Everything started when Todd and I went to my 1:45pm doctor's appointment on Tuesday. We left early to grab some lunch at Panera Bread before heading to the office. Little did we know that the lunch would become the last one of our lives as parents of just one child (and the last food I would have until almost 4 am the following day). We enjoyed the food, the conversation and were patiently waiting until it was time to go to the appointment. We were secretly hoping I would be dilated enough that they would send me directly to labor and delivery; but on the other hand we did a bunch of little things so that we would not be fully "prepared" so that we would jinx ourselves and prompt the admittance to the hospital (silly I know, but at that point I was willing to try ANYTHING).
We arrived at the doctor's office in time and were seen almost right away. Nurse D greeted us warmly but with her regular: You are still here????. We followed the routine: scale (too much weight gain for a mere 5 days), urine sample, blood pressure, baby's heartbeat. Everything was looking good. Time to call Dr K.
He walks in the office with a look in his eyes that Todd describes as "the kid who took the last cookie" look. We briefly talk and I am asked how ready I am to have the baby. I tell them I am ready. A discussion ensues between Dr K and Nurse D; in which he keeps telling ME it will not hurt and Nurse D interjects and says "it will hurt like crazy, don't lie to her, you are a guy, never had it done to you". And then without warning, he goes and strips my membranes. If you remember he did this at my last appointment as well, but it didn't work. This time, it felt a LOT worse, hurt like hell, and as soon as I stood up I could feel my belly tightening up. I was instructed to be on my feet and walking as much as possible; after which Dr K very cheerfully said: I'll see you tonight and we will have that baby. I did not want to get my hopes up, but secretly I wished he was right.
Todd and I decided to head out and do some grocery shopping, about 20 minutes into our drive back to the grocery store, I felt it, the first painful contraction. I actually had to breathe through it. And I thought we might be on to something then. We still went to the store and got the few essentials we needed. I got some more contractions while we shopped, painful as well, but nothing too bad that would force me to stop walking or talking. Once on the way home the contractions kept coming while we were in the car. We unloaded the groceries, put them away; and by that time the contractions had gotten into some kind of a pattern... They were coming every 5 minutes on average (with some coming as close as 3 minutes apart, or as long as 10 minutes apart; just like they did with my first child).
After an hour of pacing around my kitchen table and timing the contractions I told Todd we should probably call and head in. They were coming a lot stronger and they were consistent enough. Dr K had said, I just needed to have them coming at some sort of pattern and then they would admit me to the hospital, break my water and get the baby delivered. So when we went back to the doc's office (right at the hospital) I knew this time was it. Upon arrival they checked me and sure enough; I had progressed almost a centimeter. Down they sent me to labor and delivery. The wheels were in motion!
After arranging for Megan to be picked up from school; we got settled into our room. Immediately, they checked my blood pressure; hooked me up to the monitors; asked a few questions and got my information in the system. A few minutes later I was already getting my IV installed; as I had told them from pretty early on I would totally take the epidural.
I labored pain meds free for about 3 hours; with the last hour being the longest hour of my life. The contractions were coming on top of each other, giving me little to no rest in between and they hurt quite a bit. I remember crying, moaning and even saying to Todd and the nurse: I can't do this anymore. They kept reassuring me that I was doing great. I could see the pain in Todd's eye and I can't even begin to understand how that must feel, you know? Seeing the one person you love go through so much pain and not being able to do anything about it.
At about 8 pm the anesthesiologist came in (whom, by the way, I did NOT like at all) and I got my epidural placed. This caused my blood pressure to slightly drop, so they gave me this other drug via IV to bring it up a little bit. Once the pain meds kicked in, it was smooth sailing for a few hours. Somewhere along the way; I stalled at 6 cm for a couple of hours (same as I did with Megan); Doctor K decided to put me on Pitocin to speed up my contractions. I could not feel a thing, and that was good. I dilated a little more to a 7 and then got stuck again. Just as the nurse was getting ready to call Doctor K to see about breaking my water (he was the on call doctor); my water broke on its own. That was the weirdest feeling!
Once my water was broken I dilated pretty quickly. Within an hour I was feeling the pressure to "push", it was around 2:50 am. The nurse asked me to do a "practice" push; upon which she realized she needed to get the doctor to come quickly. At about 3:10 Doctor K came in, asked me to do another "practice" push and had the delivery team called right away. The team was in place by 3:20; and after 12 minutes of pushing (the equivalent of 7 contractions) our little man Brody Richard was born.
He weighed in at a whopping 8lbs 10 oz; and was 19.5 in long. BIG baby!
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| About 30 minutes after being born |
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| At 5 days old |
Congratulations! He's beautiful!
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