Birth story - finally, long (edited to include paragraphs)

Anna&Matt · February 2010

Around 35 weeks we found out Owen was going to be too large to fit without considerable risks to me and him. He was measuring 42 weeks at that point and estimated at almost 9 lbs. Because of that and other medical issues we opted for a c/s and scheduled one for 39 weeks. Later that evening I started having contractions that were pretty painful. We chocked it up to having done too much but they continued and were timeable on and off all weekend. We went in the following week only to hear minimal progress - no dilation and just some minor thinning. These contractions continued on and off for the next three weeks. I wasn't sleeping even with sleep meds and got more and more miserable.

Because of his size they were concerned I could have undiagnosed GD so they ran blood tests a few times. I did not have it. But just incase and with his size and how miserable I was they decided it would be good to move the c/s up a week but we had to do an amnio. I was so ready to be done that I consented to that to find out if his lungs were mature. The amnio was so quick. It was a weirs feeling and a little crampy but not painful. We got the results two hours later - we were having the baby in 36 hours!

The day of the c/s we got to the hospital and I was really nervous but doing ok until we were in the prep room and my dad came in. I lost it and was terrified of the surgery. I was worried something would go wrong. I was shaking because of how nervous I was. My ob actually came in to the OR early and held my hand the entire time they were prepping me. It gets fuzzy after that.

The first two attempts of the spinal didn't take. I could feel one side and I could feel them injecting in the space because the numbing meds didn't work at first. The third or fourth attempt finally worked and we were good to go. Dh came in and watched the entire surgery standing up and looking over the sheet.

The surgery is fuzzy to me - I had a weird reaction to the spinal and they kept having to give me something to keep my heart rate from going too low. I remember him crying and hearing he got a 9 and 10 on his apgars. I also remember the doctor saying he was the biggest baby and the only 10 she had delivered so far.

The recovery was more painful than I expected. I felt like I was constantly paging a nurse for more meds while we were there. A month later I finally feel almost back to normal. After his birth I also developed ppd so I've been struggling with that. The meds are starting to work now and each day is a little better.

Sorry that was so long!

Anna&Matt · February 2010

Crap apparently my iPhone doesn't post paragraphs. Even though I had it broken out into them.

greenclown · February 2010

If you put <br><br> where you want the paragraphs, you'll get them.

Thanks for sharing.

buckin · February 2010

Thank you for sharing and I hope things get better quickly from here on out!

jensneb · February 2010

Thanks for sharing, and you're a trooper, I hope you're doing ok with the PPD any maybe getting some help, a lot of people go through that. I thought I had it but it got much better when I went back to work. He's a beautiful baby boy. Congrats!

jCamsquared · February 2010

Thanks for sharing, and congrats again Anna :-) I hope things keep getting better and better, especially with the ppd.

ashdonne · February 2010

Anna thanks for sharing and congrats again on your beautiful baby boy! I hope you continue to feel better---both with your recovery and PPD. Hang in there lady!

Meg 'n' Eric · February 2010

Thanks for sharing Anna, I thought for sure I had missed this post! I really hope you start feeling like yourself again soon. Email me anytime if you want to talk, I know how hard those first few weeks are, so I can only imagine how ppd on top of all that would feel. He is such a cutie. Congrats again!