...So I laid down and you wouldn't believe the difference in the pain. It was so much worse than standing up and being able to move around. I would try and brace myself on the side rails, but it was intense!
Marcus and I talked about our dilemma. I had really wanted to go pain med free because I react so strongly to medicines. Ex: when I got my wisdom teeth out...they told me I was okay to go and tried to get up and fell off the bed...sedation--some people can drive home at that point...can you imagine!!!
He looked at me and said this is the point where you make a decision and I will help you hold to it. Just meaning that if I was going to do it med free, he would support me in that and make sure I had everything I needed to do it.
I realized I was being pretty stubborn about this pain med thing. I remember my sister Liz saying that she took the epidural cause you didn't win any awards by doing it naturally. No one is going to give you a trophy for that. haha. So true. I finally decided that it would be more comfortable and less exhausting to do an epidural. The other option probably would have made me feel really loopy and out of it, especially with my problem.
So, epidural in...wow! Quick and painless, numbed up the lower half. I laid back and they told me to get some rest. I couldn't believe how nice it was!
I was able to sleep for a couple hours and woke up with some pressure in my pelvis and on my rectum. It was definitely a different kind of feeling. Not to gross you out, but you basically feel like you have to go the bathroom (#2). I asked the nurse if that was the correct feeling and she said yup!
Alright...well, good, making progress. I was starting the shake and shiver...hormones releasing and my body telling me I was in the late stages of labor! She checked me and I was at 7 cm. It was great to finally make it that far and they said 10 wouldn't be long. Maybe another 2 hours.
Marcus and I sat up talking about things and I couldn't believe how quickly it went by. The pressure got pretty intense and I knew it was about time. The nurse came in and checked me and I was good to go. 10cm!!!
Time to Push:
The nurse set up stuff quickly and started telling me when to push and teaching me how. It took some time to get the hang of it. You want those pushes to do something!
I had to hold my breath and push for 10sec numerous times while contractions were happening.
Hard stuff. I thought I was good at multi-tasking, but this was a whole new level of that!
I was starting to worry my nurse was going to deliver the baby when she said it was time to call Nancy, my midwife. She was sleeping in the hospital, so it took only a few min for her to arrive.
She hoped right in, sleepy eyed and a bit frazzled, but she still was on her game. She worked hard to keep me from tearing and gave me a mirror to see the baby's head. Weird stuff, but pretty cool at the same time.
Within about 35min she was coming out and Marcus was told to catch her. I was laughing cause he said he should probably go wash his hands and Nancy said, nope catch her now. haha. He tried to help the baby's shoulders out, but she kept slipping. Then, pop! All the pressure was instantly gone. He placed her on my chest and she popped her thumb in her mouth. It was so cute! They told me she was definitely ready to try nursing so I should go for it. She ate the little bit of colostrum I was producing with ease. It was amazing! We got to keep her there for an hour until we would need to be moved to the postpartum care floor and she would need to go and get weighed and bathed, etc. Marcus was getting jealous...hehe...he wanted to hold her so badly! Finally, he got his chance and he melted... melted like chocolate! Holding your baby for the first time is pretty dang amazing! You can't believe that she's yours and how small she is and how beautiful (not that you're biased or anything ;))! It's crazy!
My epidural was wearing off in perfect time and I was able to get up and go the bathroom shortly after I gave birth. They put me in a wheelchair and took me and baby girl and all our stuff up to the postpartum floor.
The nurses settled me into my new bed and started asking me about pain meds. Now, I was thinking there was no need, I felt absolutely amazing other than being pretty shaky again from all the hormones rushing out of my body. (I had been sick the entire 9 months, and now, I was free. Free to drink water, juice, eat ice. You wouldn't believe the things I wasn't able to do because of the acid reflux, but it was gone!!!) The nurses kept giving me funny looks and asking me if I was sure I didn't want any pain meds, but what I didn't realize was I was feeling a little too good...
