Monday the 26th was a pretty normal day, I ran some errands, complained about still being pregnant, had tacos for dinner and laughed at my dog till I thought I was going to pee myself. I was super tired and tried to go to bed early, but had some pretty bad leg cramps and a back ache that kept me up till about 1am when I finally took some stuff to help me sleep and dozed off.
Much to my disappointment I was awake again at 5am, confused and wondering what the hell I was doing awake. I laid feeling irritated and trying to decide if I wanted to get up and pee when all the sudden I felt a pop and a TON of water. I actually had a split second of wondering what the f$%* just happened before my brain screamed "YOUR WATER JUST BROKE!!!!" I sat bolt upright and grabbed my phone and called my bff Jami, actually feeling pretty calm. She reminded me to call the doctor ASAP, which I had not even thought to do yet for some reason...calm but not that bright at 5:20am. While I was waiting for the on call doc to call me back I called Dana, my doula extrodinare to let her know I was probably going to be heading to the hospital soon.
Around 6am I started to really feel my contractions. The doc had confirmed that I needed to go to the hospital, not to rush, but not to hang around either. So I gathered up the last of the stuff I needed to take with me and went
to wake up my dad. I'm pretty sure he had no idea what was going on at first cause I don't think I sounded all that stressed or scared yet. My contractions were coming pretty hard and fast by the time I was dressed and waiting for Jami to come pick me up. My dad at one point even asked how far apart I thought they were and my answer was "I dunno, maybe 5 min?" The look on his face is what made me realize this probably wasn't normal and THAT was when I started to get nervous.
The drive to the hospital was hellish. I was having REALLY strong contractions at that point and was starting to feel really sick. Jami had seemed excited when she ran up to the house to get my bag and walk me to her car, but even she started to get antsy seeing how much pain I was in. Honestly at that point I had decided if this was how much pain I was going to be in for hours longer I was totally getting an epidural. There was no way I could have dealt with pain like that for the rest of the morning let alone the rest of the day, assuming my labor could be long since it was my first time.
Dana met us at the hospital and was sweet enough to rub my back and hold my hair when I finally did throw up until there was nothing left in my stomach. I tried to get into the bed, but my back hurt so bad I just stood and leaned on it while Dana used a rolling pin on my back....it felt awesome! Just those tiny little seconds of reliefe were worth their weight in gold. The doctor came in to check my at that point so I had to get into bed and was trying to think about anything except what was happening. The doctor got kind of a funny look on her face while she was checking me and I started to worry that I was only like 1cm dialated and it was going to be a super long day. Then she annouced I was 90% efaced, 8cm dialated and the baby was at a -1, meaning he was on his way! I don't think there was a single jaw in the room that didn't drop. I evidently had slept through all the rest of labor and dialation until my water broke! It explains the back ache and leg cramps.
Jami and Dana tried to keep me as comfortable as possible since drugs weren't even an option at that point...the window of opportunity was LONG closed by the time we showed up at the hospital. They reminded me to breathe and rubbed my back and were overall just really encouraging. Jami even held my barf bucket. Yeah she is the best, best friend a girl could have. By the time the attending got there and the nurses had everything set up and ready I was in tons of pain and felt like i needed to push. This is where things get a little hazy.
You hear a lot about how the human brain is amazing at pain management and stuff like that, but it's nothing until you have had it
happen. Pretty much any function that wasn't vital was shut off and I got a huge rush of endorphans. I remember pushing and being so tired that I was sure I could never get through his birth. I thought it was not possible to be in so much pain without my pelvis shattering or me dying. I remember crying and not wanting to push anymore and the doctor basically yelling at me telling me I needed to stop crying and focus. Sounds mean but it totally helped. I also remember feeling like I never got a second to catch my breath and I was starting to feel a little light headed. I remember the time between contractions feeling like it stretched on forever a couple times and being so thankful for the time to rest. I remember the decision being made that I needed O2 and having an oxygen mask put on me and a little while later hearing that I needed to have an IV put in. The thought of a needle stick made me freak out until Dana leaned over and told me it was fine and that it needed to happen and it would be ok. I kind of remember someone telling me they were going to use the vaccuume to help pull him out, that he had a lot of hair. I do for sure remember letting out a couple of really good primal screams...screaming feels so good when you are in that much pain.
