Thread: Graduates and Birth Stories

** Please excuse the profanity used in this story... **

Kai Adrian (boy)
Born via emergency c-section
4th of June 2009 at 7:03pm
8lb 2oz
51cms long with big feet and big hands like his dad.

I was nervous as hell – I didn’t want to be induced, the idea of it frightened me. I’d heard inductions were often more painful than spontaneous labours – labour is painful enough, why make it more painful?? At the same time, I was excited that finally, things were going to start happening! I was seriously over pregnancy by now, being a full week over due – and I was still struggling to believe nothing had really happened as of yet. I thought I was going to go early, my mother in law talked of nothing else!

So, the night before my induction, I was fluttering around the house in a state of anxiety, putting things away, tidying, cleaning, wiping, longing to use the vacuum cleaner (Adrian was asleep – the bum! Who can sleep at a time like this?)... I ended up waking Adrian up at 5am simply because I couldn’t handle him still being asleep when there was so much to do before we left for Murray Bridge later that morning. I made him vacuum and do the dishes while I showered and got dressed. I put those last minute items together for my hospital bag (which had been packed for weeks but never actually needed before now), and finally started to relax once there was some illusion of order to the house to still my anxious hands. Adrian made me a lovely breakfast (my last breakfast) of baked beans on toast with a couple of poached eggs on top (by request D), which I devoured in record time. I even said to Adrian afterwards “I could so go another plate full”, to which he called me a piggy. I was feeling rather piggy, myself. Thinking back on it now, I’m wondering if my body knew in advance what sort of a journey I was about to start on, and that it would need copious amounts of energy in order to cope. I think now if I hadn’t had such a hearty breakfast, I might not have coped as well as I did.

By now it was around 8:30am and we weren’t due to leave Pinnaroo until 10am – so Adrian suggested I go have a lie down for a bit since I’d probably need my energy later. I was finally tired enough to agree, so off I went to bed, telling Adrian to make sure I don’t sleep past 9:30 as I still had to put some stuff into my hospital bag. I managed to sleep solidly (like the dead) until about 9:28am when suddenly I was started awake by a pretty intense and quite painful contraction, coupled with an incredible urge to ... do a poo. That’s the nicest way I can put it. I remember thinking “Kai, if you ruin my plans for today, you’re dead!” while waiting for the contraction to finish. It lasted about a minute before tapering down into Braxton Hicks, then I scrambled out of bed to start waddling towards the loo. I was about halfway through the lounge room when my water broke. Initially I thought I’d peed myself – there was so much pressure going on down there, who knew, really! But as I kept walking, the fluid kept gushing – it became obvious my water had really, truly broken this time. So, I rushed to the toilet (cos I really needed to go!), waddling really badly now as it felt awful to have fluid gushing out of me continuously. I did my business, quietly cursing Kai for ruining my hair plans for the day. I guess it was lucky I hadn’t made an appointment in advance. As calmly as I could, I told Adrian what had happened and how we needed to get going now. There was no need to tell him twice, he set about packing up my things and loading up the car. I put on a pad, did those final tasks that needed to be done, and rushed out the door.

We were well on our way by 10am.

By this time I was getting contractions every 15 or so minutes. They were a little uncomfortable, but easy enough to cope with. Adrian and I joked about it all the way to the hospital.

When we finally arrived at the hospital, we were greeted by a midwife who took us into a birthing room for an internal examination. We were all a bit doubtful that much had happened as my discomfort was minimal and the contractions were irregular. My internal (which was pleasant in comparison to evil Dr. Butler’s (Butcher!) internal) revealed I was one finger width dilated and 75% effaced. So, my body had been up to something, after all. Noice. But, since it was apparently that nothing else was really going on, we were allowed out on Day Pass (we would have got sent home if we’d lived in Murray Bridge), so we could have a bit of fun at the mall and try to chillax.

Got back to the hospital at around 3pm (roughly) feeling really achy and tired. I’d been dashing to the toilet constantly all day, and had quite nasty diarrhea to boot. Lovely. I had a thought that I’d try and have a bit of a sleep since I’d had hardly any, and lay down on my bed while Adrian lay on his reading a booby mag... bit inappropriate if you ask me. Pfft. Men. Can’t live with them, tie them up in fishing line and still expect them to do the dishes... contrary beasts, aren’t they??

I’d been getting contractions all day, and it seemed all the pain was in my back, so it didn’t take me long before Adrian was put on back rubbing duty.

A new midwife (Pat) came in at around 6pm for her night shift, and hooked me up to the heart rate monitor. All was going well; baby’s heart rate was looking good, although there were some minor concerns relating to how it slowed down during contractions. Wasn’t too big a deal, though – it seemed to recover quickly enough. I had the heart rate thingy on for what felt like forever, and it sucked that when I got a contraction, I couldn’t stand or have Adrian rub my back. Over time, I really grew to loathe that bloody contraption – although, in reality, it probably saved my baby’s life.

