This post is so long but I won't apologize for it. It is for me. My labor and delivery were so crazy that I want to have it written down to remember it all. I want to be able to read it to Andrew one day. :)
I don't remember exactly when this picture was taken but it was within the last week before Andrew made his appearance. On November 10th, I was put on bedrest for pre-eclampsia. I was pretty upset about it and didn't believe it would do much good for my swelling.
Well, it did. As hard as it was to not do anything all day long, I laid up on the couch for several days and the swelling was gone! Brian made sure that I followed the bedrest orders and it paid off. When I went to the doctor on Monday, November 14th (also Brian's birthday), my doctor schedule an induction for Thursday, November 17th.
I was so nervous about it but very ready to meet our little man. We were supposed to report to the hospital at 5am on Thursday. We were told to call at 4am to make sure they weren't too busy for us and then we would call our parents for the go-ahead to come down here.
Again, I was nervous and anxious. The induction part made me nervous because of the pitocin. I've heard that it makes contractions much more intense and I was determined to get an epideral. All of the drugs just made me nervous. I called Nonnie the night before and asked her to say a little prayer to calm my nerves. I wanted to not worry all day - I wanted to enjoy it, even though I knew there would be pain.
Wednesday night we had everything packed up and pretty ready to go. Our electronics were charging and we were ready to go in the morning. I had the alarm set for 4am. Brian went to sleep just fine but I didn't fall asleep until a little after 11pm. I knew I needed the sleep but the anxiety kept me up! Once I fell asleep, though, I slept pretty good.
At 2am, on the dot, I woke up and felt the need to go to the bathroom. When I got in the bathroom, I had my first contraction. Now, let me pause here and say that I was worried about if I would know what contractions were and when I needed to go to the hospital. When I had my first contraction, I KNEW it was a contraction. :)
So I thought "Okay, well, I will lay back down for a little while." I knew I wanted to labor some at home and not be sent home from the hospital because I wasn't far enough along. I went back to the bed but the moment I laid down, I felt the need to go to the bathroom again. Same thing: the minute I got to the bathroom, I had another contraction. So I decided I would get in the shower and then wake up Brian. Well, the minute I started the water, Brian poked his head in and asked what was going on. I told him I was having contractions and I think the panic stirred in him :) It definitely got him wide awake!
So I hopped in the shower while Brian got our bags packed in the car and the electronics all put together. (You know we couldn't go anywhere without the ipad, laptop, two cameras and the video camera!) I had contractions while I showered and dried and straightened my hair (yes, I did that!). They were pretty mild contractions - I could still talk through them. They were kind of cramps but also wrapped around my back and gave me some intense back pains. While I was getting ready, Brian showered and we got the dogs up and gated in the kitchen.
By about 3ish, we were ready to go to the hospital. My doctor only delivers in San Marcos so while we are about 3 minutes away from the Kyle hospital, we had to drive the 15 minutes to the CTMC in San Marcos. When we left the house, Brian was pushing the pedal to the metal. I told him to calm down, that he didn't have to go so fast. (I would eat those words later!)
In the car, the contractions got pretty intense. Brian tried to make a joke about the breathing techniques that we learned (or were supposed to) in our childbirth class. I didn't think it was too funny :) I had to concentrate to breath through the contractions at the point when we reached the hospital. I was able to walk into the women's center (no wheelchair for me!) and to the nurse's station to check in. I let them know two things: I was supposed to come in for an induction that morning and they need to start the process of getting my epidural ready. I wasn't prepared for any more pain than what I was already experiencing. Once of the nurses said that another girl that was supposed to be induced that morning also went into natural labor. Must've been something in the air! :)
They got me in a room and changed into a gown. I was in a huge amount of pain at the point and didn't want to lay down. It felt better to walk through the contractions. The nurse finally got the monitors ready and had me lay down to hook me up and check how far I was dilated. This is where it gets good...
She checked me and said, "honey, I've got good news and I've got bad news. You are ready to go and we are about to have this baby right now." I instantly knew what that meant - NO DRUGS! I told her NO, I needed my epidural first. She let me know that no, I was not getting the epidural. If I did, the baby wouldn't be able to breath at this point. I panicked and started crying. I repeatedly told her that I wouldn't be able to do this without medicine. She insisted that I could and I was going to have to, like it or not.
Between all of my arguing with her, she had called the other nurses in and our doctor. She turned to Brian and told him that the only reason we hadn't had this baby in the car was because my water was still intact! WHAT!! Brian turned completely white. I think everything was just happening so fast. We expected to be there for awhile before they came in with the hook to break my water. But nope, they did that within the next few minutes. One of the nurses asked Brian if he had our camera cause we were about to have a baby. His response? "Right now?" :) Brian had only brought in our labor bag - not our electronic bag. So he went out to get the camera (although he was not taking any labor pictures) and by the time he got back, I was already pushing.
The next little bit is kind of a blur. I remember someone telling me to start pushing and I didn't want to. I didn't feel the urge to push like everyone talks about. And honestly, I wanted my medicine! So I half-ass pushed and didn't really know what I was doing. My nurse was watching the monitors and let the doctor know that the baby's heart rate was decelerating with each contraction. At that point, the doctor had nurses start prepping an OR for an emergency c-section. I told him that I was fine with a c-section because I didn't want to push anymore. He got the most serious look on his face and said that he didn't want to really go that route because the baby may not live through it - we needed to get him out NOW. That, obviously, was a jerk back to reality for me. The doctor told me to quit screaming through my contractions and put all that energy into pushing.
~Now, I must say that during this time Brian says I was screaming like crazy and would have terrified anyone walking by my labor room. I believe it. I remember it all but it is almost like I was watching...not actually doing the pushing and feeling the pain. Brian, on the other hand, was buried in the corner of the room - not watching. I had told them that he didn't/couldn't stomach watching and certainly didn't want to cut the cord. He has such a weak stomach and honestly, I didn't notice or care who was at my bedside!~
The doctor told me that I had two more contractions to push through and if the baby wasn't out by then, we were going in for the c-section. The nurses could tell me when I was about to have a contraction and they started yelling for me to push. I pushed once and then the second time through, Andrew Brian was born. It was the best feeling ever to have that baby out of me! :) I just started laughing.
Pretty much my only request was that I wanted him cleaned up before I held him. Brian went over and got pictures while they cleaned him. I just kept asking if he was okay. He would sqwak for a minute but didn't really cry much. The nurses said he was fine and weighed in at 6 lbs, 1.2 oz. He was 18.5 inches long and just so tiny (and I was thankful for that!). He was born at 4:12am. We had been at the hospital for less than 45 minutes before he was born!
I kept telling my doctor that I couldn't believe I just did that. I was really amazed. One second I was in the most horrible pain ever and the next, it was gone and there was a sqwaking baby! Once he got cleaned up, I got to hold him for the first time. It was pretty unbelievable.
We got to hold him for about an hour before the nurses can back to give him a bath and his first shots. He was wide awake for all of it. For about the first three hours of life, he just looked around.
And then he zonked out :)
Brian called our parents when we got to the hospital to let them know Andrew was coming on his own schedule. My mom went back to sleep, thinking I would be in labor awhile and Brian's parents thought he meant that we got the okay to head to the hospital for the induction. When he called back less than 45 minutes later to say that Andrew was here, they were all surprised! My mom got on the road right then and got to the hospital about 8:30, right when we were moving into our post partum room. Brian's parents got to the hospital around 9:30. They stopped to let the dogs out at the house and feed them.
My nurse, when she came in to help me get cleaned up, said that your second one comes even faster. So I've made a note that there is no need to straighten my hair the second time around! :) My doctor came in late that night and apologized for not letting me have medicine. I guess I was really mad about it. I could only laugh and apologize in return for yelling at him about it :) It actually turned out better - it made my recovery so much faster since I didn't have any drugs in my system.
We only stayed in the hospital until Friday evening. We were discharged at 6pm and headed home with our little one.
Next post I will put some pictures of our hospital visitors and our first night home.
