February 4, 2014 I woke up earlier than I would have liked at
7:30 am with what I thought was gas pains. I took the necessary steps and realized
we weren't having gas pains but contractions! I started watching the clock and
noticed they were three minutes apart but they didn't hurt and I could talk and
breathe through them. We already had a doc appointment set up that day so I
called to let them know I was having contractions and then called Darren. He
was supposed to be in a meeting all day where I wouldn't be able to reach him.
Thankfully I got a hold of him before he went and someone else was able to go
instead. I texted my dad, who was in Europe, to let him know that I couldn't guarantee the little one would wait until he returned! He called me a little bit
later so we could talk just in case this was the last time before the baby was
born. (How wonderful is technology that I can text and call my dad when he is
across the ocean!) I packed up all our hospital bags and a change of clothes
for Darren and met him at our appointment. He gave me a hard time for bringing everything
but I reminded him that my mom went in for a checkup with my brother and two
hours later brought him home! I was 90% effaced I was still only 2 centimeters
dilated. My doctor said I could go in 24 hours or it could still be two weeks.
Once we got home I tried to nap and go about my day as usual (which let’s be
honest, meant I was just going to watch TV and be lazy)
Around 9:30 that night my contractions went from being little
tummy crunches into actually stopping me in my tracks. Of course they were all over the place time wise. We went to bed at 11 and
I laid in bed until around 1 and finally gave up on the sleeping part. I moved
to the living room and called my wonderful doula. By 1 am my contractions were
about 7 minutes apart. She said to try and labor at home as long as possible so
I bounced on my Pilates ball, ate ice chips, and watched TV until 3 am when
the contractions hit the 3 minute mark. I woke up Darren (he will tell you I
violently shook him awake; I did not!) and we headed to the hospital. We live 5
minutes from the hospital and by the time we got there they were about 1 minute
apart.
The first nurse to measure me (which is not pleasant when you
are having contractions) said I was 9 centimeters dilated! Everyone was running
around crazy considering I was suppose to have antibiotics for at least 4 hours
before I gave birth because I tested positive for the streptococcal and it
looked like that wasn't going to happen. Darren texted our doula and both our
doula and my doctor came screaming in. Evelyn, our doula, joked that I was
trying to beat my mom’s record! The doctor measured me and realized I was only
6 centimeters dilated. Pam, my other doula arrived thankfully because I was convinced
Declan was going to come out my hips instead and Pam is a registered masseuse and
pushed in my hips for each contraction. Life saver.
My original plan was to do all natural, no drugs, and not to
give birth on my back. I wanted to squat; but around 7 am and 8 centimeters
dilated my tolerable contractors turned into back labor and that is a whole new
pain. Darren told me he was very impressed with how I was handling my labor;
breathing through and not screaming or really making any sound even though my
contractions were going off the chart on the computer. Once the back labor hit
the game changed and I had to give in to an epidural. I finally got that
magical drug at 9.5 centimeters. I truly got the perfect epidural; I was able
to move my legs and feel my contractions, I just didn't feel any pain with
them. Magical.
Declan was ‘sunny side
up’ and the doctor had me turn on my side for an hour to help rotate him. I
really appreciated my doctor in that instead of going inside of me to turn him
(which would have been invasive for me and traumatic for Declan) she opted for me to
turn on my side. It was great having a doctor who just let nature work as it was intended.
Even where a lot of doctors would have wanted to scrap me at 90% effaced she
just sent me home and let me body do what it was suppose to do. Simply love her.
Though I hadn't wanted an epidural, if I had to do over again
I wouldn't change a thing. At that point I had been up for 24 hours and I’m not
sure I would have had the energy to push when needed if I hadn't gotten a
little bit of rest. This also gave
Darren a chance to take a quick nap. We both got about an hour or so of sleep
and I got so cold they had to bring me heated blankets {amazing} during that
time. Finally Declan turned around and it was time for the show!! I decided to
allow students in the room as long as they kept quiet (how else do they learn
if they don’t watch?)
A few minutes before
we were getting ready to push Darren and I were informed that the hospital was
shooting a commercial that morning and they had heard we didn't know if we were
having a boy or a girl. They thought that was so cool they asked if they could
film us and have the actual moment of finding out and use it for their
commercial. We would get all the raw footage and what was a few more people in
the room at this point! So we signed some papers and a camera man and a light
tech joined our little party!
Darren texted our family and friends that we were getting
ready to push and we began! My water had broken a little before then and it
only took me a hour and a half of pushing for Declan to join us. (I apparently
do take after my mom after all!) I did have to get oxygen because
Declan’s heartbeat started to drop a little but that was the largest
complication we had with him. Little Man joined us at 9:20 am February 5, 2014.
It’s such a surreal feeling. Part of me just didn't feel like
he was even mine or this was even real. You wait and want for such a long time
to have a baby and you get used to being pregnant and regardless of how long
you labor for, in just a minute it changes you have this little baby. I loved
him instantly but I also didn't feel he was mine until later that night when we
were finally able to nurse. Not everyone might understand that but I only got
to hold him for a few minutes before he was taken to the nursery and then it
was hours before I saw him again and even though I could hold him he didn't need to nurse (his stomach was full of amniotic fluid we didn't know about) so I
just felt like I was holding someone else’s baby. It wasn't until around 11 pm
that night (after he threw it all up) I was able to nurse him and then it all
hit home and he really became ‘mine’.
Darren went with Declan for all the nursery things while I
got stitched up. However, given I was so swollen and being a redhead (we lose a
lot of blood) it took an hour and my doctor had to
call in another surgeon to get my stitches to hold. Then, as they were checking
all the medical things out they realized they were missing a piece of gauze. So
I got an x-ray to make sure it wasn't left inside of me {o fun}; it wasn't and after another hour they finally found it inside a glove. At this point I has
been two hours since Declan was born and I lost double the amount of blood most
women lose during child birth (not enough to have a transfusion) and I hadn't eaten
since 10 pm the previous night all resulting in I passed out. Thankfully I was
watching the anesthesiologist as I was coming too and asked him what he was
about to give me. He responded with “a drug to protect my brain in case I had
another seizure!” What! Someone had misinformed someone and thought I had a
seizure instead of just passing out and thankfully I caught him before I was
given any drugs!
After all that excitement I finally got some food and we were
moved to our postpartum room. (Until I got pregnant I didn't realize postpartum
was what it was called after you gave birth. I thought it was just shortened
from postpartum depression and I always wondered why there were so many women
depressed after they had a baby)
We had a wonderful staff and stay at the hospital. I wouldn't change a single thing. I was sure I was going to have a little girl and now
that he is here I just can’t even imagine having anything other than my
beautiful little boy.
