Thursday, February 24, 2011

Our beautiful baby!










So last Thursday I had my typical weekly doctors appointment (well I say typical but I was 4 days over due by this time so I didnt expect to still be having appointments!) So when I got to the doctors they did the normal listen to the babies heart rate and check to see if I was dilated. I of course was not dilated more than a 1 which was devastating because I have been having consistent contractions for a week and a half. So they doctor listened to the babies heart rate and it had lowered, it was not low enough to be extremely concerned but still lower. The previous night I had a little freak our moment because I hadnt felt her move for a quite a while so Justin and I both tried poking and pushing on my stomach to try to get her to move, I tried flipping to each side and was getting nothing. This lasted for about 15 minutes. Finally I asked Justin to say a prayer that we would know what to do. Within seconds of finishing the prayer I felt her move again. I was relieved and knew that things were ok. However I mentioned this to the doctor so she started feeling around on my stomach and determined that my fluids felt low so she immediately sent me to have another ultrasound. (I think that brings my total up to 6 ultrasounds throughout this pregnancy!) After having the ultrasound they said that I would need to go over to the hospital to be induced because my fluid levels were below where she would like. Since I was already overdue there was no need to monitor me any further.

I called Justin and told him to meet me at the hospital (made sure I stopped to get my last meal for a while too) So when I got to the hospital they made me start off in triage...I pretty much hate triage. I was waiting there for what felt like forever! I guess they were running low on birthing rooms and I overheard my nurse fighting for me to be the one that got the next available. I was really concerned about not getting a birthing room. One of the things that I like most about this hospital is that each patient gets their own room and they actually have the baby in that room. So I was glad she was standing up for me and it worked because I got the next one!

So we moved into the birthing room, however even though I was still having contractions I was not dilated. So the first part of induction is to insert a pill to soften the cervix. For some people this puts them into labor naturally and for others they have to do the IV medicine. I was really hoping for the pill to work because I really wanted to be able to do the whirl pool while having contractions just to see if I like it and because I have heard so many wonderful things about them. So they put the first pill in and I only dilated to about a two. So they put another one in (after 4 pills they start the IV) This one must have worked because my contractions got stronger and I was dilating. When I was dilated to about a 5-6 and they knew I wasnt going to need the IV they finally let me go into the whirl pool tub. I LOVED this. It was awesome and really helped me relax. They also gave me some Nuvane which didnt help at all with the pain, however it did put me to sleep between the contractions. When I got out of the tub I was dilated to almost an 8. So they asked me one last time if I wanted an epidural. I told them that since I had made it this far without one I was going to turn it down...again (they asked me like 20 times if I wanted one.)
However once I hit an 8 I was beginning to regret my decision. This is the point where I lost the "mind over matter" I was starting to freak out and wanted to cry. However lucky for me I went from an 8 to a 10 pretty quickly and was ready to start pushing. Pushing was so hard and they told me to try to get 3 good pushes within each contraction. I told them I wanted to get 4 in every time because I wanted this baby out! So every time I would have a contraction I would get 4 good pushes in. They asked if I wanted a mirror and I am glad that I had one to see but I wish they would have put it up right before the baby came out. The whole 2 steps forward and 1 step back part of labor was hard for me to see. I would start to see progress and then as the contraction ended she would slide right back up.
Eventually she did come! It was such an amazing feeling when they put her on my stomach (and the pushing was finally over) I looked over at Justin and he was tearing up, I was crying too. Well I was trying to cry but my body was too exhausted to push out any tears...it was pretty pathetic! I am very happy that I did it naturally, however I have learned that you do not get a reward for suffering through all the pain of a natural labor. They do not put your name on a plaque or anything like that. I would have gotten the same results if I would have had an epidural but not all the pain! I have to say, I loved the fact that I could get up and walk around within minutes of having her. I was able to sit up to see her get her measurements and weight. If I would have had an epidural I would not have been able to do that. I think next time I will be getting the epidural. I have done the natural thing and now I can say that I have done it. Who knows, I might prefer natural but I will definitely give it something to compare to! It was an amazing experience none the less!

2 comments:

Joe N' Jess said...

Although I had already heard the story, I couldn't help but read what you wrote about it. Woman, that is AWESOME that you did it natural and I am very proud of you! Also I am so excited for you that it is over! 9 months seems like nothing right?

Justin and Linzi said...

lol I think its still a little too fresh in my mind to say 9 months seems like nothing. It still seems way too dang long! However when you compare it to natural child birth it does seem like nothing!