Hello. I decided I should get this all down in writing because I'm already forgetting details and I'm guessing one day I'll want to look back. So, here I am. Taking a break from diaper duty tonight after an unusually fussy day and waiting for my most favoritest (yes that's a word now) game to upload, I decided to start typing.
Welp, this is how it all happened.
My due date was June 3. My older sister flew up from Idaho on June 2 and we did some fun stuff trying to induce labor. The one advantage I had at this point in pregnancy was that the weather was still a bit on the chill side so it wasn't that hot. That being said, I was still miserable and hot and bloated and swollen and wanted to be DONE.
June 3 came and went and so did my sister's trip. She missed his big debut. We were both pretty bummed. I asked my doctor if after my due date if they could induce me since I was full term. They said no. I begged them to maybe just consider it if everything on the ultrasound came back fine and dandy and even used the "my grandma just died and my sister is here" card. They said no. So, off she went back to Idaho sans new nephew. Might I just add that my grandma died on May 31 and I ended up missing her funeral.
Since nothing was happening and I was trying EVERYTHING to get this kid outta me, I had my last appointment on June 10 (a wednesday) to which they said they were going to end up inducing me since I was over due. I sighed, but at least there was a light at the end of the tunnel. Finally. They scheduled it for Friday June 12 at 8pm. What a fun weekend I had in store.
We arrived at el hospital promptly at 8pm with our bags all packed. Ha! Rookies. They went over the whole process with me. Told me what to watch for and such. They inserted some weird shoe lace with spikes on the end that apparently is supposed to start softening your cervix. Then sent us home and told us to come back at 9am the next day (Saturday). I slept on the couch because for some reason I was okay with the idea of my water breaking there than on the bed. Around 4am I woke up with weird dull pains happening. I thought nothing because I didn't really know what contractions felt like. Going by the movies I thought I'd be screaming or something, but this wasn't that painful. It also wasn't very regular. The next morning we went back to the hospital and they hooked me up. They asked about the pains I said I was having- and according to the monitors they were in fact contractions. But just mild ones. Baby's head dropped a bit over night but I hadn't dilated. So they sent us home again.
We have relatives that live nearby so we stopped at their house to hang out. We didn't feel like going home and just in case I needed to go back we were only 2 minutes away. I laid on the their couch for a bit trying to relax. The contractions started to get closer together and a big more regular. I tried timing them but I couldn't tell when one would end and another would start. I just ignored it and figured that when the "big ones" started, I'd know. I heard a weird 'pop' noise, but again figured it was nothing. We decided to go for lunch a couple hours later (noon-ish) at a restaurant near the hospital. My contractions started to get mildly intense. I could walk through one, but really slowly and I could talk but I'd have to push the words out. What really was only 15 minutes waiting for our food to come, felt like an hour. Contractions went from 0 to 60. Warren started timing them since I couldn't focus enough. They were, um... 3 minutes apart. We told our waitress we needed boxes to go and the bill ASAP. Clearly, she'd never heard the praise ASAP because she took her sweet time bringing us our bill. I ate about 3 bites and Warren scarfed his down as fast as he could. Sadly, we had to leave our relatives at the table and ya know... GO! As I stood up I felt a trickle. Someone made me laugh and another trickle happened. I thought it was just pee. Started to talk out the door and the Pacific Ocean felt out of my vagina. I picked a great day to wear yoga pants. I was dripping on the side walk. We both were laughing hysterically in the car and the more I laughed the more water gushed out. Which just made us laugh harder. They admitted me and took out the shoe lace. Things slowed down, everything except for the PAIN.
I walked around the hospital in a lovely gown and pink Nikes for about 2 hours. It felt more like half a day. I finally told them I needed a room because walking was getting hard. As in, I looked like an idiot in the halls.
My plan was to go natural. The thought of the epidural scared me to bits, and I wasn't into any of the other drugs they offered. By about 8pm that night we were exhausted. We did everything the classes and the books suggested on how to cope with the labor pains. I had been laboring for about 7 to 8 hours already but I was not progressing. I was still only at a 2. Fully effaced, but not dilated. I sat in the shower for 2 whole hours. It was a nice break for the both of us. I tried the birthing ball- it was okay. The nurse told me to try laughing gas. I have had it before at the dentist so I knew what it was like. She told me it came in a pink canister and that sold me on it. I did that for about an hour or so. The nurse left for a quick 3 minutes, and Warren grabbed the mask from me. Shhh... don't tell anyone. I wasn't allowed to eat since my water broke, so I was sleepy and hungry and I felt like I had just ran a marathon. Not that I've ever ran a marathon, but I'm assuming that's what it'd feel like.
