Our New Beginning

On January 6th, I had my 39 week check up. A check up I never thought I'd go to since none of my sisters have made it past 38 weeks and 4 days with any of their pregnancies. I even told my OB that I didn't think I'd make it and I think she agreed with me. I predicted that Lewis would be born on January 3rd, but that day came and went. Spencer and I were trying to naturally induce labor by going on walks, eating spicy food, bouncing up and down on a rickety playground bridge, the works! 

At my 39 week appointment, she checked and said that I was dilated to a 5, and fully effaced. I told her that I desperately wanted to be induced, and we were even ready to go downstairs to start the induction after the appointment. Originally she mentioned Thursday, but we ended up planning for Tuesday, January 7th. The 7th sounds like a good day for a birthday! We were told to call Labor and Delivery at 6 am to see when we should go in. 

Although I took melatonin before bed, I only managed to get 3 hours of sleep. I couldn't get comfortable as my body was aching all over, unable to find a comfortable sleeping position for more than 5 minutes. Spencer tried his best to help me fall asleep, but Lewis kept moving around that kept me up. He was having a dance party because he knew he was being born soon! From 5-6 am, I was up because he had the hiccups the entire time, moving my stomach around.

I checked the clock at 5:58 and I accepted the fact that that was all the sleep I was going to get. I didn't dare to check my Fitbit to see how much sleep I got since I knew I had a long day ahead of me. I called Labor and Delivery and they told us to be there at 7:45 am. Spencer made us waffles as I was supposed to have a light breakfast.

In the car, I called them again and apologized for being late, but that we were going to get there at 8 am. They laughed and said not to worry, and that they’ll be expecting us. We got there and had to do a ton of paperwork. I got into my gown and they started to hook me up to a bunch of machines. One for my contractions and one for Lewis’s heart rate. They also took my blood so they could compare my blood levels post labor.

Shortly after being hooked up I was told that I just had a contraction. I soon learned that I was naturally having contractions 7 minutes apart. I was confused since I didn’t feel like I was having contractions. I was so used to Lewis kicking me so much, I just thought those moments of discomfort were him moving around. So if I had waited for 24-48 more hours, I could have had him naturally and it could have been pretty bad. I may have had him in the car since I could not tell what the contractions felt like. I feel really lucky that I decided to be induced even if it seemed a little silly with how far along I was. I had two really intense contractions the Saturday previous, so that’s what I was looking for when it comes to timing contractions. Looking back, my OB told me that if I was having contractions 7-8 minutes apart for 30-45 minutes, lasting 30-45 seconds, I should come to the hospital right away. I don't think I was having them for that long, but it seemed like I was going to have Lewis with or without the induction soon!

I was pretty worried about getting my IV, since having a tube in me constantly was pretty nerve wracking. But we had a really good nurse named Jen and she did a stellar job. She told me that she was going to inject some numbing fluid so it wouldn’t hurt as bad. I thought the IV was more like a 2 out of 10. But I really didn’t like looking at the IV so I hid it. It was around 9 am by the time it was in. So. Much. Fluid.

After that, they checked to see how far along I was, and I was still dilated to 5 cm. They needed to see how far away I was from 10, so being halfway wasn't too shabby! The Pitocin was placed in my IV around 9:30 am. I was pretty bored most of the time while I was slowly learning what a contraction felt like. It was interesting since I could feel them coming before the monitor showed it appearing like mountains. I never realized how slowly this part of the induction takes.

(The timing on everything gets all blurry from here. I just know the epidural and getting my waters broken was an hour apart.)

I got my epidural around 1? pm, and honesty it was NOT that bad. The anesthesiologist was super nice and talked me through everything. I was slouched over a table on the side of the bed while he numbed me up real good. I was very still, and I’m pretty proud of myself since people kept saying how big of a needle it is. Good thing I didn’t see it! That probably would have freaked me out if I did.

When Jen and my OB were getting ready to break my water around 2? pm, they looked at me and said that my water was leaking. I admitted to them that since I was getting so much fluid from the IVs, I just thought it was urine! I still don’t know if my waters started to break because of the cervix check at the very beginning, or if it was honest to goodness breaking naturally. They checked to see if I had any progress, and I was now 6 cm dilated. Now, we continued to wait. 

As the contractions got worse, I focused on them more as they were more uncomfortable. I’m not entirely sure how long after my water broke before I needed to get a second dosage of my epidural. I had two particularly awful contractions that brought me to tears. I was feeling the contraction in my lower back and in the front so I was in a lot of pain. Once the second dose started to kick in, I got really sleepy. They told me to rest on my side and it was great! I didn’t feel any contractions, despite them getting more and more intense. Spencer was watching them on the monitor and I wasn’t stirring at all. The beauty of an epidural. I was hoping I’d get some sleep, but since I was constantly hooked up to a blood pressure monitor that didn’t happen. It continually took my blood pressure every 10 minutes or so. I was completely dilated 7 minutes to 4 pm.

My nurse Jen predicted that Lewis was going to be born around 6 pm. I really hoped that she was wrong because I did not want to wait that long! I was also getting bored of drinking juice and eating jello for my diet. I wanted something else. I was completely

At 4:15 pm was the time to push. Since Lewis was so low, everyone in the room saw his head quickly after the first attempt. I asked Spencer later on about my pushing, and he told me I was progressing toward crowning with each push. Jen told me when to deeply inhale (and hold) and then push for ten seconds during each contraction. Then I'd rest in between each contraction. We did this for a few contractions. I felt like blood veins were popping out of my forehead. I kept getting encouragement that I was doing great. I wasn't sure if they were lying to me or if they meant it. I even said that out loud and they said they were being honest.

Jen told someone to get my OB and she asked Jen if I was crowning. She said no, but that I would be soon. During the next contraction my OB asked to push and I did. She exclaimed, "Wow, you're a good pusher." They got my legs up in this contraption so they were more stable and others didn't have to hold them up. Spencer got into his gown along with everyone else since we planned on him catching Lewis. They started to prep all of the equipment, tables, etc., and to me that felt like FOREVER.

Funnily enough, I really wanted him born at 4:37 (also Spencer's prediction) and saw the clock at 4:35 pm. I thought, "that's not going to happen". He was literally born at 4:37:58 with a little cry as his head appeared. There was a pause, and then the rest of his body came out in the same push. I thought, “That’s it?” It’s AMAZING how epidurals work, since I didn’t feel a THING. (But I now feel everything with this recovery.) I think Spencer started to catch Lewis as his body descended. I'm sure he was super slippery! It was pretty cool that he was able to experience that. I would have felt a little silly if he was holding my hand as I pushed, which was my original idea. Births on TV are so unrealistic...

Lewis was put on my abdomen with a towel around him. I don't remember who cleaned him up, but they did that quickly as I stroked his head and little arms. He was pretty precious looking. :) Lewis held my left thumb as I touched his hand and didn't let go at all until he had to get measured and weighed. I thought it was super sweet as him holding my thumb calmed him down. Someone announced that Lewis' Apgar score was 9/10, only a point off because his hands and feet were a little purple. Another someone (same someone?) mentioned that they've only seen three babies with that score. I guess Lewis is pretty perfect!

We got to do skin to skin for over an hour. I don't remember really much of anything specific post labor other than it was great. :) The placenta was delivered easily, Spencer cut the cord, Lewis fed for the first time, and they had to stitch me up for over 45 minutes. Spencer also did skin to skin and it was happy to see him be an official father for the first time. And that was the start of our new beginning.
Total labor time: 7 hours and 47 minutes