AScottWolf
I <3 our squish!
Member since 11/10 2237 total posts
Name:
Adriana
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Wolf Pups arrival!
Due date: 9/7/13
 Arrived: 9/10/13 @ 12:51pm
Hospital: South Nassau (All of the nurses and doctors here were amazing!! DH and I had such a good experience here.)
Ob: Horizon OBGYzn in RVC. Primary - Dr. Tomlinson. At first I wasn't sure if I should switch because I found his personality at first a bit eh..lacking in bedside manner. I'm SO glad I decided to stay. Each visit he was a little better and friendlier. I plan on staying with him for my next one (which I can't even think about right now lol).
( I apologize for all the spelling/grammar errors in this post. I'm typing this over time at night while pumping lol.).
On Thursday, the 5th I had an internal and a final growth sonogram. The baby had been measuring on the larger side for most of my pregnancy and since I'm petite the doc wanted to continue to monitor him. The internal showed no sign of progress and although I know it can change in an instance, but I had little hope that would arrive by 9/7.
9/7 came....and went.
After the internal I had some brown spotting and called the office to make sure that all was ok, they said the spotting was normal but keep an eye on it. The spotting continued for several days and was heavy enough to require a pad.
So, Sunday the 8th arrives and I wake up with some minor cramping. Nothing too severe. It enough to keep me up. I was hoping this was the start of labor. Before I was able to start timing them I must have fell asleep because the next thing I remember it was 11am Sunday morning. Oh well. The day, and spotting, went on as usual.
Monday the 9th arrives and again I wake up around 3:30am with cramping. This time I didn't fall asleep and they were bad enough to make me get out of bed to stretch. At the time the spotting was a little heavier and was now red. I tried to go back to sleep but by this point the Paris were becoming more intense and were 5 min apart. DH had already somewhat woke up and I called the doc and was told to go to L&D. This I thought was it! We arrive and although my contractions were def 5 min apart they were bearable. After being checked out I was 3cm dilated and in early labor so the doc offered me 2 choices, 1. To stay, walk around to progress things, then be strapped into the monitors and just wait....no food, no shower..this was it.
2. Go home, shower, eat something light, relax and come back when the contractions were 2-3 min apart.
Obv. I chose option #2.
So we went home, attempted to sleep and relaxed (if you include walking for an hour and taking my dog to the groomer-priorities..I know lol). The good news, the contractions were def becoming stronger as time progressed. The bad news, they were slowing down. ..significantly (I think toward 8pm they were 10 min apart). So of course DH went online and saw that this is common and can go on for days before they became more frequent. Of course prayer came into play at this point because they pain was becoming more intense. Still unable to sleep, around 2am I finally convinced him to go back to the hospital. At this point the contractions were back to around 5 min apart but still weren't consistent. Between 1-10.. The pain was an 8/9.
After being checked out by the same doc as earlier (who said, "what happened!? I expected you to come back yesterday! ") I was 6cm and was admitted. I refused the epidural for the time being. About 1-2hr into being admitted I got the epidural. I expected it to make me feel amazing as women on here used the terms "wonderful" and "heaven" when describing how they felt after receiving it. That didn't happen since it only effected the left side of my body. I was stil feeling everything on my right. So after 1-2 hrs (I think..I don't really know lol), and after them trying to increase the dosage, I had it taken out and a new one put in. at 7cm and after they broke my water (which I was worried about since I didn't know what to expect- basically they used a knitting needle look alike thing to break it. There was 0 pain and then just a gush of warmth). So te new Epi worked but there was no way I was able to relax. DH said that my contractions slowed down at that point but luckily I never needed pitocin.
Time passed (about 10 hrs) and they told me I could start pushing on the next contraction. I pushed for 2hours. At some point the nurse said that for first time moms they give them 2 hours to push on their own before looking at other options if needed. Obv. Once I heard this I kept track of the clock. For me, pushing was the hardest part. Even though I had the Epi they only gave me enough to stop the pain. I could still feel what I was doing which I hear is how it should be. At around the 80 min pushing mark, he was crowning and DH said he was coming out. I believe I called him a liar at this point numerous times lol. However, there was a student in the room and when he nodded his head up and down I knew progress was made ontat was push. At the 2 hour mark I made DH pinky swear that he wasn't lying about the baby coming out lol., 2 pushes later, 2 hrs and 1 min from the time I started, Christian Edward was born.
Now comes the fun part. Doc handed the baby off to the nurse so he could..uh... Stitch up a few things. The good part about all this is that some guy came in and put some drug in my IV at this time. Now THAT was the awesome drug! Again, although I felt pressure from what the doc was doing there was no pain. Those few minutes ae becoming more of blur to me. I do remember hearing happy birthday music being played in the room (it sounded like one of those musical cards...), and I remembering DH holding the baby for awhile first. I thought, "wtf?... Seriously...after what I just did HE held him first?" lol.
So..that's my, or rather Christians birth story. I'm a FTM so here are a few helpful thoughts...
What I brought to the hospital vs what I actually used:
* dark color lounge pants -used but I wore the hospital gown for the first day and at night.
* heavy pads - didn't use. I used the hospitals maternity pads until I ran out of them at home. They aren't the most comfortable but they did the job. Doubling up the first 2 days is a good idea.
* underwear- didn't use. The hospitals mesh underwear were like longer boy shorts and were pretty comfy. I figured why should I dirty my own things when these work just fine. Once home, about the 4th day I switch to my own.
* shower stuff. - used. I didn't/coudnt shower the first day. But the hospital provided everything.
* clothes- Didnt use- i bought way too many shirts. Better safe then sorry.
For those who like to be fully informed read on. For those with anxiety about birth or who believe ignorance is bliss..STOP HERE:
* urinary catheter - I had my bladder emptied twice...once when the first Epi didn't work and it hurt like a big biotch, second right before the last series of pushes. Also, they make you pee right after your all done and if you can't..they do it for you. Ugh..
* breast feeding- after awhile of him latching on it hurt like another big biotch! It hurt enough that I had to breath through the pain! Also, when your bf in the hospital it makes your uterus contract and if feels like mid contractios and menstrual cramps. In the hospital I timed when I could get meds with attempting to bf.
* stool softener- take it, take it, take it. That's all I have to say.
I'm sure I'll think of more things to write but that's all for now.
Btw, I found a positive to the lack of sleep...what I wrote above seems like a dream and its only been a week. It seems like it happened to someone else or that it was years ago. It's so strange how your body really makes you forget painful experiences.
Message edited 9/17/2013 11:36:39 PM.
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