Day 1
Day 2
Here's how the final hours went.
Monday, May 29, 2017
The nurse that was taking care of me this night -- I didn't like her that much. She wasn't very warm or even very talkative. A bit cold really. Of course, she ends up being the one to be there for the delivery.
2:45am: The nurse tells me that for first births, it normally takes 1-3 hours of pushing before the baby comes out. So, she says "we're going to practice." We try for 30 minutes and she talks me through how to push and when to push.
We start practicing and it turns out that baby is sunny-side up (meaning he's facing up -- when he should be facing down). When she realizes this, she says we're going to stop and reposition me to try and get him to flip around. She put me in one of the most uncomfortable positions I've been in -- almost on my stomach. It might have been uncomfortable, but it totally worked and he flipped over into the right position.
3:30am: We start pushing again. The pushing sensation is REALLY weird. Even with the epidural, I could feel when I was having contractions. The nurse said not to up the epidural meds, so that I could feel the contractions coming.
The way it felt to me... It felt like I needed to pee, then like I needed to go poo!
So, here I am -- holding my legs (behind my thighs) and bearing down, literally. The nurse puts a mirror so I can watch when I push. It's so weird and sounds strange, but when I was pushing right -- I could totally see it in the mirror - the way that my muscles contracted. So, the mirror definitely helped me out.
Pushing was exhausting... I wasn't sure if I would be able to do it. I was so tired at this point with the lack of sleep, having contractions for days, and just the intensity of the induction -- I didn't know if I could do it.
Eventually, I got the hang of it and I kept pushing right. Then -- I could see his HEAD of hair peaking out!! The nurse said, "one more push and I'll go get the doctor." At this point --- it was still just me and the nurse. My mom was ASLEEP the entire time I was pushing (I'll post more on that later). At this point I get her up and she complains on me waking her up (again, more on this later).
So, I try the ONE more push and he CROWNS!! But the doctor isn't in there yet. The nurse tells me, "Hold it! Do not push! I need to get the doctor."
Here I am, holding my legs -- seeing his head crowned in the mirror -- feeling like I need to push with the contractions -- feeling the pressure of his head crowning -- and I had to WAIT. Wait... OMG. I got a little freaked out at this point because the urge to push was so strong. They say with an epidural that you don't feel pain... guess what, I did. It wasn't just the pressure of his head down there, I felt actual pain.
I think it took the doctor 5 minutes about to get in my room? Felt like an eternity though. She still had to get ready and stuff, so I had to continue holding him in crown.
By the time she comes over to basically catch my baby, I'm a bit freaked out. I'm finally able to push again, so I do -- and I feel the bigger portion of his head come out and I feel myself tear. It hurt so bad, I was cursing and stuff at this point. After that, I wasn't sure if I was pushing or what the heck I was doing. I did feel the rest of his body come out and it was like sweet relief at that point.
4:33am: Then, they put this little baby boy on my tummy. I didn't hear him cry -- so I was like, "Why isn't he crying?" He chose that point to cry and I was so relieved. They did immediate skin-to-skin while the "cleaned me up." My mom cut the umbilical cord.
I cried holding him for the first time... I don't know if I can put in words how it felt. After this long journey to finally get here... all the TTC infertility madness of 11 fertility cycles & 2 years, to the rocky pregnancy plagued with potential issues - bleedings - scares, and then the long induction -- to finally hold my baby boy in my arms felt so surreal and heavenly and wonderful and joyful.
They did have some issues with getting the placenta out, with me bleeding, and my uterus not shrinking. They said since I was on pitocin, that my uterus got tired and didn't want to contract. After the birth, they actually put me back on pitocin to help my uterus out. All in all:
- I didn't poop while pushing! Woohoo!
- I had two first degree tears (one on top and one on bottom). I didn't even need stitches, they just used some glue stuff.
- Total Labor Hours: about 42 (from the first cervical ripening to delivery)
- Total time pushing: 1 hour
Baby boy:
- 7 lbs, 1 oz
- 19 inches long
Not bad for a diabetes baby to be in the "normal" weight range!
I saw my placenta - which was pretty cool and disgusting at the same time. I was able to do skin-to-skin and try breastfeeding for 2 hours after birth. Just to add - my mom was completely useless during labor. She SLEPT through me pushing and didn't get up until he was crowning. I have other complaints about her - but will save that for another entry.
I have to say, I am a bit traumatized from the delivery! When they say you forget it, ummm no way. The whole trying for another is very questionable at this juncture. Love my baby boy, but half-way through induction I was really hoping to just have a C-Section. This stuff isn't easy for sure! Inductions are so hard since you're forcing your body to do something it's not ready for yet.
Future entries I plan on writing about and will come when I have time to write:
- Baby Boy's first week of life: low blood sugar issues and jaundice
- Breastfeeding adventures / struggles
- Maternity Leave details
- The drama with my mom
- Postpartum peri care
- Postpartum in general
- 1st month with my new baby
- Taking care of two
All in all, I still can't believe I had a baby! I look at him and I sometimes come to tears just thinking of the days when it was questionable if he would actually get here. I feel super blessed to have both of my boys home with me. Our little family is finally together :)
No comments:
Post a Comment