So it's been a long while since I've "blogged". From the last post the ironic? funny? thing is I went into labor later that night. Goes to show that you never know when the baby is ready to come- only the baby knows.
Here's the story of my labor and delivery (for those of you who don't know or don't remember!):
Around 9 o'clock pm Wednesday the 25th I was laying on the couch watching "Masterchef" with Chase when I felt a little "leak". I said- "oops I think I just peed myself" so I stood up to go to the bathroom. No sooner than I stepped on the tile floor my water broke. I'd describe it as it exploded. I called Chase in and I was laughing hysterically. I looked at him and said "Now what do we do?"
I had intended on a "natural birth"- This meant laboring for hours at home until the contractions were so bad I had to go to the hospital. But- I wasn't having contractions and my water was broken. We called the Doctor and she said to come in straight away and get admitted. Well, after a shower and packing and doing the dishes we headed in.
They admitted me and checked me and I was still at 2cm. They said if there was no progress then they'd induce at 6am. I did not start contracting until about 4 that morning. I had been pacing the floor and bouncing on a "labor ball" while Chase slept. I was concerned I had little to no progress- and induction usually means "natural labor" is harder to do because the drug given to induce, pitocin, causes more painful contractions. I was bummed but when they checked me at 6 am I was already 6cm. I have to say that fortunately the pain was pretty tolerable at this point. We moved rooms so I could labor in a tub and the labor continued. (The tub did not help much to be honest).
Overall, I think I did pretty well managing the pain. My husband would remind me to relax in between contractions and having my mom there gave me some extra support. Thankfully, the nurse did not make me stay in bed hooked up to monitors because laying on my back made the contractions much worse. I had to get hooked up for 20 minutes here and there to get a good reading of contractions and the baby's heart rate but then I'd get unhooked and move to a more comfortable position.
All was going wonderfully until I got to be about about 9 cm. Then I got stuck. An anterior lip of the cervix would not dilate and it was pressing against Sprout's head. The nurse (who was a god-send) told me not to push because that could cause more swelling of the cervix and that can lead to a c-section. Telling someone not to push and actually me not pushing was an entirely different thing. Your body does what it wants to do, and mine wanted to push.
Anyway after 2 hours of being stuck at 9 cm they finally convinced me to flip to my hands and knees like a dog to try to get that piece of the cervix out of the way. The nurse basically wanted to push Spout back up the birth canal and move the piece of cervix behind his head. (I have to say I was at this point begging for drugs, begging. My Mom and Chase kept telling me that I didn't really want them and they wouldn't let the doctors give me any.) The doctors suggested giving me a super low dose of demeral and phenergan (I kept thinking I was going to throw up) to help relax me a little for the "procedure". This was my last hope before I was going to have to have some kind of major intervention (I feared laboring for 19 hours and having to have a c-section!). Fortunately it worked! The nurse was able to move the cervix out of the way and I was finally cleared to push. And push I did. For 2 hours!
At the beginning of all this I told them no episiotomy but once I hit the 2 hour pushing mark and the Doctor told me if she didn't do one, I was in for another 30 min- 1 hour of pushing. I told her to do whatever it took to get that baby out!
After 21.5 hours of labor (2 of those pushing) Sprout was finally born. Chase was the one to tell me "It's a boy!" and I said " It's Liam!". I was so happy but so exhausted. I think I fell asleep a few minutes after they handed me Liam. He was born at 6:45 pm on August 26. He weighed 7 lbs 1.2 ounces and was 19.5 cm long. He was perfect!
Liam and I had instant skin to skin contact to help with bonding. I also started breast feeding right away. Everything was pretty much a blur but I do remember telling the doctor I could feel every stitch of the episiotomy repair- which meant when she did the episiotomy I probably wasn't numb but I was in so much pain I never felt it!
My recovery was surprisingly fast and easy. I could have easily walked our new room but they took me by wheelchair. I felt well enough to go home the next mornig but we had to stay another day because they did not count the 26th as a day because it was so late.
Liam's birth was amazing. I'm super proud of myself for not having an epidural and I'd consider foregoing one again for the next baby but we will see when the time comes!