Sometime later in the night, the contractions had really started to ramp up. By this time I was constantly going to the toilet (I’d actually started to blame that on the baked beans), and since I had the monitor off by this time, I was standing at the edge of the bed, swaying my hips while Adrian rubbed my lower back with the heel of his hand. They were getting seriously painful, and they were all in my lower back! I have no idea of time during most of this, but I know I got very little sleep. Adrian was exhausted himself, but was soooo supportive – he came and got into my bed with me and cuddled me in between contractions – it really helped me to get that little bit of sleep I needed to get through it all. By now, though, I could not lie on my back/side during a contraction. I found the best way to deal with them was by getting up onto my knees and resting my head on the top of the bed (the bed was propped up almost the whole way) and swaying my hips while Adrian rubbed my back. They were getting very painful and I’d long since stopped joking about Kai just needing a deadline to get motivated. As far as I was concerned, this was the real deal.

At some stage in the early hours, Adrian and I gave up on sleep completely. The contractions were too painful and too close together – I’d started to have to vocalise my pain (although at this stage it was only saying “**** **** **** **** **** ****” etc under my breath as opposed to much later... yes, I turned feral. It was only fair, considering). As Pat left at the end of her shift, I asked if I could get something to eat (I was famished!), but she told me I shouldn’t eat anything “just in case...” I remember thinking “**** off! I’m hungry!” I decided I did not like Pat. She kept calling my contractions “niggles”. *****. They were NOT niggles, and I resented them being labelled as such! She also seemed to know something I didn’t (turned out she did, later on), and that made me dislike her more. The new midwife came on – Kate. She was really bubbly and friendly, but at the same time condescending and patronising. By this time I was very vocal through my contractions, and they had ramped up to the point that I was very unhappy. Kate seemed to disregard my pain by insinuating that this was probably still only early labour, and since I could still talk/focus and was aware of what was going on around me, then there was still so much more pain to come! I knew at the time she was probably right, but I was so miserable by then I burst into bitter tears and called her several names I shouldn’t have under my breath. She brought me a bean bag to labour over on the bed, and suggested I try out the shower. Half an hour later, I was beyond bean bag and was ready for the shower.

Oh. My. God. The shower! Liquid bliss it was, and I stayed in there for aaaaaaaages! I felt so guilty about wasting the water (and Adrian must have too, as he kept asking me if I was ready to get out), but at the same time I now wondered how I would ever get out! Kate later reassured us that women in labour are entitled to long showers, especially after all the pain we go through. I was to stay there as long as I wanted. Eventually, though, I did feel obligated enough to get out. And by this time Dr. Altman was ready to check me out to see how far I’d come.


I’d said to Adrian I’d be happy with 4-5 cms. As long as I was halfway there, all would be well. When Dr. Altman revealed I was only 2-3 cms dilated, but fully effaced, I was devastated! How was I supposed to get through the rest of the labour if it had only just started?? I had my heart set on a drug-free labour, but it seemed less and less likely the longer things went on. I was also hoping to avoid any interference from the doctor/midwives, but instead had made it necessary. The synctopin drip was put in and that bloody heart rate beast was strapped back on. Arse.

That’s when it all started to get really interesting. Well. Maybe not so much interesting as more freaking painful for me! I was told the drip would make the contractions more regular and more effective. I was also told they would become more intense. Ha, no ****ing kidding – I turned from only swearing under my breath when it was just me and Adrian to swearing like a trooper in full voice (although apologising frequently – I usually have marvellous manners). Apparently the midwives were all gathered outside, snickering to themselves. Those bastards, how dare they laugh at my pain??!

By the time the drip was well and truly under way, so were the contractions. Adrian kept asking me did I want my back rubbed? I didn’t know. Did I want a cold flannel? I didn’t know. It seemed by this point I didn’t know much at all – except that I wanted off that bloody heart rate monitor! I really wanted to be able to move around, and I really REALLY wanted the wonderful shower! Eventually, with persistent whinging (and some tears), I was allowed off the monitor and into the shower. Well. It was pleasant for the most part... but it was hardly the miracle cure it was earlier. We tried the bath after that – I found it made me too hot and even with the combined use of the shower hose, I was clawing the sides of the bath in agony. Before too long, they wanted me back on that evil demon heart rate monitor, although this time they let me be on all fours on the bed with a bean bag to lean against. But not for long, as apparently Kai did not like that position, and the heart rate monitor told them as much. Typical. Back on my back for me. Yay.

By now I’d been on the drip for a couple of hours, and it was evident that it was definitely working (I was stark raving mad with pain). They decided to do another internal to see how far I’d come – we’d gone from 2-3cms dilated to 5-6cms in only a few hours. I was so gutted though – I really wanted it to be over already, and to only be half way... !! So far I hadn’t asked for drugs (and was the subject of much praise because of this – apparently I was “amazing” or whatever. Truth was, it just wasn’t in me to ask. I was too busy dealing with the pain to think of anything else!), but I knew if I was only half way and it was going to get worse before it got better... I’d probably be begging before too long. As it was, Adrian was constantly asking me if I wanted drugs – which infuriated me! If I wanted them, I’d ask! I felt like he just wanted me to shut up – unreasonable of me, I know, but pregnancy and reason aren’t exactly on friendly terms, are they?

