Very positive story...15 hours. (extremely long)

My Birth Story

Jackson Ryan arrived Saturday the 25^th of July at 5:28 am.  He was 37 and 3 days gestation.  He weighed 6 lb. 14 oz. and 19 inches long.  (His first pedi appointment 4 days later he was 20.5 inches so the nurses were off at delivery, woops)

I battled PTL since 20 weeks, went into L&D multiple times, was admitted for a total of 6 days, was on medicine to stop my contractions, and bed rest from 20-37 weeks.  It has been a hard pregnancy on both DH and I emotionally and financially (since I?ve been out of work for so long).  But all this being said I would do it ALL over again in a heart beat.

I went to my 37-38 week appointment on Friday and I was a generous 4 cm.  I went off my meds 7 days before and had been having pretty irregular and intense contractions on and off and severe menstrual cramps.  No bleeding or spotting, just the cramps.  I fully expected to go into labor at any time.  So after my 12:00 appointment on Friday I started having some pretty intense cramping but they weren?t consistent.  Instead of driving all the way home we went to lunch in case they turned into something more.  They progressively were worse and started to tighten with the cramping so I knew this may be it.  I was so excited!  We then walked the mall for almost 2 hours which was excruciating for me, but it was hilarious watching people freak out thinking I was going to have the baby right there in the store.   We decided to go to the hospital even though my contractions weren?t really that strong since I was so dilated just to get checked.

We got to L&D, they checked me and I was a 6 cm, totally effaced so they admitted me.  That?s when it hit DH that we were having a baby, the look on his face was priceless.  They started my IV and gave me my fluid bolus in case I wanted my epi.  I decided to wait to get it since I wasn?t really in pain yet even though I was contracting pretty regularly by this time.

We moved into my room and DH and I walked the hospital for almost 3 hours to let me labor and bring baby down and dilate me.  I was terrified my water was going to break as we walked the halls and lobby; thankfully it was early in the morning so the hospital was empty.  I came back to my room and I wanted my epidural before they broke my water since I knew things could happen fast after that.

The first epi was placed and it wouldn?t work because there was a kink, so they took that one out and placed another one.  It was awesome; I could still move my legs and feel the tightening but not the pain.  They broke my water to let him come down further and then we started waiting for me to get to 10 cm.  DH and I turned off the lights and took a nap; it was heavenly after laboring and walking for those couple hours.  I was amazed that I was in labor and sleeping like a baby J

We woke up from our nap and the nurse checked me and I was almost 10 cm with a tiny lip of cervix so she had me practice push and said baby was still too high, so she said baby looks great on the monitor so we decided to elevate my head and I went back to bed to let gravity bring him down instead of starting to push prematurely.  An hour later we started pushing!

My nurse was AMAZING!!!  We set up the delivery table and got me into position; we talked and laughed in between pushes.  I had a weird moment were I really wanted to brush my teeth so I made DH get me my toothbrush. (I have NO idea why that was necessary all of a sudden).  My nurse was like ?nobody cares what your breath smells like sweetie, your vagina is in my face and your feet on the sides of my head?your breath is not important.?  She was SO funny and relaxed.  She coached me on breathing and pushing and calmly counted out my contractions.  I didn?t want anyone to yell at me to push or be loud.  I wanted a mirror to watch so we set that up which was really cool, I was so excited when I could see his hair.  I am glad I decided to do that, I got to see my son born and it was unreal.

My mom and MIL were also in room which wasn?t my plan originally but I am SO happy that I invited them in.  My MIL stood next to DH and my mom on the other side.  I asked one of them to take pics and they didn?t know how to work my camera so I asked MIL to call my 16 year old SIL to come in and take pics.  She walked in and saw me spread eagle with the top of baby?s head visible and she turned ghost white.  After the initial shock (hehe) she took pics for us and did an amazing job!  I have pics of the entire thing (minus the vagina shots) and LOVE them.  SIL really should be a photographer.  She was so excited about seeing him born too; it was really special to share that with her.

