*4.11.09* Baby Miller is due today! For most of my pregnancy, I listened to the "Pregtastic" podcast. Which is awesome if you are pregnant and have questions. My favorite episodes, were the birth stories, the more details the better! So here is mine. If you don't want details about the birth, skip this post!
Labor started at 11 am. after leaving the doctors office. I was one cm. dialated, and 75% effaced. Hooray! Last week I was at 0 cm. and was told this baby was going to be late, so I was really excited that there was at least a chance he was going to be on time. I really didn't want to be induced, as it usually means you need drugs, and I'm trying to avoid drugs if possible. I'm pretty sure Dr. Koe scraped my membranes, because labor started immediately after she checked me.
So, after leaving the doctor's office, we headed straight to Costco. Costco was awful, not the place to be while contacting, but things need to be bought! We then came home and walked the babies. Mark took the crazy Kane and Banjo, while I stuck with the mellow Gigi and Lucy.
I got home and stressed about the room. Close but not finished. I started working on the finishing touches. My friend Carrie picked me up for a quick Target trip to pick up last minute items. Then back to work. I finished it around 10 pm, and then realized my contractions were getting a bit closer together. Into the shower I go! I loved sitting in the shower! Mark got home and I told him he had better go to sleep, because we are going to he hospital some time in the not too distant future. My goal was to last as long as I possibly could, so I was in no rush. I tried to lay down, but that was not going to happen. Back in the tub. Then I brought out the birthing ball. Hooray for birthing ball, it was making things so much easier! At around 3 am I timed my contractions to about 5 minutes apart. Great! I woke up Mark, and told him to take a shower, it's time. I took one more shower myself, and finished getting ready to go. I was really hoping my water would break, a sure sign that it was definitely time to go to the hospital. That did not happen, but right before we were leaving, I did loose my mucus plug. Gross, but a sign that it was time! We got out the door at 4 am and headed to the hospital.
They checked me in, but before actually admitting me, they needed to make sure I was at a least 3 cm. As it turns out I was at 5! The nurse congratulated me for my home laboring! So at this point I was pretty proud of myself. They hooked me up to a hep lock and took us to the labor and delivery ward.
So, labor is painful, but I was determined to get through it. They were a little concerned about the baby's heartbeat, but it was still in the ok range. They made me lay in the bed, and kept making me switch from side to side about every half hour, to help regulate the heart beat. I started shaking uncontrollably, which they explained as nerves, and this pretty much continued randomly throughout the whole labor. The nurse helped me go to the restroom, I lost a bit more mucus plug, but still my water hadn't broken. At around 9 am, we got a new set of nurses, and Skelator nurse came on. This woman had the boniest fingers ever! Which left me with a dilemma, I wanted to know if I was progressing, but it was like knuckles scraping on pelvic bone. PAIN!!!! Well she did check me at 10 am, and I was at 7 cm. They also put a monitor on the babies head (OUCH), and a monitor on me that more accurately showed the contraction length, and strength. Yeah, should only be another 2 hours tops. They bring in my doctor. The practice that I went to has several doctors that I met with throughout my pregnancy. The one that was on, was Dr. Reddy. Oh crap! Dr. Reddy is a fantastic doctor, but she is very positive and upbeat. I was not feeling upbeat. I was just trying to get through pain and looking on the bright side was not cutting it. The doctor said, to break my water so that labor would progress. They took a knitting needle (essentially) and broke my water. Not pleasant, but not as bad as I expected. At this point the contractions are getting pretty bad. Mark is doing a fantastic job getting me to breath through them, but at one point I felt like I was loosing consciousness between them, which was making it difficult to "control" the contraction. I really wanted to push, but the nurses said "no, no, you might tear". So they checked me again at 11, and I was at 8-8.5 cms. Great! Could be coming soon, but my contractions were still to far apart. They decided to give me a little petocin, to speed thing up. I really didn't want petocin, but they promised it was only a few drops. At this point they let me move to the birthing ball, which helped a ton! I felt way more in control. The contractions did get closer and more powerful, but I did not feel any pressure. At this point, I gave in. This baby was not moving, and I could not help but cry. I knew the doctor was going to come in and say C section time. They checked me, and I was
at 8.5 to 9 cm, but sure enough, he had not moved and the heart rate was dropping lower after each contraction. So at 1 pm the C section was ordered. Dr. Redy talked me though it in her nice, sweet way, but at that point I just wanted the baby out. I was not stoked, but so ready to be out of pain, and ready to be out of pain NOW. Unfortunately there were other C sections in front of me, so I had to wait. They still kept telling me not to push, but at this point I was done. I figured if he was way up there, there was no way I was going to tear, so I gave up on trying to control my contractions, and just let them come.
Well, they finally wheeled me in. I waited while they buzzed around the hospital room. It was time for the spinal block, which scared me, because I still could not stop shaking. They had me lean over and bend my back in what the Austrian anastegialogist called a cat like position, and the needle going in was nothing compared to the contractions. After that, things were awesome! They brought Mark back in and he talked me through everything, although at that point I was A ok. I loved my doctors, I love my anestegialogist, I loved everything, and started cracking jokes. Even they commented on how different my personality was now that I was out of pain. They all took guesses on wether it was a boy or a girl, and they all said boy. I could only feel pressure from the waist down. At one point Dr Swartz (the other doctor that came to assist Redy), was literally thrusting all her weight onto my belly. After a few more pulls, he was out, 1:59 in the afternoon. Mark whispered "It's a boy" with tears in his
eyes, and I thought to myself, of course it's a boy, I already knew that. Henry Stephen was here! He let out a little cry, and pulled up my little blue angry man over the barrier, and then immediately whisked him away. He was stuck in my birth canal which was preventing him from coming down. He also had the cord wrapped around his neck. Dr. Redy said there was no way he was going to come down, and I had made the right decision, which I really needed to here.
My little man was here, with the coniest head I had ever seen! Poor guy. Mark went with Henry to see him through his tests, while they closed me up. He weighed in at 7 lb 11 oz, and was 21 inches long! My lucky little guy. I asked to see my placenta, which was large, red and purple, pretty gross! They brought him back over all cleaned and swaddled. And there he was, my cute, little old man. I got to kiss his head while Mark held him. I couldn't wait to hold him! At this point the whole crew broke into Happy Birthday. It was very touching to hear his very first Happy Birthday song!
They wheeled me away to recovery, and Mark and Henry to the baby ward. I had to be able to move my legs before I was allowed to go back to my room, and hold my kid. I was doing everything I could to move my legs and realizing how pumped full of fluid I actually was. They let me go back to my room at 4. I was met there by my parents, grandma, uncle, and good buddy Matt. Unfortunately, there was no Henry! It had taken longer than they expected for his heart rate to regulate, so he was still in the baby ward. After that, they needed to bathe him, and then wait a full hour before they brought him in. By this time it was 6, and I was literally itching to see my baby. You see, one of the side effects of of the anestesia, is itching, especially my face. They finally wheeled in my little man. He was a perfect little pink bundle of joy. By this time everyone had left, and it was just our little family. It was hard to believe that this perfect little guy was ours. It was worth all the pain and change of plans to hold my healthy son in my arms.
Beautiful kid!
Life is good!
