Here’s my attempt at writing Luke’s birth story without giving too many gory details – ha! I made it to my scheduled induction date, surprisingly, despite being 3 cm dilated and having so many contractions. Chris and I arrived at the hospital around 9p.m. Tuesday night (May 31st), followed by my mom and Chris’ sister. We had pre-registered at the hospital a few weeks ago, but we ended up having to wait over an hour just to get a room. Once I got called back, the nurses were having trouble finding my orders, but they put me in a room anyway. Turns out, my doctor’s nurse had put me down to come in the night before so they had to call the on-call doctor to okay me for that night! I was so afraid they were going to send us home! But it all worked out and the nurse came to check my progress about 10:30 and it about KILLED me! I’m pretty sure she reached all the way to my neck, but she said she was having trouble because the baby’s head was low and my cervix was posterior and she had to reach around to get a number – then she said I was only 2cm! I was a little discouraged because my doctor had said 3cm and I just knew I had made more progress in a week and a half! But at least they could “help me along” that night, since that’s why I was there! So they hooked me up to all the monitors and started me on the Cervidil (and gave me a sleeping pill!). After the nurse checked me, I had a BUNCH of contractions, so I was hoping that would also help get things going!
Those contractions made it a little hard to sleep, but we managed to get a good bit of rest before the nurse came in at 5:40 the next morning to remove the Cervidil and check me again – it wasn’t as bad this time and she said I was a “good” 3cm. Then around 6:15, the nurse came back to start me on pitocin and my doctor came in to break my water and said I was 4 cm. So they went ahead and put a call in to the anesthesiologist but he was doing spinals for C-sections and he would work me in between. It seemed like forever (it was only 30 minutes) before he came because with the pitocin and breaking my water, the contractions were starting to really hurt! The anesthesiologist was “the good one” according to my doctor, so I was relieved and hoped it would be a better experience than last time. He put the epidural in (around 7 a.m.) while I was lying down, which was better because I was really hurting with my contractions.
Once the epidural kicked in, I was feeling great and could finally relax! I was so sleepy, so Chris and I both took a good nap before the nurse returned around 8:50 to check my progress. She had this surprised look on her face and said I was 9.5 cm! (Later we found out I was really 10cm, but she didn’t want to scare me and the baby was only +1 station, so she wanted to give him time to drop lower). She put in a call to my doctor and said she needed to “walk briskly but not to run and hurt herself” – ha! So we knew it was about time and called my mom to make sure she was on the way!
Around 9:20, my mom and Chris’ sister arrived, followed shortly by my doctor, who started suiting up for delivery! It was so nice that my epidural was working properly and I was so relaxed! Everyone was standing around me just chatting away and waiting for my contractions to get stronger and more regular - quite different from last time! A few minutes later it was time to start pushing and after 7 or 8 pushes (about 4 or 5 minutes), he was OUT! I couldn’t believe how easy it was this time around - not being able to feel anything was great although I couldn’t even tell if I was pushing! The doctor and nurse kept telling me I was, so I just kept trying – it was a little weird, but wonderful! When he came out, the doctor said, “He’s big!” but I figured he couldn’t be that big if it was that easy to push him out. I was really surprised when they weighed him and said he was over 8 pounds! He was nice and pink (except his hands and feet were a little purple!) and healthy and got a “perfect” score of 9 for his APGAR. He did start to cough and gag a little and the nurse got a lot of fluid suctioned out of his lungs. He had more trouble with that later and they said that happens sometimes with quick deliveries because they don’t get squeezed enough. We were so thankful for another healthy baby and smooth delivery!
I did end up having a small episiotomy, but only 2nd degree this time. It was nice to be numb this time and not feel everything while being stitched up! I recovered a little while in the L&D room, then got wheeled up to my postpartum room, which is normally upstairs in the hospital, but they were full so they put us in the overflow rooms on the L&D floor. It was nice because the nursery was smaller and it wasn’t as busy and loud as the on the main floor. Chris’ family came to the hospital and brought my Dad and Caroline. Then Chris went with Luke to the nursery and helped give him his first bath. About that time my sister arrived from Texas and had missed his birth by only 2 hours! I was a little sad, but glad she could be there right after!
Check out pictures from the birth and hospital here! I’ll write more about little guy and big sister at home when I can.
No comments:
Post a Comment