Finally finally I felt him slide out and heard my friends yelling that he was here. And slowly my brain started to turn back on and I started to realize what was happening. I saw a nurse take him over to weigh him and put that goo on his eyes. He was SO QUIET I didn't really know what to think. The weirdest part was when they finally put him on my chest. The first thought I had was who's kid is this. Then my brain progressed to holy crap this is my baby, this is who has been kicking me all these months, wow he looks like pictures of me when I was born. They took him back to finish all his tests and get him cleaned off and I tried to watch him as much as possible but still listen to what the doctors were telling me. Right at the end they had to give me an epsiotomy to help get him out, so the doc was explaining what happened and that she would be stitching me up and giving me some local numbing drugs etc etc.
Jami had run out to tell my dad everything was ok. He had been pulling i
nto the hospital parking lot when he got the text she sent saying Wyatt had been born. When she came back in she said he was pacing around looking like it was Christmas day waiting to come see us. While I was getting stitched up they brought Wyatt back to me so I could feed him, he was smacking his lips super loud, it was adorable. He grabbed on right away and I have had no problems feeding him since. He's a pro and has already figured out he likes boobs. :)
Once I was more with it Jami and Dana started to fill me in on why everyone kinda freaked out a little. Evidently while I was pushing I wasn't getting much oxygen and was forgetting to breathe so I literally turned blue, hense the O2 mask and the IV. And it also was causing Wyatt's heartrate to drop which is why they decided to pull him out as quick as they could. When I heard that I was really thankful my brain had basically turned off the human part and just left the primal monkey part running. Had I known what was happening I think I would have freaked out and not been able to just focus on pushing him out.
From there it was just happy hospital time! Family visited, we ate lots of food cause I was starving after all that work, and I just enjoyed my new son.
Vital Stats
Labor - 4 hours
Pushing - 1 hour
Stitches - a bunch I never asked
Weight - 7 lbs 10 oz
Height - 20 inches
Much to my disappointment I was awake again at 5am, confused and wondering what the hell I was doing awake. I laid feeling irritated and trying to decide if I wanted to get up and pee when all the sudden I felt a pop and a TON of water. I actually had a split second of wondering what the f$%* just happened before my brain screamed "YOUR WATER JUST BROKE!!!!" I sat bolt upright and grabbed my phone and called my bff Jami, actually feeling pretty calm. She reminded me to call the doctor ASAP, which I had not even thought to do yet for some reason...calm but not that bright at 5:20am. While I was waiting for the on call doc to call me back I called Dana, my doula extrodinare to let her know I was probably going to be heading to the hospital soon.
Around 6am I started to really feel my contractions. The doc had confirmed that I needed to go to the hospital, not to rush, but not to hang around either. So I gathered up the last of the stuff I needed to take with me and went
to wake up my dad. I'm pretty sure he had no idea what was going on at first cause I don't think I sounded all that stressed or scared yet. My contractions were coming pretty hard and fast by the time I was dressed and waiting for Jami to come pick me up. My dad at one point even asked how far apart I thought they were and my answer was "I dunno, maybe 5 min?" The look on his face is what made me realize this probably wasn't normal and THAT was when I started to get nervous.The drive to the hospital was hellish. I was having REALLY strong contractions at that point and was starting to feel really sick. Jami had seemed excited when she ran up to the house to get my bag and walk me to her car, but even she started to get antsy seeing how much pain I was in. Honestly at that point I had decided if this was how much pain I was going to be in for hours longer I was totally getting an epidural. There was no way I could have dealt with pain like that for the rest of the morning let alone the rest of the day, assuming my labor could be long since it was my first time.
