FINALLY introducing Landon Scott! Lots of PIPs.

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I?m finally getting around to writing Landon?s birth story.I didn't think I'd be one of THOSE ladies.

In the last 6 weeks or so of my pregnancy, my blood pressure started to rise. Not only was my BP getting higher, but I was SO swollen all over the place. My feet were absolutely humongous. It hurt to walk and going up the stairs was almost impossible because they were so swollen they didn?t bend much at all. I had some protein in my urine off and on, so they were watching me for pre eclampsia.

My doctor decided I could be induced at 39 weeks.  I didn?t want to be induced, but I knew it?s what needed to happen. Also, I was already at 3 cm and 50% effaced on my own, so that eased my mind a bit. On 9/9 I called the hospital to make sure I could still come in to be induced and they said I could go in at 10:00 AM. I loaded up the car with all of our stuff, called my DH to come back home from work, and we were there at 10. They ended up getting really busy and I literally sat on a hospital bed hooked up to the monitors all day long. I was totally ok with that. I was nervous and it really helped me to just settle in and relax. I was contracting the whole time, as I had been since week 16. I had braxton hicks contractions more than you can even imagine since week 16. The nurse walked into the room to make sure we were ok since it had been so long and all of the sudden I felt something leaking out of me. I had my membranes stripped the day before so I thought it was more discharge because I was losing my MP and spotting a lot from the stripping. I told the nurse that I needed something to clean myself up with because I was leaking discharge. She checked me and said ?Umm, nope, your membranes just ruptured.? I was SHOCKED. And I mean SHOCKED. I DIDN?T HAVE TO BE INDUCED!!! MY WATER BROKE ON ITS OWN WHILE WAITING TO BE INDUCED!!! It was just amazing. I?m sorry for all the caps, but seriously, it was the coolest and best thing to have happen. I would have been at work too, and that would have been really bad, because it was gushing out.

They wanted to start me on Pitocin right away but I refused it. I figured since my water broke on its own, I wanted to see if my body would put itself into labor. I didn?t want more drugs if I didn?t need them. They were ok with this, which made me happy. Sure enough, I went into active labor on my own. I was so so excited. I ended up getting an epidural when I was between 5-6 centimeters. I couldn?t take it anymore. Huge kudos to you all natural ladies! The epidural felt disgusting. I can?t explain it, but YUCK. It took awhile to kick in, but when it did, I was so happy.

Around 3:15 AM the next morning I started to feel pressure in my butt during each contraction. It wasn?t unbearable or anything, so I just waited for the next time the nurse came in to mention it to her. She said she?d check me and when she did, her fingers barely went in and she said ?oh my, his head is right there?. She set up shop and I started pushing. I got really sick to my stomach and threw up a lot. That was so shocking to me because it takes a lot for me to actually vomit. Nasty. My husband was on one side holding my leg and the nurse was on the other. While pushing, his heart rate kept dropping and when he was closer to coming out, it dropped into the 60?s. My doctor told me that I couldn?t stop pushing and that I had to get him out right then. When my water broke, there was meconium in the fluid, so there were at least 8 doctors and nurses in there. I also had to have an episiotomy, because he had a big head and I would have ripped anyway. I was so nervous I was going to tear past that, but I didn?t! I pushed and pushed and pushed without stopping or being able to take a break. I was so exhausted. Finally, after pushing for 1 hour and 45 minutes, our little one was born. He was at 5:15 AM, 7 lbs 10 oz, 21 inches long, and born on 9.10.11. That?s a pretty awesome birthday.  The doctor that delivered Landon was amazing and everything went great.

My recovery was a different story. Although I had no pain down below, I had severe postpartum hypertension. My BP was very very high and I was in and out of the hospital and doctors office the first week. I was delusional and thought I was going crazy. It was so scary. I never had to stop breastfeeding though. My DH took care of him for the first week and brought him to me for feedings. I wasn?t depressed or anything, I just had the worst headache of my life. I couldn?t even function through it. I couldn?t sit or lay day AT ALL without severe pain in my head for four days. Horrible. I was a mess. I am so thankful for my husband. He was amazing through all of it. I?m all better now and just enjoying my little peanut with my husband!