Hunter James is here! Birth Story & PIP (long)

mommyjenny257 · March 2011

I have been on bedrest since 34 weeks due to pre-eclampsia. Despite being at home, my blood pressure steadily went up each week with my visits to the OB. On Wednesday the 9th, I went in for another NST and checkup. My BP was 160/104! The doc immediately sent me to the hospital for monitoring. If it went down, and the blood tests were ok, then we would go home and come back in the morning for an induction. Turns out that I was ok and I was able to go home.

I checked back into the hospital for the scheduled induction at 5:30am. By 7am, they had started me on the Pitocin. The doctor came in and broke my water at 8:30. Within half an hour of her breaking my water, I could seriously feel the contractions. I had been dilated 3cm on Wednesday, and progressed to almost 4cm by the time I was induced Thursday morning. The doctor told me when she broke my water, I could have the epidural at any time. I went ahead and requested it as I knew it seems to take forever for them to get to you for administration of it.

The epidural was probably one of the hardest parts! When I leaned over the edge of the bed, my water kept gushing, which just seemed to make things worse in my head. But they had to do the epidural twice basically. The first time, something wasn't working right. So he had to "reposition". I was leaning on both my husband and the nurse. It was interesting how my husband's whole attitude changed during and after the epidural. He was joking and kind of badgering me beforehand, and he turned into a concerned loving man afterwards. He said watching the doctor administer the epidrual made things incredibly real and he realized exactly how much I was going through.

I guess I got the epi at about 11am, when I was almost 6cm dilated. I laid around, enjoying the company of my family and best friend. Around 2pm, I noticed I was starting to feel contractions again. So we clicked the button to have the epidural push some more meds. At 2:30, the nurse came in and checked me, and I was complete at 10cm! We couldn't believe it! The nurse said it was time to push. This thought scared the crap out of me. I got really quiet and was on the verge of tears while waiting on the nurse to get things ready for me to push.

I pushed for an hour and a half. I can tell you, because the epidural had just been done, my legs were so numb! I thought for sure I was the worlds worst pusher! It was uncomfortable to push by grabbing my legs, so the nurse had my husband hold onto a towel, and we played tug of war with it when I'd push. That really made a difference. And really, something I will never forget. It allowed my husband to be actively involved in the delivery, rather than standing beside me watching. He also watched the whole thing, saw the baby's head for the first time and so on.

Finally they called the doctor over. I guess I had pushed well enough at that point. I could feel a little tingle in my legs, so we repositioned my legs so that my feet could push against the stirrups. It helped a lot. About 3 pushes later, my husband says "His shoulders are out!". I was shocked...I didn't even know his head had come out! It was such a relief when he was out and on my belly. But I was SO exhausted that I could only glance at him, count his fingers and toes, and lay my head back to catch my own breath and strength.

They took the baby over and he scored great on the APGAR. My mom and husband went over to take photos and such. The doctor delivered the placenta and then got to work on stitching. It felt like she stitched me for 30 minutes. My husband says I tore "BAD". I asked the doc how many stitches, she said "oh just a few". I don't think she wanted to concern me with exactly how bad it was.

My beautiful baby boy, Hunter James was born on March 10, 2011 at 3:59pm. He weight 6lbs 13oz and was 20in long. His eyes are a gorgeous dark gray (we're pretty sure they'll turn brown), and he has a full head of brown hair. I have never been so in love in my entire life. He's not been successful in latching, so in the mean time, I've been pumping to get my milk to come in and we've had to feed him with a syrenge and formula. I hate that he's eating formula, but I know it's what is best since he didn't actually eat for the first 24 hours of his life. I am seeing the lactation consultant again tomorrow and baby has his first pediatrician appointment tomorrow as well.

Here he is!