Dana met us at the hospital and was sweet enough to rub my back and hold my hair when I finally did throw up until there was nothing left in my stomach. I tried to get into the bed, but my back hurt so bad I just stood and leaned on it while Dana used a rolling pin on my back....it felt awesome! Just those tiny little seconds of reliefe were worth their weight in gold. The doctor came in to check my at that point so I had to get into bed and was trying to think about anything except what was happening. The doctor got kind of a funny look on her face while she was checking me and I started to worry that I was only like 1cm dialated and it was going to be a super long day. Then she annouced I was 90% efaced, 8cm dialated and the baby was at a -1, meaning he was on his way! I don't think there was a single jaw in the room that didn't drop. I evidently had slept through all the rest of labor and dialation until my water broke! It explains the back ache and leg cramps.
Jami and Dana tried to keep me as comfortable as possible since drugs weren't even an option at that point...the window of opportunity was LONG closed by the time we showed up at the hospital. They reminded me to breathe and rubbed my back and were overall just really encouraging. Jami even held my barf bucket. Yeah she is the best, best friend a girl could have. By the time the attending got there and the nurses had everything set up and ready I was in tons of pain and felt like i needed to push. This is where things get a little hazy.
You hear a lot about how the human brain is amazing at pain management and stuff like that, but it's nothing until you have had it
happen. Pretty much any function that wasn't vital was shut off and I got a huge rush of endorphans. I remember pushing and being so tired that I was sure I could never get through his birth. I thought it was not possible to be in so much pain without my pelvis shattering or me dying. I remember crying and not wanting to push anymore and the doctor basically yelling at me telling me I needed to stop crying and focus. Sounds mean but it totally helped. I also remember feeling like I never got a second to catch my breath and I was starting to feel a little light headed. I remember the time between contractions feeling like it stretched on forever a couple times and being so thankful for the time to rest. I remember the decision being made that I needed O2 and having an oxygen mask put on me and a little while later hearing that I needed to have an IV put in. The thought of a needle stick made me freak out until Dana leaned over and told me it was fine and that it needed to happen and it would be ok. I kind of remember someone telling me they were going to use the vaccuume to help pull him out, that he had a lot of hair. I do for sure remember letting out a couple of really good primal screams...screaming feels so good when you are in that much pain.Finally finally I felt him slide out and heard my friends yelling that he was here. And slowly my brain started to turn back on and I started to realize what was happening. I saw a nurse take him over to weigh him and put that goo on his eyes. He was SO QUIET I didn't really know what to think. The weirdest part was when they finally put him on my chest. The first thought I had was who's kid is this. Then my brain progressed to holy crap this is my baby, this is who has been kicking me all these months, wow he looks like pictures of me when I was born. They took him back to finish all his tests and get him cleaned off and I tried to watch him as much as possible but still listen to what the doctors were telling me. Right at the end they had to give me an epsiotomy to help get him out, so the doc was explaining what happened and that she would be stitching me up and giving me some local numbing drugs etc etc.
Jami had run out to tell my dad everything was ok. He had been pulling i
nto the hospital parking lot when he got the text she sent saying Wyatt had been born. When she came back in she said he was pacing around looking like it was Christmas day waiting to come see us. While I was getting stitched up they brought Wyatt back to me so I could feed him, he was smacking his lips super loud, it was adorable. He grabbed on right away and I have had no problems feeding him since. He's a pro and has already figured out he likes boobs. :)Once I was more with it Jami and Dana started to fill me in on why everyone kinda freaked out a little. Evidently while I was pushing I wasn't getting much oxygen and was forgetting to breathe so I literally turned blue, hense the O2 mask and the IV. And it also was causing Wyatt's heartrate to drop which is why they decided to pull him out as quick as they could. When I heard that I was really thankful my brain had basically turned off the human part and just left the primal monkey part running. Had I known what was happening I think I would have freaked out and not been able to just focus on pushing him out.
From there it was just happy hospital time! Family visited, we ate lots of food cause I was starving after all that work, and I just enjoyed my new son.
Vital Stats
Labor - 4 hours
Pushing - 1 hour
Stitches - a bunch I never asked
Weight - 7 lbs 10 oz
Height - 20 inches
2 comments:
you were such a rockstar! it was an honor to be there with you! it is one of the highlights of my life and i will never forget it! :) XO
I honestly don't know what I would have done without you Dana! I am so glad I have you in my life to help me through things like this!!
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