Finally hatched...long birth story

smaher

I finally hatched!

Our baby Colton was born on a snowy January 31, 2010, at4:49 pm - clocking in at 7 lbs 10 oz and 20 inches in length. 

Long story:

Being overdue, I started trying a variety of Old Wives'Tales ("OWT")to see if I could have our baby naturally as opposed tothe scheduled induction on Feb 3rd.  I tried citrus (OWT #1) and raspberryleaf tea (OWT #2) on a regular basis.  On Saturday, DH and I decided tohead to Barnes and Noble for some R&R before the induction date.  On theway there, my car started smoking and accelerating on its own.  We made itto the parking lot and called a tow truck.  After a few hours, DH was ableto get his truck and return to B&N for some reading and then toMacaroni Grill for dinner.  I ordered eggplant parm (OWT #3) and enjoyedthe full moon (OWT #4) on this snowy Saturday night.

I went into labor around 3 am on a snowy January 31, 2010and was admitted to the hospital around 9 am (after a short run to McDonald'sfor some breakfast).  I was only 2 cm dialated and 90 percent effaced atthat time and progressed very slowly.  Luckily I got one of the labor anddelivery rooms with a whirlpool, which mitigated some of the pain.  By 3pm, I was only 3 cm dialated and the pain was insurmountable.  I decidedto have an epidural, which frankly scared the crap out of me slightly more thanthe pain I was enduring.  I came to the realization that it could be avery long labor and I may progress better under the epidural.  Inaddition, the fetal monitor indicated that with every contraction (occurringevery 2-3 minutes for hours) the umbilical cord was getting pinched and baby'sheartbeat dropped.  It became a choice about what was best for baby andme, rather than what I envisioned.

The procedure went very smoothly and after the epidural wasflowing, I received pitocin (level 4 out of 30-something), a cathedar (which Iwas really not happy about), and they placed a monitor inside.  The bestpart of this was the progress and the lack of any pain whatsoever.  My lowerbody was completely numb, a very odd sensation.  Almost immediately Iprogressed to 6 cm and lost quite a bit of blood.  The doctor broke mywater and by 4:30 pm they told me I was ready to begin pushing. 

The doctor got into her scrubs, sat down, and was surprisedto see the head already.  After about 3 rounds of pushing, little Coltonemerged into the world.  I was able to hold him after DH cut the cord andfell in love immediately.  My labor and delivery team were amazing. After some stitches and the epidural wore off, I was able to move to our tiny,but private, recovery room.  Over the next two days, we went to hospitalclasses on baby care and breastfeeding and worked with the nurses on an hourlybasis to get the hang of our new life.

Colton has been a sleepy baby and we've have to wake him todo feedings, change diapers, etc.  Sounds like a dream come true to have anewborn that doesn't cry al the time but its been very concerning.  At ourfour-day appointment, Colton had lost quite a bit, but not 10 percent, of hisbirth weight.  I became very emotional and broke down in the doc's office- went straight over to Inova Lactation Consultants to get a pump to stimulatemy breastfeeding and possibly supplement his feedings - and broke down in tearsagain.  We started waking him every two hours now and as of today heweighs in at 7 lbs 3 oz.  So we're getting there.  

Thank you all for your support over the past 9 mos (andlonger depending on Knot/Nest involvement)!  

All the best!

sarahmae8

Congrats!! Question: what caused you to lose so much blood? This is one of my  biggest fears...thanks!

DASHSKIDADDLE

Congrats!!!!!!!

NFL_Wife

Congrats on your baby boy!

Just to share - I know its hard at the beginning. DS lost quite a bit at the beginning, and we had to do the every 2 hour feeding as well. It's super stressful, but you will get through this and it will all seem like  a distant memory soon, I promise!!

smaher

Thanks everyone!!!  Not sure why I was losing alot of blood.  Once I lost my mucus plug, the doc initially thought my water broke and that was combined with the blood making it appear to be more than what it was.  Later she determined that my water wasn't broken and broke it with the hook looking thing.  I wasn't in any danger though - so don't stress about it too much.  I know, easier said than done.  The only "danger" was the baby's supply when I was going through contractions.  I had a long period of coupled contractions every 2-3 min, so it wasn't good for the baby.  Also, not sure why the text is all messed up (combining words).  Oh well.