The doctor came in and checked me again around 9pm. More bad news. I was not progressing, and quickly running out of energy for the uphill sprint. They were going to start the drip. I was being sarcastic and said "oh geez, just give me the epidural, too, while you're at it." The doctor didn't pick up on my humor and said "that's a great idea. It will help your body relax so you can get some rest." Frick. I was okay with getting the needle in the back because I knew I was running out of hours before infection would set in, or worse complications. So I agreed.
Seriously, I don't know why I was afraid. The thing was blissful. Another 3 hours went by and they checked me again. I was at a 3. They kept increasing the drip. Sometime in the middle of the night after I ran out of episodes of Bob's Burgers, they came in again and said I was only at a 4. I forgot to mention that 2 times previous to them coming in, I was startled awake by them turning me over on my side and placing an oxygen mask on my face. After each contraction, little dude's heart rate dropped and wasn't coming back up fast enough. Talk about scary. They started a fluid transfusion in hopes that it would cushion the cord and help baby's heart rate. It worked for a little while, then his heart rate did it again.
This time when they came in, they told me that I was c-section time. Baby's heart rate was being jeopardized and my body just wasn't going fast enough. I'd say it was about 3 or 4am by this point (sunday morning). Warren started crying a little as they suited him up in scrubs. Up till this point, I hadn't really been scared. I mean, I was scared and nervous, but this was a different kind of scared. As they were getting me all ready to get wheeled to the OR the OB came in and said, "let's just give it a little bit more". So they did. They cranked the drip and from there it was smooth sailing. I started progressing faster and didn't need a c-section. Whew!!!
Time came for me start pushing. Where I found some extra energy is beyond me. I was laughing and joking the whole time. Asking questions like, "is this the ring of fire everyone talks about?" they'd laugh and say yes... "oh, this epidural thing is great!". Little dude's shoulder got stuck which I guess is a code red in the birthing process. Then all of a sudden he was here! I will never be able to get the SOUND out of my head. It was gross. I felt like a gutted fish. Oh, and the SMELL! Why didn't any of you mom's out there tell me about the smell?! I want to call it a bloody fisherman's wharf smell. So, after that I got stitched up and he was crying. Warren was crying and I was sleeping.
So, that's how it went down. :)
Welp, this is how it all happened.
My due date was June 3. My older sister flew up from Idaho on June 2 and we did some fun stuff trying to induce labor. The one advantage I had at this point in pregnancy was that the weather was still a bit on the chill side so it wasn't that hot. That being said, I was still miserable and hot and bloated and swollen and wanted to be DONE.
June 3 came and went and so did my sister's trip. She missed his big debut. We were both pretty bummed. I asked my doctor if after my due date if they could induce me since I was full term. They said no. I begged them to maybe just consider it if everything on the ultrasound came back fine and dandy and even used the "my grandma just died and my sister is here" card. They said no. So, off she went back to Idaho sans new nephew. Might I just add that my grandma died on May 31 and I ended up missing her funeral.
Since nothing was happening and I was trying EVERYTHING to get this kid outta me, I had my last appointment on June 10 (a wednesday) to which they said they were going to end up inducing me since I was over due. I sighed, but at least there was a light at the end of the tunnel. Finally. They scheduled it for Friday June 12 at 8pm. What a fun weekend I had in store.
We arrived at el hospital promptly at 8pm with our bags all packed. Ha! Rookies. They went over the whole process with me. Told me what to watch for and such. They inserted some weird shoe lace with spikes on the end that apparently is supposed to start softening your cervix. Then sent us home and told us to come back at 9am the next day (Saturday). I slept on the couch because for some reason I was okay with the idea of my water breaking there than on the bed. Around 4am I woke up with weird dull pains happening. I thought nothing because I didn't really know what contractions felt like. Going by the movies I thought I'd be screaming or something, but this wasn't that painful. It also wasn't very regular. The next morning we went back to the hospital and they hooked me up. They asked about the pains I said I was having- and according to the monitors they were in fact contractions. But just mild ones. Baby's head dropped a bit over night but I hadn't dilated. So they sent us home again.
