Best update ever!!!
Hi ladies!!! Sorry, I tried updating earlier, but there are lots of distractions when you're in the hospital! The baby is here! So much to share...
So, it started on Monday night. We went to trivia, as we usually do, and I was feeling pretty crampy. Got home around 9PM, and laid down in bed to read. I started having contractions that lasted about 30 seconds, about 5 minutes apart. From there, we started timing, and they went up to 45 seconds, then 1 minute (which started being pretty huffy..hard to get through). That was at about 1 AM, and they told us to come on in!!!
We checked in at 2 am at Childrens. Had dilated another centimeter ( to 2) and was about 60% effaced. We got settled in, I sat in a whirlpool tub for about 40 minutes (buoyancy is awesome, btw!). At that point, I was ready for an epidural, which got put in around 4:45. A little while later, I was started on pitocin. Had some problems with the epidural - my right side went totally numb (couldn't even tell that I had a right leg or hip), but the left side kept getting sensation back. I think I had to have them add more meds about 4 times throughout the day. Slept a bit. By noon, I was up to 4 cm, and we thought it might be awhile. My OB came to see me and broke my bag of waters at that point. She said "Well, I'm done with clinic at 4, so if you're still here, I'll help deliver your baby!" Ha! Because....
Between noon and 1:30 I went from 4 cm to 9 cm. It was pretty amazing. At that point, the left side was really crapping out and I was like the ladies on tv, going "Aaaaaahhhhh!!!" at every contraction. It felt like I needed to take the worst dump of my life!!!! As soon as they checked me and said I was at 9 cm, Drew went out to the waiting room to update my parents. By the time he got back in, I said "Call the nurse back in here, because I'm pushing no matter what!" In that brief space of time, I'd fully dilated and was ready to push! I pushed for 15 minutes, and the kid was out!!!
Pushing is hard, but, at least in my case, it wasn't as bad as I'd anticipated. It feels like the worst constipation you've ever had...and those last few pushes are like life or death, but you WANT to push so badly that it works. Anyway, I got him out of there lickety split! Apparently two doctors and a nurse paged my OB/GYN to tell her what an amazing pusher I am! LOL
Elliott Louis Edward Shaw was born at 2:07 PM. He was 21 inches long and weighed a whopping 9 lbs 2 oz, which surpassed all our guesses! Needless to say, though, pushing a baby that big, that fast, out of your hoochie coochie causes some issues. I had some superficial tears that needed to be stitched, and because they were on the surface, I bled a lot. So I have five dissolvable stitches.
By 4 yesterday, we were moved to the Mom and Baby floor, and got to know each other. Small problem: around 6 PM, I went to the bathroom accompanied by a few nurses. On the way out, I mentioned that I felt a bit nauseous and lightheaded. The next memory I have is sitting on the ground with strange people saying my name and that I was okay. Apparently I had a vasovagial episode, which looks almost exactly like a small seizure and also makes your husband think he is losing his wife in the doorway of a bathroom. It was pretty scary!!! I had to spend about 10 seconds to figure out that these people talking to me were my nurses and were supposed to be talking to me, and where I was!!! So, I've spent the rest of my time humiliatingly labelled a "high fall" risk on my door and on my wrist. I feel like a grandma!!!
For the record: vasiovagial episodes usually happen when your blood/fluid levels are low and not enough is getting to your brain. Your body forces you to the ground so that more blood gets to your head. Should have been fairly obvious that something like that would happen - 4 hours earlier I'd hemmorhaged and I hadn't had any food in nearly 24 hours! Still, it was pretty unnerving.
We are now relaxing. Elliott is adorable. He basically eats, poops, cries, or sleeps, but he's very sweet. He's very happy snuggling with his daddy. He's very healthy and has had great exams, but he has a hard time latching and is pukey. Because he was delivered so fast, he swallowed some blood and amniotic fluid. We are completely in love!! Tomorrow, we go home and start our new adventure. Thanks so much for all your support through this!
<img url='https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/1009260_10152731895338538_974440391_o.jpg'>
<img url ='https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/1098457_10152733434498538_1207358310_n.jpg'>
<img url='https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/1274785_10151581232576466_182279766_o.jpg'>
So, it started on Monday night. We went to trivia, as we usually do, and I was feeling pretty crampy. Got home around 9PM, and laid down in bed to read. I started having contractions that lasted about 30 seconds, about 5 minutes apart. From there, we started timing, and they went up to 45 seconds, then 1 minute (which started being pretty huffy..hard to get through). That was at about 1 AM, and they told us to come on in!!!