I’m not sure if they turned up the drip or left it as is – by now my memory of things gets very hazy. I remember lots of pain, lots of screaming, swearing, crying and telling Adrian to “**** off” numerous times. Apparently I also grabbed him by the neck of his shirt and pulled him down to my level – I don’t remember this at all. I remember cups of crushed ice which Adrian fed to me by the spoon full after every contraction – it was kind of like a reward for getting through it. I remember being told to moan low, and not being able to do anything but scream for the first few seconds of each contraction. I remember bawling my eyes out, saying I couldn’t do it anymore (like I had the choice!), and screaming at Adrian to “shut the **** up!” because he asked me if I wanted gas... or was it ice he offered? I screamed at him quite a lot. I also apologised to him quite a lot. Poor bugger, it must have been so hard to him to feel so helpless.

I felt like I was going insane with the pain. The contractions never seemed to end – just when one would finish, another would start, and they just kept coming... and coming... and coming. They gave me oxygen at some point, and the smell of the mask made me feel sick. I didn’t want it, but Adrian said that it was for the baby, the baby needed it... which was one of the first real indicators that something wasn’t going right. I’d been too wrapped up in dealing with my pain to notice the growing worried expressions on the midwives’ faces as they watched the monitor, but now because of the oxygen, I suddenly noticed. Something was definitely not right.

They eventually gave me some drug like pethidine but not... fenegrene? Something starting with f, anyway. Same effect as pethidine, only without the after affects on the baby. It really helped me to relax, and even enabled me to sleep between contractions. The pain became more manageable, now – and I could moan rather than scream, always a good thing!

It was around this time (or maybe it was a bit later?) that Dr. Altman finally showed up. Yet another internal was done, and I was told I was fully dilated, but there was still a lip of cervix in the way. The midwife – who, by the way, had morphed from Kate to Lisa as Kate’s shift was over – felt confident that I could push through the lip, anyway – she said it was pliant enough to move out of the way as the head came through. So finally – FINALLY!!! I was allowed to push! So, the very next contraction I had, I started to push... I thought I’d get more attention than I did (that movie image of the doctor between the legs telling me to breath, a midwife/nurse either leg... that kind of thing, you know?), but they were all gathered around that stupid heart rate monstrosity. I felt like going “Oi! Um... having a baby here??? Helloooo???”, but thought maybe this was how it goes in the real world. Next contraction, I pushed again. Harder, this time. I started to feel something shifting inside, yet still they weren’t paying attention to me at all. It was then that I realised they were all murmuring and muttering over the monitor and looking agitated. Dr. Altman then appeared before me, saying something about a vontuse... I froze, and said “But doesn’t having a vontuse mean I’ll get an episiotomy?” – that REALLY freaked me out. I was interrupted by a contraction, and so decided I’d prove to them I could get the baby out on my own, and pushed as hard as I could... I remember hearing the heart rate monitor going really quiet, and suddenly the room erupted into activity, and I was being told by Dr. Altman that my little baby was too tired to go through being born, and would have to come out via emergency caesarean.... I felt like the whole world suddenly caved in. This was the one thing (other than losing my baby) I dreaded happening – and here it was, it was really happening! I didn’t argue, as it wasn’t just the doctor who looked concerned, but the midwives also. I knew this was a serious matter, and although I was terrified of the procedure, I was also really terrified for the baby, too.

They wheeled me through dark hallways I hadn’t seen before, and I was aware suddenly of how late it was. Adrian was right beside me holding my hand, yet I couldn’t stop crying and moaning “No no, not a c-section!” The contractions didn’t stop just because the baby wouldn’t be born naturally – oh no, they wouldn’t be so courteous. I was still in agony – worse, the shock of having all this crashing down on me seemed to take away the effects of the drug I was given, and I was back into that shrieking, mind-blowing pain again. I was taken into a massive room filled with... stuff that looked scary. And people who looked scary. In fact, the whole thing was scary – it was all noise and motion, people asking me strange questions, being told to drink horrid tasting things, being told to sit here, do this, do that... The whole situation had taken on a nightmarish tone of slightly ill green, and I felt like I really had gone mad! I was told to sit up on the bed I was on, and to lean forward so the anaesthetist could administer the numbing stuff before he put in the epidural. I was told I would feel a small “prick”... it was not small, not halfway through a contraction! I remember screaming, it hurt so bad! And then when they put in the epidural, I remember screaming “I can feel it!! I can feel it!!” over and over. Apparently that was MY fault, as one of the nurses (who had a face that had seen the back of a shovel blade one too many times, I might add) rudely jerked me downwards and told me if I’d sat far enough forward last time, they wouldn’t have to do it again this time! What a nasty *****! So, she’s jerking me downwards onto my very pregnant belly, while telling me to “push my spine out” so the druggy dude could stick me with his numerous needles, meanwhile I’m contracting like a ***** and screaming in pain... I could have quite happily kicked her in the face, and may have if I’d been able to use my brain for anything other than shrieking. Seriously, if you’ve got a crap people skills, probably not a good idea to work in a hospital. Cos, you kinda have to deal with people – it’s in the job description! Also, if you’re lacking in compassion, same deal! Stupid *****.

