Here is how my Friday went (Beware, this is long).
I expected to labor mostly at home, which is common. I thought I would have an average, if not long labor (12-14 hours).
This was not the case.
Friday morning/early afternoon I had been having a few contractions, including one a bit stronger while walking through the aisles at Target. They were randomly timed and were varying all over the place in strength, so I assumed they were Braxton Hicks contractions.
I had my 41 Week appointment scheduled for 2:30, contractions still random, short and painless. I was seen around 3:00, told my doctor about the random contractions, had a cervical check, 3cm dilated, and he stripped the membrane to try and coax my cervix a bit more. My doctor said I would probably go within the next day or two, but if not, we should schedule an induction.
Our induction was scheduled for Monday morning, bright and early. Then they brought me down the hall to hook me up to the fetal monitor as they wanted to check that the baby was not in any distress because I was a week overdue. I had had a couple more contractions, tight but short and painless.
Got all set up. Had a little clicker to click for when I felt the baby move. He was being completely uncooperative, and must have decided to take a nap at that exact time. Now I was having more contractions, they were tight, but still not really painful. The nurses would check on me every 5 min or so, they would keep me hooked up for around 30 min. At the end, the doctor came and and looked at my sheets. One of the monitors was keeping track of the short contractions I was having and he looked at me and said, "Did you know you were having contractions every 2.5 minutes apart?"
They had only been happening for about 30 minutes, and were really short, sometimes I wasn't even sure if it was actually a contraction or fetal movement. "I think I'm going to go ahead and send you over to labor and delivery," He said. I was a little taken aback and completely excited. Throughout my pregnancy I had been seeing mostly two different doctors depending on who was available. This day, one did my exam and the other, who I had seen even more, was on call for delivery that night. As I passed him in the hall on the way over to the hospital from the clinic he said, "Looks like I'll be seeing you in a little bit!"
Over in labor and delivery, my contractions were staying steady, about 3 min apart and getting stronger. The nurse at the front desk looked at us and said, "didn't I just schedule you for an induction on Monday?" We got our room and met who would be the first of many nurses to take care of us that night. We weren't quite sure yet if we would be staying. My contractions were still only about 10 seconds long, even though they were steady. I got hooked up to another fetal monitor and things seemed to be progressing.
My doctor came over around 5:00 to check on us, still only 3cm dilated. He was also ready to go ahead and get the ball rolling. He broke my water, and I called my mom to let her know we would be staying.
Now, we had only expected to go to an appointment. We weren't really prepared to be hurried over to the hospital. Even if I had been in early labor, I thought the doctor would have sent us home and told us to come back when the contractions were stronger. My hospital bag was still at home, half unpacked because I use a lot of the items daily.
Matt's mom was super. She went to the house and not only grabbed all the things lying around that I needed, but also took care of the pets, including our sick cat who is on pain meds.
By the time she dropped our things off, I was up and moving around because the contractions went from almost painless to mighty painful after my water was broken. She didn't stay long, but my family arrived shortly after. My mom held my hand through the pain while Matt was finally able to eat some dinner. I sat and rolled on the birthing ball and it felt nice (well, as nice as can be while your uterus it trying to squeeze a watermelon out of your vagina).
My dad timed my contractions, which somewhere between 7-8:00, lasted one minute long with a one minute break in between. It felt really good to moan and make a lot of noise while exhaling through my breathing (my family said I could have provided voice overs to a cartoon ghost). I was ready for my epidural, and the nurses (who were AMAZING) were quick to get it done. Though, they did have trouble getting my IV in, I don't really blame them. It took two nurses and a switch of my hands to finally get into my vein, which was like a wet noodle. I actually screamed and started balling at one point. I can't tell you which pain was worse, the stabbing of the IV needle or the contractions. I now know that there are very different kinds of pain.
The anesthesiologist was up in my room in a jiffy. I had started practicing holding still during my contractions because I knew I would have to for the epidural. I didn't even feel it. I don't know if I was just concentrating so hard on holding still through my existing pain, or what, but the doctor working on my back said, "okay, the tube is in, now I just to to insert the epidural and tape it down." I was like, "Really?" I hadn't even noticed. After I was taped up, they rolled me onto my right side and let me wait for the drugs to take effect.
Epidurals are the greatest gift science and man has ever concocted. Don't argue with me. It was amazing. Hooray for science! And Hooray for epidurals!
