Conor James' Birth Story (Jamboree Jess)

jamboree jess · July 2014

Short: Conor James was born on the fourth of July at 12:55pm, 6lbs 15 oz and 19 inches long, via C-section.

TL;DR:

On 7/2 I had an OB appointment (38 weeks, 5 days) and I had my membranes stripped, and my OB assured me that LO was head down and ready to go. I was still thick and 1cm dilated. Following that I had began having uncomfortable and irregular contractions, but they went away by the following afternoon.

Come Evening, My husband and I ordered Chinese takeout and sat around watching TV. After finishing my Pu-Pu Platter I felt a weird pop down below, and got up to a trickle of fluid. I assumed I just peed and used the restroom, but when I stood up more came out. I yelled to my husband that it was time to go, and we both ran around the house packing like maniacs. DH has a very irritable tummy, and the stress caused him to get a bit sick, so I called my family while waiting for him. When we were finally on the way out the door to the hospital, the contractions started up. Got admitted around 8:30, and they checked my cervix, still at 1cm. So I hung out and labored for a few hours while watching Family Guy before I needed pain meds. Unfortunately still not quite 2cm. I don't quite recall what they gave me, but it just made me sleepy and dizzy, so I almost dozed off before every contraction hit. Around midnight they checked me again, at 3cm, and I got the epidural. After that I felt fantastic, and was able to get some relax (though I still couldn't sleep). Poor DH slept uncomfortably in a rocking chair in the delivery room.

Things progressed slowly and around 8am I started feeling a lot of pressure and got checked. Only 8cm. I had to struggle not to push and it was terrible. After writhing around trying not to push for a few hours, felt like something weird was happening and called the nurse. Nurse #1 checked and I was fully dilated, but she felt something strange, so she called another nurse. Nurse #2 checked me out, and agreed that she felt something weird. Was it the cord? a mystery body part? So they called my OB, who came in and confirmed that sometime during my 16 hours of labor, baby flipped breech.

C-section time. DH and I both super freaked out, but it happened quickly and easily. I was more worried about my husband than I was about myself, he can't watch hospital dramas on tv without getting sick. I was a bit loopy from the drugs in my epidural, but I couldn't feel anything, and before I knew it they were for some reason dangling my dripping bloody baby over my head. (To traumatize me?) They cleaned him up and weighed him and my (crying like a baby) husband brought him over for me to see, before they sent them up to my hospital room and started stapling me up.

Conor is perfectly healthy and super adorable. Unfortunately, he absolutely would not latch and I had to supplement formula and pump from day one. He's doing great (despite having his days and nights mixed up) and I couldn't be happier.

I was always a bit worried that I wouldn't have a bond with the baby from the get-go and that I would be overwhelmed, but it was surprisingly natural.