Woke up at 730 with a huge pain in my belly. It felt like I had gas pains and the top of my belly was hard and detended. I got up and tried to lay on the couch but it was not helping. I waited until about 10 then I woke Adam up and asked him to please rub my back to move the gas...lI farted a couple times and had a BM but nothing moved it. I tried to eat. Felt nausea. At about 1:00 I had Adam call OB triage...He explained the pains and they said to come in. I was not having any contractions at this time. On the way to the hospital I started to feel some period cramps in my lower belly and there was some lower back pain. We got to the hospital and they hooked me up to the moniters. By this time I was feeling more cramping and they were registering on the moniter. Nothing really painful though, just the same pain from the hard belly. They let me lay there for about 1 hour then a nurse came to check my dialation... she could not get a good feel and she nearly killed me trying! So another nurse came and she tried had better luck and said I was about 2cm and 80% dialated. They called to OB, he came down and said looks like we're having a baby. They hooked up my IV...had to try twice...with the antibiotics and the saline. And a room was found for me. I walked to the room with Adam and shortly after my parents showed up. I took a walk with my mom for about 15 minutes to bring on the contractions. At this point they were still nothing more than period cramps. It is now about 6:00pm. We came back to the room and I told the nurse that I wanted to use the labour tub and she said ok once Dr Mundle comes in and breaks my water she will get it ready for me. The breaking of the water hurt like a son of a bitch. I thought the doctor was looking for my tonsils. The water broke...holy shit there is so much water in there. It ran up and down my back and was so hot. I am so glad it did not break at home. I would have freaked out. It was discovered at this point that Jacob was very high up because if he would have been lower the water would have gushed but not quite like it did. They also found meconium in the water and thus the bath was cancelled and some extra provisions were put in place. An OR was booked in case of emergency and we were told that the NICU would be present at the birth and that quite possibly he would be taken to the NICU. Scary, but we knew that would be for his own good. I was not allowed to get up and walk now because they did not want the baby to have any more exsposure to the meconium. By now the contractions were killing me. Not that they were so painful but, they were back to back with no reprieve in the middle. Adam and I were breathing through them very well but it was too much. I ordered the epidural at 645 and it arrived at 8pm. That was a long hour and a half let me tell you! LOL. The epidural did not hurt as much I thought it was going to the worst part was the freezing needle they put in sent a shock up my spine that I was not expecting. When he put the epidural needle I did not feel that then it felt like cool water running up my back and across my shoulders then down my back and accross my hips. They warned me that I might feel a funny bone hitting sensation right after that but I did not feel that. The relief came almost instantly...except for some reason it only lessened the pain on my right side and I could still feel labour pains there. At 830 the OB on call came in and checked my dialation.. I was at 7. Thank God. He then discovered that the baby was in a tranverse position so the nurse had all these crazy positions to put me in to move the baby into proper positioning. She then said that the doctor ordered Petocin drip and I asked her why? When I was already so far along? She said sometimes it helps with the pushing. I asked her to tell the DR that at this point I was not ready for the petocin because I still feel the pains on my right side and I knew that the petocin would make the pains worse and I was not prepared for that yet. She said she would top off my epidural and see if the right side pains went away. They did not. But they did lessen once again. An hour later she checked me and I was at 10CM and fully dialated. I think this was about 11pm. Because the baby who had moved into postion by now was still very high up I did not have the urge to push she turned down the lights and I had a little nap. At Midnight I started feeling the urge to push so we started. Adam at my right side, my mom at my left and my dad behind me to my left. The nurse who was very crafty was at the bottom of the bed adminstering a perinium message to loosen the skin and get it ready to be stretched. At each contraction I pushed to the count of 10 with my mom and Adam counting it out for me. I pushed for an hour then the baby came passed the pelvic bone and the nurse called for the doctor because I would need an eposiotomy because I still had part of my Hyman. That was quite funny to us! So now we say Jacob is the Messiah and I had an immaculate conception and birth! The doctor was busy dleivering another baby so we just continued to push. I say we because Adam and my mom said they were pushing righ along with me! The nurse said that getting the head to crown was the toughest part and asked me if I wanted the petocin at this point to help the uterus help him down. I said yes, and boy did that speed things up...the next thing I knew the head was out... the dr was no where in sight and I felt so much pressure and the nurse is yelling, I need a dr in here stat...where the hell is he? There were at this point 3 other nurses and the respiroligist in the room waiting for him to be born. They were afraid to have him out that far because they did not want him to inhale the poop. So the nurse was holding his head in. I was screaming I have to push and they were screaming you can't just wait...My mom had just put ice chips in my mouth and I started to hyperventalate and was afraid I would swallow the ice so I just yelled sorry guys and spit those babies across the room...one NICU nurse had to duck...and the ice flew into the wall at the other end of the room the right into the sink. Looking back it was quite comical and has given my family lots to laugh about. So finally the Dr gets there they tell me to give a 1/2 push and the head is allowed to come out. The Dr starts suctioning right away and then I am instructed to give another good push and out popped the shoulders. The next thing I know there is this little man laying on my belly and he is the most beautiful thing I have seen in my life. My mom is weeping, Adam is weeping, my dad is weeping, but I am just in awe staring at him. He could not stay for long though they had to get him to the warmer and access him. Even though he scored 9 on the apgar they said that he had to go to the NICU. They brought him over to me and I kissed his little head and said happy birthday Jacob, I love you. And he, ADam and my dad were whisked away to the NICU. The Dr delivered the placenta and then the fun began... because he could not make it for the epsiotomy I tore from the inside and he had an hour worth of mending to do. All I have to say is thank God for the Epidural or I would have been in agony. The Dr said that without the epidural he may have had to take me to the or to fix me. Ok so that's it. That's the story about how I became a mommy at 109am on Thursday November 09 to my 6 pound 13 ounce 21 inch angel.
Once they sewed me up then I ate some toast... the best toast ever because I was so hungry. And they gave me a sponge bath.. Adam and my dad came back and said the Baby was doing well, that his colour was a lot better and he was on some oxygen. Adam took my mom to see him and my dad was telling me all about the conversation he had with the baby!
At 4am I was put in a wheelchair and taken down to the NICU to meet my new son officially. We nursed for the first time. And as unsure about it as I was, it really did just come naturally Jacob took to it right away. So far we are still doing well and he is eating well. I enjoy it...mostly. But it does drain me and sometimes when I am really tired I wish someone else could take over. But then I see the way my son looks at me and I realize this is something that only he can share and then I love it all over again.
We could go to the NICU 24 hours a day so we went whenever we wanted and we could hold him right away which was great. On Thursday morning it was discovered that Jacob's right lung was holding too much air...(called a nemuthorax, I think) and because it was so inflated it was pushing his heart over to the side too much and causing stress on the heart. They had to stick a needle into his chest and remove some of the air and then hoped that the heart would move over and the arhythmia would improve on its own. Once they did the procedure the lung stayed the way it should be then we just had to watch his heart rate. Once Jacob reached the 24 hour old mark he turned right around and was like a new kid. That was a relief for sure! Thursday night mother love hit me and lay in my bad and just wept with love and gratitude for the special little gift we had been given.
On Friday afternoon he was released from the NICU to our room and it was great to have with us.
On Saturday we came home as a family. After all these years we finally have our angel.
It was the best experience of my life.
Here is a picture.