Epidural finally in, I was moved from my labouring bed onto a surgical gurney. I remember asking the Anaesthetist “does this mean I won’t feel the contractions anymore?” and being told that no, I wouldn’t feel them anymore. That gave me a huge wave of relief – if I had to go through this surgery, at least I was released from pain. The evil witch nurse and her evil companion (don’t actually know if she was evil, it just sounds more dramatic if they both are) started ramming these white stocking things onto my legs. Witch woman is snapping at me “push! Push against them!” which is interesting – I mean, I’ve just had an epidural put in, how much pushing does she think I can do? I’ve also had 30+ hours of labour... I should have just kicked her in the face; it would have been easy enough to do – could just blame it on the epidural, of course! What a horrid cow.
Once the epidural kicked in, suddenly things felt less nightmarish and more comical. I was lying basically naked in a room full of strangers, these weird white stockings on my legs and both my arms spread out – I was a big naked star fish in the centre of chaos. Things progressed quite quickly from there – which is probably good considering what we found out afterwards.

Adrian sat by my head white they were operating on me. I asked him if he wanted to watch them do it – he didn’t. I don’t blame him. It felt so bizarre when they were pulling Kai out of me – I could feel what they were doing, but felt no pain. And Kai must have really been jammed in there – my whole body was being jerked up and down while they struggled to get him out!

Sometime after the tugging, we hear this pathetic little “urrghahhh!” noise and we’re told he’s out! They confirm he is indeed a boy and tell us he is a big baby with huge hands and huge feet. We’re also told he’s a bit battered, and that his head is seriously cone-shaped. Poor wee bugger, he really did try to come out naturally for me! It’s a couple of minutes before we see him, but they bring him to me on the way to the little baby bench place (where they give them a bit of oxygen and whatever). I’m ashamed to say it, but my very first reaction was “Ew!” – he was all covered in goo, and in their rush to get him to the bench, they kind of squished him against my face, so I got goo on me as well. I saw his peeling skin (from being “over cooked”), and how monstrous his feet were. They rushed him off again, but I could see him at the bench as they worked on him. I could hear his cry as they did whatever they did, and that’s when the love started. It was always there, really – I think I just needed time to adjust to it. I started to tear up, and as I turned to Adrian I said “We’re parents!” – and noticed he was crying, too. It made me love him all the more for it. My wonderful sensitive man-beasty! ) I’m a very, very, VERY lucky woman.

Adrian took Kai while Dr. Altman stitched me up. I could see the love all over Adrian’s face, and it was a beautiful moment for them. Dr. Altman told us how happy he was he decided to go with a caesarean section, as Kai’s umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck – which was why he went into distress every time I had a contraction. It wasn’t until a few days down the track when Kate finally had a shift again that I found out the full story – Kate was awesome, she took it upon herself to go through my records and find out exactly what happened so she could explain it to me. No one else had done that, and while I was satisfied for the reasons behind my c-section, I was grateful to know the full story. Apparently, from the get go Kai was facing the wrong way. Instead of facing my back like babies are supposed to before they come into the world, Kai was facing my tummy – which is why my labour was so long and so incredibly painful. Yes, I got the dreaded back labour. Yay me. This is also why Kai got so tired – it required so much more work for him to get into the birth canal and get himself facing the right way, AND he had his cord around his neck. Or so we thought – as it turns out, the cord wasn’t just around his neck; it was also around his shoulder. So, while these days women can quite safely give birth to babies with cords around their necks (the attending midwife/obstetrician can just loop it over as the baby comes out), Kai having the cord around his shoulder also presented an entirely new set of circumstances. So, a c-section was the only way to get him out safely. And Pat, the smarmy midwife who wouldn’t let me have breakfast totally picked it. Pfft. *****. Ah well. As Kate pointed out – having an emergency c-section is not the worst that can happen. The worst that can happen is losing your baby. It’s scary to think how close I could have been to losing mine.

So, all’s well that ends well. Before seeing Kai, this experience was the single most terrifying, most agonisingly painful event of my life. But now, it’s also the most wonderful and life changing, too. As it should be! That being said, I don’t think I could even contemplate another child for at least two years, if not more! No thank you!!

I love my little Kai-Monster more than I could ever express in words. It really was all worth it.

