I've finally returned to blogging after some very wonderful and hectic weeks learning how to be a mommy. First, I want to write down Belle's incredible birth story so we'll never forget how it happened. I left off with my last post waiting patiently in the hospital on mandatory bedrest because my water broke early. My OB wanted to wait to induce labor until after I was 34 weeks along which would have been December 15th. Instead, Isabelle decided that five days of bedrest was long enough, and she arrived on her own time on December 12, 2011 at 4:15 p.m. Here's the story:
On Sunday night (December 11th) Sean had already left the hospital to sleep after spending the day with me. I tried to relax by watching television, but I noticed that my lower back was hurting. I just assumed it was due to sleeping for days in the uncomfortable hospital bed. At around 10 p.m. the pain was keeping me from sleeping, so I asked the nurse for some Tylenlol and a heating pad. After about two hours the pain was getting worse and not better. The nurse decided to hook me up to the monitor to check the baby's heart rate. She also gave me a button to push whenever I felt the pain increase. I had never felt contractions before so I wasn't sure if this was what I was experiencing, and I was confused because all the pain was in my back and not my abdomen. I called and woke Sean up at about 1:30 a.m., and he said he would come first thing in the morning. I was in early labor all night long and could not sleep. Apparently, the medication they were giving me to stop my labor for all those days could not supersede nature. Our sweet girl had a mind of her own and was ready to arrive!
Sean arrived at the hospital at 7:30 a.m. and ate breakfast while I watched. Actually, I snuck some food even though the nurse did not want me to eat anything until I saw the doctor. My OB came by around 9:00 a.m. and confirmed I was having contractions. She ordered Pictocin and said I could have my epidural at any time. We were moved from the high-risk pregnancy unit to a labor and delivery room. Now, this is where it gets interesting.
We had decided long ago to not have anyone else in the delivery room except for me and Sean. What we hadn't discussed was if we were going to let our parents and others wait in the waiting room while I was in labor. Everyone had been calling us daily since I had been in the hospital to see how I was doing so it was going to be very difficult to keep it a secret. Ultimately, we decided we didn't even want anyone there, even in the waiting room so we basically lied to anyone who called/texted us that day. For instance, my mom called at noon and asked how I was doing. I was in the middle of a contraction so I braced my hands on the side of the bed and said, "Fine, everything is good, bye!" We also had to ask our visitors to keep the delivery a secret from our families for the time being. A friend from work stopped by and I had Sean meet her in the lobby to tell her what was going on. Then, our pastor from church came by for a surprise visit and he was re-directed to labor and delivery. When he came in he realized what was going on, told us he was praying for us, and left within five minutes. Also, Sean's aunt and my best friend's mom both work at Baptist. They had visited me regularly while I had been in the hospital. Both discovered that afternoon that we had moved rooms and we made them promise to not tell the grandparents until we were ready.
Now back to the actual labor story. I was trying to not have the epidural until the last possible moment because I wanted to be able to stand up and move around during the contractions. The contractions were bearable as long as I tried to focus on something else during the pain. At noon I was 3-4 centimeters and the pain was getting worse. A nurse from the NICU came by to explain what would happen once Belle was born, and I could barely focus on what she was saying because my contractions were so painful. I would have to ask her to stop talking and grip the bedrails until it passed. I went ahead and said I wanted the epidural and fortunately the anesthesiologist was nearby. I was in so much pain from the contractions that the thought of a needle in my spine didn't faze me. I didn't feel any pain, just a cold stinging. After a few minutes the epidural began to work, and I felt my legs and feet go numb. Fortunately, that was when we had our surprise visitors stop by and I was able to talk to them. Sean and I were starting to relax that afternoon and I was looking forward to getting a nap in before I had to push. Instead, about an hour after my epidural, I noticed it began to wear off. I was slightly numb, and when the contractions came I could feel the pain especially on my right side. I requested to see the doctor. A different anesthesiologist came by and asked me if I wanted a second epidural. I went against my instinct and said okay. Now looking back, I should have just declined because apparently they do not work very well on me. It was almost 3:00 p.m. by the time he was able to administer the second epidural, and I had progressed so quickly that there wasn't enough time for the epidural to take full effect. The nurse called for my OB to come at 3:50 and she arrived ten minutes later. Those were the longest ten minutes of my life because I had started to feel the urge to push. The nurse told me I couldn't push until my doctor arrived, and it took everything I had to keep myself from pushing.
