My Birth Story

My Birth Story, On Thursday 1/12/12 I went for my 39 week appt where the dr attempted to break my water by hand & stripped my membranes. In an attempt to avoid the potential for c-section due to my babie's projected size (8.5 lbs) we scheduled an induction for Monday 1/16/12. My husband and I left the office with a feeling of relief because we had an actual day to look forward to that our son would DEFINITELY be here & because it wasn't that far away.

We left the dr's office, I was having back cramping/bleeding which Dr. said would happen, had dinner with our neighbors ( where we joked that it could be our last supper as non-parents ) headed home for the evening and got ready for bed.. Just before bed my husband handed me some bed pads and joked that I should put one down just in case I pee'd the bed or magically my water broke. To fit his fancy, and with the thought at the back of my mind that I would NEVER pee the bed and my water DEFINITELY wasn't breaking, I put the bed pad down & we tucked in for the evening.

At 12:01 I was woken up by a huge gush of fluid in my pants, I nudged my husband awake, we investigated only to find that my water in fact had broken and that we did have our last dinner as non-parents :) We thankfully already had everything in the car ready to go after an appointment we had a few weeks back, we had already made plans with our neighbors to look after our 3 dogs - So all we needed to do was GET TO the hospital before our nerves took over. I showered and he hit the pavement.

With smiles on our faces we arrived at the hospital just before 1am, got all checked in ( where a drunk man in the ER asked me if I had change for a five. Classic ) and finally around 1:15 we were all situated in our room. After being there for a bit we realized that I was leaking SO much fluid I had liquid on the floor surrounding my bed, gross! The nurse explained that because of the size of my baby I should expect to lose a lot more fluid & I hit the hallways to try to bring on stronger contractions. Although uncomfortable the contractions weren't "ready to push" contractions so they gave me my IV with some pain meds and told me to rest. Sitting at 5cm..

Fast fwd to 7am, I awake from a drug induced nap, my dr. arrives to check me and low and behold I'm still sitting @ 5cm, we discuss the size of my baby and that it is likely that a c-section will ultimately be necessary. I explain that isn't an option and that my birth plan was to have a vaginal delivery - The dr. orders a pitocin drip & that's when my labor experience started. Almost instantly the contractions that the pitocin brought on made he BHC look like a day at Disney world. A matter of 30 minutes later I was crying for an epidural & 30 minutes after that I was numb.... But only on my right side. While my right side was completely oblivious to the near fatal ( or so they felt, drama queen I know ) contractions I was having my left side was still suffering because my epidural hadn't spread properly. After another visit from the Dr., more drugs being pumped through my back & being rolled from side to side they were able to even out my epidural with out having any removal or re-position of the epidural site.  When this was all said and done with - I went back to la la land.. nap time, calm before the storm.

Next internal check - I'm sitting at 7cm dilated. I go back to sleep, I know I'm going to need all the rest I can get!

Fast forward - to NOON!I'm finally 9cm dilated - IT'S TIME TO PUSH! I pushed, and pushed, and PUSHED! My labor & delivery nurse was an absolute saint and she continued to update my dr of my progress ( my dr was still convinced I would be shipped off to the OR ) my dr came in SO READY to tell me my attempt was unnecessary only to her surprise to find that my son's head was already visible & that I was moments from victory! They asked if I wanted a mirror to watch ( I declined, explained my Vagina is my prized possession and that I didn't care to watch as I ruined it ) then allowed me to feel my son's head as it started to make it's entry and finally at 3:26 on Friday the 13th I vaginally delivered a 9lb 5oz 21in Baby Boy only suffering a 1 degree laceration ( that means only 1 stitch )... When it was all said and done with my Dr told me that I had proved her wrong and that she was quite impressed.

My experience from there till now has been equally as beautiful, educational, challenging, among many other things that I'd be happy to share if you guys want. Just let me know ;)

I know you're all wondering now what the recovery from a vaginal birth like that has been like.. Although I only suffered a small tear & only had to get 1 stitch I am in A LOT OF PAIN.. But to be honest, anyone pushing out a large object out of a small whole is going to be uncomfortable afterwards. My urethra is terribly sore from the catheter ( which I didn't even feel going in or coming out ) and my bottom is so sore it's not even funny! Bleeding at first was a disaster but has died down quite a bit! My biggest advice - ASK FOR THE COLD PADS!! There's nothing better than sitting on a cold pad after you've tortured your vagina ;)

As for my experience feeding my son thus far, well - That's a whole other story as well.. So that too I'd be happy to share if anyone would like - Just let me know! Sorry it took so long for me to post my actual BIRTH STORY, but here you go - I hope you enjoy! Moral of the story - YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU PUT YOUR MIND TO!