SpunkyMunkey
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Its hard to believe that its been 2 weeks already since my little guy came! After a pretty easy pregnancy, with minimal morning sickness and no complications, I had a quick delivery, with a total of about 4 hours from the time my water broke and real contractions started (simultaneously) to my baby being born at 3:36 am on January 19.
I had a false alarm just over a week earlier. I had been having contractions all that day, and they were very regular and getting closer and closer together, but they were not in the least bit painful. Some of them I didn't even feel, I could just tell when I touched my belly and it was hard. So, we called the hospital, and they told us to come in. When we got there, they checked me and I was 3 cm dilated and 90% effaced, which was more than I'd been at my previous doctor's appt, so they had me walk around for an hour to see if I progressed any more. When they checked me again, they said I was 4 cm, so I should stay. I still had no pain whatsoever. We spent the night at the hospital, and early the next morning, they checked me again, at which point, they realized that I was 4-5 cm only on the outside part of the cervix, the inside hadn't dilated at all. I didn't even know that was possible, and the NP said it was the first time she'd felt that in the five years she'd worked there, which is why it confused her and the OB. So, they sent me home, telling me that when I DID go into labor, I needed to get to the hospital quickly, because I would likely go quickly.
I had fairly regular contractions from then on, and spent the next week worrying about if I would know when I really was in labor. On Wednesday, I went to the mall with my husband to walk around and see if we could get anything going. While walking, I started having some contractions that I could actually feel, though still nothing painful or even really uncomfortable. We started timing them when we got home and they were about 10 minutes apart, and slowly got closer together. When they had been about 5 minutes apart for an hour, we called the hospital, and the nurse told us to wait another hour and told me to try to go to sleep, because if I could sleep through the contractions it probably wasn't real labor. I laid down and my husband was sitting next to me, still recording the contractions. After about 20 minutes, I had a contraction that hurt and I felt a pop, almost like the baby had kicked me really, really hard. I rolled over onto all fours and gasped, while my husband started freaking out and then I realized that I was leaking, at which point I freaked out, because the inital bit was blood tinged. In under 5 minutes, my husband had everything in the car for the hospital, while I called the hospital to let them know we were coming in.
The contractions from that point on where painful and with every contraction, I could feel more fluid leaking, which I HATED. We got settled in the hospital pretty quickly, and the doctor came in to check that my water had really broken and how far I was. When he checked, I was at 5 cm, and there was no doubt it was my water! They asked about pain management, and I said I wanted to try to go natural. Both my nurse and the doctor were pretty impressed with how well I was able to relax when I had a contraction. The nurse was really helpful with making suggestions for positions and set up a rocking chair for me to try.
After a little over an hour, I started thinking that I might want an epidural or SOMETHING, because I didn't know how long I could take the pain. My husband did his job of reminding me how much I really didn't want to do that. I mentioned to the nurse that it was starting to REALLY, REALLY hurt without saying I wanted anything and she checked me again, and I was at 7 cm, so I was past the point of being able to have an epidural.
I had a couple more hard contractions after that and then started having the urge to push. My nurse was the only medical personnel in the room, though, so I had to try not to. At my hospital, there are 2 doctors and 2 nurses for the delivery. One doctor is the OB and one is the resident (whose job is just working on the birthing unit. He isn't an OB and doesn't see other patients). The resident came in and got his gown and gloves on. He checked me and said that I was ready to go. Then, the OB came in, looked and said that it would be at least another hour. I didn't realize it then, but looking back I can tell now that when I started having the urge to push, I started panicking big time. So, when the OB said another hour, I started to panic even more. The nurse told him I wanted to push already and that this baby was coming soon. The OB said something to me about drugs so that I would not be too tired to push, later. At that point, I would've accepted anything that would make it all stop, or at least so I'd stop feeling it, so I said yes, even though I had NO idea what he was planning on giving me. The nurse then started chewing out the doctor for offering, because there was no way I'd get the drugs in time to even do anything, so no drugs for me. And then the OB left the room. I almost started crying, then, because my body so desperately wanted to push, but the OB HAD JUST LEFT! My nurse calmed me down, telling me the resident was there and ready, and he wasn't going anywhere. She and the 2nd nurse got positioned to help with my legs. I was in a reclined sitting position, because that was the only way that I was the least bit comfortable and could relax at ALL during the contractions. That said, when I needed to do the actual pushing, I started pushing with my legs, rather than trying to push out the baby. Like I said, I was panicked. After every contraction I was almost hyperventilating. The nurses kept trying to calm me down and trying to get me to breath more slowly, so I didn't hyperventilate. I kept thinking that it wouldn't be such a bad thing, because at least then I'd be unconscious. Just before I started actively pushing, the OB came back in, and was shocked to see how much I'd progressed in just a few minutes, so he got his gown and gloves on and proceeded to stand behind the resident and do almost nothing during the delivery. I proceeded to yell a lot when I was supposed to be worrying about pushing. At one point I yelled that I was never doing this again, and if I got pregnant again, I would just stay pregnant forever. Yes, I literally took the time to say ALL of that. My nurse very firmly told me that I needed to stop using my energy to yell. The funny part was, I was yelling some not so nice things
(not at anyone, just in general), but then, when I wanted water or something, I would say please and thank you, and whenever my nurse would tell me that I needed to do something I would apologize profusely. The only time I yelled AT anyone was when my nurse had put a monitor on the baby's head, because they couldn't get the heartbeat on the external monitor and she reached down to adjust it. At that point, it had gotten really uncomfortable when anyone was doing anything down there, and I yelled, "NO!" at her. Then they put an oxygen mask on me, because the baby's heart rate was dropping with the pushing. In between contractions, I kept pulling it off, because I was so hot! I kept begging to take it off completely, but the nurse insisted I keep it on. She was clearly not thrilled at me pulling it away from my face, but she didn't push it.
About 40 minutes after I started pushing, they told me it was going to start burning, because his head was going to be coming soon. A few pushes later, I could hear my baby screaming. I couldn't believe it when I saw him; that was really MY baby! The doctor held him up for my husband to announce the gender. His response was, "Is that what I think it is?!?" I had been so convinced it would be a girl that I had convinced my husband. But no, our little Peanut is a boy! My husband cut the cord and they laid the baby on my chest. It wasn't actually skin to skin, since I had on my gown and he had a blanket on, but I was shaking too badly to really care. After the placenta was delivered and the resident announced that I was officially no longer pregnant, I gave the baby to my husband, while they stitched me up. I had one tear between 1st and 2nd degree. I never believed people when they said you can't feel it, but I totally did NOT feel anything when I tore. I wouldn't have known I had if they hadn't had to stitch me up. During the stitching up, the baby was weighed and measured --he was 8 lbs 3.5 oz, and 23 inches long! The OB couldn't believe that he was so big. I'm not quite sure why, because I was only 2 days before my due date.
After the resident finished stitching me up, the nurse gave me the baby back and helped me feed him for the first time. After he was done eating, they took him to the nursery to have a bath and get some blood tests done, while the nurse helped me finish getting cleaned up and got me some food. My husband went with the baby, and then called our families to let them know. Everyone was amazed it happened so fast!
I still can't believe how fast it all went and that I really did it without drugs, though I think if it was much longer, I would've needed something. With how cute the little guy is, I think I will be willing to go through labor again, despite my comments to the contrary during labor. It's definitely not something I'd want to do every day, but there is a real feeling of accomplishment after that! It's definitely not something that you can totally prepare for.
And now we're on to the adventure of being Mommy and Daddy!
https://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o102/EagleOneTheatreChick/IMGP8506.jpg
I had a false alarm just over a week earlier. I had been having contractions all that day, and they were very regular and getting closer and closer together, but they were not in the least bit painful. Some of them I didn't even feel, I could just tell when I touched my belly and it was hard. So, we called the hospital, and they told us to come in. When we got there, they checked me and I was 3 cm dilated and 90% effaced, which was more than I'd been at my previous doctor's appt, so they had me walk around for an hour to see if I progressed any more. When they checked me again, they said I was 4 cm, so I should stay. I still had no pain whatsoever. We spent the night at the hospital, and early the next morning, they checked me again, at which point, they realized that I was 4-5 cm only on the outside part of the cervix, the inside hadn't dilated at all. I didn't even know that was possible, and the NP said it was the first time she'd felt that in the five years she'd worked there, which is why it confused her and the OB. So, they sent me home, telling me that when I DID go into labor, I needed to get to the hospital quickly, because I would likely go quickly.
I had fairly regular contractions from then on, and spent the next week worrying about if I would know when I really was in labor. On Wednesday, I went to the mall with my husband to walk around and see if we could get anything going. While walking, I started having some contractions that I could actually feel, though still nothing painful or even really uncomfortable. We started timing them when we got home and they were about 10 minutes apart, and slowly got closer together. When they had been about 5 minutes apart for an hour, we called the hospital, and the nurse told us to wait another hour and told me to try to go to sleep, because if I could sleep through the contractions it probably wasn't real labor. I laid down and my husband was sitting next to me, still recording the contractions. After about 20 minutes, I had a contraction that hurt and I felt a pop, almost like the baby had kicked me really, really hard. I rolled over onto all fours and gasped, while my husband started freaking out and then I realized that I was leaking, at which point I freaked out, because the inital bit was blood tinged. In under 5 minutes, my husband had everything in the car for the hospital, while I called the hospital to let them know we were coming in.
The contractions from that point on where painful and with every contraction, I could feel more fluid leaking, which I HATED. We got settled in the hospital pretty quickly, and the doctor came in to check that my water had really broken and how far I was. When he checked, I was at 5 cm, and there was no doubt it was my water! They asked about pain management, and I said I wanted to try to go natural. Both my nurse and the doctor were pretty impressed with how well I was able to relax when I had a contraction. The nurse was really helpful with making suggestions for positions and set up a rocking chair for me to try.