Well, at 4:00 p.m. my OB arrived, prepped everything and had me start pushing. The first round of pushing I wasn't sure how to do it. I pushed but I wasn't focused and exhausted myself quickly. By the second round of pushing I knew what to do. I think I only had to push 6 or 7 rounds before her head was out. Sean was by my side the entire time and I'm pretty sure I bruised his hand. The last round of pushing was the biggest relief because her body finally came out. Sean said I pushed so hard she shot out like a rocket! Belle was born at 4:15 p.m. She was 3 pounds 9 ounces and 15 3/4 inches when she was born. He wasn't able to cut the cord because it was wrapped around the baby's neck. My OB cut the cord quickly and she immediately started crying! That was the most joyous noise to my ears! They took her over to the side of the room to clean her up and get her hooked her up to monitors due to her premature status. My husband was so sweet and started crying. He also was able to film her with our camera while my doctor completed my stitches and delivered the placenta. I was not able to hold her, but they did bring her over to me so I could see her for a moment before they took her to the NICU. To be honest, I was so exhausted from the labor that it didn't matter that much to me. I knew she was in excellent hands and that we would see her soon.
After she was taken to NICU and my OB had left, we started calling the grandparents. It was fun calling them and telling them to come to the hospital right away because Isabelle had been born. They all pretty much said, "What, the baby's been born?" "Okay, we'll be there right away!" My dad was so excited that he ended up being late to the hospital because he rear-ended someone on the freeway! He said the traffic ticket was worth it! Sean's parents handled the news pretty well and were just excited to see Belle. My mom was a little upset with me since I lied to her on the phone earlier. Fortunately, she got over that pretty quickly once she got to go see her sweet granddaughter. We had family visitors all evening long, and Sean had to take them two at a time to see her in the NICU. I was the last to see her, and they took me by her bed on the way up to the recovery room. I had not cried the entire day, but as soon as I got to see her sweet face I burst into tears! It was the best moment ever sitting there holding her hand with Sean by my side. Ultimately, Sean and I were happy about our decision to go through the labor and delivery by ourselves. It was never stressed about having family waiting on us for hours, and it was special knowing only me and Sean shared the experience of bringing our daughter into the world. We became a family in an instant, and I don't regret a thing.
I was taken up to the recovery room and finally allowed myself to relax. Obviously I had never been pregnant before, I had never given birth before, and I had never had to recover from a birth before. I was bleeding quite a bit, but I thought it was normal. My nurse on the recovery floor helped me to the restroom before I tried to go to sleep. She also noticed I was bleeding alot and was passing huge blood clots. I was bleeding so much that by midnight she became concerned and contacted the doctor on call. At 1:30 a.m. the doctor arrived to examine me. This was the most painful experience, much more painful than childbirth. I was already sore and torn from the delivery that it made the examination unbearable. I immediately started crying due to pain. Sean later said he was so upset because he thought it lasted longer than it needed to. The doctor determined I had some type of laceration that had not been stitched and had me taken down to the operation room. I was relieved and thought it would be a simple fix with a few stitches. This was not the case. As soon as we arrived back downstairs two anesthesiologists began asking me all kinds of questions about my medical history. Then, several nurses came in to prep me. I knew this was major surgery when I was being wheeled into the stark white operating room. The doctor asked me if I wanted an epidural or to be put under. This time I knew exactly what I wanted, "Put me under!" because I was afraid the epidural would not work. In the meantime, they scared Sean pretty badly while he was waiting on me. They told him it could be an easy fix or it could be so severe that I could lose my uterus! He was upset and called my mom and his mom to tell them what was going on. Fortunately, it was an "easy fix" and they repaired a blood vessel that ruptured while I was pushing. The surgery only took a half hour, and we still found a little humor in the whole situation. Apparently, when I woke up from the anesthesia I was pretty violent. So violent that I tried to pull the breathing tube out and scratched one of the nurses all over her arm. Sean told me all of this while I was in the recovery room waking up. The nurse that I had scratched was still in the room checking my vitals. I was still pretty drugged and I said groggily, "Did I scratch you?" She said, "Yes, but that's okay it happens all the time." Then I said in my drugged state with no sympathy in my voice, "Sorry." and turned my held and fell back asleep! Sean told me later her arm looked like a cat attacked her, and she was definitely annoyed. He said it was all he could do to not laugh out loud!
I stayed in the hospital an additional two days to recover. It took me about four days to feel back to normal after giving birth. While I was there the lactation consultant helped me express milk so we could give Belle some clostrum. We visited her several times a day, and I was comforted knowing she was just downstairs. It was so hard leaving her in the hospital while I went home. By the grace of God, she was born healthy and never required any oxygen or assistance while in the NICU. She had an ECHO and we confirmed that she had no congenital heart defects. I will have to put up a second post about the first two weeks of her life, and how we finally were able to bring her home.
Haha! Poor nurse! ; )
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