September 9, 2008

The date my life changed forever, and it has been a wild ride so far (in a good way though). This I guess you could say is my birth story - I am not promising that it will be completed today but I am giving it the old college try to get it down so I dont forget all the details.

Tim and I tried our best to sleep the night before my induction, but I really didnt get much sleep as you can imagine. Just the fact that the whole thing was planned still seems to amaze me a little. Something that is supposed to be so naturally surprising didnt happen that way for us. But we did know that once it began we had no way of guessing how long it would take.

We both got up at 4am, called L&D to make sure that there was room grabbed our bags and headed to the hospital at 6am. We checked in through the ED and then proceeded to L&D, where right away they asked me to change into my gown and hooked me up to the IV, and the pitocin. I had remembered Dr. Allen mentioning something in the office regarding a catheter and that we would start that to help me dialate. They checked my cervix for the first time and I was still only 1cm dialated. So they brought in the supplies for the catheter, and I began to get scared. I really didnt want that cath, I would prob not be able to get out of bed etc if I had it. Dr. Allen showed about 7, and checked me, he felt that he could go ahead and break my water without the cath. I was so relieved and suprisingly the amnio hook used to break my water did not even hurt. It was like a pap almost, just felt like some scraping.

The pitocn was started at 7am and I labored naturally till about 2pm. I was checked again at noon and was at a 2 then. It was beginning to hurt bc they upped my pitocin again to help things along. It was getting pretty painful, and I began to wonder if I was a big baby to only be at a 2 and hoping to get the epi soon. Dr. Allen said I could get it as soon as I wanted it, so I began asking questons about the process.....why I have no idea I knew going into this I wanted the drugs :) So at my final check pre epi I was almost a 3, and the nurses let me know that I was on a very high level of pitocin so my contractions were alot stronger than if I were in normal labor. So once they put it that way I asked for the epi.....I guess they only said that to not make me feel so bad. The epi was done at 2:10 and it was the best decision I made. It in no way altered my mind I knew exactly what was going on and when, I could even still feel the pressure of the contractions instead of the pain so I still knew there was something going on.

I labored on the pitocin for the rest of the afternoon, around 5:30 Dr. Allen came in for another check and I was still at a 3 I was beginning to get pretty frustrated. He left the room mentioning something about midnight, and at that point Tim was hoping to grab some dinner soon. So he and his parents went out to grab something to eat and would check back by once they were finished. While he was gone I started to feel really nauseous. I was told this was a good thing. It was around 6:30 and Dr. Allen came in once more for another check and sure enough I was at a 10. Dr. Allens term for it was complete and I thought he meant effaced....shows what I know...he laughed at me. It all happened really fast from a 3 to a 10 in a matter of a little less than 2 hrs. I really didnt feel anything except for the nausea and the normal pressure of the contractions which didnt seem to be any closer than before.

Tim was in the cafeteria with his parents eating while they prepped me for pushing and I was so calm about it all I told them to let him finish eating and then we would get down to business the nurses thought this was hilarious. He ended up coming anyway bc my aunt went and found him. We began pushing at 7 and ::::::wait here it comes the reveal::::: Andrew Timothy was born at 8:05 weighing 7lbs 12oz and 20 inches long. It is true what they say about the epi making it a little hard to feel while pushing. I had to really concentrate on where I was pushing and they had to coach me along quite a bit, but I was proud it only took me an hour.

The surprise of the whole thing was that Tim helped deliver his son. He was not prepared for this it was kind of in the moment, and I know it was not something he would have chose to do before hand. Dr. Allen handed him gloves and assisted him in the delivery. Andrew was face up and so they had to turn him, but Tim did great and cut the cord too something else he had said he didnt want to do.

I did have a little but of tearing but really it wasnt that bad and almost 2 weeks later I barely notice it. My induction exp was very good and I wouldnt hesitate to do it again if I needed to. After it was all over and I was being moved to my new room I tried to walk too early and had a pretty bad fainting spell, that was a weird feeling altogether but the nurse said it was from the epi and my blood pressure was really low from delivery. The epi lasted till well in the morning and I think it really helped with my pain after delivery.

It is now Tuesday morning.....(see how long it took me to finish this) and Andrew is 2 weeks old today. I swear it feels like he has always been here. I sort of remember my life pre-baby but it is blurry. We all are doing well adjusting, we were able to get him in his crib after about a week and he is doing well with that as well as eating. At his chek up last week at the pedi he had gained 5oz from the previous week he is almost up to his birth weight again. He sleeps really good at night and thank goodness it isnt hard to get him down yet....but I know my days are numbered with that.

I feel so completley blessed and empowered by the birth of my son, it truly is a miracle that humans can make something so beautiful. It also shows how the trust, love, loyalty, and honesty of your marriage can make something so precious that you wonder how on earth you waited so long to share that miracle together. Someone up there is looking out for us!

Many updates to come. I hope to have Andrews blog updated soon, so stay tuned!