Birth Story/ update
I can't write my birth story. I'm having a really hard time processing it still and I feel like I might even have some PTSD from it. Theo's birth and the whole end of my pregnancy was really traumatic.
-My hospital bedrest was 5 weeks total. I spent Christmas and New Year's in a hospital bed. I was away from my first baby for five weeks and that was the hardest thing.
-We tested for lung development of Theo @ 34 weeks and he wasn't even close to ready. @36 weeks I couldn't do it anymore and decided, along with my husband, that he needed to come out and if he had to spend some time in the NICU it would be a hell of a lot less then when we first got there and it was OK.
-Started my induction @ 9pm on 1/11/11. I was 36W5d pregnant at that point. It was a Pitocin only induction, with an increase every hour. I had to fight my nurse at every turn at first once I was in the LDR room. My Dr was on my side and I won every "but it's protocol" argument. BTW my nurses were awesome, and when I say fight I mean contradict. The nurses made sure I got one of the two rooms with a tub in it by moving my gear over early to reserve it. They also went to the director to try and get me the VIP room without having to pay for it but the director said no.
-I got no sleep. Between having to pee every hour, the pitocin being turned up hourly, being on the fetal monitors, and having to have my BP and temp taken every 2 hours, there was no rest.
-I started to feel the contrations @ 5:30am and called my Doula to head on in.
-Dr came in @ 7am and broke my water, I was 1-2 cm still
-Doula, Laura arrived @7:30am
- I got permission to turn off the pitocin and labor on my own.
-By 10:30 I felt like I was in transition, and I had super, super, super, super intense back labor, getting into bed for hourly monitoring was hell on earth. And I didn't have to after that time unless I wanted to. My nurses would hold the monitor on my belly and visually mark the contractions. These ladies rocked.
- Everyone thought I was in transition, Dr checked me around 12 (with my permission) I was maybe 4 cm
- the hell that was my back labor continued Dr came in around 330pm, checked me @ my request, 4-5cm (ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?)
- I agree to get in shower.
-Shower sucks I want to get in the tub
-I am able to get a break from the waves of contractions, I only felt maybe five while in the tub. I fell asleep for a few minutes twice. I dreamt of picking tomatoes.
- I have to get out of the tub to poop. I also have to get monitored. The nurse put it best when later she says "I thought we were losing you when you were on the toilet." "I think you were losing me." is my answer.
- I agree to get into the bed for the monitoring because I can't hold my self up anymore. I screamed about my back breaking during every contraction.
-Dr shows up and wants to check me, I'm 7-8 cm and very stretchy. He wants to manually stretch my cervix the rest of the way and deliver the baby. I had to get into those fucking stirrups.
-My back hurt.
-I had to push during a contraction while Dr. D was manually stretching my cervix the rest of the way. I couldn't feel him in my vagina at all because the back pain was too great.
-I told Peter that it felt too weird. He thought I meant the Dr stretching me, I meant pushing without an urge to do so.
-I went from 7 cm to delivered baby in 3 minutes.
-Small scratch on my labia, no tears! Hemorrhoids that were gone before my lochia was.
-Theo was perfect and needed no NICU time and we got out the hospital at 21 hours after his birth. I almost punched my first post-partum nurse in the face.
Theodore Joseph was born on 1/12/11 @ 5:35pm. He was 36w6d. 7lbs 5 oz and 19 3/4" long!
And now what you really all came here for---Pictures!
Brand New Baby!
FREEDOM!!!!! And the hat and booties I made for him while in the hospital barely fit. I was expecting a tiny guy and he was bigger then his big brother!
Oliver holding Theo (pronounced tay-o in the Dutch manner)for the first time. He wasn't allowed near his baby brother for about a week because Oliver was sick with a fever, ear infections, and general chest cold. I was not going back to the hospital.
Don't let the angle fool you the cat is much bigger then Theo here.
