First we took my weight, I had lost almost two pounds just since the last week. The nurse checked my urine and blood pressure. When the Dr. came in she listened to the babies' heart rate which had been in the 130's for a few weeks- he still sounded great! The Dr. checked me for progress and she pretty much immediately said that we were going next door. She said I was 6cm and he was ready to go. I had my eyes closed while she was examining me- mostly because I was dreading being sent home again and preparing for the worst. But, I got to hear David clap and cheer "YAY" when she said it was time.
This was exactly how we wanted it to go. My Dr. was on call at the hospital and David and I were more than ready! We chatted with the Dr. for a moment- I asked her about timing the epidural since I was already so far along and about using Pitocin. To my surprise she said I would probably not need anything to get labor to progress (Pitocin)- she was sure that once they broke my water I would finish dilating in a hurry. As far as the epidural, since she was convinced labor would be going very quickly from this point, she thought that it would be soon before it was time to push and that being the case that I could just get through without it...if I wanted. The epidural is a source of much anxiety for me- it was the most, well only, painful part of my labor with Emma. It's not that it's that uncomfortable, but it's still scary.
David and I walked back down to the car, and moved it to the South parking lot of Medical Park Tower. We sat in the car and made phone calls to our parents, siblings, closest friends and co-workers. I let my office know that I was calling in sick and would not be in that day. I worked a full day the previous day! As we were sitting there making phone calls my back started to bother me. David grabbed our duffel bag and laptop bag and I waddled in with my purse. We made our way up to the 2nd floor, stopped of at admissions (thank goodness we were pre-registered and I wasn't in pain) which took just a minute to get our paperwork and my ID band.
We were officially admitted at 9:56AM and were in labor and delivery room #255. We probably sat there for 15 minutes. David was still calling and texting people and I sat next to him on the couch...staring at the bed. I was taking my time to get into the gown because that would be too much of a reality dose. Even though I had done this before, I was so fearful that this time would be different, as in painful. Our lives were about to change forever. Our first nurse's name was Elizabeth. She was very sweet. I finally got changed, went to the restroom and then began hooking up IV's, monitors etc. Elizabeth had a family emergency and when she left, our nurse was Sara who had an ACC student shadowing her- I didn't care, once you have a child all modesty is left at the door.
Cody's hear rate was awesome and consistent and my blood pressure was excellent. I never had any pitocin, only IV fluids to keep me hydrated. I was going to have to make a decision soon about the epidural. I had been in touch with my parents (they were already on call that morning as it was our hope to be admitted) throughout the morning and knew that they'd be coming about Noon. David was unable to get a hold of his mother all morning which was disappointing because we thought that they would also be heading our way and were waiting for our call after seeing the Dr. Anyway, there was so much going on in a short period of time. By Noon my Dr. was at the hospital and came in to check on me. In just two short hours I had gone from 6cm to 8cm. I let her know that I did want to have an epidural so she agreed to hold off a few more minutes before breaking my water.
Very quickly the anesthesiologist and nurses had everything prepped. I sat up on the side of the bed with David in a chair in front of me. The Dr. was very good and it felt just how I remembered. David held my hands (sqeezing pretty tightly :) ) and he never once looked at what the Dr. was doing. The epidural took 15minutes and then the nurses had to observe me for 30minutes to make sure I would be ok. During this time I had to lay on my back followed by lying on each side so that the medicine would evenly distribute. Before I turned to my side my Dr. came back in and broke my water- which was clear, good news! They inserted a catheter since I wouldn't be able to get out of bed at this point.
My parent's got to the hospital just as we were finishing the epidural so they were in the room when the real fun began. After I turned on to my side the pain began. All morning I had been feeling contractions (and watching them on the monitor) though they weren't too painful, just a noticible cramp starting at the top of my abdomen and moving downward. At one point that morning, shortly after being admitted, they were as close as 2min. apart but mainly averaged 5min. apart (this was when I went from 6-8cm). After the epidural and once I had turned on my side to let the medicine evenly distribute, I started feeling a completely new sensation. PAIN. I called the nurses in and wanted them to check me. I wasn't sure what was exactly going on, but felt like something was changing. The nurse told me that they could check me but that the more they did, the higher the risk of infection (since they'd be messing with me). They said that I was probably feeling pressure from the baby moving down (I started out at -1 station) and the longer I could wait the better.
