My doctor had made an appointment with the labor & delivery floor for me to have a non-stress test done. It would monitor his heartbeat and his movements to see how his heart reacted when he moved. So we got there, got hooked up, and Doctor Leis came in to check on me. She watched the monitor for a bit, then told us that she didn't like what she saw. His heartbeat baseline was in the high 110's, and they wanted it to be in the 130's or 140's. She said she wouldn't feel comfortable sending me home. She patted my leg and said, "You're staying to have a baby." We totally didn't expect to be staying when we walked in that morning. We already had the labor and diaper bags with us, but we hadn't made arrangements for our animals. A little while later, the doc came back in and broke my water. I was three centimeters dilated when she started, and four when she was finished. She said she'd come back to check my progress in two hours. So Bryan took that time (after a little reassurance that I'd be fine) to go home and drop off the housekey with the neighbor. He came back shortly after, in plenty of time (we don't live more than 20 minutes away from the hospital). I started feeling much stronger contractions, but they weren't too bad. When my two hours were up, I was 5 centimeters dilated. Doctor Leis said that if I wasn't at 7 in another two hours, they were going to start Pitocin, and chemically induce labor. When those (steadily more painful) two hours were up, I was somewhere between 5 and 6 centimeters dilated. So they started Pitocin, only a small dose, and the anesthesiologist came in and put in my epidural. I started shaking pretty heavily once it started, which made both Bryan and me nervous. But once everyone left, and I was able to relax, the shaking stopped. Now it was just a waiting game for me to dilate. We watched a LOT of tv during that time, and slept as much as we could. I watched the monitor screens a lot to watch JR's heartbeat as well as my contractions. I could feel when I had one, but I wasn't feeling any pain. About 7 or 7:30, the nurse came in and said it was time to start pushing. It took me a while to figure out how to push effectively, but my nurse turned off my epidural so that I could feel my contractions better. She got scolded by my doctor, but I was glad she did it. I still didn't feel any pain, but I could feel my legs more, and was able to feel my progress. It got tons easier when I finally felt his head as he was crowning. Bryan was wonderful the whole time, getting me water and chapstick, and holding the bowl when I had to vomit. That happened when the nurse wanted me to try pushing on my side, but my body didn't agree. Pushing was rough, mostly because it took so long for me to figure out how to push effectively, and because I couldn't feel that I was making any progress, and that was really discouraging. But when Bryan told me he could see JR's head, that was the best encouragement ever! And then Nurse Laurel (awesome nurse) had me reach down and feel his head when it was about halfway out. Between those two, I got the extra mental push I needed. I couldn't feel when his head came out, but I felt his shoulder come out, and could tell when the midwife pulled the rest of him out. When I saw him, I just started bawling, from relief that my work was done, and from the sheer beauty of the moment. Over nine months of waiting had rewarded us with this perfect being. Bryan cut the cord, and they placed him on my chest to clean him off. I remember saying, "He's so heavy!" I kept looking up at Bryan, thinking, We did it, we really did it...
So, 14 hours after we arrived at the hospital, and with three hours of pushing, Jennings Randall Lesher was born. I considered it an easy labor, and a relatively easy delivery. It was a relief, because after such an easy pregnancy, I thought I'd have a horrendous labor and/or delivery. As it was, the lady next door to me apparently had a horrible experience. As JR's head was just starting to crown, the nurses were hedging bets on who would deliver first. I guess she was just as close as I was. But as I got closer and closer to delivering, I could hear her crying. Nurse Laurel said she was panicking, she didn't want to have a bowel movement on the table, so she wasn't pushing right. Even though she had an epidural, she was still crying that it hurt really badly. I also heard her trying to give up, saying she couldn't do it. JR was born at 10:49pm, her baby was born at 1:04am the next morning. I was really proud of myself for never giving up, or even thinking of it. I was determined to get that baby out. I do remember thinking that he never wanted to come out, because he sure was taking his time.
It wasn't the birth experience I had hoped for, but it turned out for the better. I didn't want an induction, because I knew that inductions make contractions worse. I wanted to try to have him without an epidural as well, because I wanted to prove that I was strong enough. Women have had babies medication-free for generations, and I'd been told that a med-free birth gives us an enormous Superwoman feeling. But at the end, I told Bryan I was really glad I'd had the epidural, because I didn't think I could have dealt with the pain had I not. It would have been really hard to push through that kind of pain. But I knew that if I'd had to be chemically induced, I wanted the epidural. So it did turn out for the better, because I don't think I would have been given much of a choice about being induced. I told the Doctor I didn't want an induction, but if that's what it took to have a healthy baby, I didn't have a problem with it.
I just realized that I forgot JR's stats in the email I sent out. He weighed 8 pounds, 3 ounces, and was 20 and 3/4 inches long. He got an Apgar score of 9 at one minute old, and 9 at five minutes old. The highest a baby can get is ten, and it's incredibly rare that it happens that way. So he was doing great. The nurse did note that for being overdue, he still had a lot of cheesy vernix on him. Babies are supposed to lose more and more of that the longer they go past 40 weeks. I've noticed that he has a lot of that lanugo "fur" still yet, too. So apparently, he was right on time for him.
But like I said, Bryan was great, absolutely wonderful the whole time. He got my water when I wanted it, got my chapstick when the nurse advised against drinking any more. He helped me push, his voice was the one I focused on when he was counting for me. He helped me push through contractions when my nurse wasn't there. He was so encouraging, telling me how great I was doing, how proud of me he was. I'd never loved him more.
Here are some pictures:
Picture 1: Just after they got him cleaned up and Apgar scores taken, so he was about five to ten minutes old at that point. Doesn't Bryan just look so proud? :)
Picture 2: Taken with my camera phone while we were in our postpartum room.
Picture 3: These were taken right after we got home, three days after he was born. This was his going home outfit. His hat says Boob Man, though you can't tell. He was hungry when we got home, so I couldn't get a good picture of him.
Picture 4: I love when he's awake and alert like this. I get this after burping, when his belly's full, but he's been woken up. He's all content, but very alert.
That's all for this post. Still to come: JR's first days; My postpartum body
No comments:
Post a Comment