a birth fitting for my pregnancy
It's so friggan crazy how much my life has changed in 7 short days!! Let's go back to the beginning where the whole whirl wind started.
I had my last routine dr. appt Thursday, January 24. My parents came with us to the sonogram so that my Dad could get the experience of seeing an ultrasound. During the ultrasound, Luke was sleeping as usual and the sonographer had to shake my belly a few times and look around to wake him up. During this process i could see this "S" shape looking thing in his belly. I asked the sonographer if that was his intestines or something and she said yes. I remember saying "that's funny. I've never noticed that before." The sonographer didn't say anything at the time. I then asked if the baby was still facing inward toward my left hip and she said no that he was actually face up. I remember saying "well i hope he turns back before i am induced next week."
We finished up and I went and got hooked up to another set of monitors to do a Non Stress Test to see how the baby is moving and to see if i was having any contractions. I told Richie to take my picture. Little did i know this was the last picture of me pregnant with Mr. Luke!
I remember that Richie was tired and grumpy. He sat in the corner dozing.
Then my Dr. came in and said "well I have a concern with your ultrasound." I said, "is it the fact that he is face up?" and he said "no there's something more concerning than that. During the sonogram we noticed that your baby's bowels are significantly dilated." Again, whenever my Dr. starts talking to me about something potentially wrong with my pregnancy i kinda get a tunnel vision and my mind races and i have a hard time processing what he is saying. I remember (stupidly saying) "what does that mean? Like they are too small?" he said "no too big. And since they didn't show up on the ultrasound last week it's really concerning me. We are going to have to induce you today." At this point my mind blanked and i remember saying "Are you serious?" and he said "yes. I've called Labor and Delivery and they are expecting you. So I want to check your cervix and then you will walk over there." I remember looking over at Richie and his face was as white as his work shirt. After he checked me he told me that I was already dilated to a 2 at that moment anyways.
I remember thinking so many things like: but i haven't finished packing my hospital bag. But Richie is wearing his work clothes. His car is at the best buy parking lot. We were supposed to get ready for the baby this weekend! How will we clean out the garage, or clean the kitchen or bathroom??
I can assure you I was in shock. After weeks of being on bed rest I felt that I was now being rushed into motherhood. I remember calling our parents and walking over to L and D. They told me to change and hop into bed. Here's me waiting for the process to start.
I thought I had more time so I sent Richie home to go get some things i knew we would need. This was 5pm during rush hour traffic. I didn't think they would start everything right that second. I was wrong. Then the nurses came in and hooked up my IV and broke my water and started the pitocin. This put Richie in a panic when I called him to tell him. By the time he got back an hour and a half after he left, I was already at a 3.
The contractions weren't terrible at first. The nurses kept pushing the epidural question on me and I just wasn't sure when I wanted to get one. Finally one nurse said "well they don't start pulling your teeth before they give you Novocain sweetie". So i decided to get one anyways even though i could still breath through them. The guy who gave me the epidural was nice enough and immediately my left side went numb. But not my right side. I thought maybe it would kick in after a while but it didn't and my contractions got stronger and stronger. The odd thing was that i could only feel them on my right side. Everything from my belly button and left was totally numb. SO WEIRD. They tried turning me on my side to see if the medicine would trickle over but of course it didn't. So after about 2 hours the guy came back to take out the epidural and do it again. This time my right side did indeed go numb--- unfortunately my left side got a double dose of it which caused the numbness to be extreme. It's as close to an out of body experience as i ever want to get. I can look down and physically see my legs but i can't feel them or move them at all. When i touch them with my hands it feels like my legs were swollen and grotesque and 400 lbs each. I hated it and it made me feel slightly panicky because i had no control. I eventually had to call the guy back in a third time at 3 in the AM to turn down my epidural. He did NOT want to do it at all and only relented because I told him it was upsetting me. He said "if i have to come back in here right before you start pushing and i turn it up I'm going to tell you I told you so." I couldn't move the bottom half of my body at all. The nurses had to roll me from one side to another when they needed something and I'm not a small girl by any means!
Sleep was impossible. Forget the fact that you are in a hospital with machines and beeps and lights - YOU ARE HAVING A BABY. I went from a 3 to a 6 in a few hours. Somewhere around 330 in the AM 2 nurses ran into the room and turned the lights on and started staring at the monitors speaking nurse talk. Then they told me that the baby's heart rate was dropping so i had to wear an oxygen mask for the rest of the labor and they were going to put a monitor on the baby's scalp to more accurately track his heart rate. This is the only time I got upset. Because this whole pregnancy was one thing after another and I was scared to get this far and have something happen. At this point I started crying and Richie had to calm me down - yet again - he's so good at that now.
