12:30 hard contractions started I didn't really think this was it. I had been having contractions for the past week and a half at night that would wake me up. But after an hour they would stop and I would go back to sleep waking up in the morning mad because I was still pregnant. haha But this time. They were getting harder and closer together so I pulled out my phone. I had downloaded an app to track contractions.
got to 4 minutes apart After they were consistently four minutes apart for an hour and a half I woke up Jeremy.
2:00 woke Jeremy up I tapped him, because of course he had been out this whole time as I was having contractions. I tapped him and said, "Jeremy I think we should go" I really felt silly saying that. It felt silly saying it and it felt silly that I was waking him up. But I had been up with hard contractions. So we took turns hopping in the shower and finishing up packing up our things. Jeremy woke my mom up who was asleep on the couch and said that we were heading to the hospital. She asked if I was already in labor, he said yes. I was still having hard contractions so hard I didn't feel like eating. When we got to the hospital you have to pick up a phone and state your reason for being there. I said 'uh I'm in labor?' so they buzzed us in and gave us a room right by the nurse's station in room 5.
3:06 checked into hospital
4:15a.m. IV put in, one failed in right arm, finally found a vein in left arm I have two awesome bruises from the iv's that were stuck in my arms. I actually liked it in my arm. It didn't hurt for as long as it did in my hand for my other two deliveries.
4:23a.m. blood drawn from lab
Epidural 5:18a.m. The doctor came in. I had to hang my legs off the bed and my calves up against the bed. I hunched over and Jeremy sat right in front of me. I squeezed his hand pretty hard. I was shaking and trying to breathe through it. You have to hold really still so he can find the spot to put the needle and start the epidural. I could feel the tube going down my back for the epidural. At one point he said there would be a funny bone sensation. Sure enough my knee felt like I just hit my funny bone. It was so weird. It took a good 10 minutes. But after that the contractions were much more bearable.
Broke Water 5:44a.m. Dr. Bourgeous (the doctor on call at the moment and the doctor who did my c-section for Emma) came in and checked my cervix and I was at a 5. I came in at a 3.5. This time it didn't hurt! It killed the first two times the nurses checked me. Yikes! He broke my water. This started harder contractions and closer together.
7.8-8 at 7:15a.m. I had two different nurses check me because I was feeling tons of pressure and I just wanted to know how far I had gone. One nurse said definite 8 and the next one said 7.5. Ugh.
My nurse ordered pitocin because my body wasn't progressing at this point. But didn't need it because it started progressing as soon as the nurse ordered it.
The last hour of labor was THE WORST. Back labor was bad. I was progressing from an 8-10 pretty quickly. After two contractions my nurse would check my cervix. She did this probably three different times within that hour. I had the urge to push but I wasn't at a 10 yet. So I felt like fighting my body that was trying to push the baby out. Back labor was so bad. Jeremy massaged me for the whole hour. Oh my goodness. I kept saying that when a contraction would come because it hurt so bad. I felt like crying during a contraction. She checked again and I was at a 10. Dr. Bourgeous had called and asked if I was ready. But Dr. Orr (my doctor) was 3 minutes away when we needed her.
Started pushing 10:51a.m.
The nurse calls and tells her we are ready. Dr. Orr comes in with another nurse. She was super calm and told me how she wanted me to push. For every contraction I needed three big pushes. This was way more productive when I pushed for Carly. I had to push for 10 straight seconds! That was horrible. This was much more doable and I did it with how hard I could for as long as I could. I knew when I first started pushing it was going to be awhile. Dr. Orr wasn't in her plastic cover or anything yet. She was standing there right in front of me. Jeremy held up one leg and the other nurse, Angie, held up a leg. There was also a nurse named Angel. When I would feel a contraction, I lifted my legs off he stirrups, put my hands under my knees, hunched myself over, and pushed. They were so calm and coached me as to what they could see. When they said they could see HAIR I got so excited. Jeremy even watched the whole thing. (With Carly he was right by my head so he couldn't see her actually come out). They said with every push he wouldn't get sucked back in, he just stayed there. Between pushes I would breathe as much as I could. And between contractions I tried not to relax too much because I didn't want him to go back in.I could feel him crowning which KILLED. oh my goodness. I kept saying that hurts! They told me one more push and then his head would be out! So I gave one more push and his head came out.
The last ten seconds of pushing was kind of fast and scary! It was kind of a blur to me and so I keep asking Jeremy what exactly happened. But his shoulder got stuck!! I heard Dr. Orr yell "Angel bed down!" They lowered my bed back so I was completely laying on my back, my hands were still holding under my knees, and Angie pushed really hard on my pelvis to maneuver the shoulder while Dr. Orr coached me on one more push and he came right out. If babies stay with their head out too long and their shoulder is stuck, they are losing circulation to their head and it can get scary if it's longer than a few minutes. Thank goodness they did what they call Shoulder dystocia. They explained it to me after he was born and they were sorry they didn't say anything during. But they did have to make a split second decision and thank goodness that maneuver worked!
Born at 11:10a.m.They placed him right on my chest and he started crying! Oh how I have waited so long to meet this baby of ours. He just came from our Heavenly Father and I couldn't help but cry because he was FINALLY HERE! He actually looked really ugly to me when he came out. I didn't tell Jeremy this until later. I was really scared this whole pregnancy that he would be ugly. haha So when he came out looking like a wrinkly old man, I thought he was pretty ugly. After his bath and he got all the yucky stuff off him he was exactly how I thought he would look like. Unbelievable precious. I could kiss his cheeks all day.
 |
| we are checked in! |
 |
| last bump picture, I was in so much pain. |
 |
| right arm with blood drawn bandage, and first attempt of an iv |
 |
| My nurse, Casey, had me put the peanut ball between my legs to help contractions. It seemed to help because I progressed pretty well. |
 |
| Jeremy telling me when I was having hard contractions. haha Thanks babe. |
 |
| They laid him right on my chest and sucked out his mouth. He had pooped and some of it got in his mouth. |
 |
| I remember thinking 'he is finally here! I can't believe it!' while crying. |
 |
| The picture we sent out to announce he was here! His weight and Jeremy liked that you could see him crying and me in the background. |
 |
| Yucky hair and chubby cheeks. We love this baby boy. |
