Peter Joseph - Born 7/8/11 after just 17 minutes of pushing!

My due date was 7/11/11 but on Friday morning of 7/8/11 at about 6:15 I woke up with painful crampy contractions . I was afraid to wake my husband because I didn't want to panic him in case it wasn't the real deal. I tried timing the contractions on my phone app but they were all over the place...some 12 minutes apart, sometimes 8 sometimes 4!!! I didn't know what to make of it but they certainly were painful to the point i couldn't help but moan out loud. usually my husband wakes up and asks me how i'm feeling but this morning he was OUT like a light.

at this point it was about 7:30. Finally I decided to tap him on the shoulder and his exact response was "what the hell are you doing?" so i said "how do you feel about being a daddy today?" he was really groggy and was just like "huh" so i said "I'm having contractions and they're pretty painful" that woke him right up! i called my SIL to ask her opinion about the unsteady timing but she didn't answer so i called my ob but they weren't open yet so i left a message with the operator and he called me back about 10-15 minutes later. I explained to my ob that the contractions were all over the place and he said the best way to know is to just come in and he'd check me out.

I got up, showered got ready and waited for my husband to do the same. By this point the contractions were so strong i was throwing up in the shower. my husband drove to winthrop and on the car ride there i wasn't really feeling the contractions so much. I thought for sure this was a false alarm and they were going to send me home . after arriving at L&D Triage...they checked me and i was 4 cms 100%. i told the nurse about how the timing of contractions was all over the place and she asked me if i had still been feeling them...i told her the last one i felt was when i went to the bathroom before being monitored and she informed me that i had just had 2 contractions while i was talking to her and that they were about 4 minutes apart. i then was admitted to L&D and went to my birthing room. for the next few hours i only dilated 1 more cm before they decided it was time to start me on pitocin. i had my epidural about an hour or 2 before starting pitocin.

the baby was leaning on his umbilical cord and so with every contraction his heart rate would go down. they tried switching me from side to side but that didn't really work. they continued to monitor me but were preparing me for the possibility of a c-section. 2 hours after pitocin i had to call the nurse in because i had strong contraction pain and pressure like i had to make a bowel movement. she called my ob in to check me and i was 10 cm's and +2 ready to push. I pushed for 17 minutes and my baby boy was here!!!

the actual delivery itself wasn't as painful as i had thought it would be at all. Recovery was tough because my bloodcount was low and so my heartrate, pulse and temperature were very high...they almost gave me a blood transfusion. I just took iron and drank tons of water and eventually i got much better. I still can't believe all this happened and he is here...but sure enough, i have a son!

Peter Joseph was born at 4:15 PM on 7/8/11. he was 6 lbs 3 oz and 20 in long.

Message edited 7/16/2011 7:11:37 PM.

Re: Peter Joseph - Born 7/8/11 after just 17 minutes of pushing!

what a great story. thank you for sharing. your son is absolutely adorable!!!! congratulations!!!

Re: Peter Joseph - Born 7/8/11 after just 17 minutes of pushing!

great story...17 minutes wow! congrats, your son is beautiful!