Hi ladies. Sorry this is late in being posted, but we welcomed Emelia Bess on March 10, 2009 via planned c-section. It was uneventful and fabulous. Everything I wanted it to be. We are in love with our beautiful girl and she has mended our hearts. She also looks a lot like her big brother.


Then...


and now.


and a smile just because.

fast and furious birth story
　
Friday, July 10
BPP and growth scan - everything looks healthy. Jordan seems to be right on track in the 50%tile, estimated weight 7.5 lbs. Doctor didn't think I would have him this weekend
Saturday, July 11
My mom flies in from Germany. My biggest fear was that I would go into labor befor she arrives and I was worried about the babysitter situation for Renee. But everything went well and Renee and Oma got along from the first minute on
Sunday, July 12
The whole family went to the pool in the morning. It was a beautiful and hot day and the cool water felt so good on my 39 week belly and back. We spent a couple of hours there and came back home pretty relaxed. Came back home, all took naps and showers and baths and we decided to go out for dinner that evening. We went to Golden Corral and of course I ate way too much.
Back home we took Renee to bed, watched the rest of a rented movie and went to bed early. DH thought it would be a good idea to do some nipple stimulation. At 10:40 pm, about a half hour in the game, I had felt about 3-4 contractions, I feel that weird "popp" inside of me and a gush of liquid runs out of me. I tell DH "babe, I think my water just broke" and he's like "you're joking, right?". Both in total disbelive. I thought, that can't be it. They all told me that I have lots of water and that really just felt like 2 hand full. So I decide to go to the bathroom and sit down on the toilet for a while. Sitting there I feel more running out, but really not a lot. But I feel some contractions starting. I get and start walking around a little bit because I had a leg cramp and during this walk I feel more and more water running out. By then I was sure, my waters had broke. DH called our doula and she told us to slowly get ready to go to the hospital and time the contrax and she would meet us there in an hour. I woke up my mom and told her what to do with Renee in the morning and wrote her a big whole list with stuff. I was just so worried she wouldn't know what to do since she just had arrived and basicly did not even know yet where everything was at. I took a quick shower. Ray was bugging me the whole time to tell him when contractions start, stopped and how long and hard they were. It was so surreal, I didn't really pay that much attention to the whole contraction thing and forgot to tell him quiet often. By 11:45 pm we were in the car and on the road to Chapel Hill. My contractions were about 3 min apart and lasted 30-70 sec. They didn't hurt alot, just were unfomy. I was talking and laughing through them and told Ray, if I would stop talking through them he would know that it got bad. On the bumpy road to the hospital I felt a few stronger contrax but still in the same time frame. Came to the hospital, met Grace (doula), got admitted and settled into the triage room at midnight.
Monday, July 13
The nurse there took all my data, put in an IV lock and an annoying medical student asked me tons of annoying questions. I couldn't care less, it all still felt very unreal to me. A resident doctor checked me and I was at a 3 cm. She then checked me if I had broken my water. that was the funniest for me. I thought that woman must have been out of her mind. What else did she know was all that stuff I was leaking around. We all (nurse, doula, DH and I) had quiet a laugh about it. So she "confirmed" I had my water broken and was good to be sent to an L&D room, DUH!!!! In the L&D room while nurse Lisa tried to hook me up to the wireless monitors, Ray asked me how I felt and if it was ok if he would go out for a quick smoke. It was 2 am and I didn't feel much different then the whole time, so I let him go and just told him not to take to long. I went to the bathroom, joked around with Grace and had another annoying and hurtful cramp in my right leg which I walked off in circles in my room. The cramp in my leg went away or I just couldn't feel it anymore because all of a sudden I was hit by a contraction that was NOT funny or annoying anymore but painful. Ray came back the same moment. Grace suggested to keep standing and leaning on Ray in kind of a slow dance position while she stood behind me massaging my back and cooling me off with a cold wet towel. Now things really got nasty. The doc on call came in and it happend to be one of my primary providers, Doc Ewers. We joked a little around that he would most likely again not be there for the delivery since his shift would be over at 7 am and it was already something like quarter to 3. So he left the room, me still standing there trying to get over the contrax when they got worse and worse every minute. I started screaming, swearing, cursing and threatening people. I wanted an epidural, IMMEDIATELY and got really mad at my doula for telling me I could do without. I guess at that point thet realized I was serious. I wanted to lay down on my side. Nurse Lisa had to adjust the monitors because she kept loosing Jordan's heartbeat because of all my moving around. The resident had checked me and had said I was at a 6 cm. The anestaesiologist came in and irritaded me with stupid questions. Lisa had already some pain meds ready to put into my IV and they asked me if I wanted those or the epi. This question was so hilarious to me - of course I wanted both, what a question. Lisa told me they would make me a little loopy. I didn't care. The anestaesiologist kept asking me questions and I almost didn't hear her because I was drifting away just to be present during my contrax. All of a sudden I felt this huge urge to push and I actually couldn't even stop myself from pushing through this contraction. I told them about it the same time Ray noticed that more water came shooting out of me. Lisa pushed the anesteasiologist out of her way and called the resident to check me again and sure enough I had gone from 6 to 9 in 5 min!!!!!!!! Everybody got into a rush now, calling Doc Ewers, breaking down the bed, trying to convince me not to push (yeah, right!). Doc comes in, jokes around about how I couldn't wait until his shift was over, looks at me and gets serious. He tells me real quick what would be going on in the next minutes. He suggests a numbing medication he would directly inject into the vagina to help relax everything, apparently something they do quiet often for VBACs. I kinda heart all of that just in a blur, like I was hypnotized or dreaming , just not really there. Him and Grace directed me through the next couple of contractions by counting for me and telling me how to push. He told how he already sees Jordans head and that it would take me just a few pushes to deliver the head and then he would want to have my legs held up by Ray and Grace so he could turn the baby to deliver the rest of him. The head came out with the next push, my legs were held up and Jordan came flying out with the next push like a torpedo right into Doc Ewers chest. I had a second degree tear
Jordan was born on 4:05 am. Weight 7.8 lbs, 19 3/4 inches and a head full of black hair. Apgar 8/9. Total time of labor from breaking of water to delivery: 6hours and 20 min
Jordan was placed on my belly and Ray got to cut the cord. He stayed on me for the next half hour and then was just taken over to the scale and back to me. I nursed him already for a good hour and he was all alert. He went for his bath and assessment after 2 hours when I was transfered from L&D to my hospital room and was back with me as soon as I got settled in there.
I left him for a few hours in the nursery to get a good snooze (as good as you can get in a hospital were every 15 min somebody peaks his/her head into the door). We left the hospital on Tuesday around lunch time.

