Birth Story-Part 2

I started feeling tons of pressure and thought it might be time to push but in the back of my mind kept reminding myself that is how I felt with my daughter and I wasn't even close to fully dilated.  I paged the nurse and when she checked me she said that I had a lip left and then it would be time.  She was going to page the doctor and let her know.

Every time I was checked I would have everyone leave the room so I felt like I had some dignity before I was completely exposed to the whole room.

The nurse was about to get the doctor when she just happened to walk in to check on me, she truly is the best doctor I've ever had.  The doctor came in and checked me and said I was ready.  At that point I had a mini panic about this being the end.  I had been wanting to be done with the pregnancy and have my body back but in that split second I freaked out.  I think I even said out loud that I wasn't ready yet, that it wasn't time.  I literally wanted to keep him safe a little longer.  It was a bit chaotic at this point and everyone seemed to be moving in super speed but in slow motion at the same time.  It is bizarre to think about.  Almost like it was out of body experience and I was watching from the outside in.

It was almost 5:30 pm and I had my mom on my left side and Mr. California was standing behind my mom waiting.  My friend, Jen was there taking pictures of the birth, I highly recommend having someone do that for you!  Mrs. California was suiting up to help deliver her son!  My best friend, Jenny was on my right side.  For a second Mrs. C and Jenny were almost not allowed to be in the room.  The nurses were being brats about how many people could be in the room.  Yeah I don't think so.

It came time to push and I honestly was so nervous!  With my daughter I pushed for almost 2 hours and she needed assistance to make her entrance.  I was worried that I'd be pushing forever with no progress and need a c-section.  A c-section was my biggest worry since I could tell how big this baby was going to be.  I started pushing and my mom was cheering me on and counting and as well as my friend.  I pushed with all my might and honestly didn't know if I was even pushing since I could NOT feel a darn thing.  Another worry was that I would feel the stitches I knew I would be needing after baby was born and had pushed the epidural booster in between contractions at one point.  I pushed for a good 15 minutes though and he was Earth side and placed him on my belly while his mom cut his cord.  It was absolutely amazing and the coolest thing to watch her deliver her baby and the excitement on her face.

I am pretty sure I had a tear streaming down my face the entire time I was pushing him out.  I could feel the presence of my biggest cheerleaders that had passed.  It was one of the most spiritual experiences I have been apart of.

While he was on my belly I was able to kind of wipe his face off and then they took him to the bed where his mom was able to adore him more.  At this point the dad was repetitively thanking me and we were both just sobbing!  It was truly an amazing thing to be part of!

My friend, Jen who took the L&D photos and is a fellow surro sister 

Finally holding him when I wasn't so loopy

My daughter meeting him for the first time.

My friend, Jenny!

Birth story-Part 1

There was a ton that led up to the big arrival of this little guy's arrival and it sure wasn't without a whirlwind of chaos.  I honestly would do it all over again just to see the happy faces of his parents and the look of his siblings when they met him.

I had originally asked my doctor if we could induce on April 11th since this little pea bio brother weighed almost 9 lbs at 37 1/2 weeks.  I was nervous I'd be pushing a 10 lb kid out of my body or wouldn't be able to and would need a c-section.  Due to the hospitals rules they wouldn't let my OB induce me before 39 weeks.  I was a little devastated since I was so miserable at this point in the pregnancy anyways.  My doctor was also going to be on vacation for an entire week so I was freaking out that she would be gone when I went into labor too.  I trust the other doctors in that office but I had built a relationship and trusted my OB so much!  We went ahead and set up an induction date just in case I hadn't delivered by that point for April 21st!  The closer we got the more excited and anxious I got.

