Friday, September 17, 2010 was my last day of work before Maternity Leave. I was due September the 21 and was planning on being overdue (I really hate disappointment, so I figured I'd go with worst case scenario in this instance). I thought I'd have a chance to relax a little bit, bum around on the couch, maybe put some finishing touches on Carson's room, etc. That night as my last "hoorah" we went to Matt's parents for Mama's Pizza and a movie... although now I can't remember what movie it was. Oh yeah, Date Night! Anyway, this was also not an uncommon thing, we usually went to Matt's parents on Friday nights.
We came home pretty late... and got to bed pretty late as well (poor planning on my part). At about 3:00 am, my water broke. Turns out this only happens for like 15% of women. At first I wasn't sure that that was it. I wasn't having contractions, and I wasn't quite ready to be excited (again, the whole disappointment thing). Matt was pretty confident that it was my water (I mean, what else could it have been? It didn't smell like I had "wet" the bed). After I was convinced this was the case, I called my mom. My dad actually answered and asked for us to call as we got closer to Harris SW. I then called Matt's Mom. This was what I call Grandma Epic Fail. She didn't answer! The entire 2 weeks before that she would answer the phone "Is it baby time?" and THE one time she should've answered, she didn't. Turns out, her phone was still on silent from the movie. So, I then call Mary. Sidenote- Mary is the best way for us to communicate with Matt's family. She answered in a very groggy voice (after all, it was 3 am) and I said, "Mary, your mom needs to answer her phone!" and she responded "**Gasp** Are you serious? Okay, bye."
So after that I took my time a little bit, took a shower, got some stuff together (still no contractions). Even Matt took a shower. Matt made me take one last pic (I thought about posting it, although it's by far THE worst pic of me EVER). I look like a beached whale. Since I was starting to feel some pain, I decided we should head up to the hospital. It was probably about 4 am at this point.
One of our good friends (and awesome Visiting Teacher) is an ER nurse at Harris SW (Barb used-to-be-Meyers Gilchrist). She had informed me 2 days before that she would be working that weekend and hoped to see me. Thanks for the good luck, Barb! So I called up there to tell her we were headed that way and she said she'd meet me out front with a wheel chair.
She did. And I'll never forget when I got up to Labor and Delivery. Barb wheeled me into the room that they had gotten ready and the nurse asked "what is your complaint?"
I'm surprised my pregnant self did not unleash on this poor ignorant woman! I mean, really! I'm as large as a cow, in a wheel chair, wincing every few minutes in pain IN labor and delivery, what do you think my complaint is? That I stubbed my toe? Hello, I am having a baby!
What Barb later communicated to me was that since I told her that my water had broken, she took that to mean that I had wet myself. I had to explain to her that my water broke at home and that I didn't ride to the hospital on a towel because I had already handled my situation! Turns out I was like the 5th person to have their water break in the ER that night and having your water break is somewhat uncommon.
Once I was in my gown and all, my next question was "when can I get my epidural?" Which was a whole new "adventure".
Once the anesthesiologist came in I was relieved. I knew that everyone said that it can be really uncomfortable for the initial needle to go in, but totally worth it. I was okay with that. In fact, I don't remember contracting any of the four times it took him to get it in my back. That's right, FOUR times! After the anesth. came in he tells me that this can cause paralysis and yada yada. Of course I say "I know, I know, just give it to me!" At this point in my pregnancy, I was SO swollen that besides my toes being actual sausage links, my back was (according to the Anesth.) "all wrong for this." The first time he tried I was screaming (because it hurt) but that didn't mean I didn't want it. I just have a really low pain tolerance- hence the want for the epidural, right? He yanked the needle right out and said, "I can't do this, I'm hurting you too bad." I was afraid he was right, but he gave it one more try. All I remember from that was praying SO hard that it would work. And it did!
This was the best part of labor! I slept. A lot! The nurses were in and out monitoring my levels and such, and I did have to be put on some oxygen because the baby's heart beat was reflecting some stress, but that seemed to be about it.
After a few hours one of the nurses came in to tell me that Carson's head was at a really weird angle. At this point I fear that after all of what I have gone through was a waste because they would c-section anyway. But what the nurse went on to say was that she wanted me to lay on my side to see if I could get him to shift because his head was smushed up against my pelvic bone or something. Long story, short, it worked.
You know, your entire pregnancy people tell you "horror" stories about things to make sure you do or don't do. The one I remember the most was "if you feel pain, ask for more drugs"
It was about 2 o'clock in the afternoon at this point and I was feeling pain besides pressure. I wanted to tell them now before it was too late. My doctor had mentioned that with your first it was common to have 15-18 hour labor. I figured I had a few more hours but that I didn't want to wait until it was past the time of getting any more drugs and having to suffer through it "alone".
So the Anesth. returned to give me another dose of this stuff. Just after that, the nurse checked me and said "Oh, it's time to push!"
This put me into a panic! I wasn't ready for this. I didn't want to push but also, I didn't want the baby to fall out of me because my doctor wasn't in the room.
At this point I had a really good nurse who can see by the look on my face that I had no idea how this baby was really going to come out of me! She then asked "did you take any birthing classes?" to which I answered, "no." Her face told me "out of all of the women I've ever helped in delivery YOU should have been the one to take them" but her mouth politely said "it's okay, women do this EVERY day, you can do this!"Matt leaned over and said "Hon, there's another girl down the hall who is using the same doctor, I think we can beat her!"
So the nurses got out these stirrup thingies for my legs so I had pressure to against. However, I was too short to really use them. So at every contraction my mom and Matt would push against my feet. After about an hour of pushing, Carson Andrew was born at 3:04pm on September 18, 2010. 7 lbs, 13 oz and 20 inches long.
That's the condensed version, if you can believe that. But when the doctor took him out, and rested him on my stomach, all I could think was "someone fix his head, someone fix his head, someone fix his head." Needless to say, he has a really nicely shaped head now.
So there you go, Danielle, hope you enjoyed!