Then an hour later a nurse came in to check me and was shocked that i was at a 10. She asked me if I was feeling the baby down there and I said no but I've been feeling pressure down there for a while. I wasn't sure what it was. She asked me if i wanted to try pushing and i remember thinking "i dunno you tell me!!!!" So i tried and she said "o yeah. It's go time". The lights were turned on and people were moving in and out of the room and my dr. was called. He wasn't supposed to be on call that night but he promised me he would deliver my baby - he is such an amazing dr! I pushed for 25 minutes and the whole time I just focused on the nurse counting and breathing. I couldn't look at Richie because it was making me too emotional. So i closed my eyes and zoned out and listened to her counting. There were apparently a million people in the room because my dr. requested NICU to be there too. But i didn't pay any attention to it. Once he was out and I heard his healthy cries i remember looking down and seeing his long arm and huge hand waving up at the ceiling. I couldn't even see his face or anything else about him but his arm and hand. They took him immediately to the warmer to inspect him and the whole time i was staring at his face and crying and thinking "he looks just like his daddy".
He was born 8 lbs 1 oz 21 1/2 inches long at 5:09AM on January 25. When he was born I cried and I honestly don't remember what Richie did beyond giving me kisses. He was perfect! And beautiful. But I had a hard time recognizing that THIS WAS MY BABY. Made from my flesh and bones and from Richie's flesh and bones. It wasn't until i started breastfeeding him that it hit me. Incidentally, he was born hungry and smacking his lips and sticking his tongue out - just like his daddy - always thinking about food. He's got his daddy's squinty eyes and everything.
After 24 hours in the hospital and several tests and even an ultrasound on his belly, it was determined that he was full of crap and gas. That was why his bowels were dilated. Luke pooped 7 times in his first 24 hours. That has to be a record!!!
His delivery was par for the course of this pregnancy. Slightly filled with drama but at the end of it I had a precious miracle that defied odd after odd. When i think back to the morning sickness (which was the WORST part of the pregnancy), learning about his single artery in the umbilical cord, to thinking we were having a girl, to the placenta abruption, to the weeks and weeks and weeks of bed rest, to this final dr. appt - It was filled with drama for sure! but my baby boy is precious and healthy and I can't imagine my life without him. Richie and I are totally in love - with our baby boy and even more in love with each other for the miraculous gift we have given each other, and survived together, and now are raising together.
I had my last routine dr. appt Thursday, January 24. My parents came with us to the sonogram so that my Dad could get the experience of seeing an ultrasound. During the ultrasound, Luke was sleeping as usual and the sonographer had to shake my belly a few times and look around to wake him up. During this process i could see this "S" shape looking thing in his belly. I asked the sonographer if that was his intestines or something and she said yes. I remember saying "that's funny. I've never noticed that before." The sonographer didn't say anything at the time. I then asked if the baby was still facing inward toward my left hip and she said no that he was actually face up. I remember saying "well i hope he turns back before i am induced next week."
We finished up and I went and got hooked up to another set of monitors to do a Non Stress Test to see how the baby is moving and to see if i was having any contractions. I told Richie to take my picture. Little did i know this was the last picture of me pregnant with Mr. Luke!
I remember that Richie was tired and grumpy. He sat in the corner dozing.
I remember thinking so many things like: but i haven't finished packing my hospital bag. But Richie is wearing his work clothes. His car is at the best buy parking lot. We were supposed to get ready for the baby this weekend! How will we clean out the garage, or clean the kitchen or bathroom??
I can assure you I was in shock. After weeks of being on bed rest I felt that I was now being rushed into motherhood. I remember calling our parents and walking over to L and D. They told me to change and hop into bed. Here's me waiting for the process to start.
I thought I had more time so I sent Richie home to go get some things i knew we would need. This was 5pm during rush hour traffic. I didn't think they would start everything right that second. I was wrong. Then the nurses came in and hooked up my IV and broke my water and started the pitocin. This put Richie in a panic when I called him to tell him. By the time he got back an hour and a half after he left, I was already at a 3.
