We arrived at the hospital WAY early that morning for what we knew would be probably a long road ahead of us. I had been dilated 3 cm for over a month, and was still at 3 upon arrival. The doctor came in around 6:30 to break my water and get things speeding up a bit. And let me just tell you-that was painful!!! Almost as painful as the contractions. The Dr and nurse encouraged me the whole time, saying it wasn't supposed to be that bad, and jokingly said that I certainly didn't have to worry about my bag of waters breaking in Walmart, as it was one tough bag. (Exactly what you wanted to hear, right??)
So after that, I endured contractions for another few hours as things continued to progress. Rather quickly, I might add. Around 9 I finally got the epidural almost immediately after asking for it. Thankfully I had progressed well, and didn't have to take any pain meds before getting the epidural. I couldn't believe how easy that part was. I was pretty scared of the pain of this huge needle going in my back, and having to sit up in the bed while having contractions and everything. But....it wasn't bad at all. And let me just say that man oh man, once that thing kicked in I was good to go!
My mom, dad, and TheHubs' mom and sister came shortly after all of that excitement, and hung out the entire day. My parents had bought a video camera about a week earlier for the little one's arrival, and decided to do some videoing about everybody's predictions of the time of birth, weight, length and all those details. In the meantime, I laid in bed shivering and shaking violently most of the day from the waist up....gotta love the side effects of drugs. Nurses said it was normal- and I just kept telling myself that there is no way I could ever be a drug addict.
3:00 came quickly, and by this time I was of course STARVING!!! The nurse examined me once again, and I had finally made it to TEN CENTIMETERS!!! WHOO HOO!!
So the family was then kicked out of my room, and the pushing began shortly thereafter.
...And continued for the next hour and a half. This was a tad more intense than I thought it would be. About 30-40 minutes into pushing I heard this beeping sound coming from the epidural drip. When asked what it was, the nurse vey calmly said "Oh, that's just an alarm saying you'r epidural is out."
Um, WHAT?!?! "And how long does it take to wear off?" I asked her. She assured me that it would take several minutes. And I trusted her. "Several minutes" went by and I think she realized that baby boy wasn't coming out any time soon, so she called for someone to bring another dosage. Thank Jesus for that!!
Thehubs was extremely supportive of me not only during the pushing process, but the entire day. Giving me ice chips whenever I asked, holding my hand and watching me cry when I was in pain. And of course having that look of "Oh, I wish there was something more I could do to help" during the whole pushing time. But he did....he supported my back and helped me each and every contraction. And it was awesome.
Our little bundle of joy arrived at 4:36pm weighing a whopping 8 lbs and 12 oz!!! Out of the total of 20 lbs that I gained, he was a big chunk of it...no wonder people kept telling me I was "all baby."
He was 22" long....looks like we have a basketball player on our hands.
Immediately after delivery, Thehubs cut the cord, and they took him over to be cleaned up. I made Thehubs go take pictures of it all and bring the camera back and forth showing me everything that was going on. This was all while I was being stitched up and once again vigorously shaking from the waist up.
Oh, did I fail to mention the vomiting and dry-heaving that occurred 3 times while pushing?? At one point the nurse told me "Well, at least you technically pushed for 3 solid minutes." after one of my little episodes of nausea.
Yeah...and it began again after deliver. While trying to breast feed him for the 1st time to be specific. So they had to take the little man away from me again while Thehubs gave me my Chick-fil-a supper that my amazing cousin brought!
*Note to self* Make sure Danielle has food after delivery whenever she has a baby....her bringing Chick-fil-a seriously saved my life. lol
So after I ate, I then calmed down a bit and was able to hold and feed my baby boy. (And keep my food down.) Let me just say here that breast feeding is one of the most amazing things on the planet. If the whole pregnancy and birth thing doesn't blow your mind in how cool it is how everything just happens on it's own, then breastfeeding is sure to amazing you. The little guy just knew exactly what to do and he latched right on (with plenty of help from the nurses on my end of things)...it was just beautiful.
While the nurses were still cleaning things up (and after I was all stitched up), in walks my mother. She just couldn't contain herself any longer in the waiting room. She came right over to me with huge tears in her eyes and gave me a hug. Then of course went to see her precious grandson. Shortly after that, the rest of the family entered to see the nurse give him his 1st bath and everything. I was absolutely exhausted by this point, but the epidural was still working, so no pain...YET.
I'll end there for now. I'll try and post again very soon about his progress since then and coming home. Now for some precious pictures of the little fellow. Enjoy!
Thehubs & I waiting patiently on his arrival.
Precious baby boy!
Proud daddy!
Aunt Shari
Day 2
First family photo. :)
My daddy loving on his 1st grandchild....this man is head over heals for my baby boy!
Isn't he just cutie??
Going home!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment