Baby Hayden's Arrival...
I'll keep this as short as possible~
I woke up Thursday afternoon (5/21) at 1:30pm. By 2pm I started having contractions 6min apart for over an hour. At 4pm I decided to call L&D because the contractions were extremely painful. They were concerned that the fluid I was leaking slowly might be my water (it was clear and not like discharge), so I was told to come in. I saw my Dr. right away at 5pm and was immediately admitted to L&D at 4cm. I was immediately given fentynol(?) to take the 'edge' off to contractions. It made me feel loopy, like I had way too many shots of tequila, but when that wore off I requested the epidural.
By 6:30pm I rec'd the epidural and what a godsend that was! Within 10min I didn't feel a single contraction and was able to relax, rest, and enjoy the rest of my time. I think I watched a ton of Family Guy cartoons that night. At 10pm I finally met my midwife, and as soon as she opened the door I felt my water break. The bag didn't break completely so she popped it for me (just felt like a water balloon breaking). By 11pm I started feeling extreme discomfort, but not the sharp pains like before. I was only 7+cm at that time, so my midwife requested the anastesiologist 'top off' my epidural and told me that I would most likely be 10cm by 3am. Once she upped my epidural drip a bit I was able to relax again pain-free.
By 3:30am, when they came back to check on me, I was a full 10cm and ready to push. I still couldn't feel contractions but about 20min after saying that I could feel the pressure begin. I was told that I could start pushing or 'grunting' as my midwife called it, as soon as I felt one come on. I did that on my own, with just my DH in the room, for about 45min. By the time the nurse came back it was time to actively push. I started hyperventilating a bit so they put the oxygen mask on me, which didn't do anything but make me panic even more. At 4:45am I was told that I had a fever of 101.4, which was elevating the babies heartrate to 172, so she needed to come out immediately!
At 5:21am our little Hayden Christine was born. 8lbs, 12oz., 21.6inches long. She scored a 9 on both APGAR tests, her fever went away within the first 2 hours, and everything was smooth sailing after that! The OB who delivered her had to give me an episiotomy and stitch up a minor tear, and healing has been a piece of cake so far. In fact, I have to say that it's been pretty much a painless recovery with only minor cramping pain at times. I'm only taking one Motrin every 6 hours to cope. One thing they don't tell you is that Breastfeeding brings about cramping pains because it's helping to shrink your uterus.
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