The contractions weren't terrible at first. The nurses kept pushing the epidural question on me and I just wasn't sure when I wanted to get one. Finally one nurse said "well they don't start pulling your teeth before they give you Novocain sweetie". So i decided to get one anyways even though i could still breath through them. The guy who gave me the epidural was nice enough and immediately my left side went numb. But not my right side. I thought maybe it would kick in after a while but it didn't and my contractions got stronger and stronger. The odd thing was that i could only feel them on my right side. Everything from my belly button and left was totally numb. SO WEIRD. They tried turning me on my side to see if the medicine would trickle over but of course it didn't. So after about 2 hours the guy came back to take out the epidural and do it again. This time my right side did indeed go numb--- unfortunately my left side got a double dose of it which caused the numbness to be extreme. It's as close to an out of body experience as i ever want to get. I can look down and physically see my legs but i can't feel them or move them at all. When i touch them with my hands it feels like my legs were swollen and grotesque and 400 lbs each. I hated it and it made me feel slightly panicky because i had no control. I eventually had to call the guy back in a third time at 3 in the AM to turn down my epidural. He did NOT want to do it at all and only relented because I told him it was upsetting me. He said "if i have to come back in here right before you start pushing and i turn it up I'm going to tell you I told you so." I couldn't move the bottom half of my body at all. The nurses had to roll me from one side to another when they needed something and I'm not a small girl by any means!
Sleep was impossible. Forget the fact that you are in a hospital with machines and beeps and lights - YOU ARE HAVING A BABY. I went from a 3 to a 6 in a few hours. Somewhere around 330 in the AM 2 nurses ran into the room and turned the lights on and started staring at the monitors speaking nurse talk. Then they told me that the baby's heart rate was dropping so i had to wear an oxygen mask for the rest of the labor and they were going to put a monitor on the baby's scalp to more accurately track his heart rate. This is the only time I got upset. Because this whole pregnancy was one thing after another and I was scared to get this far and have something happen. At this point I started crying and Richie had to calm me down - yet again - he's so good at that now.
Then an hour later a nurse came in to check me and was shocked that i was at a 10. She asked me if I was feeling the baby down there and I said no but I've been feeling pressure down there for a while. I wasn't sure what it was. She asked me if i wanted to try pushing and i remember thinking "i dunno you tell me!!!!" So i tried and she said "o yeah. It's go time". The lights were turned on and people were moving in and out of the room and my dr. was called. He wasn't supposed to be on call that night but he promised me he would deliver my baby - he is such an amazing dr! I pushed for 25 minutes and the whole time I just focused on the nurse counting and breathing. I couldn't look at Richie because it was making me too emotional. So i closed my eyes and zoned out and listened to her counting. There were apparently a million people in the room because my dr. requested NICU to be there too. But i didn't pay any attention to it. Once he was out and I heard his healthy cries i remember looking down and seeing his long arm and huge hand waving up at the ceiling. I couldn't even see his face or anything else about him but his arm and hand. They took him immediately to the warmer to inspect him and the whole time i was staring at his face and crying and thinking "he looks just like his daddy".
He was born 8 lbs 1 oz 21 1/2 inches long at 5:09AM on January 25. When he was born I cried and I honestly don't remember what Richie did beyond giving me kisses. He was perfect! And beautiful. But I had a hard time recognizing that THIS WAS MY BABY. Made from my flesh and bones and from Richie's flesh and bones. It wasn't until i started breastfeeding him that it hit me. Incidentally, he was born hungry and smacking his lips and sticking his tongue out - just like his daddy - always thinking about food. He's got his daddy's squinty eyes and everything.
After 24 hours in the hospital and several tests and even an ultrasound on his belly, it was determined that he was full of crap and gas. That was why his bowels were dilated. Luke pooped 7 times in his first 24 hours. That has to be a record!!!
His delivery was par for the course of this pregnancy. Slightly filled with drama but at the end of it I had a precious miracle that defied odd after odd. When i think back to the morning sickness (which was the WORST part of the pregnancy), learning about his single artery in the umbilical cord, to thinking we were having a girl, to the placenta abruption, to the weeks and weeks and weeks of bed rest, to this final dr. appt - It was filled with drama for sure! but my baby boy is precious and healthy and I can't imagine my life without him. Richie and I are totally in love - with our baby boy and even more in love with each other for the miraculous gift we have given each other, and survived together, and now are raising together.
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