Mcktymck's Birth Story!
Jul 26, 2016 23:22:30 GMT -5
Post by mcktymck on Jul 26, 2016 23:22:30 GMT -5
Well it's officially a week since Sam's arrival and I was finally able to sit down and type up our birth story!
Short version: after a short labor at home we decided to head to the hospital and Sam arrived two hours later.
Long version: Monday morning I started having contractions that would vary in strength and frequency. I also lost my mucus plug, had bloody show, and a couple bowel movements. I told H that this might be the real deal, but as it got into the evening the contractions fizzled out and we went to bed disappointed. Right as we laid down around midnight I had one contraction and jokingly told Sam “you’re not allowed to come now, you’ve had all day to make a move! Now mommy needs to sleep!” Sure enough about an hour later I was woken up by another contraction, and they started coming about every 8 minutes from there. They were uncomfortable enough that after a few in bed I had to get up and walk around, laying and sitting during them hurt too bad. Around 4:30 I realized they were starting to come anywhere from 2.5-4.5 minutes and lasting 30-60 seconds and I decided it was time to wake H up to tell him I thought I was in labor. I hopped in the shower and the contractions were one on top of the other and very painful, so we decided to call and let the hospital know we were on our way in.
When we arrived at 5:35am they got us right back into a room and the nurse let me know she was going to monitor the contractions for half an hour and then we would go from there. While she was setting everything up I had a couple contractions so she decided to check my cervix. When she told me I was only 2cm and 100% effaced I started to panic, H said he could see the look of fear in my eyes when I realized it meant I had a long ways to go before baby would be here. I asked the nurse when I could get an epidural and she said that I wasn’t dilated enough for one, but she would get an order from the doctor for IV meds. About half an hour later she returned with another nurse to help get my IV in and I was moaning and having a hard time controlling my breathing, and the second nurse suggested we check my progress. I was at 6cm! The other nurse ran out to call the anesthesiologist while the one attempted to place the IV in between contractions to get me relief ASAP. She checked me again once I was hooked up and I was now at 8cm. The anesthesiologist walked in a few minutes later and immediately rushed through all of the required explanations/instructions, and had me sit on the edge of the bed to prepare for the next break in contractions (they were coming every minute so there wasn’t much time). Right as he started prepping my back I began feeling the urge to bear down and let the nurse know, and she immediately called for help. In rushed several nurses and the midwife on call, my epidural was placed, and they laid me back in bed. The midwife checked me and exclaimed “I see the head!” and told me that I could begin pushing whenever I felt the urge.
I pushed several times before the midwife realized that Sam’s heart rate was dropping too low and called for the OB. She came in and quickly explained that she needed to use the vacuum on me to help get Sam out as fast as possible and began prepping for it while everyone yelled at me to push as each contraction started. At one point H excitedly told me that Sam was right there and it gave me the motivation to use the last amount of energy I had to finish pushing. Before I knew it Sam was placed on my chest, and the nurses were asking H if he wanted to cut the cord. He was born at 7:35am, weighed 6 lbs 7 oz and was 20” long. The umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck twice which was a little scary, his temperature wasn’t behaving so he needed to be placed under the heater for a little while, and his weight was under the 10th percentile so he was diagnosed with SGA and needed to have his heel pricked every 3 hours for the first 24 hours to check his blood sugar levels. In the end though he had a clean bill of health and is basically perfect! H and I are completely head over heels in love with our little guy and can’t believe he’s finally here.
If you made it through that ridiculously long birth story, thank you! And now for the part everyone cares about the most, photos
Short version: after a short labor at home we decided to head to the hospital and Sam arrived two hours later.
Long version: Monday morning I started having contractions that would vary in strength and frequency. I also lost my mucus plug, had bloody show, and a couple bowel movements. I told H that this might be the real deal, but as it got into the evening the contractions fizzled out and we went to bed disappointed. Right as we laid down around midnight I had one contraction and jokingly told Sam “you’re not allowed to come now, you’ve had all day to make a move! Now mommy needs to sleep!” Sure enough about an hour later I was woken up by another contraction, and they started coming about every 8 minutes from there. They were uncomfortable enough that after a few in bed I had to get up and walk around, laying and sitting during them hurt too bad. Around 4:30 I realized they were starting to come anywhere from 2.5-4.5 minutes and lasting 30-60 seconds and I decided it was time to wake H up to tell him I thought I was in labor. I hopped in the shower and the contractions were one on top of the other and very painful, so we decided to call and let the hospital know we were on our way in.
When we arrived at 5:35am they got us right back into a room and the nurse let me know she was going to monitor the contractions for half an hour and then we would go from there. While she was setting everything up I had a couple contractions so she decided to check my cervix. When she told me I was only 2cm and 100% effaced I started to panic, H said he could see the look of fear in my eyes when I realized it meant I had a long ways to go before baby would be here. I asked the nurse when I could get an epidural and she said that I wasn’t dilated enough for one, but she would get an order from the doctor for IV meds. About half an hour later she returned with another nurse to help get my IV in and I was moaning and having a hard time controlling my breathing, and the second nurse suggested we check my progress. I was at 6cm! The other nurse ran out to call the anesthesiologist while the one attempted to place the IV in between contractions to get me relief ASAP. She checked me again once I was hooked up and I was now at 8cm. The anesthesiologist walked in a few minutes later and immediately rushed through all of the required explanations/instructions, and had me sit on the edge of the bed to prepare for the next break in contractions (they were coming every minute so there wasn’t much time). Right as he started prepping my back I began feeling the urge to bear down and let the nurse know, and she immediately called for help. In rushed several nurses and the midwife on call, my epidural was placed, and they laid me back in bed. The midwife checked me and exclaimed “I see the head!” and told me that I could begin pushing whenever I felt the urge.
I pushed several times before the midwife realized that Sam’s heart rate was dropping too low and called for the OB. She came in and quickly explained that she needed to use the vacuum on me to help get Sam out as fast as possible and began prepping for it while everyone yelled at me to push as each contraction started. At one point H excitedly told me that Sam was right there and it gave me the motivation to use the last amount of energy I had to finish pushing. Before I knew it Sam was placed on my chest, and the nurses were asking H if he wanted to cut the cord. He was born at 7:35am, weighed 6 lbs 7 oz and was 20” long. The umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck twice which was a little scary, his temperature wasn’t behaving so he needed to be placed under the heater for a little while, and his weight was under the 10th percentile so he was diagnosed with SGA and needed to have his heel pricked every 3 hours for the first 24 hours to check his blood sugar levels. In the end though he had a clean bill of health and is basically perfect! H and I are completely head over heels in love with our little guy and can’t believe he’s finally here.
If you made it through that ridiculously long birth story, thank you! And now for the part everyone cares about the most, photos