__________________

Belated birth story...


Eleanor Grace
08.08.09
1:47 am
7lbs1oz
19.5"



Our little girl's arrival was a total surprise - I really thought I'd be pregnant at least a few more weeks. On that assumption, I started staining a dresser for the nursery and made plans for the weekend to order bedding and pick up the the car seat, crib, hand-me-downs, etc. from my in-laws... and then my water broke that Friday morning!

My water broke pretty spectacularly - I had a lovely gush while sitting on the toilet, another on the way to the hospital, and then it felt like I just leaked the whole walk from admissions to L&D - I swear my pants were wet down past my knees!

Since my water had broken and I was having mild contractions 4-5 min apart, L&D decided to keep us. Unfortunately, my contractions stayed mild and I wasn't progressing very well, so they started Pitocin to get things moving.

At first it wasn't so bad... it just felt like menstrual or gas cramps in my lower back and hips. After two hours of steadily increasing amounts of the Pitocin, though, the contractions started to HURT. (According to DH, I went from very calm and joking around to 'Holy $#!& I want my epidural NOW!' in about 4.5 seconds.)

Sadly, I hadn't progressed nearly enough for that and had to settle for going to my happy place for a few hours. I don't really remember about that part...I was in a zone and tuned just about everything out. I think I sent DH out for dinner while I discussed what kind of cabinets we wanted for our kitchen renovation with my MIL , but I'm not too sure.

I do remember the relief when I finally got the epidural, though. It let me relax enough to nap while I finished dilating. The doctors kept me on my left side almost the whole time - the baby's heart rate kept dropping otherwise - so the epidural ended up wearing off on that side by the time I was ready to push. I wasn't too happy about that, but it did at least let me feel when to push.

Pushing was fun. It didn't hurt nearly as much as all the waiting - and I finally felt like I was doing something. DH was great - he held one of my legs and kept up a very detailed commentary while cheering me on. He thought watching her come out and cutting the cord was the coolest thing ever. (I don't know why that surprised me...he did ask to see my hemorrhoid after I complained about having one. Men. )

The only thing I really disliked was the monitoring - for some reason it didn't pick up all of my contractions, so the doctor only had me pushing half the time. I got fed up with that and just did my own thing. It was much more effective - she crowned and then shot right out about five minutes later . I did end up with some tearing, but it was my own fault for getting impatient and going too fast.

I got to hold her for a bit while they delivered the placenta, then DH wouldn't put her down. The nurse had to chase him around the bed a few times to get her measurements. She was perfect - we were worried about her being early, but everything was just fine. Honestly, I think she handled things better than I did .

It still doesn't feel quite real yet - I can't believe she's mine and I get to keep her. She has my eyes and hair and DH's chin dimple...and the cutest little nose. It's very small and straight, and when she latches on or snuffles, she twitches it just like a little bunny. (I've taken to calling her baby bunny and silly rabbit when she makes the face at me.)

She's also a drama queen already - she'll go from pitching a fit to posing for pictures the minute a flashbulb goes off. And she'll hold the pose for a few snaps, too.

Photos:

brand new!


getting cleaned-up - look at those lips!


and more recently...



