Hi everyone!
Thanks so much for all of the well wishes, support and thoughts about our babies! You all mean a lot to me and to hear from everyone has been great!
Here's my birth story, as much as I can remember.
May 1st I had a check up at the OB and was checked and was at 2cm (progress from the previous weeks!). Then the doc told me I wasn't going to have a baby because I was still too comfortable. Sara, Shay and I took a nice long walk around town while our car was getting the oil changed, and then did some shopping. We came home and I was pooped. Sara made me some Red Raspberry leaf tea (the same tea she drank all the way through her pregnancy with Shay-man) and then made us dinner. After dinner, we had some 'sexy time' and then went to bed.
I woke up on May 2nd at about 1am to go to the bathroom. Then at 2:30 I rolled over in bed and felt a gush of warmth and thought I peed the bed. So I got up to go to the bathroom and still more came out. I cleaned up and then proceeded to try to wake up Sara. Nothing. I got back into bed with a towel under me and then asked her if she knew if I could tell if my water had broken. She said to go back to sleep but I couldn't. Then the lower back pain started.
She started to time my contractions and they were fairly irregular in a sequence but averaged to about 10 minutes apart. We chatted for a bit in bed and discussed who we needed to call incase we left to go to the hospital. Sara's mom was who was originally going to watch Shay but she was in TN building playgrounds.
I got up and sat on the toilet and that seemed to be the most comfortable place for me to be. Sara started running around the house and talking to me calmly all the while. I had no idea what she was doing (she was changing laundry, unloading the dishwasher, packing, etc.). My contractions started to get closer together and I tired to breathe as much as I could. We made jokes and chatted a lot. Every once in a while I would get up off of the toilet, find a few diapers to fold and then have another contraction which wound me back onto the toilet.
By 4 I was ready to go to the hospital. I had no idea what they were going to do for me there, but my contractions were getting closer together and I was dreading the car ride there (30 minutes). MY contractions were between 3 and 5 minutes apart by then (short ones, and then long ones). Sara called her sister and woke her up. She was very excited by now and talking really quickly. Her sister said she would be there right away. Sara packed our bags, got stuff ready for still sleeping Shay and checked on me lots. All I was concerned about was towels for myself for the car (the fluid was really messy to me).
Sara's sister got here before 5 and we left. We got into the car and drove to the hospital. Sara kept asking me if she wanted me to stop by where Shay was born and get out. I kept saying no thanks. At 5, she called off of work and also called L&D to tell them we were on our way in. We got to the hospital a bit after that and pulled into the ER parking lot. I didn't want to get up because I really had to pee. As soon as I stood up out of the car, amniotic fluid came gushing out of me and Sara took a picture. Then the pee came. That was so classy of me!
We walked into the hospital and up to L&D and my shorts were soaked. They had me sign some papers and were oh so patient when I had to stop doing whatever I was doing to have a contraction. They checked me into the triage room, had me get a gown on and pee in a cup (which I couldn't do because I just peed, was stressed and can't pee under pressure). They checked me and I was at 3cm, my water had surely broken and we were there to stay.
They got me into our delivery room and I was starting to hurt by then. They said I had to be hooked up to a monitors and sitting in the bed sucked. All the residents came in and chatted with me, they did an ultrasound to make sure he was positioned correctly. Then they left us alone for a while. I had no concept of what time it was, the clock thankfully was behind my bed. It was really starting to hurt, but I kept trying not to focus on it. Sara helped me visualize taking pictures, my trip to Israel and some other stuff I don't remember. Then we asked if I could get into the shower with my IV.
The shower was absolutely lovely! The hot water and the pressure of it felt great! I stayed in there for a while probably like an hour. I started to think about how much pain I was in and that maybe I wanted something to take the edge off. I didn't say it out loud though. I wanted to be strong and get through this naturally.
Our new nurse came in and introduced herself to us. I then got out of the shower and back into the bed. I told Sara how much pain I was in (though I'm sure she could see it in my face). We talked to the nurse for a while about my options and decided that an epidural would be best because it wouldn't wear off like something that just took the edge off of the pain and may only last an hour or so. But before we could go ahead with it I still had to leave them a urine sample. That seemed to take forever and the bed side toilet thingy was just not big enough to do that on. OY!
At 9am the anesthesiologist came in and started the epidural. They sadly had to kick Sara out of the room because it had to be a sterile environment. It hurt a lot and she was saying everything she was doing out loud to the resident she had with her, so that kind wigged me out. The epidural shot hurt a fair bit and she gave me something extra to make me numb up more quickly.
Finally Sara was allowed to come back into the room. I felt way way better. Sara encouraged me to nap and also told her sister it was okay to bring shay now (she had called while I was in the shower to ask 'how to get him to stop screaming like a psychopath'. The drugs kicked in and I felt so much better that I wasn't in pain. Our nurse was great! Shay got to the hospital around lunch time.
Apparently I was given a bit too much of the epidural because my blood pressure wouldn't stabilize. It went really low. They had to give me oxygen so that it didn't effect the baby and meds twice to bring it back up. I was completely numb from my boobs down to my toes and could barely wiggle my big toes for most of the day. They turned it down around 5pm.
We did a lot of chatting and I've never felt closer to Sara, it was prefect. She was amazing, I'm so lucky to have had her there with me! Around 6 I was fully dialiated but my contractions were still more than 2 minutes apart so they gave me the smallest amount of pitocin the could to bring the contractions closer together and me closer to meeting the baby.
At 7ish it was time to push. The doc came in and checked me out. I was starting to feel like I had to poop and Sara got excited again! I pushed and the doctor went into the other room to deliever the other baby being born. She came back in and said I was really close and got all suited up. Shay fell asleep earlier and was just starting to wake up. I was really feeling the pressure by then and it sucked.
I pushed and they said I was doing a great job. The new nurse team came in (I didnt like them as much and was sad my nurse had to leave). I was getting tired and kept begging for them to just get him out of me. I kept pushing. I said once that I never wanted to do this again. I started to yell during my pushing and Shay would yell back at me, coaching me on the whole time. He's so sweet! Then when I wasn't pushing he would yell at me because he thought it was a game!
I got a bit hysterical at the end and I think the doc was about ready to smack me from it. The babies heart rate started to drop a bit, so they said they could use the vacuum to help me a bit with getting him out. I said sure and after about 3 more contractions his head came out. That was so awful to feel him half out of me, but the last push when he came out felt soooooo great!
He was born at 8:14, 7lbs, 1oz and 18 3/4 inches long.
The cord was wrapped around his neck and they had to cut it right away, but that's okay because he is okay! They put him on my chest, Sara got even more excited and I instantly fell in love!
I tore really badly. All of the msucles in my bum and the perineum. They took about an hour to stich me up with 3 full packs of seutcurs. It sucked! They said it was like a 2 1/2 degree tear, almost a 3.
I spent two nights in the hosptial and am thrilled to be home. We have been having a fairly rough time getting a good latch and after a call to friend who is a lactation consultant with WIC, I think Soren and I are figuring it out. I also how some 24hour super flu crap and that was the worst. We finally got a good nights sleep last night for the first time since I went into labor.
He seems like a very chill baby, only fussy when he is hungry or we are changing his wet pants. He has gained 2 ounces a day since we got home! He is finally starting to look familiar to me and its settling in that he is really here and really mine! I'm not just calling my stomach Soren anymore. Also, I have 7 lbs left to be back at my pre-pregnancy weight.
He is perfect and I'm ever so in love!!
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