Tuesday, June 21, 2016

The Birth Story

Today is the day.  June 21, 2016.  I made it 37 weeks and 2 days.

My water broke at 9:45PM and Ryan and I rushed down to the hospital.  I had been thinking
about this day over and over since I found out I was pregnant.  Would I make it to the
hospital in time?  Would I get my epidural?  What time of day would it happen?  Would Ryan
be home?  The list of questions went on and on.  I had planned for every scenario possible.
I was really hoping it didn't come down to my neighbor Jerry delivering the baby on the side
of the expressway, but that was a very likely possibility had I went into labor during the day.

Thankfully everything was going better than I could have ever planned it.  Ryan was home,
it was late at night, there was no traffic, and Tim was already at our house. As soon as my
water broke we grabbed our bags and rushed out the door.

On the car ride to the hospital my contractions were down to 2 minutes apart.  I could tell we
were in store for another speedy delivery.  We made it to the hospital and checked into
triage.  This was another part of the process I had thought about over and over.  When I
was in triage with Joe they were so slow.  I told them my doctor said it was going to be a
quick delivery but they didn't listen to me and I ended up delivering within minutes of them
getting me up to the delivery room, without an epidural.  It was awful!  I was so terrified it
was going to happen again.  Ryan was fully prepared to let them know we meant business.

Thankfully he didn't have to.  They were great!  They took such great care of me and took
me seriously when I said things were going to happen quickly.  I changed into my gown and
they got a nurse to check me right away.  I was already at 4 cm.  They put my IV in so it was
one less thing to do upstairs.  They got me in and out of there so fast and I couldn't be more
grateful.  The contractions were strong and painful and I was dreaming of my epidural.

When we got up to the delivery room there were a group of people in there waiting for me.
They told me they heard I deliver fast so they were ready for me.  Even the
anesthesiologists were in there.  They asked me a few medical questions, Ryan left the
room and they wasted no time getting started with the epidural.  Thank God!!  It took them
awhile to do the epidural, but it wasn't too painful.  The worst part was working through the
contractions and trying to stay still at the same time.  They finally got it in though and
instantly I felt relief.  Yay!!  I got my epidural!!  One more worry gone.

They brought Ryan back in the room and then everything started going crazy.  About five
more doctors came in and they were all looking at the monitors asking each other questions
that I didn't fully understand.   They threw an oxygen mask on me and a nurse checked me
again.  Now I was at 8cm.  They had me roll over and get on my hands and knees.  They
kept looking at the monitors, feeling my belly and then gave me 4 nitro pills.  I had no idea
what was going on.  I looked over and saw nurses talking to Ryan but he didn't look overly
concerned which made me feel a little better.  Turns out the epidural caused my blood
pressure to drop which is why I needed the nitro pills.  I was also having a super long
contraction that wouldn't stop which is why they kept feeling my belly.  (All I can say is thank
goodness for the epidural during that one!)  Those two things mixed with the fact that I was
progressing so fast was making the baby's heart rate drop which is why the extra slew of
doctor's came in.  They were trying to get the baby's heart rate back up.  Since it wasn't
going up they checked me one more time and I was fully dilated.  Time to get the baby out. 

They rolled me back over, waited for my next contraction and had me start pushing.  Four
pushes later the baby's head was out.  One final push and I was done.  11:26PM...1 hour
and 41 minutes from when my water broke...a new personal record.  But at least this time I
got my epidural.  At least for the last 10 minutes of the labor anyway.  Still well worth it!

I looked down and saw Miles and tears came to my eyes.  I had been so nervous for so long
about how this was all going to go and here he was.  It was a whirlwind of a night, but it was
like a weight was lifted off my shoulders.  No more worrying.  Everything went better than I
could have even imagined.  I am so thankful for so many things tonight, but most of all for
a healthy little baby boy.

 

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