Tyler's Full Birth Story - LONG

laurennkeith · June 2012

This is 2 weeks late, but it is hard to get online these days. Tyler's EDD was June 10th, at 3am on June 4th I woke up at 3am to contractions. I got up to go to the bathroom and there was some blood. I timed them on my phone for a couple of hours while trying to keep quiet so my husband wouldn't wake up, knowing that soon neither one of us would e sleeping, I wanted him to at least be rested. The contractions were irregular and I wasn't even sure I was having contractions since DH and I had just had sex earlier that night I figured I could be having some spotting from that and that the contractions were possibly just cramping post intercourse! Around 5:30am DH woke up when I was trying to "quietly" breathe through a contraction/cramp. I told him what was happening but that I wasn't SURE about what it really was. We took a walk to see if we could get the contractions "regular" but that didn't work. We both decided to work from home (thank god because there was no way I could have gone to the office) and see what would happen. I called my OB's office around 8am but they didn't open until 10am so I spoke to their answering service and let them know I might be in labor. My OB called right back and said since I was able to talk to her quite normally that it wasn't time, but if I would feel better I could come in to her office at any time that day. I decided to rest as much as I could, shower, and then DH and I went to her office that afternoon. Since we didn't have an appt. we had to wait about 20 min in the waiting room. I probably scared any FTMs in the waiting room as I was having contractions and wincing every 6-8 minutes. When the doc saw me she said the baby and my body were doing everything he should be and I was 1 cm dilated (how defeated). BUT she said by this time tomorrow you will be either in full blown labor or holding your baby (she was right). I was so glad we went because not knowing if I was just being a baby and if I was in labor or not was stressful. My OB suggested going home, having a nice dinner, showering and trying to sleep, and if I couldn't sleep that night then it was time to go to L&D. DH and I ate (took me a while as I had to stop each contraction to concentrate) and I showered, and then later also took a bath to try to ease the discomfort. DH and I went up to bed, he slept, I didn't . Just after midnight I was done. I was exhausted after not sleeping for almost 24 hours and being in pain all that time. I woke DH up and told him I was ready to go.

When we got to the hospital we were in triage first where they monitored me, about a half hour into it my water broke, I was dilated 3-4 cm at this point and was worried that I had been having contractions for nearly a full day and only was at that point. The nurse gave me an IV of some pain narcotics to take the edge off while I waited for the epidural (I don't recommend that. It made me feel loopy, dizzy, shaky and just out of it. I cried after getting it until it wore off). In fact I really regretted getting the IV because I didn't wind up having to wait for the epidural long at all. When I was finished in triage, I was admitted and the nurse took me to our room. When the nurse took me, I sent DH to get our bags out of the car. No sooner had I gotten to the room, in fact I wasn't even in the bed yet, the Anesthesiologist was there. DH wasn't even back from getting our bags and I was done with the epidural. For the record, I was extremely nervous about getting an epidural - of course the obvious, huge needle in my spine, but more so I didn't like the idea of not feeling my legs, and the rare instances of negative long term side effects. I wish I was with it enough to have even turned around to have seen my Anesthesiologist face and thank him, but as I mentioned earlier I was crying (quite hysterically at the point when he came in to administer it). Moving from triage to our room, and then up into bed, and feeling weak and shaky I felt like I was going to pass out. And I also feared that being shaky I would move while he was putting the needle in, so I was just besides myself. I wanted to feel like myself again, and for the drugs to wear off. I felt like if I had my baby at that moment I wouldn't have even wanted to hold him because I didn't trust myself not to drop hin. And hormones probably didn't help. Anyway, I digress. The epidural was shockingly the best experience (for me). All the pain went away, and I could still move my legs which was big for me who had a huge fear of that and gaining feeling back.

Anyway, after the epidural and my husband coming back to the room, they left us to try to get some sleep. Didn't happen! Around 6:30am they started Pitocin because my contractions had begun to be irregular. By 7:30am I was 9cm dilated, and at 8:15am my OB arrived! I don't remember when I started pushing, but I think somewhere around 10am. Unfortunately half way through pushing my OB got called into the room next to me because that patients OB hadn't arrived and her baby was coming now! So my OB left me to deliver that baby and I pretty much paused from pushing until she came back. When she was done, we started again. For part of the time I had the mirror so I could see what was going on (again a surprise to myself as I didn't think I would want to see) but DH thought it might help motivate me to see the head when I pushed. It did help. but I didn't seem to be able to get past seeing just the top of his head, then when I would stop pushing his head would go back up. Very disappointing. Well anyway, after 2 hours, throwing up on and off in between pushing my doctor said he was stuck and I would need a forcep delivery. I felt defeated and yet relieved at the same time. I cried at needing to have physical intervention to pull him out, and then the nurse told me that they would have to take him to check him out before I could hold him since the delivery involved intervention. I was completely besides myself. Hysterical. Before being a mom, I though well its not the end of the world to not get to hold your baby right away, what's a few minutes. But man, how my perception changes in that moment. Thinking there was even a reason to need to check him out before giving him to me scared me. Moments later, he was born at 12:33pm , and being checked by 6 different doctors and nurses. He was completely healthy and I was overwhelmed with emotion at seeing him off to the side of our room and hearing his screams. They only needed to check him out for a few minutes before they placed him on my chest. Tyler Michael was 7lbs 2 ounces and 20.5 inches long 5 days early. I can't explain the overwhelming feeling that comes over you. It is a surge of emotion and calm all at the same time. Nothing else going on in that room mattered. I was completed unaware of it all. I just laid there holding our son and staring at his tiny face. I don't even know if I tore or was cut, but I did need stiches and I have hemorrhoids. Let me tell you, the hemorrhoids hurt more then the stiches by far. I didn't even think about getting hemorrhoids, I was worried about tearing or being cut....trust me, that part isn't that bad. Anyway, tomorrow will be 2 weeks since Tyler arrived, and I am feeling much better. So regardless ,it does pass.

My husband was my hero that day. He definitely surprised me and surpassed my expectations. The man who is squeamish and can't even TALK about the not so glamorous delivery realities without getting sick to his stomach was a total rock star. He said he would never look "down there" during delivery, yet he was there looking at our son's head each time I pushed, and was there running back and forth holding pans for me to throw up in, and being the best coach I could have imagined when I was exhausted and felt like I couldn't carry on any more. I think DH and I are closer than we have ever been now, and he is more amazing with our son than I could have hoped for.

Best of luck to all you June Mommies! I wish you all the best. Thank you for all the information/advice/and entertainment over the past months. I hope these pics come through okay.

Our first day home, rocking a mohawk already!