After a little over an hour, I started thinking that I might want an epidural or SOMETHING, because I didn't know how long I could take the pain. My husband did his job of reminding me how much I really didn't want to do that. I mentioned to the nurse that it was starting to REALLY, REALLY hurt without saying I wanted anything and she checked me again, and I was at 7 cm, so I was past the point of being able to have an epidural.
I had a couple more hard contractions after that and then started having the urge to push. My nurse was the only medical personnel in the room, though, so I had to try not to. At my hospital, there are 2 doctors and 2 nurses for the delivery. One doctor is the OB and one is the resident (whose job is just working on the birthing unit. He isn't an OB and doesn't see other patients). The resident came in and got his gown and gloves on. He checked me and said that I was ready to go. Then, the OB came in, looked and said that it would be at least another hour. I didn't realize it then, but looking back I can tell now that when I started having the urge to push, I started panicking big time. So, when the OB said another hour, I started to panic even more. The nurse told him I wanted to push already and that this baby was coming soon. The OB said something to me about drugs so that I would not be too tired to push, later. At that point, I would've accepted anything that would make it all stop, or at least so I'd stop feeling it, so I said yes, even though I had NO idea what he was planning on giving me. The nurse then started chewing out the doctor for offering, because there was no way I'd get the drugs in time to even do anything, so no drugs for me. And then the OB left the room. I almost started crying, then, because my body so desperately wanted to push, but the OB HAD JUST LEFT! My nurse calmed me down, telling me the resident was there and ready, and he wasn't going anywhere. She and the 2nd nurse got positioned to help with my legs. I was in a reclined sitting position, because that was the only way that I was the least bit comfortable and could relax at ALL during the contractions. That said, when I needed to do the actual pushing, I started pushing with my legs, rather than trying to push out the baby. Like I said, I was panicked. After every contraction I was almost hyperventilating. The nurses kept trying to calm me down and trying to get me to breath more slowly, so I didn't hyperventilate. I kept thinking that it wouldn't be such a bad thing, because at least then I'd be unconscious. Just before I started actively pushing, the OB came back in, and was shocked to see how much I'd progressed in just a few minutes, so he got his gown and gloves on and proceeded to stand behind the resident and do almost nothing during the delivery. I proceeded to yell a lot when I was supposed to be worrying about pushing. At one point I yelled that I was never doing this again, and if I got pregnant again, I would just stay pregnant forever. Yes, I literally took the time to say ALL of that. My nurse very firmly told me that I needed to stop using my energy to yell. The funny part was, I was yelling some not so nice things
(not at anyone, just in general), but then, when I wanted water or something, I would say please and thank you, and whenever my nurse would tell me that I needed to do something I would apologize profusely. The only time I yelled AT anyone was when my nurse had put a monitor on the baby's head, because they couldn't get the heartbeat on the external monitor and she reached down to adjust it. At that point, it had gotten really uncomfortable when anyone was doing anything down there, and I yelled, "NO!" at her. Then they put an oxygen mask on me, because the baby's heart rate was dropping with the pushing. In between contractions, I kept pulling it off, because I was so hot! I kept begging to take it off completely, but the nurse insisted I keep it on. She was clearly not thrilled at me pulling it away from my face, but she didn't push it. About 40 minutes after I started pushing, they told me it was going to start burning, because his head was going to be coming soon. A few pushes later, I could hear my baby screaming. I couldn't believe it when I saw him; that was really MY baby! The doctor held him up for my husband to announce the gender. His response was, "Is that what I think it is?!?" I had been so convinced it would be a girl that I had convinced my husband. But no, our little Peanut is a boy! My husband cut the cord and they laid the baby on my chest. It wasn't actually skin to skin, since I had on my gown and he had a blanket on, but I was shaking too badly to really care. After the placenta was delivered and the resident announced that I was officially no longer pregnant, I gave the baby to my husband, while they stitched me up. I had one tear between 1st and 2nd degree. I never believed people when they said you can't feel it, but I totally did NOT feel anything when I tore. I wouldn't have known I had if they hadn't had to stitch me up. During the stitching up, the baby was weighed and measured --he was 8 lbs 3.5 oz, and 23 inches long! The OB couldn't believe that he was so big. I'm not quite sure why, because I was only 2 days before my due date.
After the resident finished stitching me up, the nurse gave me the baby back and helped me feed him for the first time. After he was done eating, they took him to the nursery to have a bath and get some blood tests done, while the nurse helped me finish getting cleaned up and got me some food. My husband went with the baby, and then called our families to let them know. Everyone was amazed it happened so fast! I still can't believe how fast it all went and that I really did it without drugs, though I think if it was much longer, I would've needed something. With how cute the little guy is, I think I will be willing to go through labor again, despite my comments to the contrary during labor. It's definitely not something I'd want to do every day, but there is a real feeling of accomplishment after that! It's definitely not something that you can totally prepare for.
And now we're on to the adventure of being Mommy and Daddy!
https://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o102/EagleOneTheatreChick/IMGP8506.jpg
congratulations!!! so sorry you felt panicked, but i'm so glad that everything went well in the end, and that you and Peanut were very healthy!! 
ROFL
