IT'S A BOY!!
Jack Christopher Wilson was born 4/9/15 at 12:51 in the afternoon. He was 7lbs 8oz and 21" long. I can't believe this moment has already come and gone.
So for all the other soon to be mommies out there or curious friends and family below are all the gory details of his birth; if things like vaginas, blood, and poop make you squeamish I suggest just scrolling through to find all the cute baby pictures :).
So it all started on 4/8/15 around 1AM. I woke up with contractions. They were uncomfortable but not unbearable and they lasted for a few minutes. But I only got one or so an hour so there was no immediate need to rush to the hospital. After about 4AM they stopped. I woke up that morning and headed off to work like I always did; maybe just a little sleepier.
Once I got to the office and had my "second breakfast" (oh pregnancy) I started to feel contractions again. They didn't last as long or feel quite as intense as the night before but they were coming every 5-15 minutes. Since the timing was so sporadic and they were bearable I went on with my day. However by the end of the day at 5PM I was really over them. I text Max and said we were going to triage (maternity ER) when I got home. Once I arrived we grabbed the go bag (which I had just packed like 2 days before...cut that one close) and headed over to the hospital.
They got me in a triage room and set me up with a monitor for me and baby. It was so nice to hear it's heart beat going strong. They also strapped a monitor on to track my contractions. That's when I knew it was real. My contractions were, and I quote the nurse, impressive. The peaks of them registered off the charts; literally it was kinda scary but also made me feel a little like super woman. I kept trying to breathe through them and Max was great at supporting me through each one. He would watch the monitor and let me know when it was almost over, which was super helpful. But even though my contractions were impressive they were not exactly productive. Which is every laboring woman's worst nightmare. All this god forsaken pain for not much gain. I was only 2.5cm at this point.
Since I wasn't dilating a whole bunch we weren't sure if we were going to be admitted. We arrived at the hospital during shift change so we got several different opinions on my status. Quite frankly at that moment I wanted to grab the nurse by her stupid scrubs and tell her that if she didn't admit me I would personally make her life hell when I came back. Luckily for her she conferred with a Dr. and he decided to admit me even though I was only 3cm at that point.
As I was getting ready to be moved that damn nurse came back in and said that even though I was being admitted I wouldn't be given an epidural until I was dilated to at least 4cm. It had taken me from when I arrived at 5:30PM to then, which was 11PM, to move 1.5cm. Five and half hours to only move 1.5cm and she wanted me to move another 1cm until I got an epidural; I started to cry uncontrollably, Max was probably embarrassed but I didn't care.
They wheeled me up to the magical happy land of labor and delivery. The nurses, the room, the everything was amazing. I showed up they got me in bed and hooked me up to all the machines. A few minutes later the anesthesiologist came in and started prepping for an epidural. I assumed they had talked to the silly nurse downstairs and knew how far along I was; but I wasn't saying ANYTHING! I will admit I was a little scared of how much the needle would hurt and I even asked the nurse what it would feel like. That's when she gave me the wonderful news that you get topically numbed first...amazing! Max left the room while they did the procedure as he is deathly afraid of needles. So the nurse held my shoulders as I leaned on her so that my bff anesthesiologist could do her thing. It didn't hurt at all just felt sorta warm, tingly, and numbing. After that the world opened back up. I could focus on things other than my body trying to rip in two.
But after that I started the shaking, which is apparently normal but I didn't know that. I was shaking like it was -100 in the room. I couldn't control it which also meant I couldn't relax my muscles. And which ultimately meant I couldn't sleep while my body did it's thing...great. However Max slept like...well like a baby.
Sometime that morning my Dr. came in and broke my water. That was really weird. It was this sudden gush of fluid and you felt sorta embarrassed like you were peeing on them but you knew they didn't care but you wondered if they were judging you anyway. It was all pretty awkward.
After several position changes, cat naps, cervix checks (which still suck even with awesome nurses and an epidural) I was finally 9cm and like 95% effaced. There was one stupid part of my cervix that just wouldn't budge. But by this point the sensation to push was unbearable. It was getting to the point where my body was doing it involuntarily; kinda like when you're pooping and body forces you to push without your consent...like that. I told the nurse that if she didn't let me start pushing I was going to anyway.
She set me up and let me have a "practice push" to see how to progress. Since I was oh so swollen they didn't want me to push until I was a good 10cm and the baby's head was way way way down there...but that didn't really seem like an option anymore. I was pushing whether they wanted me to or not.
I got a few good pushes in on my side before they called for the Dr. Once she came in they rolled me on my back and things really started to move. Everyone in the room (which is more people than you would imagine) was cheering me on and counting for me. Also the nurse that was counting to 10 was taking her sweet freaking time. I didn't know counting could take so long! After a few pushes I already started to feel defeated. I didn't know if I was really doing them right. Pushing something out of your lady bits is not a normal sensation. And even though everyone was telling me how good my pushes were I knew they were starting to panic. I could hear in their voices the urgency to get him out. So I broke down. I decided instead of trying to push out my vagina I would push like I was going poop. Now I wont say whether or not that actually happened but I think you can make an educated guess. But at that moment I didn't care what happened; I wanted my baby out and healthy. And the panic in my Dr. and nurses voices pushed me to push him.
After about 15min the Dr. called for the vacuum. To be honest I was a little disappointed that I couldn't get him out on my own but I was so thankful that I wasn't rushed into an emergency C-section. She suctioned onto his head and pulled while I pushed. Not going to lie it almost felt like she was going to pull his head off with how hard she was tugging. But soon after he slipped out. The Dr. started yelling that it was a boy and she was just as excited as we were. Waiting was such a special thing for all of us.
He was placed on my chest and Max cut the cord. They dried him off while I held him and stared into his beautiful eyes. Once they took him over to weigh him and do whatever is they do my Dr. cleaned me up. I was nervous about delivering the placenta because I thought it would take some effort but it just kinda plopped out; it was kinda strange.
Now the question on every woman's mind...did I tear. The short answer is yes; but not in the usual place. Generally speaking woman tear between their vagina and their but hole...essentially ripping themselves a new one (I couldn't resist that). But I didn't tear there. I even asked the Dr. if I did as soon as they took Jack away. Instead I had some radial tearing all around the opening. 5 small tears that she stitched up pretty quick, thank god the epidural was still working at that point.
Once I was cleaned up and Jack was back in my arms we tried nursing. I was so excited and nervous. What was it going to feel like? Would it work or would we have to change to formula? How do I know if I'm doing it right? How do I hold him? There were so many things going through my head. But soon my questions would be answered. They placed him on my chest and a nurse grabbed my boob and ran my nipple over his mouth. Not going to lie...all I thought about at that moment was "That nurse just grabbed my boob". But nursing felt just like how you would think it feels. Kinda weird but normal at the same time.
Then the family came in to meet the little guy and we played hot potato with him; passing him around. And then they moved me up to me recovery room. More on that later!
Hope that wasn't TMI. If there is anything else you would like to know just ask; I clearly don't mind sharing.
Until next time!
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