Some fun birth trivia:

DH took the wrong exit on the way to the hospital (we've lived in the area all our lives, been there multiple times, and his dad has been fixing the elevators there for at least the last 20 years).

My water broke on my grandmother's 82nd birthday (8-7-09). Ellsabunny was only 1 hour and 47 minutes too late to be a birthday present.

Because they waited till after midnight to deliver her, Ellsabunny was technically full-term according to their dates. (She was able to skip the NICU or any extra monitoring since she was officially 'full term'.)

Jan, the best labor and delivery nurse ever, is a fellow knitter and after we got to chatting, we realized we both patronize the same local yarn shop.

DH read Twilight the entire time I was in labor...I didn't mind since it kept him occupied, but he did keep trying to discuss it with me in between contractions. He now wants to watch the movie again.

Calvin's Birth Story ~ Mary (marymoonu)

Calvin Michael's Birth Story
February 28th, 2011 - 7:39PM
Weight: 6 Pounds 8.4 Ounces
Length: 18 Inches
Head circumference: 13.25 Inches

L&D Nurses:
Donna
Angela

PP Nurses:
Linda
Linda (another one)
Maureen

Monday, February 28th, 2011 at 9am was my OB appointment for 37 weeks, 5 days. My blood pressure was great for the third week in a row after being high or borderline high at all of my prenatal appointments. The doctor had been talking about inducing at 37 weeks based on the BP's, but decided that it probably wasn't necessary afterall. He informed me that he would be out of town the following week and that we could induce before then if I wanted to, or wait for natural labor and potentially have one of the partners deliver the baby. That was all under the assumption that my fluid levels were still okay. We had been keeping an eye on them because they were borderline low. That day, he did an ultrasound himself and found the fluid was too low. Two of the four pockets of fluid were totally empty and one measured 3.8cm. The fourth he said technically should be considered empty also, but he might be able to count a small amount of fluid there. Regardless, it wasn't enough to put me into the "safe zone" because my fluid only measured 4cm, tops. They induce under 5. He told us we were going to be meeting our baby that day and to head to the hospital.

I hadn't eaten anything yet that day and I knew they wouldn't let me eat, so we stopped at Chick-Fil-A for a breakfast sandwich. I didn't feel hungry, but needed my strength.
Tom dropped me off at the hospital while he and Sean went home to gather some bags, do some last minute cleaning, and wait for the grandparents to come watch Sean.
I went up to L&D and got checked in, then waited several grueling minutes alone in the waiting room until they were ready to take me to my room.

By 11am, we were getting started. I had already changed into my gown and gotten into bed to be checked out on the monitor. They had to have a good tracing of the baby on the monitor before they could begin my induction. I was group B strep positive, and my first IV of clindamycin (antibiotic) was started for that at 11am. My cervix wasn't favorable. It was only 1-2cm and was still posterior and pretty thick, so we had to begin with cervical ripening. This was started at 11:15am. They used a foley catheter which was placed in my cervix and inflated, along with low level pictocin (started at 11:20am) to help things along. It made me feel crampy and I found it uncomfortable because part of it hung outside of my body. I couldn't wait to be done with it because it made going to the bathroom difficult.

Then night before, I had been awake all night with nausea and that morning I had battled diarrhea multiple times. When they offered me phenergan for nausea, I jumped on it because I wanted to feel as good as possible for the delivery and the upset stomach was miserable. At this point, my belly was feeling pretty crampy from the foley.

At 2:30pm, the foley finally came out and I was overjoyed to be done with it. My cervix was 3-4cm, but baby was still high at -2 station. The nurse went to find out whether the doctor wanted to crank the pitocin, break my water, or both. The doctor decided on both. The midwife who was working at the hospital that day came to break my water. I had met her before in the midst of all my NST's and she was nice. At 3pm, my water was broken. It was horribly painful because my cervix was still so high and a bit posterior. I had to really breathe through the pain.

After my water was broken, the contractions became a lot more intense. I was still handling them really well and was able to tell Tom exactly what I needed. He helped by rubbing my back and applying pressure to my tailbone region. Although I was doing really well with the labor, I got scared and finally asked for the epidural.

At 5pm, nurse anesthetist Joe came to place the epidural. He and nurse Donna were really awesome during this time. The contractions were pretty intense and I was breathing through them. They both told me repeatedly how great I was doing. I really was doing well and I questioned why I was even getting the epidural, but I was just scared of the pain.
At 5:30pm, I was 5cm dilated and 80% effaced. My blood pressures started to really dip. They got as low as 80's/40's. It scared me, but I felt fine throughout. Nurse Donna and nurse anesthetist Joe were keeping an eye on me. This epidural was way different than the one with Sean. I wasn't in pain at all, but I could still feel contractions and other sensations like touch. With Sean, I was so numb I couldn't feel anything at all and couldn't move my legs at all. This time, I could still move my legs somewhat.

