OK- time to finish Bradley's birth story pt. 2 before I completely forget everything that happened that day. Note to self- having a baby around the holidays makes for a very busy times!
I left off with part 1 ending the weekend before my scheduled induction date..still no baby. By this point, I was basically just expecting the induction. I had lost all hope of going into labor naturally; I was already 6 days overdue and nothing was happening.
Monday, the day before the induction, I was a nervous wreck. I was cleaning the house like crazy (which was already spotless) and I kept unpacking and re-packing our hospital bags. Another crazy thing I did? I started watching the tv show "Parenthood" on netflix! Hellooo crazy mom-to-be hormones! Night time rolled around and I, of course, could not sleep. I was super tearful and could start crying at any moment. Jordan and I had one of those "last family of 2 conversations" that left me bawling, but so excited to start our lives as a family of 3! The last thing I remember was seeing 4:00am on the clock and knowing that I had to be awake by 5:30am to get ready to head to the hospital.
I got ready that morning and I was very anxious and jittery. I remember I kept shivering when I was getting ready to leave, but I wasn't that cold. The car ride to the hospital was pretty funny. I could tell Jordan was nervous; he was rambling about the most useless information..something about how old school Nintendo controllers were made. I have no idea, but it was cute.
We checked into the hospital ay 7:30am and I was really surprised at how quick they got things going. My nurse was already in the room, waiting on me and within minutes of sitting on the bed, a lady came in to start my IV through my hand. I read somewhere that the hand IV insertion was painful, so I was anxious for that, but it was fine and painless. Next thing I knew my Dr. had arrived and we were getting this baby show on the road!
At 9am my Dr. broke my water and told me I was going to feel a slow leak all day. Talk about uncomfortable! Right after my water was broken, the nurse started me on pitocin. Then I got word that my parents weren't going to be able to come to the delivery..they had come down with the flu. This made me super emotional. Jordan was nervous to tell me the bad news, but I understood their concern with not wanting to get us, and the new baby, sick. Plus, I knew it had to have been pretty bad for my mom to be missing his birth. Anyway, around 11am I started to really feel the contractions. Pain!! I remember telling Jordan that I wouldn't recommend child birth to anyone and I just wanted the pain to stop! I also think I told him I was never going through this {child birth} again :)
I was gritting my teeth pretty bad through the contractions, and sometimes I would forget to breathe..that's when I knew I wasn't going to be able to go without the epidural as I initially thought I would be able to. I wasn't nervous for the epidural at all, actually. The anethesiologist was amazing. She was so supportive in telling me I was doing a great job and to NOT MOVE. When she was doing the epidural she said "Ok now you're going to feel something and it's NOT my finger" I didn't understand what she was talking about, I just wanted relief. I now know that she meant she was about to poke me with a huge needle! The needle actually freaked Jordan out a bit. I am glad I went ahead and got the epidural because I felt immediate relief. I remember saying "Hallelujah!"
Around 12:30pm my bestie arrived. I was happy to see her, but upset because I had to sign a waiver for no videography or photography during labor. She was going to be my photog! But I was glad she was there for support. Around 1:30pm, Jordan's grandma showed up for support as well I was so glad she was there for Jordan {me too} because I knew deep down Jordan was upset that his mother wasn't there. Jordan and his gma headed down to the cafteria for lunch while my bestie hung around with me. I remember having a normal conversation with her, then all of a sudden I was in pain again! Turns out, my nurse had upped my pitocin and I could feel my contractions again. I had to text Jordan to cut his lunch short because I needed him back with me.
The anesthesiologist upped my epidural at this point. I felt better, but the pressure was unbearable. I really felt like I was going to have a bowel movement, which was my greatest fear. The nurses were trying to position me to get me more comfortable. Of course with my epidural, I felt like a huge blimp who couldn't move. I kept apologizing to the nurses for being so heavy :( At one point, they positioned me in a "froggy style" where my feet came together and my back was upright. That was the only time I cried out in pain. I felt like I was going to poop out my baby!
By now, my contractions were every minute, lasting a minute, and the monitor looked like one huge mountain. I kept saying to Jordan, "Why isn't there a break between these?!" I remember being hot and hungry and just plain irritable! My dad also showed up around this time and completely gown up because he had a cough. He wannted to be there for me and Jordan; we appreciated it. At about 3:15pm the resident checked my progress and I was complete and ready to push! Good thing because I actually felt like my body was about to start pushing on its own. My doctor arrived really quickly and we got down to business.
I remember my Dr. asking me if I knew how to push. I gave him a really short "NO" he told me to imagine bearing down and then pushing out towards the wall. I don't know why, but that really stuck with me. Pushing was a breeze..it actually felt GOOD to push as it relieved the pressure. My Dr. told me I'd be pushing for about an hour, but after a few pushes he told me it would only take 30 minutes! I pushed a few more times..I'm not sure, it was a blur. My Dr. asked if I wanted them to put the mirror "down there" I panicked and said no, but now I feel somewhat indifferent about my decision in declining..still not sure how I feel about that. Anyway, next thing I knew..my baby was placed on my chest and Jordan cut the umbilical cord. It really was a big, emotional blur. I was crying so hard. I remember saying, "Hi, Bradley! I've waited so long for you!"
They took him to the other side of the room to get cleaned up. The pediatric pulmonologist was rushed in to suction him out as he had a lot of mucus and his O2 stats were low. While that was going on, I was getting stitched up. I ended up with a 2nd degree tear and over 50 stitches; ouch! Bradley weighed in at 9lbs 1oz and 21 inches long, Jordan guessed it spot on (we had a pool going on). Once Bradley and I were both cleaned up, I immediately got him back and the lactation consultant came in to help him latch. I've been breast feeding ever since. {I will be doing a separate post on breast feeding}
A quick recap of things I learned during child birth:
So much has changed for me in the past 4 weeks and I can't wait to share it all. 2013 is going to be wonderful..I just know.
I left off with part 1 ending the weekend before my scheduled induction date..still no baby. By this point, I was basically just expecting the induction. I had lost all hope of going into labor naturally; I was already 6 days overdue and nothing was happening.
Monday, the day before the induction, I was a nervous wreck. I was cleaning the house like crazy (which was already spotless) and I kept unpacking and re-packing our hospital bags. Another crazy thing I did? I started watching the tv show "Parenthood" on netflix! Hellooo crazy mom-to-be hormones! Night time rolled around and I, of course, could not sleep. I was super tearful and could start crying at any moment. Jordan and I had one of those "last family of 2 conversations" that left me bawling, but so excited to start our lives as a family of 3! The last thing I remember was seeing 4:00am on the clock and knowing that I had to be awake by 5:30am to get ready to head to the hospital.
I got ready that morning and I was very anxious and jittery. I remember I kept shivering when I was getting ready to leave, but I wasn't that cold. The car ride to the hospital was pretty funny. I could tell Jordan was nervous; he was rambling about the most useless information..something about how old school Nintendo controllers were made. I have no idea, but it was cute.
We checked into the hospital ay 7:30am and I was really surprised at how quick they got things going. My nurse was already in the room, waiting on me and within minutes of sitting on the bed, a lady came in to start my IV through my hand. I read somewhere that the hand IV insertion was painful, so I was anxious for that, but it was fine and painless. Next thing I knew my Dr. had arrived and we were getting this baby show on the road!
At 9am my Dr. broke my water and told me I was going to feel a slow leak all day. Talk about uncomfortable! Right after my water was broken, the nurse started me on pitocin. Then I got word that my parents weren't going to be able to come to the delivery..they had come down with the flu. This made me super emotional. Jordan was nervous to tell me the bad news, but I understood their concern with not wanting to get us, and the new baby, sick. Plus, I knew it had to have been pretty bad for my mom to be missing his birth. Anyway, around 11am I started to really feel the contractions. Pain!! I remember telling Jordan that I wouldn't recommend child birth to anyone and I just wanted the pain to stop! I also think I told him I was never going through this {child birth} again :)
I was gritting my teeth pretty bad through the contractions, and sometimes I would forget to breathe..that's when I knew I wasn't going to be able to go without the epidural as I initially thought I would be able to. I wasn't nervous for the epidural at all, actually. The anethesiologist was amazing. She was so supportive in telling me I was doing a great job and to NOT MOVE. When she was doing the epidural she said "Ok now you're going to feel something and it's NOT my finger" I didn't understand what she was talking about, I just wanted relief. I now know that she meant she was about to poke me with a huge needle! The needle actually freaked Jordan out a bit. I am glad I went ahead and got the epidural because I felt immediate relief. I remember saying "Hallelujah!"
Around 12:30pm my bestie arrived. I was happy to see her, but upset because I had to sign a waiver for no videography or photography during labor. She was going to be my photog! But I was glad she was there for support. Around 1:30pm, Jordan's grandma showed up for support as well I was so glad she was there for Jordan {me too} because I knew deep down Jordan was upset that his mother wasn't there. Jordan and his gma headed down to the cafteria for lunch while my bestie hung around with me. I remember having a normal conversation with her, then all of a sudden I was in pain again! Turns out, my nurse had upped my pitocin and I could feel my contractions again. I had to text Jordan to cut his lunch short because I needed him back with me.
The anesthesiologist upped my epidural at this point. I felt better, but the pressure was unbearable. I really felt like I was going to have a bowel movement, which was my greatest fear. The nurses were trying to position me to get me more comfortable. Of course with my epidural, I felt like a huge blimp who couldn't move. I kept apologizing to the nurses for being so heavy :( At one point, they positioned me in a "froggy style" where my feet came together and my back was upright. That was the only time I cried out in pain. I felt like I was going to poop out my baby!
By now, my contractions were every minute, lasting a minute, and the monitor looked like one huge mountain. I kept saying to Jordan, "Why isn't there a break between these?!" I remember being hot and hungry and just plain irritable! My dad also showed up around this time and completely gown up because he had a cough. He wannted to be there for me and Jordan; we appreciated it. At about 3:15pm the resident checked my progress and I was complete and ready to push! Good thing because I actually felt like my body was about to start pushing on its own. My doctor arrived really quickly and we got down to business.
I remember my Dr. asking me if I knew how to push. I gave him a really short "NO" he told me to imagine bearing down and then pushing out towards the wall. I don't know why, but that really stuck with me. Pushing was a breeze..it actually felt GOOD to push as it relieved the pressure. My Dr. told me I'd be pushing for about an hour, but after a few pushes he told me it would only take 30 minutes! I pushed a few more times..I'm not sure, it was a blur. My Dr. asked if I wanted them to put the mirror "down there" I panicked and said no, but now I feel somewhat indifferent about my decision in declining..still not sure how I feel about that. Anyway, next thing I knew..my baby was placed on my chest and Jordan cut the umbilical cord. It really was a big, emotional blur. I was crying so hard. I remember saying, "Hi, Bradley! I've waited so long for you!"
They took him to the other side of the room to get cleaned up. The pediatric pulmonologist was rushed in to suction him out as he had a lot of mucus and his O2 stats were low. While that was going on, I was getting stitched up. I ended up with a 2nd degree tear and over 50 stitches; ouch! Bradley weighed in at 9lbs 1oz and 21 inches long, Jordan guessed it spot on (we had a pool going on). Once Bradley and I were both cleaned up, I immediately got him back and the lactation consultant came in to help him latch. I've been breast feeding ever since. {I will be doing a separate post on breast feeding}
A quick recap of things I learned during child birth:
- Do NOT set expectations..you'll only be disappointed. I have a problem with this; I always "plan plan plan" and when things down pan out exactly how I envision, I'm a mess.
- The hand IV is fine.
- The epidural is fine, too. --and it's OK to change your mind and get one because let's face it..pushing a baby out of you is hard..and painful!
- You will be hot..even in December (NEVER having a summer baby, btw!)
- Why even bother with mascara..seriously.
- The 1st pee after having your baby will HURT.
So much has changed for me in the past 4 weeks and I can't wait to share it all. 2013 is going to be wonderful..I just know.
Finally a family of 3 :)
