We shot up at 5:10 in the morning on May 4th when the phone rang, asking us to come to the hospital by 6:15 to have a baby. Seeing that the news was quite exciting, we couldn't get back to sleep so we got up and got ready and went to the hospital.
They hooked me up to everything and by 7:30, they had started dripping the pitocin and would come in every 1/2 hour to change the dose. So we all just hung out. We watched The Price is Right and just had a joyous time! The nurse came in and looked at the monitor and said, "Oh! Have you been feeling those contractions?" Surprised, I turned to look at the monitors and, sure enough, I'd been having contractions! "I've been having contractions?" I asked, and everyone laughed because I really had no idea! So, they uped the dose again, and left.
At one point of they day, they came to check on me and said that Zack was way too high, and with my slow progress, a C-section was looking very possible if he couldn't drop down. So they got another on call doctor to come and take a look at me a 1/2 hour-1 hour later. I was pretty nervous, and I REALLY didn't want a C-section. But I came to the conclusion that I was willing to do whatever was going to be best for our baby. They came back and checked on me and, low and behold, Zack had probably heard our conversation and decided to help out a little, because he had dropped significantly! Thanks for helping me out Zack! :)
Throughout the day, Clayton's mom came and hung out with us and my mom came down as well. They mostly hung out and I slept and enjoyed the fact that I couldn't feel what was going on. By 1:30 or so the Dr. came in and broke my water, and I started to be able to feel the contractions. I stuck it out for about 3 hours, and finally gave in to an epidural. They told me I could have it whenever I wanted, which apparently isn't common! Everyone keeps telling me they had to get dialiated to a 5 first to get one... Thank heavens I didn't because I was at a 3 and didn't even get to a 5 until much later that night, around 7 or 8! But because of the pitocin, my contractions were coming every 2 minutes, so sticking it out for 3 hours was big... for me! :) So they had to keep coming in and adjusting my pitocin dose so it wouldn't be too high, then it wouldn't be too low... Fun!
My progression was pretty slow. My nurses kept coming in and appologizing for being late because they had to stop and help with 2 more births that had come in after me! Ya, just what every girl wants to hear who has been sitting there for 14 hours! :) But they were great. The epidural wore off a couple times, so I got a new dose, and I would sleep while it was working to save up energy.
The nurses told me the closer I got to being dialated to a 10, I wouldn't be able to push the button to get more epidural. Well, they came in and told me I was a 9, and left, and it wore off and I felt the contractions BAD! So we called the nurse in and, almost in tears, I asked if I could please just push the button. She said I could and next thing I knew they were prepping me to push this little guy out! After 2 hours of pushing, my Dr. suggested an episiotomy, saying it would save me another 45 minutes of pushing. So I decided to take it and get a baby sooner! After cutting me pretty deep, Zack literally POPPED out, tearing me even more than the cutting had allowed, BUT HE WAS HERE!
Coming in to it, I wanted them to clean the baby before they let me hold him. But the second he came out I couldn't wait to get to hold him, and they did give him to me right away. It was such a neat feeling and for a split second, it hit me that he was actually mine. Since then I have still been trying to come to terms with that! But I relaxed as they took him and Clayton to go give him a check up, and I watched from a distance. They asked Clayton if we had a name, and he gave them the name Zackary. A sweet peaceful feeling came over me that that is who he was, and that it wasn't just something we talked about anymore. I am so happy to have him here! Yes there are struggles, and I am still healing from being torn apart by our son's "line backer shoulders" (as my Dr. referred to them as), but in the end he is worth it, and we love having him in our home.
I tend to ramble a bit more than Clayton, but there you have it! The mother's perspective. I'll continue to share more thoughts about our sweet baby boy in days to come! If you have actually read this far, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!
3 comments:
Congratulations you guys!!! He is so sweet.
Kristie is a mamma. I can't believe it. Hope you are feeling ok Kristie and don't worry, you'll get the hang of things soon. He's freaking adorable.
I love to hear all the details! Congratulations on the new arrival and welcome to motherhood. :)
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