Oh, how misunderstood I was.
I woke up at about 1:30 AM on January 25th with some pain in my pelvis, I went through my usual routine and got up, went to the bathroom and then snuggled back in bed. My first thought was, it can't be happening today, my brother would kill me. See, when we originally found out my due date to be January 31, the first thing my brother just above me said, "Your baby better not be born on, my birthday." At our 20 week appointment our little boy was measuring about a week big, and calculated he would come on January 25th, my brothers birthday.
I was able to sleep a little bit, but the pain was getting stronger, so at about 2:30 I woke up and started doing things around the house to keep me busy. I had a snack at about 4:00 AM, the pain was getting worse, but I could definitely handle it at this point. The fear I was having leading up to this day had vanished, I was very calm and super excited to be able to hold my baby soon. But still not sure what to expect.
At 5:30 Landon woke up and came looking for me, I had downloaded an app to count my contractions and we decided that if they were still consistent we would head to the hospital at 7:00. I jumped in the shower and whether or not they were consistent enough, we left the house at 7:00, both of us probably too impatient to wait.
When I got to the hospital, I was dilated to a 4 and effaced 90%. The nurses were really great when I told them I wanted to do this unmediated, and the nurse assigned to me was very helpful and taught me how to relax during the contractions. I was told to continue walking and moving to keep the contractions going. I was checked again at 10:00 and I was still at a 4… I was a little disappointed.
I kept walking and moving, at around noon I decided to try the jetted tub to see if any of the pain would subside. To my dismay it was probably the worst decision of the day, it was a warm bath but the water coming out of the jets felt cold and I couldn't relax through the pain because I was so stiff from tensing through the cold. I told the nurse I was done doing it without medication. She was super positive with me and said I was doing really great and if I wasn't dilated to a certain point we could stop. I agreed. She measured me and I was at a 7, 3 centimeters in 2 hours, I decided to keep going, thinking another 3 centimeters in two hours wouldn't be so bad, the only problem was I was loosing energy, I hadn't eaten since 4:00 AM and I couldn't drink water, just eat ice chips, which was hard to do between contractions.
At 2:00 I was at an 8, not the progress I had hoped for, discouragement was definitely coming over me. The doctor came in and said he would break my water for me, after that contractions would become more intense and I would move a lot faster. He told me my water probably would not have broken on its own, the bag was too tough and thick. I didn't really feel much of a difference, I just had a lot less energy.
At 3:30 I was at a 9+, half a centimeter away, and another issue arose, my little man's head wasn't turning. I had to wait for both in order for me to start pushing. At 5:00 I was still at a 9+ and your head still hadn't turned. The Doctor said it was time to start pitocin, which essentially helps speed up labor. At that point I asked if it was too late for an epidural and he said of course not. I was so exhausted!
The anesthesiologist was at the hospital already and came in right away to get me started. He said the epidural in most cases will also speed up labor. I was very hopeful to hold my baby in the next hour or so. Unfortunately, I had the opposite effect. I did not move at all! Hour after hour I was still at a 9+ and his head still had not turned. At around 7:00 PM the Doctor did what he explained as almost tickling the babies head to get it to turn, it hopes that he would, at 7:45, my baby had turned his head, though I was still at a 9+. I was extremely grateful at this moment to have gotten the epidural, which had allowed em to relax enough to rest. At 7:45 the Doctor also informed me that he would give it another hour and if I hadn't moved I would be having a C-section. I really didn't want that.
Through this entire process Landon was right by my side. People may think going through labor is only the woman's job, let me tell you, that is untrue when you are going unmedicated. Landon was just as much as involved as I was, of course, he couldn't feel the pain I was having, but every time I had a contraction, he was right there holding me and encouraging me. I think he was relieved when I got the epidural also, he said I was a completely different person, I was actually able to talk to him without being snappy or rude. I think he was grateful!
8:45 PM rolled around and I was still at a 9+. The nurse (a new nurse now, there was a shift change around 6) told me to pushing to see if we could get through the last centimeter. By 9:00 I had pushed through it and the Doctor came back in. I pushed for about an hour longer. Landon put on some music from his iPhone while I pushed which helped me to get my mind off things. It was actually quite enjoyable. They had turned off my epidural because they were prepping for a C-section, which helped me to push, but I still couldn't feel much. I definitely had a burst of energy as I was pushing.
At 10:01 PM my little boy was born. 8 lbs. 9 oz. 20 inches long! They immediately placed him on my stomach, I thought in the moment I would definitely be crying, but I had no tears left. I was just so happy, and it all seemed so surreal! It was a crazy, traumatic day, but one I wouldn't change for the world!
I was finally able to eat 2 jr. bacon cheeseburgers, 5 piece chicken nuggets, fries, and a root beer from Wendy's. We went into this process thinking we would have him right away. It doesn't work that way. 15 hours at the hospital and 5 at home. It was an amazing experience!
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