Here is my shot at the birth story: (this is my first attempt at writing the experience, really it is more for me than you :)
**Our little boy was breech, at least since 35 weeks. I tried everything I possible could to change his position. Because I wanted to hang on to the last hope that he might change position on his own or with my continued efforts, with our doctor's approval we opted to go into labor first. At this time he would either flip or we would move to the "inevitable" c-section.**
Sunday night I couldn't sleep very well, and Monday I was really tired and feeling a little sick, kinda like indigestion. I started having a little bit of discomfort associated with my contractions but thought nothing of it since I had had weeks of annoying Braxton-Hicks.
Well we said goodnight to my mom who came into town on Thursday for an early night since I didn't sleep well the night before. So off we all went to bed. I continued to have contractions so we watched some TV, finally by about 10 o'clock Jeremy started timing them. They were about 5 minutes apart and lasting for at least a minute. Jeremy and I weighed the options of going to the hospital but at this point I just didn't want to be disappointed so I decided to shower, Jeremy decided to pack. When I got out he was really tired and I told him that I would wake him if I thought that we should go to the hospital. So about 11:30 Jeremy went to bed, I tried to get some rest. Contractions were so annoying and I just couldn't fall asleep! Plus almost every time I had a contraction I had to get up and use the bathroom. I just wasn't completely convinced that I was in labor, I thought it would just go away and I would wake up fine the next morning. Finally at about 2 I decided to walk down the hall and take a bath (since our master only has a shower).
After three hours in the bathtub :) My water started to leak. Well that was my signal! Knowing he was breech my biggest danger was having my water break and having a prolapsed umbilical cord. So at 5:00 am I woke up Jeremy and told him it was time to go to the hospital. He shot out of bed and was dressed in 30 seconds. I told him that I wasn't even ready yet so he could go ahead and shower. So he first woke my mom (who had know clue I was even up having contractions) and then he showered as I finished getting dressed and getting reading to go.
After being up all night I felt starving but as soon as I opened the fridge everything looked disgusting so we just packed up and headed out, me, Jeremy and my mom...Cora saw us off with her camera.
We got to the hospital at about 5:30 and they started checking us in, but they hadn't even looked at my records so I immediately told them that my baby was breech and that I would need a c-section. Well then I saw nurses running around like chickens!! They had no idea what to do since I wasn't scheduled, but finally after Jeremy reassured them that everything was fine and we were just following what our doctor and we had decided. That didn't encourage them too much, but it got a little better.
So by 6 I was in gown and in a room, and they had scheduled my for a 7:00 surgery. I couldn't eat or drink anything even though I felt starving, and I was still having contractions which were getting worse since I was now strapped to my bed, in the mean time I was getting an IV, signing papers, getting "checked," etc., all of this made me super anxious and uncomfortable to the point where I actually got sick to my stomach.
Jeremy and my mom really wanted to help out but there was nothing much for them to do, each contraction I just had to get through until they were ready to prep me for surgery. About 6:45 Jeremy had to get scrubs on and a nurse walked me across the hall to the O.R. to get prepped, Jeremy had to wait until I was prepped to come in. The spinal block was the worst! It was painful despite what anyone says and what was worse is that you are half exposed in a 60 degree room, which meant for me I was literally shaking when it was of the utmost importance to remain still as the jabbed a needle in my spine. Thankfully my OR nurse was amazing. She was really encouraging and held my shoulders and even steadied my dangling legs during this anxious experience. They laid me down and within minutes I couldn't feel anything, which was good because I was pretty much fully exposed laying on a narrow table with countless nurses doing who-knows-what, who-knows-where. I was still shaking like crazy so in addition to oxygen (which I think is pretty standard) they also loaded me with warm blankets until I looked like an Eskimo.
Finally at about 7:20 Jeremy was allowed in. And as soon as he walked in the door they started chopping away. At 7:29 the pulled out our little boy bottom first. He was crying immediately, which of course made me cry immediately. Jeremy walked over to see him with and started taking pictures. So here I was crying and chopped open feeling a little bit ridiculous. Minutes after that they announced his height and weight and I was able to see him for just a brief minute before they whisked him away to finish doing his newborn screening. I requested that Jeremy stay with the baby. So I only saw Jeremy for minutes as well. Fortunately it is the anesthesiologists job to watch over me and only me and he did a great job, keeping me informed about what they were doing to me, what I should be feeling, what they were doing to the baby, etc. It was just the perfect mix of detail (so I wasn't totally clueless) and small talk. (Weird things about surgery were my face was itchy from the medicines and then also when they lifted me from the operating table to the bed I felt totally detached from my body, It was almost as if I was flying from one table to the other.)
After I was stitched up they wheeled me to recovery which is just a room off the OR where they continue to monitor all of my vitals. I was exhausted and emotional and alone...some time later I heard voices coming in the room. Jeremy, my mom and Cora (who drove down after my mom called her) along with BABY!! I finally got to really see him and hold him for the first time, about an hour after he was born! At this time I asked Jeremy if he had told, "the name" he said no, he was waiting for me to make sure we were still in agreement, I told him yes. So I held my new baby boy in my arms and announced to the small room of visitors that we were naming our son Isaac Carl Minson.
I loved him before he was born, I loved him more when I heard him cry and I loved him more when he was placed in my arms the first time and I love him the most each each minute of each day.
1 comment:
He is adorable!!!! Good job momma.
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