The first of many matching or coordinated outfits. I sew and I have two boys. It's only going to get worse from here.
Theo @ one month old!
-My hospital bedrest was 5 weeks total. I spent Christmas and New Year's in a hospital bed. I was away from my first baby for five weeks and that was the hardest thing.
-We tested for lung development of Theo @ 34 weeks and he wasn't even close to ready. @36 weeks I couldn't do it anymore and decided, along with my husband, that he needed to come out and if he had to spend some time in the NICU it would be a hell of a lot less then when we first got there and it was OK.
-Started my induction @ 9pm on 1/11/11. I was 36W5d pregnant at that point. It was a Pitocin only induction, with an increase every hour. I had to fight my nurse at every turn at first once I was in the LDR room. My Dr was on my side and I won every "but it's protocol" argument. BTW my nurses were awesome, and when I say fight I mean contradict. The nurses made sure I got one of the two rooms with a tub in it by moving my gear over early to reserve it. They also went to the director to try and get me the VIP room without having to pay for it but the director said no.
-I got no sleep. Between having to pee every hour, the pitocin being turned up hourly, being on the fetal monitors, and having to have my BP and temp taken every 2 hours, there was no rest.
-I started to feel the contrations @ 5:30am and called my Doula to head on in.
-Dr came in @ 7am and broke my water, I was 1-2 cm still
-Doula, Laura arrived @7:30am
- I got permission to turn off the pitocin and labor on my own.
-By 10:30 I felt like I was in transition, and I had super, super, super, super intense back labor, getting into bed for hourly monitoring was hell on earth. And I didn't have to after that time unless I wanted to. My nurses would hold the monitor on my belly and visually mark the contractions. These ladies rocked.
- Everyone thought I was in transition, Dr checked me around 12 (with my permission) I was maybe 4 cm
- the hell that was my back labor continued Dr came in around 330pm, checked me @ my request, 4-5cm (ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?)
- I agree to get in shower.
-Shower sucks I want to get in the tub
-I am able to get a break from the waves of contractions, I only felt maybe five while in the tub. I fell asleep for a few minutes twice. I dreamt of picking tomatoes.
- I have to get out of the tub to poop. I also have to get monitored. The nurse put it best when later she says "I thought we were losing you when you were on the toilet." "I think you were losing me." is my answer.
- I agree to get into the bed for the monitoring because I can't hold my self up anymore. I screamed about my back breaking during every contraction.
-Dr shows up and wants to check me, I'm 7-8 cm and very stretchy. He wants to manually stretch my cervix the rest of the way and deliver the baby. I had to get into those fucking stirrups.
-My back hurt.
-I had to push during a contraction while Dr. D was manually stretching my cervix the rest of the way. I couldn't feel him in my vagina at all because the back pain was too great.
-I told Peter that it felt too weird. He thought I meant the Dr stretching me, I meant pushing without an urge to do so.
-I went from 7 cm to delivered baby in 3 minutes.
-Small scratch on my labia, no tears! Hemorrhoids that were gone before my lochia was.
-Theo was perfect and needed no NICU time and we got out the hospital at 21 hours after his birth. I almost punched my first post-partum nurse in the face.
Theodore Joseph was born on 1/12/11 @ 5:35pm. He was 36w6d. 7lbs 5 oz and 19 3/4" long!
And now what you really all came here for---Pictures!
Brand New Baby!
FREEDOM!!!!! And the hat and booties I made for him while in the hospital barely fit. I was expecting a tiny guy and he was bigger then his big brother!
Oliver holding Theo (pronounced tay-o in the Dutch manner)for the first time. He wasn't allowed near his baby brother for about a week because Oliver was sick with a fever, ear infections, and general chest cold. I was not going back to the hospital.
Don't let the angle fool you the cat is much bigger then Theo here.
The first of many matching or coordinated outfits. I sew and I have two boys. It's only going to get worse from here.
Theo @ one month old!