I called the hospital bright and early at 6:15 am to see what time they wanted me to arrive to get started.  After the hospital said when to arrive I called Mr. & Mrs. California to let them know when to arrive at the hospital.  They still had a few hours to drive since they drove the night before and stopped to rest.  Originally I was going to drive my daughter to day care and then head to the hospital but due to taking a bit longer to get ready plans got changed.  My friend and mom took my daughter to day care and then met myself and another friend at the hospital.  When  I arrived at the hospital shortly after 7:40 am one of the nurses was actually on the phone with my OB and she was making sure I was there.  (I honestly love my OB and trust her with my life.)  I was nervous that they would say there weren't any beds since I knew how busy they had been the weeks prior, but thankfully I was being admitted.  I won't lie the entire time I was getting admitted it seemed like a dream and that it wasn't really going to happen that day.  It was so surreal!

I got all changed and they took my stats before getting me all started and then the fun really started.  It was about 8:40 am by the time we were really ready to go.  About the time I had gotten changed my mom and best friend showed up to the hospital.  The nurse told me that they would have the doctor come break my waters and that I could get the epidural basically whenever I wanted it.  She did say that the anesthesiologist would be in a c-section for the next hour so it would be after that.  I thought I would tough it out for a bit while on pitocin anyways.  I was a little nervous about getting my waters broken without an epidural mostly since I was completely numb with my daughter so I didn't know what to expect.  It actually wasn't bad at all.  It felt like a normal pelvic exam and then the gushing started.  I knew there would be tons of fluid coming but I didn't expect to soak the entire bed and then some.  I was on pitocin and so every single contraction it seemed to gush even more fluid out as well.  It seriously was grossing me out having this warm fluid coming out of me and it was supposed to be "normal and okay."  I decided to sit on the toilet to labor for a little while to have gravity help and to stop gushing all over myself.  I basically made a liquid trail to the toilet since it was not stopping and just continually coming out.  I basically housed a swimming pool in there!!  While I sat on the toilet the nurses changed the entire bedding and with every contraction the fluid continued to come out but I think that helped it to get all out.  I had a surro sister there who is a photographer to take pictures throughout the ending of this journey and she was there right before they broke my waters.  I can't wait to see all of those pictures!!

Sitting on the toilet was making the contractions start to get a bit more intense, I'd have to focus more during them.  I decided it was time for the epidural but when I called for one they said I needed to wait because he was in another surgery.  When he finally came in I was more then ready for his happy face to arrive!  I could still handle the surges but I couldn't talk through them and I was feeling quite a bit of pressure.  The parents arrived shortly after I had gotten the epidural so I was able to visit and entertain without wanting to die or cuss at anyone.

The epidural was heaven sent for sure and I honestly don't know what I was thinking about wanting to have a natural birth.  There was a huge difference with this epidural though, I could still feel down my legs and wiggle my toes.  Eventually I started having quite a bit of pain and pressure in my behind and I was not feeling so great!  I thought for sure this had to be it and I was fully dilated.  I paged the nurse to let her know that I was having lots of pressure.  When she checked me I was only a 5 cm dilated.  At this rate I was dilating at 1 cm per hour so far.  We ended up having the anesthesiologist come back in and he placed a new epidural since I was still feeling so much and the first one was not in completely.  Once that was placed I really was numb and couldn't even feel my legs, they felt as if someone was sitting on them and I couldn't move.

After the new epidural was placed it was pretty uneventful to say the least.  I kind of felt bad for everyone having to wait on little man to make his grand entrance.  My body was at least doing its job and he was descending in a timely manner.  I was dilating about 1 cm every hour and soon he would be here!

 Saying our see ya laters for the day.  Ms. M was going to day care while I had this baby.

 The final belly picture at 39 weeks and 3 days along!  Forgot to get a picture in my normal clothes.  Was taken about 8:38am

 Ready to go!!

 With the best doctor ever!

This was taken about 12:33pm.  I was dilated to a 5 at this point.  Was already on pitocin and had my waters broken before epidural was admitted.  This was shortly after the second epidural was placed and I was completely numb and couldn't even move my legs.