Friday, July 24, 2009

Grace's Birth Story

Here it is: long, kind of boring, and full of TMI, but someday I know I'll look back at this and be glad that I'd written it all down.

6:30am
Alarm goes off. Feeling tired as usual. Get up to go pee and am feeling very crampy. Think nothing of it, have had this before, lay back down in hopes it will pass.

7:30am
Have hit snooze button a dozen or more times, still feeling crampy, but push myself to get up. Take un-enjoyable shower due to tired legs and really just want to lay back down.

8:00am
"Wow, these cramps are a little more intense then they usually are. Could this be....nahhhh."
Getting Jordan dressed and soon realize I can't ignore these cramps. Sit down on couch and start timing.

8:30am
Call doctor's office, state that I 'think' I might be in labor. "My contractions are 10 to 15 minutes apart, should I come in?" Nurse Alison says yes.
Call Darric, tell him the deal and he wants me to call him when I get to the doctors. (????) Call the mom's, who then insist to call Darric back and make him drive me in. Call Darric back, he's on his way. Start grabbing things, not sure what, but filling a bag with something.
8:45am
Darric gets home. While I'm moving slow, Darric is being the usual father and running around the house like a chicken with it's head cut off, which has gotten Jordan running around the house as well, but he has no clue why. He begins asking questions, but we're kind of ignoring him, sorry Jordan.

9:30am
Drop Jordan off at school. Call work to tell them I may or may not be in today. At this point I haven't convinced myself that I'm in labor.

10:00am
Arrive at doctor's office. Get hooked up to monitors and within 15 minutes Alison says "Oh yeah, you're in labor." She also tells me that I had 4 contractions that I apparently didn't even feel.

11:00am
Tweet: Doesn't today seem like a good day to have a baby? On our way to the hospital with contractions at 7 mins apart.
Head to hospital, but not without stopping at Dunkin Donuts for Daddy.

12:00pm
In room 727, hooked up to monitors which baby is kicking like crazy. First dose of antibiotics started (because I am B-Strep positive, which can make the baby get a virus when it travels through the birth canal, I have to have antibiotics to help protect the baby against getting a virus.) Doctor Jack has been in, checks me and says he'll be back around 4:00pm to break my water.

12:30pm
Tweet: Now i remember this, can i change my mind now?
As contractions are getting more stronger and more often the waiting starts to take a toll on my mind and anxiety/nerves set in. Luckily my mom has now arrived and helps to take my mind off things.
1:30pm
Getting hungry, but am told I can only have a popsicle which isn't very appetizing by the time the nurse brings it in. Darric goes to get himself lunch and brings back an ice cream sandwich which he eats right in front of me. Jerk!
Take a short walk which seem to make my contractions a little more intense.
Get back in bed to continue to wait while Darric watches TV and mom acts her silly self.
Tweet: In the meantime, passing time by watching mom & darric play pass with giant ball.

3:45pm
"Wow, those 4 hours went by fast."
Second round of antibiotics given. Doctor Jack is back, check's my cervix and breaks my water, which although I'm so glad I've escaped the embarrassment of having my water break in public, it really, really, really hurts to have a tool that look like a knitting needle stuck up you and moved every which way until GUSH.

4:30pm
The whole day, as well as trying to make a decision on a boy's name, I've also been trying to make a decision on whether I want pain pills or not. By this point contractions are about 2 to 5 minutes apart, and very unbearable. The nurse has the anesthesiologist come in to talk to me about my options. This conversation goes as well as it could go with someone who is in hard labor, but the decision is made to not have an epidural and to just have a mild pain reliever put into my IV, which did nothing at all in the end.
The room slowly starts to get hectic, people are in and out, mom's cell phone keeps ringing which I want to throw out the window and I'm moaning and groaning with every contraction.

