The Whole Big Birth Story

6/2 D-Day- Nada.

 6/6 Dr. Lunt stripped my membranes and brought on some early labor signs but nothing insane.

 6/7 I was having painful contractions but only every 6-10 minutes. Sometimes I would even go longer than 20 minutes without one. So I called Lunt and wanted to know if it was frequency we were wanting or pain level. He sent me in to get checked which annoyed me because I knew I was just going to be sent home. The nurse checking me really did get my labor moving. That, however, just made me have more painful contractions and not going anywhere.

 6/9 Induction Day! We got the call to come in at 6:30 am. We were thrilled! I was already dialated to a 2 and 90%. They instantly started my IV and got the pitocin going. It made it more painful for sure, but I was handling it ok, but my back was so awful. Every contraction was just insane pressure in my back. Jeff was so amazing about helping me through the pain. He was so calm and reassuring.

 The Epidural- My goal originally was to go as long as possible to avoid pit, but I was already on the pit so I asked Lunt if we had a goal to get to and he said go ahead and get it whenever since I was already going. I caved at 3 (which took an hour and half of contractions to get there). I had been in pain since the 6th and I was done. About the time I was going on and on about how amazing the epi was, I started to feel a little nauseous. Everyone showed up about the time that I got it (around 10:30). I got very sick and the nurse checked my blood pressure. 90/55. She had warned me about it lowering my BP, but we had no idea it would tank it. I got down into the 80s several times and started feeling awful. Then came the itching. Then came the shaking. The doctor had to give me alot of medicine to get my BP up. It was getting a little crazy.

 The Long Night- I cannot describe how weird it was to feel nothing but have your body working so insanely hard. I was having contraction after contraction but was dialating very slowly. I was still sick and that whole night is kind of a blur. I was unbelievably sore from shaking so much. I was going out of my mind from the itchiness. I broke down a little and cried. I told the nurse that I didnt think I was going to be able to push. She agreed and told me to sleep as much as I can. 2x I had everybody go out for a bit so I could rest.

 A Little Scare- The nurse ran in and I looked at Jack's heart monitor. It was 77! Usually in the 120-150s). I was so tired it did even register. They threw some internal monitors on his little head. We were just laying on the cord. By the time I delivered we had 2 separate internal monitors for my contractions and the baby. Apparently we were being tricky.

Time To Push- Around 5am, they woke me up to push. I was shaking so bad- half from nerves, half from the epi. They tried to explain how to do it, but I was totally numb. So I kind of guessed and apparently guessed right. I was pushing well. I tore as soon as he descended just a little bit, so that terrified me, but I didnt have much more of an issue after that.

Apparently I kept saying "Im tired!" It didnt hurt, but my lord it was hard to push. Jeff was amazing! He was cheering me on. He seemed so amazed (and a little grossed out) by what was going on. Mid push, 2 of my assistants literally ran out of the room. I look at the nurse and ask "Are they coming back?" She said she didnt know but lets keep going. So it was just her and Jeff and my mom holding my shoulders up. Diane was great too.

So after just an hour and 15 minutes, I was crowning. The aid (who did eventually come back) asked me if I wanted to feel his head. I was like "Nah-" but she instisted and Im glad she did. It was cool. I also got to hear he had dark hair before he was born. Again, a little creepy, but kind of cool too.

 Dr. Lunt came in, and 2 pushes later, we had a baby! I could tell something wasnt quite right because Dr. Lunt kept him upside down and was doing something I couldnt see. He said "I think we had a bowel movement." It seemed like he did it in the descent so none of it was in his lungs- thank god. Apparently I had a panicked look on my face because the nurse told me he was still attached, so he was fine. He finally turned him the right way and lifted him up.

 The first thing I thought was "Oh my gosh he looks just like Jeff!" They laid him on my tummy and Jeff cut the cord. They had to take him because of the bm and make sure he was all good. I got some stitches and asked about how everything looked. I kept asking if Jack should be crying more. Apparently he was doing well, just quiet. He was so beautiful.

 Breastfeeding: I knew things were going to be a difficult since I have some boob issues already. Then, the nurse helping me with breastfeeding asked me if I was a natural red-head. She sighed and said, "Im going to warn you that because your skin has so little pigmentation, this is going to be painful." I wasnt quite ready and my nerves were still kind of shot and I still wasnt feeling well at all. It hurt so bad! Every time he latched on it was just terrible, terrible pain. I hadnt eaten in 24 hours and was starving. I could tell he was terribly hungry too. They tried a few times, and I literally broke out into a sob. I wanted to breastfeed so bad, but at that point, I knew I wouldnt be able to. I didnt give up, but I had a really bad feeling I wasnt going to be able to do it.

 I understood how hungry and miserable he must feel, and I couldnt help him. I was so heartbroken. It was so important to me, but it just wasnt working. They called a lactation consultant. It didnt help that I was so emotional about the whole thing. I pretty much cried the whole time. She gave me a hug, a pump, and said "good luck." I was waiting for my milk to come in and figured it would be alot easier once it did. It came in, and I pumped and pumped and pumped and nothing. Not a freaking drop.

I was so sick for the first 20-30 minutes after he was born. The breastfeeding was a disaster and I was just wanting to get my baby and go to the recovery room so I could bond with him. I felt like I was loosing precious moments to hold him because I was such a mess. Thank god they pulled my epi. I felt instantly better.

At the end of the day, I got to wrap him up in my gown and do skin-to-skin. I loved every second. He was so precious and loved him so much. It was awesome to see Jeff with him. He is such a good daddy.