To be continued
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
She's Here...(The Birth Story) Part 1
At week 38 I thought she was coming. I had a day of pre-labor craziness. Body cleaning itself out, intense contractions, although they were 9-10min apart, and contractions for a long period of time-7hrs. I was stunned when after 7hrs...it suddenly stopped! And after that...nothing much was happening...
At week 39 I was starting to show signs of Pre-eclampsia - a disease/disorder that basically tells your body that the baby doesn't belong and it should rid itself of it. Nice, I know. So, I did a bunch of tests and had to pee in a jug for 24hrs so they could determine if it was serious enough to have to induce.
Now, I have been convincing myself for over a month now that this baby needs to stay in the cooker for as long as possible because ultrasounds were showing that she was very small and my weight gain was so low. Now I might have this pre-eclampsia and there would be no way they would let me go past my due date.
I got the tests back and they showed I was stable again and not showing signs of the pre-eclampsia. Whew! The midwife was still concerned it might reappear, so she stripped my membranes to see if things might get moving on their own. (this should get labor going within 24-48hrs if your body is ready) Now every day was a waiting game. I felt good though, definitely in the nesting mood. I wanted to get everything ready, cleaning, vacuuming, scrubbing toilets...haha, everything. This was an awesome feeling after months of barely being able to make it off the couch.
My due date past and I was back in the doctor's office. My body hadn't been quite ready for labor just yet. My midwife walked in and apparently, the pre-eclampsia signs were back. Yuck. The thing I dreaded most about this was peeing in a jug again...haha...no really I know this can be very serious stuff, so the midwife decided to check my dilation and asked if she could strip my membranes again, and I said why not, if it was going to get things moving before induction was the only answer, then I was for it. So, she did her thing and all of a sudden, a warm, wet feeling came over me. Yup, my water broke. I never imagined what that would really be like, but it doesn't stop. It just keeps coming and coming, although it does slow down, until you deliver. To the hospital we would go!
I left the office wrapped in what I call "puppy pads," cause they look like those puppy training pads you use in your house. I had 4-5 on and could barely walk. I imagine it is a similar feeling for sumo wrestlers with those huge diaper things on. Now, I knew once I checked into the hospital they weren't going to allow me to eat anything. I was already starving, so we swung by taco bell...yeah interesting choice for labor, I know... and I got a couple things and ate quickly before checking into the labor and delivery floor. I walked in with "water" running down my legs and all the ladies near the registration desk were looking me up and down and turning to the receptionist saying "Oh!, baby coming, baby coming." I wanted to laugh because other than having my water broken, I couldn't feel much. I was having a few contractions, but nothing serious, so I knew she wasn't coming too soon.
They rushed my into my room and set me to filling out my paperwork, while Marcus ran home and got the dogs situated and grabbed a few more things for us. Once he returned and all the paperwork was done, we set to work trying to get this baby to come. I did squats, walked stairs, walked hallways, sat on the yoga ball, did more squats, and after 6 hours, I had progressed one more centimeter...making a total of 2...who hoo(very sarcastic)... My midwife came in and laid out the dilemma for us. I could keep trying on my own and most likely go another 24 hours without too much progress and then a c-section, I could start on Pitocin, a hormone that the body releases naturally in labor to get things moving, and really move things along, or I could wait a few more hours and see how far I progressed and re-asess the situation. I was already bored of the hospital, so I opted to get things moving. Pitocin was hooked into my IV and gradually increased over the next 3 hours.
By the 3rd hour I was finally starting to feel the contractions. I would hold onto Marcus, or sit on the yoga ball, or brace myself on the wall. My midwife came in and checked how things were progressing. I was almost to 4cm. Ugh. She informed me that getting to 4 is sometimes the hardest part. Unfortunately, I was going to have to stay on the Pitocin and the dosage was going to need to be upped even more. She told me I was looking at another 6-7hours of double the pain I was already experiencing. I also was still experiencing what they call "back labor" meaning the baby's head is facing the tailbone instead of to the front and side like it needs to be to get the shoulders through, so I was going to have to lay down and switch from side to side every hour. She encouraged me to try a painkiller or the epidural, but said that she had seen women get through the Pitocin-induced pain with no painkillers. She left us to decide what we wanted to do...