We have relatives that live nearby so we stopped at their house to hang out. We didn't feel like going home and just in case I needed to go back we were only 2 minutes away. I laid on the their couch for a bit trying to relax. The contractions started to get closer together and a big more regular. I tried timing them but I couldn't tell when one would end and another would start. I just ignored it and figured that when the "big ones" started, I'd know. I heard a weird 'pop' noise, but again figured it was nothing. We decided to go for lunch a couple hours later (noon-ish) at a restaurant near the hospital. My contractions started to get mildly intense. I could walk through one, but really slowly and I could talk but I'd have to push the words out. What really was only 15 minutes waiting for our food to come, felt like an hour. Contractions went from 0 to 60. Warren started timing them since I couldn't focus enough. They were, um... 3 minutes apart. We told our waitress we needed boxes to go and the bill ASAP. Clearly, she'd never heard the praise ASAP because she took her sweet time bringing us our bill. I ate about 3 bites and Warren scarfed his down as fast as he could. Sadly, we had to leave our relatives at the table and ya know... GO! As I stood up I felt a trickle. Someone made me laugh and another trickle happened. I thought it was just pee. Started to talk out the door and the Pacific Ocean felt out of my vagina. I picked a great day to wear yoga pants. I was dripping on the side walk. We both were laughing hysterically in the car and the more I laughed the more water gushed out. Which just made us laugh harder. They admitted me and took out the shoe lace. Things slowed down, everything except for the PAIN.
I walked around the hospital in a lovely gown and pink Nikes for about 2 hours. It felt more like half a day. I finally told them I needed a room because walking was getting hard. As in, I looked like an idiot in the halls.
My plan was to go natural. The thought of the epidural scared me to bits, and I wasn't into any of the other drugs they offered. By about 8pm that night we were exhausted. We did everything the classes and the books suggested on how to cope with the labor pains. I had been laboring for about 7 to 8 hours already but I was not progressing. I was still only at a 2. Fully effaced, but not dilated. I sat in the shower for 2 whole hours. It was a nice break for the both of us. I tried the birthing ball- it was okay. The nurse told me to try laughing gas. I have had it before at the dentist so I knew what it was like. She told me it came in a pink canister and that sold me on it. I did that for about an hour or so. The nurse left for a quick 3 minutes, and Warren grabbed the mask from me. Shhh... don't tell anyone. I wasn't allowed to eat since my water broke, so I was sleepy and hungry and I felt like I had just ran a marathon. Not that I've ever ran a marathon, but I'm assuming that's what it'd feel like.
The doctor came in and checked me again around 9pm. More bad news. I was not progressing, and quickly running out of energy for the uphill sprint. They were going to start the drip. I was being sarcastic and said "oh geez, just give me the epidural, too, while you're at it." The doctor didn't pick up on my humor and said "that's a great idea. It will help your body relax so you can get some rest." Frick. I was okay with getting the needle in the back because I knew I was running out of hours before infection would set in, or worse complications. So I agreed.
Seriously, I don't know why I was afraid. The thing was blissful. Another 3 hours went by and they checked me again. I was at a 3. They kept increasing the drip. Sometime in the middle of the night after I ran out of episodes of Bob's Burgers, they came in again and said I was only at a 4. I forgot to mention that 2 times previous to them coming in, I was startled awake by them turning me over on my side and placing an oxygen mask on my face. After each contraction, little dude's heart rate dropped and wasn't coming back up fast enough. Talk about scary. They started a fluid transfusion in hopes that it would cushion the cord and help baby's heart rate. It worked for a little while, then his heart rate did it again.
This time when they came in, they told me that I was c-section time. Baby's heart rate was being jeopardized and my body just wasn't going fast enough. I'd say it was about 3 or 4am by this point (sunday morning). Warren started crying a little as they suited him up in scrubs. Up till this point, I hadn't really been scared. I mean, I was scared and nervous, but this was a different kind of scared. As they were getting me all ready to get wheeled to the OR the OB came in and said, "let's just give it a little bit more". So they did. They cranked the drip and from there it was smooth sailing. I started progressing faster and didn't need a c-section. Whew!!!
Time came for me start pushing. Where I found some extra energy is beyond me. I was laughing and joking the whole time. Asking questions like, "is this the ring of fire everyone talks about?" they'd laugh and say yes... "oh, this epidural thing is great!". Little dude's shoulder got stuck which I guess is a code red in the birthing process. Then all of a sudden he was here! I will never be able to get the SOUND out of my head. It was gross. I felt like a gutted fish. Oh, and the SMELL! Why didn't any of you mom's out there tell me about the smell?! I want to call it a bloody fisherman's wharf smell. So, after that I got stitched up and he was crying. Warren was crying and I was sleeping.
So, that's how it went down. :)