So I started pushing at 4:30 and my nurse called my OB at 5:00 to come in then saying get there in 30 minutes to give him enough time.  Well, baby and I had different plans?.I got the hang of pushing very fast and baby was almost crowning.  I only pushed during half of my contractions to help me stretch slowly and my nurse did perineal massage and stretching the entire time.  She was awesome, my epi wore off half way through pushing so when baby?s shoulder was pressing on my right pelvic bone I wanted jump out of my skin.  It was incredibly painful, my nurse put counter pressure on the inside of my vagina and pressed on my pelvic bone to help alleviate it which really helped.  I just stayed calm and breathed thru my contractions even though the pain was at least a 11 out of 10?.the nurse said I was doing amazing and she was surprised that this was my first baby.  Go me!

Baby was crowning and the nurse was pushing on his head to keep him from popping out too fast and tearing me badly so we panted thru about 5 contractions, not to mention my OB still wasn?t there since I went so fast.  She called the on call doc to catch baby and she didn?t make it either.  During my last contraction I didn?t push but my body pushed him out on its own so the nurse delivered me! Everything was so calm and peaceful, it was awesome.   He was put on my chest immediately and they did most of their initial assessments there which was cool.  My first thought was that Jack looked EXACTLY like my DH?I mean totally the same facial features, same nose, mouth, eyes, hands, legs?.everything.  He is definitely my DH?s son.  My OB ran thru the door when he was put on my belly and he was SO sorry he missed it.  It was funny, he was so embarrassed.  I love my OB and I kind of wish he was there during the delivery.  He has been such an important part of my pregnancy and he missed it.

Jack only needed a little blow by oxygen for a couple minutes because he was a little blue, otherwise apgars of 8/9.  The first time I got to hold him after he was cleaned up I was still spread eagle while my OB delivered my placenta and stitched up my bilateral small internal labial tears.  I am SO thankful I didn?t tear on my perineum or around my vaginal opening.  My OB said they weren?t even ?tears? but kind of like a stretch mark on the underlying skin of my labia. My nurse gets full credit for that since she let me labor down for so long and did so much stretching during my pushing.  I got a hemmie during pushing (I actually watched it pop out which was weird) but as soon as pushing stopped it went back in. 

Recovery has been amazing.  I was up and walking around within an hour of having him with DH?s help and within a couple hours I could walk on my own.  They took out my IV as soon as I got to my postpartum room.  I took a shower within 4 hours of having him and that was like heaven.  It?s been 5 days and I am barely bleeding anymore, I only have to wear a panty liner which has been great.  When we got home 3 days PP I cleaned my entire house since I felt so great (which I don?t recommend, wowza I was in pain after that.)

My delivery could not have been better; I loved the staff and the hospital. It was a calm and wonderful experience; we laughed and joked during pushing.  I would do it over again it was so great.  I wish I had a video of it.

Breastfeeding on the other hand has been horrific.  Painful isn?t even the word I would use to describe it?.DS has an awesome suck but a poor latch.  He wasn?t able to feed very well during the first 2 days of our hospital stay and he had blood incompatibility jaundice.  He was on the bili bed and losing weight so I decided to supplement formula (it helps the jaundice if baby is eating enough).   We are working on latching still, but he gets 100% breast milk and no more formula since my milk has came in, we just feed it to him with a bottle.  It actually kind of works out since DH can feed him too.  It?s the best of both worlds.  I love my medela symphony electric dual pump by the way; it empties my breasts within 10-15 minutes pain free.

So my entire labor was 15 hours from start to finish which I didn?t think was bad at all, especially since I was allowed to labor down for so long when I was technically ?ready? to start pushing much earlier.   I get all teary eyed when I think of it and the look on DH?s face when he was pulled out and laid on my chest. 

It?s absolutely amazing.