7/31/08 Thurs: Birth Story

Current Mood: Great mix of exhaustion and extreme happiness!!

OK I finally can get to this computer for a little and here's the birth story! (BTW isn't the pic above awesome? Grammy bought roses for Mommy, Daddy and Jayden. A salmon one for Mommy and Daddy and a white one for Jayden with a card that says "Thank you for my beautiful Grandson! All my love, Mom" I had to take a pic of Jayden with his first ever rose! He was sleeping and looked so peaceful....I thought this pic turned out great!

NOW ONTO THE GOOD STUFF! Well, for YOU to READ...ha ha....

On Wed I was pretty sad most of the day. I was excited to finally get to meet little man but couldn't help feel bad that we were "forcing" him out. He was already over a week late and the doctor didn't want to wait any longer. I was also sad because I knew this was the last day I'd feel little man inside of me kicking and moving. Oh how much I've grown to love and look forward to feeling those little jabs and squirms. I'd miss them!

Arrived around 8 at the hospital and was given a hormone strip to try to make thinning progress. Had to lay still for 2 hours to let it take effect. We ended up going to sleep around midnight.

I woke up around 2am with some cramping and used the bathroom. It started progressing after that. Sometime around 3am the real labor started. At that point my hubby parked himself right next to the bed and spent the next 5 hours talking me through the breathing. Hubby was AWESOME! He stuck by me the entire time, working through each contraction from start to finish!!!! I coudn't have asked for a better coach! He admited later how hard it was to see me go through that, but he kept so strong through it. He was my rock for sure, and kept me going when I was to exhausted to go on.

People who don't have kids yet asked me how "the experience" was. Let me tell you one thing......labor was worse than anything I could have ever imagined. I have a high tolerance for pain, but dang...this was pain like no other. Contractions were about 3-5 minutes apart and so painful that it took my breath completely away. The peaks of the contractions were at the highest point they could have gone, and I still had a very long way to go.

I was checked about 7am and was told we were only 3 cm dilated. EEK! Checked again around 8 and was only 4. Seeing this was a slow go, I asked how much longer this hard labor would last and was told it could be at least another 10-12 hours. Now, if it were another two or three, MAYBE I could have hung through it. But 10-12 was terrifying given the pain. I waited a little and then finally realized there was no way I was going to be able to pull another 10-12 like that. The doctors were concerned that the pain was too much for me, as I was not able to breath through my contractions properly and was so tense that things were slowing. They kept suggesting I just go for the epi and not count it as a faliure because I didn't go totally natural. I finally gave in and asked for one. Wait, more like BEGGED for one!

Hubby called my Mom and she came to help out. My Mom took over hubbys place for a while and helped with the breathing/coaching. At 9am was told we were 7 cm dilated and then Aunti K was rushing to get to the hospital! By around 10:45am we had gone to 10 cm! They went to get the doctor because it was soon time for Jayden to make his entrance!

I was feeling better from the epi but still had hard contractions to go through! Believe me, they were easier with the epi, but still hard! I always thought an epi would totally take away the pain but it doesn't!

Finally the doctor showed up to check my progress and was very upset because I was NOT fully dilated as she had been told, and Jayden wasn't even in the full birthing station!!!! Jayden's heart rate was going up and down and they were very concerned so the doctor decided we had to do this now or never. She gave us a window to get this done naturally and if baby's heartrate kept suffering, we'd have to get an emergancy c section.

The doctor checked me and found out that Jayden was facing the wrong way! So she went inside and turned him back the right position. A few minutes later Jayden flipped again, and again doctor flipped him back. A THIRD TIME he flipped over and the doctor AGAIN went inside and flipped him back! OUCH! SO GLAD MOMMY HAD AN EPI!

Finally it was time to push. I was told I had to not only push baby the rest of the way through the canal, but also still had to push him out on top of that. It seemed I had been pushing forever but in reality it was 45 minutes. I was pushing with all my might from the first push because of the amount of distance Jayden had to travel. With every push the doctor thought more and more we'd have to go to the ER. Everyone was crying, we didn't want to give up after all this! Thankfully the doctor didn't want to give up either and she kept me in a zone! She assisted Jayden in moving down. We would stop here and there because the heart rate was so spuratic. At this point we had a couple specialists in the room observing and ready to check baby for any issues. It was quite scary!

Finally doctor decided she'd need to use **gasp** forcepts to get baby out. NOOO!!!!! Two doctors were needed to pull little man out. I ended up needing cut to make room for all of this! I pushed so hard I hurt myself in more ways than one....OUCH!!!!!!!! Everyone said they thought my head would pop clean off because of how hard I was pushing. My Mom was helping push up one leg while hubby was at the other and my sister was busy at her head trying to calm me down and help focus. Everyone in the room kept screaming PUSH PUSH PUSH PUSH PUSH!!!! What an experience!

Finally at 11:30 am Jayden made his appearance!!!!!!!! He came out screaming and my heart LEAPED!!!! I was so relived to hear that little voice!! Since his heart rate was so low, they just had enough time to let hubby cut the cord and Jayden was whisked off to the specialists. It seemed like FOREVER till they got done with him. Everyone was estatic and crying with happiness! I just stared at the little heating table watching doctors and nurses rush to gather around little man. Every so often I would catch a glimpse of an arm or leg. I must have had the biggest smile on my face as one by one the doctors gave their ok and walked out of the room. I laid there watching his little arms and legs just moving around while he just stared at everyone around him. They finally bundled him up and gave him to me and my heart just melted right then and there. I put that memory up there along with the one of seeing my soon to be hubby's face as I walked down the aisle before we wed. It's most definitely one of the best experiences I've ever had.

Hubby and I stayed at the hospital till saturday because Jayden and I had so much trauma from the birth. Poor little guy was full of amniotic fluid in lungs and stomach. He kept throwing up so much, and couldn't keep food down. Poor thing had to get his stomach and airways pumped out the next day. But he got through it like a trooper and Saturday evening all three of us were at home safe and sound.

Things are going great so far! Little man is such a calm and happy baby. He's just doing wonderful! And we are completely, utterly, head over heels in LOVE!