I agreed that the Dr. didn't need to come in and check me and I would try to get through a little longer before having her check me again. At this point I asked my parents to give David and I some privacy. I had changed to lying on my other side and as my parents told me they loved me and kissed me goodbye I started to cry. Not boo-hooing but tears coming down. I remember holding on to the side rail and David leaning over me and telling me he loved me. He stood there, I tried to breathe through the pain but it was getting worse. The nurse had told me to let them know when it was consistent pain (without breaks) and increasingly uncomfortable. I couldn't stand it and David asked if I wanted to call them in again. Only moments had passed since they were in the room and my parents left, but that's all it took.
The nurse came in, saw how I was doing and called the Dr. who was out of the room. Dr. Hansen asked the nurse to check me and said that if I was all the way there to go ahead and start pushing. Sara checked me and I was 10cm and fully effaced and then called the Dr. back to let her know we would be starting. I felt better in the fact that I'd soon have some relief! I knew I felt like pushing- it had been uncomfortable to lie there on my sides with my legs together. I asked David to go tell my parents we were starting. Sara had asked if the student shadowing her could check me as well. I was fine with it, just wanted them to hurry! They could already see his head (or feel?) because they both commented on his hair. I didn't really register this comment- my eyes were closed, I was breathing and in the 'zone.'
When I felt pressure they had me lean forward, hold my legs and push. I told them I didn't want to count to ten, that I would just push as long as I could. David was on my right side holding my arm (I had to ask about this just now because I was too preoccupied to pay attention to what he was doing). I pushed twice within just a couple of minutes and they had to quickly call the Dr. to come in. I had to stop pushing long enough for her to come in and get gloves on (not fun.) I pushed once and heard her say "his head is out." His cord was loosely wrapped around his neck so it took her a moment to deal with that and then it was time to push once more. With that, Cody was born.
My eyes were still closed but I heard them clearing the fluid out of his mouth and nose. Then he cried- his lungs were definitely working and I opened my eyes to see my beautiful baby boy in front of me. David cut the cord and they continued to clean Cody off. I heard David sniffling as they put Cody on my chest. We had a few moments together before he went to the warming station to be cleaned and assessed. David gave me a kiss and walked to where Cody was with the nurses. I watched as he snapped pictures and Cody just laid there while the nurses looked him over, cleaned and wrapped him. I also laid back and just had a moment to myself while my Dr. continued to poke on me. The placenta must have still been relatively high as it took her a few moments to deliver. She was really mashing on my tummy!
In other news that is pretty exciting for me- no tears which means no stitches. I'm two for two! I guess those nurses from my first L&D were right- I am built for having babies. I felt so great! Once I was cleaned up it would be a few minutes before Cody and David went to the nursery to be bathed so I asked him to bring my parents in. To re cap and offer more of a timeline:
- Dr's office visit began about 9:15AM, dilated to 6cm
- Admitted to hospital at 9:56AM
- Dr. arrived at hospital, Noon, dilated to 8cm
- Epidural at 12:30
- Began pushing 3:30ish
- Cody was born at 3:59PM
I guess it was 4:30ish when my parents left to pick up Emma from school. They walked into her classroom with her big sister t-shirt and told her she was a big sister, that baby Cody was here! Evidently she and her teachers squealed. Shortly after 5PM my Aunt Lisa and cousin Trisha came up to the hospital. My mom, Aunt, Trisha and I were all in the L&D room when they were ready to move me to the postpartum room. My Dad, David and Emma were at the nursery watching Cody have his first bath. The girls helped haul all of our things to our new room.
