After groping about how the hubby hit "snooze" and we're going to run late, I am dressed and ready to wake up my son. (I look much frumpier in a thick sweater, eh?) We need to be out of the door by 6:30am and still need to eat!
We arrive at the hospital at 7am and I am checked into my birthing suite. Soon after, my IV is started and monitoring has begun. I'm given pitocin sometime after 8am.
True to my last delivery, I barely dilate to 3 by noon. :( That's a long road ahead to go! Last time this same situation happened... hours of labor (12ish!) w/o any pain relief and no dilation (I got to about 3.5 in those 12 hours). Then I finally agreed to an epidural and had my son 6hrs later. As my friend Christine said, "that's like the longest inducement ever!".
Even though I'm only at a 3, my contractions are getting more and more uncomfortable and my lower back pain sucks. I did try the rocking chair prior for back relief (didn't work so much). The ball is SO much better. I was able to get my back to a much, much more tolerable level with hip rotations and stretches using the ball. But why let the pain progress while my body is refusing to relax enough to dilate? My husband tells me "You know how your body is - get the epidural so you can relax enough to have the baby."
I like to think I learned my lesson and he has a good point. :) So we let my nurse know it's ok to proceed with the epidural order. She gets everything ready and hangs my Lactated Ringer to hydrate me before the Anesthesiologist, Vic, makes it to my room. Vic gets things right the first time around without discomfort (yeah- he rocks!). I only felt a little sting when the numbing agent was applied. (Last time it took three tries for the anesthesiologist to get it right... all of which were not fun.) If I have a third baby, I'll have to call and see when Vic is doing his rotation before letting the bugger deliver! (As if I can control the world, right! LOL)
Minutes later I feel so much more comfortable. It's probably around 2pm or so when this procedure is finished and the hubby takes the photo. Let's see how much longer this is going to take.
After a short period of time I tell my nurse that I have a funny feeling "down there". She checks and I have already dilated to 5cm! That's progress. And we know that the last 5cm go much quicker than the first 5cm. I guess I have at least 4 hours to go. Just to be safe, I have my husband call my mom and let her know. She really wanted to be there to see the baby born (that is, in the chair in the corner of the room behind my head - far, far away from "that area"). She heads back to the hospital leaving my son at his Uncle's to play with his cousins. Meanwhile, I decide to try to nap before napping becomes a thing of the past. I am mostly unsuccessful.
3:35pm my sister calls. I tell her about my 5cm mark. She wants me to tell her when she should leave her home (she lives about 35 minutes from the hospital). I tell her I'll let her know as things progress. No use in rushing anyone without reason.
My nurse checks in on me. During this time I start to have a funny bulging feeling below. She checks me again and tells me I'm just about 10cm dilated... there is a sliver of cervix left! It's just about time. 3:43pm I'm on the phone with my sister again telling her the news while my husband finds out where my mom is. Thank goodness for mom she was in the stairwell of the parking garage. Hubby tells me she started to run. I think I'm in too much of an anticipation shock to think. I'm about to have a real baby!
Nurses start coming in to prepare the room for delivery. My husband starts telling me about how he was born at 4:15pm (October, not January). He snaps a shot of the nurses prepping the room and the clock as it all begins.
In the meantime, I get to watch all the action happen around me. My mom rushes in and takes her place in the chair I mentioned earlier. I congratulate her on making it on time and tease about the running. She had time to walk. :)
My OB/GYN walks in and gives us all fist pounds. We're about to have a baby. After gloving up, he and the nurse break the bed and Doc breaks my water bag. After a minute or two he says, "Go head Jen - Give it a push."
At 4:10pm Jacob Logan is born. He is a whopping 9lbs 7oz and 20-1/2" long. A MUCH different experience than delivering my 7lb 14oz first-born son. I silently thank God I got the epidural. Even with pain relief, I didn't think this bowling ball would ever come out! I hate to be graphic, but I swore I could feel my pelvis - and everything else - ripping in half trying to fit this kid out. Of course, those things didn't happen... but imagine the pain if I didn't take the meds. (Yeah, I'm a whimp. But I'm ok with that!)
My boys...
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| Me and my boys. |
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| The first time Alex holds his baby brother. |
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| All three of my men. |
I tried to find a similar 1st day photo of Alex for size comparison:
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| Alex under the warmer. He's our quarterback. |
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| Jacob under the warmer. He's our linebacker. |
And here are a comparison of their faces... well, at least closer pics.
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| Alex |
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| Jacob |
Both boys have birthmarks on their eyes. Alex's have faded away. Our pediatrician told me that Jacob's eye birthmarks will fade too. Alex has a stork's bite on the back of his neck. Jacob has a storks beak on his forehead. Doc said that that will fade but may flare up whenever Jacob gets mad. His son has it and his flares. Because we have more pigmented skin than Doc's family, you may not see or notice this later in life on Jacob. Either way, he's perfect and they are cute.
Well, enough of that.
There you have it, the journey to Jacob's arrival plus some!
Not to mention I'm out of time - Hubby made me Chicken Marsala and it smells delish... gotta eat dinner now! As always, thanks for reading!
1 comment:
I think it is so special that you were able to write all this down and remember it...with the blue elephants dancing around! This will be even more special when your boys are older and can really relate to their birth. So happy for you darling! xoxoxoxo
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