Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Birth Story: A Timeline

Last 2 photos of me pregnant!! TAKEN THE DAY I WENT INTO THE HOSPITAL!!! :)
Happy family right after the birth! Nurse Joni took our pic :). I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE NURSE JONI!!




Reading a bunch of paragraphs is tough, so I thought I'd do my story with a timeline.

~ Friday went to see mom at Aultman Hospital (the place I would give birth). Her surgery went well! Now that is is over I can tell you that the "someone" is my mom; a 9 year cancer survivor won't let this surgery mess up her positive attitude!!

~ 8 AM Saturday: woke up, went to the bathroom, and to the kitchen to eat breakfast. I noticed some stomach pains but thought eating would take care of them (I hadn't eaten in over 18 hours so I figured that was the problem).

~ 9 AM: My sister picked me up visit my mom down at the hospital again and I took my hospital bag "in case my water broke or something wild".

~ 10 AM - 12:30 PM: Nothing wild happened except more stomach pain and now a very achy lower back. We stopped for Taco Bell on the way back home (wow healthy last meal before labor huh) and slushies.

~ 1 PM: While waiting mom's "home arrival" I googled "labor" and "false labor" and honestly didn't know what I was having!

~ 2 PM: Start timing what I feel are real contractions and they are from 5 to 8 minutes apart.

~ 3 PM: Call doctor because contractions are consistently 4-5 minutes apart.

~ 4:30 PM: Drive to Aultman for the 3rd time in 24 hours but this time for BABY!!

~ 5 PM: Seen by a suer cute / nice male resident doctor. Told I was "definitely not going home without a baby" when they checked me to find contractions 3 minute apart and a 5 cm dilation.

~ 9 PMish: (time is a blur now). Get my epidural earlier than I wanted it because they wanted to break my water and advised me to get it first. BEAUTIFUL blond female resident doctor breaks my water and says "looks like you'll probably have a 3 AM baby; I won't give you pictocin in hopes your labor progresses naturally".

~ 10 PM: Realize epidurals are amazing and I'm so relaxed I could practially sleep. Doze in and out for the next 4 hours. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND EPIDURALS! I saved so much energy for pushing but yet could wiggle my feet, and even pick up both of my legs the whole time. Not feeling the contractions were the key :).

~ 12 AM: Nurse switch. An older nurse comes in and does the checks and pokes my belly with a VERY concerned look on her face. I'm like "WHATS WRONG"?! She is just "perplexed" because Wilbur is in there so crooked (like always) but confirms he is down but says "I've been poking bellies 20 years and never seen anything like this!".

~ 1 AM. Cute resident doctor along with all nurses through-out the evening continue to comment about how well my labor is progressing naturally without pictocin. I am 9.5 cm dilated and they will have gravity progress the labor for me to cut down on pushing time. They have me sit up in the bed.

~ 2:20 AM: Nurse Joni informs me IT IS NOW TIME TO PUSH!! I was suprised to find out that while you push it is just you, your husband, and your gorgeous, super nice, super amazing, looks 24 but is 36 years- old nurse Joni.

~ 3:09 AM: The cute resident doctor who checked me in triage at 4 pm and throughout the evening now DELIVERS MY BABY while my doctor simply ducks in at the last minute to observe. I'm pleased at how nice and well everything went. When Blaine came out, it was almost like "what is that thing" but when they put him on me, it became real.

~ 3:15 AM: I see them pull out the placenta and say "are there any tears down there?" They said no but a tiny internal tear that they probably don't NEED to stitch but will stitch anyhow. Resident doctor to the rescue again!

~ 3:25 AMish: Super great Joni gets me started on breastfeeding. Blaine is a natural and she said "he's such a big baby, he'll have no problems eating!" (Wow was she right!! 5 days later and he's a champion eater and super champion pooper!)

~ 3:50 AM: They come to weigh Blaine and do footprints, etc. They say, "make a guess" and we guess in the 7 lbs range. Wrong. 8 lbs 11 oz??!! DAY-UMMMMM. If I knew that he was that big, I would've been a heck of a lot more nervous about childbirth! :)

~ The rest of the night: Who knows? I was so happy and in love with that baby I can't even remember what happened but I do know I only got 45 minutes of sleep that whole night!

Next post: SUMMARY!

6 comments:

Jill said...

Whoa! More than 2 lbs bigger than mine! Good work and congrats again!

Janelle said...

I'm thrilled to hear it went so smoothly! Congratulations (again!!) and enjoy the newborn time. (and that is a BIG baby - way to take it like a champ!)

Shannon said...

I am hoping and praying my labor goes that smoothly! I am so happy for you and can't wait to follow along as Blaine grows up :)

Susan said...

You might expect that someone who grows giant pumpkins might go for a big baby! : )
Congratulations! Now the true fun begins.

Kari said...

Sounds great!! I hear ya on the epidural, even though I didn't think I wanted it once I got it I was in heaven. What a big baby and you are so lucky you just got a small internal tear, even with the big healthy baby!! Congrats and you all look beautiful!! I was much more a mess looking when I got done. My little guy was born at 2pm on the 17th.

Lanny said...

Oh that is such a nice post. You did great! But I must say that I misunderstood your title for a minute because your belly looks like a bullet in that first pic! Arencha glad to have your baby! Pregnancies and births and birth "plans" are nice, but just having your baby in your arms, now that is what it is all about. You can just sit and hold Wilb... I mean Blaine forever, well until he wants to start walkin' I guess!