I felt soooo good! Even though this was a healthy pregnancy, it was kind of hard on me and I finally felt great! I was so happy when they brought Cody back to our new room. My Uncle David and cousin Lily also came up to the hospital and it was great to have visitors and be surrounded by family. My dinner came, vegetable lasagne, salad and chocolate cake. I was so starved! Right after Cody was born they offered me a turkey sandwich and I happily took them up on it!
David went with my parents and Emma to Waterloo across the street to get some dinner. I just relaxed in the room until he got back. The nurses asked me about my pain level but I really had none and didn't see any sense in taking powerful drugs when they weren't necessary. The Dr., however prescribed Ibuprofen so I took that. Even after dinner I found myself starving so I had some graham crackers and grape juice before bed. Cody spent the night in the nusery so that Daddy and I could get as much rest as possible. Every three hours Cody came into the room to nurse. (I'll do a separate blog just on breastfeeding thus far.) Even without Cody in the room for part of the night, we were still very interrupted between blood work, assessments on me etc. With all of that though, we probably got five hours of sleep. I couldn't wait for Cody to be with us!
The next morning my Dr. came in, said I looked wonderful and that she'd see me in about 4 weeks. After Cody's 6AM feeding we kept him in the room. The pediatrician did his first assessment later that morning and everything was good news. Heart, lungs, reflexes, etc. etc. David and I asked about jaundice- when would we see signs? Cody was looking so good that he felt confident we might avoid it altogether- yay!
Emma's school was closed Thursday and Friday because the teachers would all bee at a conference. My parents were splitting each day and keeping Emma for us. My Dad stayed home in the mornings with Emma and my Mom came home at Noon for the afternoon shift. They brought lunch to David at the hospital and came up to visit about mid-day. Emma has been so excited to spend time around her little brother- I think she missed Mommy and DD too.
The rest of the day was much of the same, assessments, feedings and naps when possible. The hospital started doing something new since Emma was born; they now offer parents a "Celebration Meal." David and I both had the herb-crusted tilapia, asparagus, salad and chocolate mousse cake. Thursday night we did not get as much sleep as the previous night. Cody stayed in the nursery except for feedings every third hour, but considering each of those took an hour, that did not leave much time in between for sleeping. Feeling much more confident I let David sleep through feedings and did things on my own. I ended up keeping Cody in the room for the majority of night- he's a champion sleeper!
Friday morning Emma and my Dad came up to the hospital (Mom worked that morning.) An OB from my Dr's office came in to say he'd reviewed my chart and that I was ready to be released. But first...he'd be doing Cody's circumcision. Needless to say David and I did not need to go watch. Before all of this the pediatrician had come in to go over Cody's morning assessment which was again, great. The first night Cody went from 7lbs 9oz to 7lbs 8oz and by Friday was 7lbs 2oz. Cody also had his hearing screening done and passed.
While Cody was out of the room David and I turned in our paperwork to the nurse so we could move forward with the discharge process. I had filled out the birth certificate application prior to coming to the hospital and had everything ready in a folder. There were 3-4 women waiting to be released that morning and we knew the sooner we got started the better. We packed up our things and I got dressed and cleaned up.
We went over information with the discharge nurse and before long it was time to be going. I think it was about 2PM when we finally left. On our way home David ran into Babies R Us for an infant Astro's hat he had seen and some breastfeeding paraphanalia I needed. We got home about 3PM and got settled in.
That evening my parents came over, bringing Emma home and fixed pot roast, mashed potatoes and salad for dinner. The first night I think we averaged about 4-5hrs of sleep and still felt pretty good the next day. Saturday morning Emma went to breakfast with her other set of grandparents and was home before Noon. At about 12:30 my parents came over after picking up my brother from the airport. We had Firehouse subs for lunch, visited, played with the baby and I took a nap in the afternoon.
So far so good! Life is good and we are so BLESSED! Our family feels complete. I have never felt so close to anyone in my life (David) and cannot imagine sharing this experience with anyone else. God is good!
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