated for a year! Nice thing to hear! The whole time I was pushing, I was afraid I was going to tear. And guess what happened? I did get all torn up! I kept losing ground at first because I wasn't holding where I was at when I breathed in between pushes. Once I stopped doing that, things moved along and I pushed with everything I had. Finally he crowned and the head was out and I had to stop pushing. When the baby came out, I just remember seeing the cord -- it was so long. Dr. K goes it's a . . . boy. I was in shock. I had said all along it was a boy, but always thought it would be a girl. But I couldn't really focus on the baby -- I was in way too much pain. They put him on my chest and I told dh to take him. They kept telling me to focus on the baby because I was crying and shaking uncontrollably. I could not focus on him though because the pain was too great. They were sewing me up with no anesthetic! They finally gave me a shot in the side after they'd been sewing. I was also hemorrhaging and they were pressing on my stomach. I just wanted to be left alone. It hurt so bad. I don't even remember delivering the placenta -- it didn't hurt any more than the other part. I was glad it was over.

He was so cute! And he still is!

I tried to nurse almost immediately. He wasn't really interested although he was very aware. I didn't get up for five hours. I just had no desire to move around. I was so sore.