A little late on the update...
But William came into the world on March 11th at 5:18 a.m.
At 10 pounds 3 ounces, and 21 inches long:
So that Saturday morning at 4:30, I woke in bed, I had fallen asleep with book in hand around 2-ish. I feel odd, and realize there's a wet spot on the bed. My water had broken. It was kind of funny, as I began to get pretty excited...
I woke Terry (the husband) and we proceeded relatively calmly to triage, to get me checked out, and checked in to the hospital.
Yep. I tested positive for amniotic fluid, so I got signed in...
I was monitored (as was William) to see when the contractions were coming. They were kinda slow, but there. So the nurses told me to walk around the 2nd floor where labor and delivery was, to bring on the contractions.
My mother always told me I was contrary.
So the contractions? Yeah, they stopped...
The CMW (certified midwife), Rachel, came in and told me they wanted to give me pitocin to kickstart the show. So she started the dosage. By later that evening, nothing had really changed. I was having contractions, but none close enough together to cause my cervix to totally dilate or effacement to reach 100%.
So Rachel backed me off everything, and had me take a shower...
Then we tried again, with her using pitocin at a more aggressive rate.
As it turns out, pitocin doesn't work on me the way it works on most people. It brought on contractions again, but not close enough. And one of the side effects of pitocin is that it can cause (can, not will) painful contractions. Well, that part came true for me.
So after 15 hours of labor, and me being dilated to 7.5 inches, (and me violently gripping the bed) I caved, and asked for an epidural.
The "kind epidural man" came in, told me the risks and the benefits of this, and hooked me up. The "hooking up" was a non-issue; it didn't hurt at all. And it worked so blessedly fast that the second contraction that hit was almost 100% pain-free. I was in love with the world...
So the pitocin still wasn't working, so they tried other methods, and we found one that worked. A breast pump. Nipple stimulation causes the uterus to contract (dirr) and it worked like gangbusters!
So I finally hit jackpot. I was ready to go into active labor.
(As a kind of nerve-wracking sidenote, if I hadn't progressed to that point, it was going to be a cesarean section (Warning, graphic photos there!!!) for me, as they were concerned that my uterus couldn't deal with all that was happening, and might be weakening (they even typed my blood for a transfusion, just in case, yikes!)
Labor, active labor, I should say, was totally surreal. My knees drawn up to my chest, my husband holding one leg for me (he participated so much, he was awesome!!!), 5 women around me cheering my pushes on, and a mirror so I could see my son come into this world. Of course, being on the epidural, I actually fell asleep in the breaks between pushing. Terry laughs at me for that one...
And then after an eternity, which was really pretty short, William was pushed into this world. All the ladies exclaimed over how big he was... He was born at 5:18...
And here's my darling!
At 10 pounds 3 ounces, and 21 inches long:
So that Saturday morning at 4:30, I woke in bed, I had fallen asleep with book in hand around 2-ish. I feel odd, and realize there's a wet spot on the bed. My water had broken. It was kind of funny, as I began to get pretty excited...
I woke Terry (the husband) and we proceeded relatively calmly to triage, to get me checked out, and checked in to the hospital.
Yep. I tested positive for amniotic fluid, so I got signed in...
I was monitored (as was William) to see when the contractions were coming. They were kinda slow, but there. So the nurses told me to walk around the 2nd floor where labor and delivery was, to bring on the contractions.
My mother always told me I was contrary.
So the contractions? Yeah, they stopped...
The CMW (certified midwife), Rachel, came in and told me they wanted to give me pitocin to kickstart the show. So she started the dosage. By later that evening, nothing had really changed. I was having contractions, but none close enough together to cause my cervix to totally dilate or effacement to reach 100%.
So Rachel backed me off everything, and had me take a shower...
Then we tried again, with her using pitocin at a more aggressive rate.
As it turns out, pitocin doesn't work on me the way it works on most people. It brought on contractions again, but not close enough. And one of the side effects of pitocin is that it can cause (can, not will) painful contractions. Well, that part came true for me.
So after 15 hours of labor, and me being dilated to 7.5 inches, (and me violently gripping the bed) I caved, and asked for an epidural.
The "kind epidural man" came in, told me the risks and the benefits of this, and hooked me up. The "hooking up" was a non-issue; it didn't hurt at all. And it worked so blessedly fast that the second contraction that hit was almost 100% pain-free. I was in love with the world...
So the pitocin still wasn't working, so they tried other methods, and we found one that worked. A breast pump. Nipple stimulation causes the uterus to contract (dirr) and it worked like gangbusters!
So I finally hit jackpot. I was ready to go into active labor.
(As a kind of nerve-wracking sidenote, if I hadn't progressed to that point, it was going to be a cesarean section (Warning, graphic photos there!!!) for me, as they were concerned that my uterus couldn't deal with all that was happening, and might be weakening (they even typed my blood for a transfusion, just in case, yikes!)
Labor, active labor, I should say, was totally surreal. My knees drawn up to my chest, my husband holding one leg for me (he participated so much, he was awesome!!!), 5 women around me cheering my pushes on, and a mirror so I could see my son come into this world. Of course, being on the epidural, I actually fell asleep in the breaks between pushing. Terry laughs at me for that one...
And then after an eternity, which was really pretty short, William was pushed into this world. All the ladies exclaimed over how big he was... He was born at 5:18...
And here's my darling!