After I was numbed up a bit, I had another cervical check, this was probably around 8:00-8:30. Between 5-6cm. So I had progressed pretty well. My family was allowed to come back in the room, and we put on Lord of the Rings. Things were much calmer now that I was dazed, happy and not yelling. It was great having my mom, dad and sister there. Megan, of course, kept things light. I was comfortable, with no pain, but I could still wiggle my toes a bit and feel pressure, which would be greatly to my advantage.
About an hour after my epidural was in, the nurse came to check me again. I thought I would be about the same as epidurals can sometimes slow down your labor a little bit.
"And you're right around 10cm! You'll be able to start pushing soon!"
It was only about 9:30ish. It only took from 5:00 to 9:30 to dilate from 3cm to 10cm and become fully effaced.
I told the nurse that I did have a bit of pressure in my bottom, almost like I had to poop, but it wasn't too strong. She said that was good, but we would wait until that pressure became stronger. My family came back in and I told them I would be pushing soon. After only 15 min, I called the nurse and said the pressure was stronger. She sent my family back to the waiting room and I tried my first push. However, he wasn't quite low enough. The nurse would give it another 10-15min and we would try again. The first disc of The Lord of the Rings (extended edition, mind you) ran out, and there wasn't time for any more.
I started pushing 10:10pm. My mom was allowed to come back in when we knew we would continue pushing until the baby was out. I am so, so happy my mom was able to be there with me as well as Matt, who had been excellent all evening.
It was hard. I could feel pressure, that's about it, and the nurse was letting me know when I was pushing in the right spot, because I couldn't actually feel much of what I was doing. After an hour, I had progressed a bit and I had a nurse change over. The next was just as wonderful as the first two. Another half hour passed, and I knew we were getting very close. Matt enjoyed continuing to look for his little head to poke out. A fourth nurse came to take the place of #3, but instead just added to the room population. There was no one else delivering that night, I had two nurses (and #2 came back for a few min for encouragement) to myself, and the support I felt was tremendous.
I could feel his little coconut head. It was time to call the doctor. He arrived quickly to catch the baby. It was almost midnight, I had been pushing for almost two hours and it was anyone's guess as to when I would deliver, the 14th or 15th. One final good push answered that, just as my epidural ran out (of medication, the effects were still perfectly working).
Harrison Craig was born at 11:58pm December 14th, 2012. The penultimate minute of the day.
He was (is) perfect.
7lb 15oz, 20" long
Ten fingers and ten toes.
He sobbed at the cold, and I sobbed too. I couldn't believe I did it. I was ridiculously tired, but over the moon. My mom cried, Matt just looked so happy. I held my baby, a little gooey yet. He got cleaned off and snuggled up. My mom stuck around for a few more minutes and then went to notify the rest of my family, not just the ones in the waiting room.
Matt and I took the hour to meet our new son. I fed him for the first time and, with the nurse's help, we were successful. He was born with hair, it has a red tint to it, but it could darken over a little time too. His eyes are big and beautiful and a color yet to be determined (my guess is blue, like his daddy). Harrison totally has my round head and big cheeks, but he definitely has Matt's nose. He also has crazy big feet with long monkey toes! He is just so cute I can't look away!
At this time, being distracted by baby, the doctor delivered the placenta (Matt took a picture ><;) and then stitched me up. I had torn at the last second, which is fine as I didn't need an episiotomy. I honestly don't think I could have had a better delivery. I felt fantastic, it went quickly, and I had the most amazing support with Matt, my mom and family, and 4 wonderful nurses. The nurses said they had rarely had someone who was so cheerful through their labor. It really helped, having such a great care team, and, oh yeah!, the epidural.
After about two hours, it was time to move me. I got up, shuffled to the bathroom with a lot of help (legs were still waking up) and then nearly passed out. The nurses got the wheel chair beneath me just in time, as tunnel vision was losing in. We were wheeled from Labor and Delivery to the postpartum ward. Matt got the push the "Baby Button"- a big red button that sends a quiet lullaby through the whole hospital to announce the birth of a baby.
The rest of the night is kind of blurry. Even the delivery is a blur, I had to ask Matt what happened at certain points to remember. I only got an hour of sleep over the night. Not only was I in high demand for snuggles and feeding, but I was wired. Extremely tired, but the adrenaline was too strong at work.
I couldn't be happier. This just feels so right. I am already in love with being a mom. Breast feeding is a little hard, neither Harrison or I has ever done it before, so we're practicing and getting much, much better already.
I am forever in love. I love Matt more than ever. I love Harrison more and more with every look, if that's possible. I love them more than words can really describe right now. I think my heart just exploded a little.
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