The day after Thanksgiving, I woke up around 5 am. To pass time waiting to fall back asleep, I read through my blog reminiscing about the entire process that was quickly coming to a close.
I couldn't believe that this all started over cheese fries at Eskimo Joes. "Lets just do it!" We said with smiles.
While reading, I had the strong urge to go to the restroom, but the thought of having to lift myself off of the couch made me stay put for a long while.
Finally when I couldn't wait any longer, I hoisted myself up and felt the trickle down my leg. At first, I cursed myself for having waited so long, but I quickly realized that this was not pee. My water had broke!
Surprisingly, I calmly woke Steve up and told him the news. We both assessed the situation and decided that indeed we needed to head to the hospital. We quickly got our stuff together (yay me for being prepared) and put the dogs outside.
The nurse at the hospital confirmed for us that my water had in fact broke, and also said that my blood pressure was dangerously high. This came as a surprise to me since it had not been high my entire pregnancy.
She had me lay on my side to see if that would help it to go down. This helped a little, but not enough to make her feel better about the situation. So she suggested that I get an epidural to see how that changed things.
The anesthesiologist gave me an epidural, and to my surprise it really didn't feel that bad. Just a little bee sting. Well, this did help my blood pressure go down initially, and I was so relieved.
After the epidural, they hooked up my antibiotics since I tested GBS positive and then started the Pitocin to induce labor since my water had already broke.
Oddly, all this time I had not felt a single contraction, and I thought that I wouldn't since I had an epidural. Well apparently, the epidural didn't take, and I started to feel every contraction. They were coming every two minutes or less apart, and my blood pressure started to rise again.
The nurse, Jennifer, who was absolutely AMAZING, came in to check on me and noticed that I kept closing my eyes and not responding to her. We had previously been chatting about our favorite books, movies, etc. So, I am sure my change in demeanor was a red flag to her.
She voiced concern saying "I think you are feeling more pain then you are letting me know. You must be one of those suffer in silence types. Let me get the anesthesiologist back in here." God bless that woman!
So, yes I had to get another epidural, and this one took! I immediately felt one hundred times better, and was able to have conversations with Steve and the nurse like before.
Progress as far as dilation was slow, but this allowed them to get three rounds of antibiotics in me!!! Thank you Lord!
While on my third bottle of penicillin, Evan's heart rate dropped. The nurse immediately came in. Got an oxygen mask on me, and called for help to turn me on my side. As soon as I heard her say "turn her on her side" I quickly flipped myself over without the help of anyone! To this the nurse looked at me in amazement, and then laughed saying that must have been the mother in me.
Once everything was back to normal, she said that was actually pretty common. Evan might have been laying on the cord, decided to grasp it with his hands or I could have been dilating pretty good at the time. But she kept the oxygen mask on me for another 30 minutes just in case.
Between 5 and 6 pm most of Steve's immediate family (Steve's mom and step father, brother Mikey, sister Jennifer her husband Michael and their four children, sister Lacey and her husband Matt) and my dad had arrived.
It didn't take long after that for the doctor to check me and say that I was ready to push!
Steve and I kept joking that Evan was so considerate to wait not only until after Thanksgiving so that Steve was on Holiday break from school but also waiting for all of our family to arrive as well.
I originally didn't think that I would want a mirror to see what was going on during the final stages of labor, but the the nurse talked me into it and I am so glad. It was motivating to see his precious little head.
What labor would be complete without a good throw up session? Yup, my acid reflux acted up with full force during labor. I turned to the nurse and said "I am going to throw up. Give me that bag!" Luckily, they got it to me in time so that it wasn't all over me.
It took a while for me to figure out how to push correctly, but once I figured it out I was a rock star pusher. :) After the doctor gave me an episiotomy, I just pushed a couple times and Evan arrived at 7:53 pm weighing 6 pounds 9.8 ounces and measuring 19 inches long. Steve cut the cord and the photo session began.
Funny thing was that immediately after labor, my acid reflux was gone. Completely gone! Lay flat on my back? Sure, why not. Drink a glass of OJ? Make it a double shot! Yay!!!!!!
We stayed in the hospital until late Sunday afternoon. I will post soon about our first week and a half home. Here are a few pics from the first few days of Evan's little life.
Evan, always know that your mom and dad love you very much. The past few days have been some of the best of their lives.
What a great birth story. I can't wait to hold Evan. You guys enjoy him when he's this small. He's so precious.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet little guy. Enjoy the newborn days. They are tough but so so special!
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