Sunday, October 17, 2010
A normal Sunday morning... Slept in, as late as possible considering that the kid wakes up usually before eight. Made breakfast for the family - J's favorite: pancakes and portuguese sausage. I attempted to make a little extra for my bestie, who we are also living with, but didn't mix enough batter. :( Still trying to get used to cooking for the entire family.
J and I decided to not attend the meeting in the morning since the past few days I was contracting off and on. My belly was getting so enormous that sitting for approximately two hours was not comfortable anymore. We tied ourselves through the telephone hookup and attempted to pay attention to the talk and Watchtower meeting despite the Kid running around getting into his usual mischief.
A normal Sunday morning... Can't really remember exactly what we did. Lounged around, relaxed, spent time together as a family, played outside with the Kid and Link... Same ole, same ole...
Later that evening, our roomie had a couple of her friends over for a movie night. It was getting late so J and I were getting the Kid ready for bed. While I was getting ready for bed I was thinking that Squirt was taking his sweet old time coming out. He must really enjoy his incubation time in my belly. But as all my Momma friends were telling me, I just need to relax and enjoy my time with the Kid before Squirt arrives. Since I was 39 weeks, I figured I'd take a belly photo. :)
This picture was just about an hour before I woke up with the worst contraction I ever felt through out this pregnancy. I laid in bed for a while waiting the contractions out... Thinking that this was again false labor.
(The prior Wednesday, J and I thought I may be going into labor and spent about 4 hours at the hospital while the triage nurses and doctors assessed me. My OB had popped in around 7AM to check on me and released me to go home. I was only about 3 cm dilated and Squirt was still pretty high up. Not enough progress for actual labor and my contractions that were coming about every 4-5 minutes when we left for the hospital, had slowed and were becoming more spaced apart. False labor...)
The contractions did not stop coming and they seemed pretty close together so I decided to start timing them. I also remembered what one of my friends told me about walking around to test if the contractions would stop. If they did then I would know whether or not it was false labor. So I decided to get up and jump in the shower. M's friends were still over and apparently had the munchies because they were all in the kitchen cooking up a breakfast feast, at 11 at night. They asked me if I was hungry or if they were making too much noise and I just laughed and said "No... Contracting".
I jumped in the shower and stayed in there for a while. It was so relaxing! The contractions kept coming so I was starting to wonder if this was truly it. I didn't want to rush into things again so decided to wait a few hours to see how the contractions progressed. I hung around with M and her friends while they watched The Brothers and ate their pancakes and sausages... Funny, I just realized that that was what J and I had for breakfast earlier that day.
(Contracting on the couch at home...)
My contractions started to get more intense and were approximately 3 - 4 minutes apart. A little after 1AM I told M that I think I should wake J... This was seriously labor. We discussed what we would do with the Kid since it was the middle of the night. I stumbled into my bedroom in between contractions and woke J. I told him that I think we should head down to the hospital because I was in immense amounts of pain. I gave him the run down of my contractions and he agreed.
J and I left for the hospital around 2 AM.
Monday, October 18, 2010
We get to the hospital and go straight to the 3rd floor. We had to wait a few minutes before getting into triage. I remember sitting in the waiting room contracting and looking around at some of the other mothers that were waiting. None of them seemed to be in any pain or discomfort and I started wondering what they were doing here. LOL!
We finally get to our triage room and the nurse comes in to check my cervix. This was it. Dilated about 6.5 cm, baby at around 0 station and I can't remember how much I was effaced. But it looked like Squirt was ready. His incubation period was coming to an end.
They moved us from triage to our labor room and the fun began. :)
My mum and younger sister came as well as my inlaws. Contraction after contraction I sat in the bed, enduring the countless seconds of torture that mothers inflict on ourselves by agreeing to have a child and start a family. Yes, I was one of those mothers who has their first child and is willing to go through it all again because all the pain is washed away the moment your little one is placed in your arms.
My contractions started to increase in intensity and I recall numerous times when I was willing to throw in the towel and succumb to my desire to have a painless labor. I definitely think that I was much colder to the staff and everyone around me during this labor as opposed to the first. My reasoning is that this labor progressed much quicker than the first. Not only were the contractions getting stronger, but they seemed like they were coming one on top of the other.
Thinking of my little boy at home, fast asleep was what helped me to keep myself from completely losing it. Seeing his smiling little face was what calmed me down enough to bite through each agonizing contraction.
I remember J whispering to me that this was what we wanted, a non-medicated birth. I was doing great. Hearing his reassuring voice helped me to snap back to reality that Yes! this is what we wanted. What we believe to be the best way for our child to be born into this world.
At one point I realized that if I "pushed" a little during the really intense contractions, it would lessen the pressure in my back and hips and almost make the contraction tolerable... emphasize the almost. ;) When the nurse checked my cervix she said I was about 8 cm. I recall asking her, actually pleading with her if I could just push to 10. She chuckled and told me that I DID NOT want to do that. I whimpered and went right back to wondering if I should just give in and ask for some kind of pain medication.
I don't know how much time elapsed since this last check, but at one point I started to feel more pressure in my rectum - "DOODOO PRESHAA!" as my roomie and I joked. I don't remember who came in and checked me but at that point I told the nurse/doctor that I was feeling more pressure and needed to push. When they checked me I was told that I was at 10 and could start pushing if I was up to it.
I have never been more excited to put myself through more pain in my life! They asked me if I wanted to wait for my doctor to arrive since he was on his way but I was like NO WAY!!! I am pushing NOW! My doctor did arrive maybe about 5 minutes later. I was totally focused on getting this baby out.
At some point, when my doc was checking me, he told me that Squirt was positioned anterior, face forward, which explains the crazy back labor I was experiencing. He said that what he planned to do was attempt to turn the baby as I pushed. WHAT THE HECK?!?!?? He explained that if I continued to labor and push with the baby in this position, I would be pushing much longer and be in much more pain than if he was facing the other way.
I also remember begging my doctor for some kind of pain neutralizer. He smiled and said that it was too late. It would go straight to the baby and I was doing fine without. What did he know?! He's a guy!!! He's never had to endure such torture!
Push push push... I felt every stretch, burn and tear. I swear my labor with the Kid was not as intense as this one.
At the point when I thought to myself that this baby was never going to come out, I heard my doctor tell me to stop. He said, "C, stop. I need you to listen to me now. I want you to push slowly and controlled. Listen to me. Push... slow. Slow."
Uh...hello? Um...How do you expect me to control this??? I could feel the burning sensation and could tell that he was telling me this to alleviate a horrendous tearing episode down below. But really, how the heck am I supposed to CONTROL what naturally wants to come bursting out? LOL! Sorry for the graphicness.
Anyway, after about, what I was told, about 30 minutes, I felt my little boy slip right out. Immediately, the burning, pressure and stinging in my back was gone. J passed little Squirt up to me smiling.
Finally, I held my little boy in my arms. I can't even express the emotions that I was feeling at that moment when I looked down in my arms, looking, gazing in awe at the beautiful creation that J and I had made together. And then I remembered exactly why I was willing to go through every minute of self inflicted torment again - to be able to experience this feeling all over.
Euphoria.
And with that I would like to introduce to everyone our little Squirt:
VALKYN-KNIGHT
October 18, 2010 @ 622AM
8lbs 1.5oz
20.25 inches
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