5:00pm
I say I feel the urge to push and suddenly the end of the bed has disappeared and 4 people, (Dr. Jack, student nurse Amanda, my nurse and some other guy who I've not even been introduced to), are standing at my crotch and staring at my girly parts. My first push is very wimpy, I'm panicking because of all the pain and I really don't think I can do this at this point and am wishing somebody else would step in for me, preferably my husband.
The contraction ends and I need to rest. As I lay there, I'm able to focus my mind a little better on knowing that I have to do this.
Another contraction; Me: "I CAN'T DO THIS! I CAN'T DO THIS!!!" Dr. Jack: "You are doing this!" Not only is he a Dr. McDreamy, and although I've not liked him at some points of the pregnancy (especially the scrapping of the membranes), I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him. He's encouraging, funny, makes you feel like you can ask him anything, he knows his stuff and did I mention he's hunky.
At my next rest, the room becomes completely quiet. I open my eyes to see if anyone is still with me and see Dr. Jack staring out the window with a bored look, he then starts whistling. (sigh)
Another contraction, another push, I'm suddenly not a wimp. I can feel a head pushing out, this is something I did not feel with Jordan due to the epidural. It is so uncomfortable, yet so motivating that the end is near. There's no more resting in between contractions now, except to breathe. Dr. Jack asks me if I want to reach down and feel the head, "No, I just want it out NOW!" Another big push and the moment we'd all been waiting for had arrived. What I felt was indescribable, even though I was so tired I felt so powerful, superwoman. What I saw was a baby with its cord wrapped around its neck, I started to freak and Dr. Jack removed it with no problem. One more push to get the legs out and we were told......."It's a GIRL!" I looked up at Darric and said "I did it, I got my baby girl." So many emotions were overcoming us, we wanted to laugh, we wanted to cry.
They layed Grace on my chest, she wasn't crying much but she was very alert, she looked at me, I looked at her and it was like we knew each other already. She was all goo-covered, but she was beautiful.
They took her away to do their stuff to her and I craned my neck to see her while trying not to pay attention to what they were doing down below. It's amazing how much we loose our modesty at times like this.
Soon everyone was done, they told me I did great which I'm sure that's part of their training in college so it's hard to tell if I really did great or not, but I was feeling pretty proud of myself anyways. They brought Grace back, she was now swaddled in a blanket, with a cute little nylon pink and blue hat, a little less gooey, but just as alert and as beautiful. We hung out in the labor and delivery room for awhile, family came to visit, with a surprise visit from my dad and Denise, then everyone was gone, they took Grace to the nursery and after peeing (this is something I couldn't do after having Jordan) I was wheel chaired into my huge, private room by 8:00pm.
That's where we stayed for the next 2 days. Jordan stayed at camp with his Grammie and Papa as Darric and I were producing his sibling. I had a wide range of nurses, including one who had 7 kids at home and gave me every bit of advice that she could, including nipple care (yikes). I rewarded myself for birthing such a beautiful baby girl by having a chocolate milkshake with every meal (had to do something to make the hospital food suck less). We spent a lot of time holding Grace, trying to sleep and adjusting. I got out of bed as little as possible, not only did I hate my bare butt hanging out of my gown, but boy did my bare butt and other parts hurt. The process of just getting in and out of the bed took what seemed like an hour.
Now that we've been home for awhile I can say recovery this time has been so much easier, faster and better then it was the first time around. I'm back to my normal self, they say 6 weeks before any strenuous activity, but I'm so totally starting to exercise already.
All in all I think everything went quite well, although she was stubborn getting here, the labor didn't go too bad, not too hard of a recovery and a perfect, perfect outcome:

4 comments:

Mom said...

Totally Awesome is all I can say!!!

Ellen Rust said...

Loved reading your story and I didn't think there was too much TMI. And, she is just beautiful. I love looking at all the pictures of her. Hope to meet her soon.

Love, Aunt Ellen.

denikay said...

Loved it! I can't believe how she has grown. Can't wait to see all of you again. I'm on vacation starting Aug.8th-16th. Take care! Love You!

Kara said...

Hard to believe a year has passed. You're amazing, Samantha. A wonderful mother, wife, and yes, Superwoman! xoxo