(to be continued)
At week 39 I was starting to show signs of Pre-eclampsia - a disease/disorder that basically tells your body that the baby doesn't belong and it should rid itself of it. Nice, I know. So, I did a bunch of tests and had to pee in a jug for 24hrs so they could determine if it was serious enough to have to induce.
Now, I have been convincing myself for over a month now that this baby needs to stay in the cooker for as long as possible because ultrasounds were showing that she was very small and my weight gain was so low. Now I might have this pre-eclampsia and there would be no way they would let me go past my due date.
I got the tests back and they showed I was stable again and not showing signs of the pre-eclampsia. Whew! The midwife was still concerned it might reappear, so she stripped my membranes to see if things might get moving on their own. (this should get labor going within 24-48hrs if your body is ready) Now every day was a waiting game. I felt good though, definitely in the nesting mood. I wanted to get everything ready, cleaning, vacuuming, scrubbing toilets...haha, everything. This was an awesome feeling after months of barely being able to make it off the couch.
My due date past and I was back in the doctor's office. My body hadn't been quite ready for labor just yet. My midwife walked in and apparently, the pre-eclampsia signs were back. Yuck. The thing I dreaded most about this was peeing in a jug again...haha...no really I know this can be very serious stuff, so the midwife decided to check my dilation and asked if she could strip my membranes again, and I said why not, if it was going to get things moving before induction was the only answer, then I was for it. So, she did her thing and all of a sudden, a warm, wet feeling came over me. Yup, my water broke. I never imagined what that would really be like, but it doesn't stop. It just keeps coming and coming, although it does slow down, until you deliver. To the hospital we would go!
I left the office wrapped in what I call "puppy pads," cause they look like those puppy training pads you use in your house. I had 4-5 on and could barely walk. I imagine it is a similar feeling for sumo wrestlers with those huge diaper things on. Now, I knew once I checked into the hospital they weren't going to allow me to eat anything. I was already starving, so we swung by taco bell...yeah interesting choice for labor, I know... and I got a couple things and ate quickly before checking into the labor and delivery floor. I walked in with "water" running down my legs and all the ladies near the registration desk were looking me up and down and turning to the receptionist saying "Oh!, baby coming, baby coming." I wanted to laugh because other than having my water broken, I couldn't feel much. I was having a few contractions, but nothing serious, so I knew she wasn't coming too soon.
They rushed my into my room and set me to filling out my paperwork, while Marcus ran home and got the dogs situated and grabbed a few more things for us. Once he returned and all the paperwork was done, we set to work trying to get this baby to come. I did squats, walked stairs, walked hallways, sat on the yoga ball, did more squats, and after 6 hours, I had progressed one more centimeter...making a total of 2...who hoo(very sarcastic)... My midwife came in and laid out the dilemma for us. I could keep trying on my own and most likely go another 24 hours without too much progress and then a c-section, I could start on Pitocin, a hormone that the body releases naturally in labor to get things moving, and really move things along, or I could wait a few more hours and see how far I progressed and re-asess the situation. I was already bored of the hospital, so I opted to get things moving. Pitocin was hooked into my IV and gradually increased over the next 3 hours.
By the 3rd hour I was finally starting to feel the contractions. I would hold onto Marcus, or sit on the yoga ball, or brace myself on the wall. My midwife came in and checked how things were progressing. I was almost to 4cm. Ugh. She informed me that getting to 4 is sometimes the hardest part. Unfortunately, I was going to have to stay on the Pitocin and the dosage was going to need to be upped even more. She told me I was looking at another 6-7hours of double the pain I was already experiencing. I also was still experiencing what they call "back labor" meaning the baby's head is facing the tailbone instead of to the front and side like it needs to be to get the shoulders through, so I was going to have to lay down and switch from side to side every hour. She encouraged me to try a painkiller or the epidural, but said that she had seen women get through the Pitocin-induced pain with no painkillers. She left us to decide what we wanted to do...
(to be continued)
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