Thursday, April 22, 2010

Jaxson's Birth Story

I totally need to get this written down, since Jax will be blessed this Sunday and my "Things to Blog" list is growing by leaps and bounds! But it seems that something always comes up when I finally put the boy down or someone else is holding him...you know, like dishes or picking up stray Polly Pockets.

So, here we go...

I was scheduled to be induced on Tuesday, April 6th. I had been asking for an induction since the moment I knew I was pregnant. I knew my history for big babies and didn't want to keep up that tradition. I'm also not one who wants to wait till the contractions start...I'd rather not tempt fate, either, and play the going-to-the-ER game...where odds are that they'll just send you home! I've already had one baby at home...don't want to do that again Ü!
Anyways...we checked in at the hospital at 6am Tuesday morning. My last appointment had been the Thursday before and Dr Dias checked me and told me I was only dilated to a 2. No biggie, tho...I knew that the pitocin would do the trick, just like it had with Aube!
6am is quite the early start for us...but it's understandable...it took them about an hour and a half to get me all checked in, paperwork signed and hooked up to all the lovely machines. Once again I got an angel for a nurse...this time her name was Sarah...very fitting Ü!
My blood pressure was a bit high that day...and it stayed pretty high (for me) thru out the day. I had perfect blood pressure all thru my pregnancy...but the stress of being stressed and scared was showing thru that day! I had to force myself to breath and kept telling myself to CHILL. I was totally scared, tho....TOTALLY scared. The pitocin was started at about 7:30/8am and gradually increased. At about 10:30 I was only at a 4, but the contractions were a bit stronger and I had them order my epidural. It took about an hour to get the anesthesiologist in to administer the drugs, but in that hour, Dr Dias broke my water and my contractions increased to the point where I had to breathe thru them. So, the epidural came not a moment too soon. As I had anticipated, he had to try twice to get the line into my back. It was quite uncomfortable, especially since my water kept breaking and gushing all over everywhere...and the anesthesiologist kept telling me to relax and push my lower back out...I've never been good at Yoga, doc!!
But he finally got it in and the lovely numbness washed over my abdomen and legs. Bliss!! Until....well...I realized my left side was deader than dead...but I could still feel each contraction in my right pelvis area. It was mild, nothing I couldn't tolerate....it would have been totally worse to have both sides feeling the pain. So I just dealt with it. The anesthesiologist had hooked up a little device where I could click the button and get more pain meds...I was trying to be frugal and save the meds for the end...but that pain in my right hip/pelvis area was getting more intense as time passed.
To pass the laboring time...I had brought several things to do...coloring Ü, books, a magazine...but what kept my attention the most was America's Funniest Video's on ABC Family (nothing like laughing thru labor) and this ancient Nintendo gameboy on which I played a bunch of Wheel of Fortune games. The nurse also gave me unlimited popsicles...yup, thats right...POPSICLES! Totally didn't expect that. I was thinking ice chips and glaring at James while he ate a bag of chips!
Time passed quickly tho, and before I knew it the contractions were full of major pressure...and I would pick a spot on the ceiling and think to myself "MY BODY WAS MADE TO DO THIS" and then the pressure would ease. At this point, I made the observation that places like delivery rooms, exam rooms, and even places like the dentist, should really invest in murals on their ceilings. Give us something to look at, PLEASE!!! Ü
So, at about 1pm...my nurse comes in to say she'll check my progress in about a half hour...but for some reason, she changed her mind (maybe my breathing?? lol) and as she leans in, she looks me in the eyes and says "Are you ready to have this baby?" I will always remember that moment. She has me "practice push" twice right then. And then gets the labor preparation started. Ten minutes later, everything is all set up and my doctor is getting geared up...Nurse Sarah has me push two more times...then up into the stirups my legs go...and Dr Dias has me grab my legs and push.....then there's his head....then push again (reciting "mybodywasmadetodothismybodywasmadetodothis")...and BAM, there is my baby boy. I was sooo happy to see his beautiful mug.

Now....I just have to say. This is the part I was dreading beyond all else! Oh my gosh, I had the shakes the whole day because of how scared I was. Yikes. And what did my precious boy do? He just slipped on out! As I was watching them clean him up, I even had the thought "I could totally do this again" hahahaha...funny, huh? All that worrying for nothing!

They cleaned him up...and he peed on the nurse about 4 times. Actually, I think he even peed on Dr Dias as she was handing him to James to cut the umbilical cord! When they handed him back to me, he was so alert and focused right on me...I swear he even smiled!!

24 hours later...they let us go home. Our first night together wasn't much fun, so being able to go home was a blessing!
I should have typed this up earlier, since I've probably forgotten little tidbits... but it was a totally simple, lovely day!
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6 comments:

Bell Family Blog said...

That's such a sweet story! Im so glad it all went well, he is such a cutie patootie!

Krista said...

That is a very sweet story!! What a good little boy to come so well for ya!!

Jenni said...

I'm glad that it was so much less traumatic than you were expecting.

Jenny said...

I LOVED reading about this! Its so nice to see things from someone else's perspective. And I love the mantra "mybodywasmadetodothis"! I'm so glad everything went so well. Way to go, Jax!

Jenny said...

(and Sarah) :)

Colton Anne said...

I'm so glad that all went well! It's totally human to be scared!! Glad it was a pleasant experience!