At 6:20pm, I was still 5cm and baby's heart began decelerating. I was scared at this point. Scared for the safety of the baby and scared that I would need a c-section.
His heart rate decelerated every time I had a contraction. The weird part is, mine did too.
Our heart rates were really mimicking each other. The baby and I were one for that moment, for just one last time.

The nurse told me that the reason for the heart decelerations could be that the baby was decending and his head was being compressed by the birth canal. She checked me again at 6:40pm and I had progressed to 6cm and 90% effaced. I was happy to see some progress and also happy that the nurse gave me a possible non-scary explanation for the heart decelerations.

At 7:15pm, I had progressed to 10cm and +1 station. The nurse didn't expect me to move that fast and called Dr. K. She said he gave an overly dramatic "OH NOOOO!" on the phone, afraid he would miss the birth because he likes to be called at 7cm. It took him 10 or 15 minutes to get there, and he rushed in talking about all the traffic violations he made on the way there. I found it very humorous because I just figured he was used to that sort of thing happening, but he was all flustered. Nurse Angela later told me that after the birth, he told her all about how he had such a bad day and I started it all that morning with my low fluid, haha!

As soon as he was ready, I was told I could push with the next contraction. I pushed twice through that contraction and the baby moved down pretty far, so they told me. I couldn't see anything in the mirror yet. I was told to try to push four times through the next contraction. I made it through about three and a half pushes before I tuckered out. But the baby's head had crowned and was almost all the way out. It was apparent that we were going to have a baby with the next contraction. But of course the next contraction took FOREVER to come! We waited and waited, and then finally it began! I pushed twice and we had a baby!

Calvin Michael was placed immediately on my chest at 7:39pm on February 28th, 2011.
I had always remembered being in a totally different world when Sean was born because I pushed for longer, bled a lot, and was just exhausted. I have trouble remembering his first cry, so I wanted to savor this one. Calvin came out looking purple. I knew it was normal until he started crying, but it still made me nervous. It was no time before he started to cry and I just held him and took it all in. I laughed because as soon as he was on my chest, he started peeing on me! The nurse came to me and asked if she could take Calvin to be weighed, measured, and assessed. I thought it seemed quick in comparison to my delivery with Sean, where I got to hold him for a long time before he was taken away. The nurse told me they normally leave baby with mom while the doctor finishes up, but that I hadn't torn a bit, so he had nothing else to do. No stitches! I was overjoyed and in disbelief at the time to have no tears, but I'm even happier about it now because my recovery has been SO much easier. She took Calvin to the warmer for his assessment and Tom went with her to watch and take pictures. I watched from my bed and fell in love. I couldn't believe how tiny he was.

I loved the actual delivery because it just felt so low-key and casual. There were only three people in the room other than me, Tom, and Calvin. Dr. K., nurse Donna, and nurse Angela were the only other people there. It just felt so calm, quiet, laid-back. It was perfect for me. I almost didn't even have nurse Donna there. She was actually supposed to be off for the day at 7pm, but I think they were short-staffed due to a call-off and she stayed extra for the birth. I appreciated her staying because I'd had her as my nurse all day and felt comfortable with her.

Once everyone had cleared the room and we were doing well, it was just the three of us and nurse Angela in there. She told me that if Calvin started acting hungry, to let her know because she'd help me get him to nurse. I had told her about the latching problems with Sean, and so I was nervous for a repeat. To my surprise, he latched on immediately with no problem and we've been going strong ever since. The nurses in the post-partum department were amazed by what a good nurser he was. He wanted to eat every hour, but that was fine with me. I just wanted to nurture my baby the way my body was made to do! I'm so overjoyed to have this experience this time after pumping for so long for Sean.
I would do it again in a heartbeat to feed my baby the food that is best for him, but I love the additional bonding time that I get. It's something special for just the two of us!

Tom and the nurses kept asking when I wanted to invite the rest of the family in. I hesitated to do it and kept putting it off. I loved the bonding time with just the three of us. It was perfect and I wasn't in a hurry to end it. Sometime around 9pm, we finally asked the rest of the family to come in. My parents were the only ones there at the moment because Tom's parents were watching Sean at our house. My mom and dad were in love and amazed by how tiny Calvin was compared to Sean. Tom had thought his mom was in the waiting room also because he hadn't heard her say earlier that she was leaving to go be with Sean. So at this point, his parents didn't even know he was born yet.
Finally my parents left to come stay with Sean so that Tom's parents could come meet the new baby. His mom had already left for the hospital, so Tom's dad was alone with Sean.
When my parents got to my house, my mom stayed with Sean and my dad came back to the hospital with Tom's dad. I was surprised and happy to see my dad show up at the door again with Tom's dad. His face was happy just like a kid at Christmas!

I am so in love! Sean has been curious and excited about the new baby, and I can't wait to watch their relationship grow!

With Mommy:


With Daddy:




DH says it looks like he's kissing his biceps, LOL:


Meeting his big brother for the first time: