Labor & Delivery

This motherhood thing takes some getting used to. Starting with the whole labor & delivery. Remembering back to the day I started to have contractions...I had mixed feelings. At first I wasn't sure the contractions were the real thing until I started to time them. As I started to see a pattern I got excited..."the big day is coming"...I also got nervous..."Oh, boy this is the real thing!" Looking back now I wish I had labored a bit longer at home but my nerves got the best of me and I wanted to be sure the baby was okay in there. So, at 4:00 am I walked into the bedroom and told Phil I think we should go to the hospital. He was up out of bed in seconds with a little excitement in his voice. Off we went.

What next, a little disappointment, the nurses checked and I really hadn't dilated much at all. Now what? They decided to keep me for a few hours to track the contractions, monitor the baby, and then check if the contractions were producing any change. Needless to say, after a few hours they officially admitted me to the hospital....yes the big day was definitely upon us.

Unfortunately laboring in the hospital kinda sucks, you can't really get up and move around and they have you strapped to contraction and baby monitors. So here you are having these very uncomfortable, painful, contractions and all you're really allowed to do is just lay there....not fun. As for the breathing, I don't care how many different sounds you make as you breathe out Hoo Hoo or Hee Hee, or Hoo Hoo Hee, the contractions still hurt and seem to last forever.

So finally at 4cm dilated I gave in and asked for the epidural. I honestly believe if I had been allowed to be up and walking around I would have been able to make it through the pain longer. Oh well, live and learn.

Poor PJ didn't like the epidural, his heart rate dropped quite a bit, so they strapped on an oxygen mask and attached more monitoring wires. Then we just waited.

Slowly but surely things started progressing. They gave me Pitocin to induce contractions and they ended up breaking my amniotic sac to try to move things along as well. Nothing like feeling warm amniotic fluid pouring out of your body....yeah, modesty goes right out the window.

PJ didn't like that all his amniotic fluid was disappearing so then they had to add another tube to inject fluid back into the sac....this settled him down....and gave me the sensation that I was continuously peeing myself. Woo hoo! Ok, more waiting.

Hmm, now we're getting close, look you can see his head...lots of hair on that head. Ok, test push....uh oh, PJ didn't like that. Hmm, gotta labor down...meaning wait and let the contractions push PJ almost to the exit door. Now, we wait for the doctor to come back so we can deliver PJ into our world. Even though I had the epidural I could still feel things at this point. I could tell for the most part when I was having a contraction, and I could feel this immense pressure between my legs because PJ's head was so far down.

Finally, the doctor comes. Ok, its showtime. You have to push like your about to grunt out the biggest poop of your life. After a couple of pushes I see scissors...NOOO....not an episiotomy....too late she did it and I kinda felt it...ouch...ok PUSH! PJ's not doing too hot....doc: get the vacuum....mom: NOOO....nurse: we're missing a piece....mom: Good!....doc: ok, mom you gotta push NOW! PUSH....out pops his head....PUSH out pop his shoulders and the rest of him....WOW! Relief!

PJ came out crying, he didn't like the show he was just a part of. They laid him on my chest, crying and still all wet. Once I got him to hear me saying his nick name he calmed downed. It was AMAZING! He was crying and his arms were flailing around but once he heard his nickname above the sound of his cry...it was like an off switch.

After that, a lot of what happened was kind of a blur. The doctor was still working on me. Phil and I were watching our son in amazement. Then they had to clean him, and check his Apgar scores etc. Then they gave him to us for "skin to skin" and the "Golden Hour".

They put naked little PJ on my bare chest everyone except mom, dad, and baby are left in the room for some one on one time. One of the best hours of my life!!