We checked in at 2 am at Childrens. Had dilated another centimeter ( to 2) and was about 60% effaced. We got settled in, I sat in a whirlpool tub for about 40 minutes (buoyancy is awesome, btw!). At that point, I was ready for an epidural, which got put in around 4:45. A little while later, I was started on pitocin. Had some problems with the epidural - my right side went totally numb (couldn't even tell that I had a right leg or hip), but the left side kept getting sensation back. I think I had to have them add more meds about 4 times throughout the day. Slept a bit. By noon, I was up to 4 cm, and we thought it might be awhile. My OB came to see me and broke my bag of waters at that point. She said "Well, I'm done with clinic at 4, so if you're still here, I'll help deliver your baby!" Ha! Because....
Between noon and 1:30 I went from 4 cm to 9 cm. It was pretty amazing. At that point, the left side was really crapping out and I was like the ladies on tv, going "Aaaaaahhhhh!!!" at every contraction. It felt like I needed to take the worst dump of my life!!!! As soon as they checked me and said I was at 9 cm, Drew went out to the waiting room to update my parents. By the time he got back in, I said "Call the nurse back in here, because I'm pushing no matter what!" In that brief space of time, I'd fully dilated and was ready to push! I pushed for 15 minutes, and the kid was out!!!
Pushing is hard, but, at least in my case, it wasn't as bad as I'd anticipated. It feels like the worst constipation you've ever had...and those last few pushes are like life or death, but you WANT to push so badly that it works. Anyway, I got him out of there lickety split! Apparently two doctors and a nurse paged my OB/GYN to tell her what an amazing pusher I am! LOL
Elliott Louis Edward Shaw was born at 2:07 PM. He was 21 inches long and weighed a whopping 9 lbs 2 oz, which surpassed all our guesses! Needless to say, though, pushing a baby that big, that fast, out of your hoochie coochie causes some issues. I had some superficial tears that needed to be stitched, and because they were on the surface, I bled a lot. So I have five dissolvable stitches.
By 4 yesterday, we were moved to the Mom and Baby floor, and got to know each other. Small problem: around 6 PM, I went to the bathroom accompanied by a few nurses. On the way out, I mentioned that I felt a bit nauseous and lightheaded. The next memory I have is sitting on the ground with strange people saying my name and that I was okay. Apparently I had a vasovagial episode, which looks almost exactly like a small seizure and also makes your husband think he is losing his wife in the doorway of a bathroom. It was pretty scary!!! I had to spend about 10 seconds to figure out that these people talking to me were my nurses and were supposed to be talking to me, and where I was!!! So, I've spent the rest of my time humiliatingly labelled a "high fall" risk on my door and on my wrist. I feel like a grandma!!!
For the record: vasiovagial episodes usually happen when your blood/fluid levels are low and not enough is getting to your brain. Your body forces you to the ground so that more blood gets to your head. Should have been fairly obvious that something like that would happen - 4 hours earlier I'd hemmorhaged and I hadn't had any food in nearly 24 hours! Still, it was pretty unnerving.
We are now relaxing. Elliott is adorable. He basically eats, poops, cries, or sleeps, but he's very sweet. He's very happy snuggling with his daddy. He's very healthy and has had great exams, but he has a hard time latching and is pukey. Because he was delivered so fast, he swallowed some blood and amniotic fluid. We are completely in love!! Tomorrow, we go home and start our new adventure. Thanks so much for all your support through this!
<img url='https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/1009260_10152731895338538_974440391_o.jpg'>
<img url ='https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/1098457_10152733434498538_1207358310_n.jpg'>
<img url='https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/1274785_10151581232576466_182279766_o.jpg'>
Replies
Thanks everyone! Also, for the record, EVERYONE has 2 cents to give on this end of the journey as well. If you listened to everything people tell you, your baby would starve because you\'d be too busy trying to do what everyone else said (I also love how much I\'ve heard \"not to listen\" to what a doctor or nurse explicitly told me. Really? Where\'s your medical license? Shut up!) We aren\'t even home yet! It\'s 10:20 am here, and I haven\'t had a quiet moment since 6 am. It\'s nuts! I want to be left alone to figure shit out!
Sooo sorry, yet I have to giggle. Don\'t kill me, sleep deprived mamma. I hope we can exchange notes on the lousy advice people give. I receive it non-stop lately from my mom and sis. Sounds like it gets worse, not better after birth eh? Sigh. Mamma knows best: namely you. Congrats again.
A friend of a friend\'s mom gave the best advice I\'ve ever heard: \"Seriously, you could feed your kid cigarette butts and they\'d still survive just fine.\" Probably not, but her point was to just take care of your kid. If you get so hyped up on \"I HAVE to breast feed\" or \"I HAVE to co-sleep\" or \"EVERYTHING must be organic\" etc...you\'ll go nuts. Still, it\'s hard when you have lots of voices badgering in your ear...
Congrats!!! He is a doll I saw the pics on FB :)
Congratulations!!!!!! Sounds like everything went well! Enjoy this time with your new son and listen only to your instincts!