I wanted to share my birthing story.
On Monday, November 19, I was having a lot of Braxton hicks. I started noticing them around dinner time and realized they were coming every 10 minutes apart. They weren't coming strong, so I just casually kept an eye on the clock and went to bed. In the morning they were gone, but I had a feeling that this baby was coming soon. I had read all my other birthing stories and realized that with Aveya, my labor started a lot like how this one was going, so I felt like I should be ready for when things actually started progressing.
On Tuesday, I started feeling pretty intense contractions. I noticed they were coming in the afternoon, but they weren't consistent. I told Jonathan that I was going to take it easy the rest of the afternoon, and let the kids watch a few shows on the tablet while I tried to relax on the couch. I had tried to get them to chill with me and read books together, but after the kids climbed on me (and fought about who could sit where) and a few hits to the gut, I couldn't take it anymore. By dinner time my contractions were finally consistent(!!) but they were only 20 minutes apart. I had the idea to call my mom because with my little sister, Holly, my mom had a lot of contractions but didn't listen to her body and (long story short) gave birth on the side of the road on the way to the hospital. That's about all I knew of the story. I was getting frustrated because these contractions were hard but not consistent but I didn't want to relive that story, so I called her and asked for the details. Turns out my mom had contractions throughout the whole pregnancy (so did I, but mine were obviously mostly Braxton Hicks with a few real ones every now and then) and then the night before she had Holly, they were coming hard every 10 minutes all night. She told me she just laid on the couch all night and waited for them to start coming closer together. Then in the morning, my dad asked her what her plan was (it was Sunday morning) and she told him they were still 10 minutes apart and she wasn't moving until she knew this was the real deal. Well, he hopped in the shower to get ready to go to church, and my mom got up to do something and realized she was transitioning! And then the rest is history... she had the baby on the way. So my take home was, I didn't need to wait until they started coming 5 minutes. If I knew this was the real deal, get to the hospital.
After dinner, I took a bath and contacted the girl who we had set up to watch the kids in the middle of the night. I told her that I was thinking it would happen today. We decided to go to bed early because I knew it was going to be a short night, and I wanted Jonathan to get as much sleep as he could. I didn't sleep much, my contractions were getting hard but still only 10 minutes apart. By about 1:00, I was done waiting for them to get harder or longer or closer together. So I got up and had three contractions in about 5 minutes. I woke Jonathan up and he called the babysitter while I called my OB office. I don't know why, but for some reason, it said the number I called was invalid. I had never had that happen before, and I didn't know what to do! So I called the hospital I was going to go to and they transferred me to the OB on call I told her they were coming hard and almost 5 minutes apart. She asked what I wanted to do, and I told her that I wanted to just come in, so she said she would meet me there. As I was having these issues trying to get a hold of my OB, Jonathan was having issues trying to get a hold of Danica Motes (our nighttime babysitter). She said she always hears her phone, but after 5 or 6 calls she didn't answer. Jonathan called her husband and he answered first time (which apparently is unusual that he heard his phone). haha.
On the way to the hospital my contractions were hard but really far apart, so Jonathan and I were able to carry on a decent conversation. When I got there, I was put into the triage room and hooked up onto the monitors and checked. I was only 2.75!! My contractions were coming hard, how was it that I wasn't dilated further!? The triage nurse kept saying things like "if we admit you"... (eye roll) I wondered if I jumped the gun, but knew that I was in labor. I told Jonathan that if they sent me home, I would just go walk around the lobby for an hour. I was not going to go home! They finally admitted me since I was higher risk labor (since I was a V-BAC and all).
The contractions were still really hard, and my nurse said that I should try to get some sleep... uuuhhh, I'm in labor, I'm not going to sleep. But I stayed in the bed for a few hours, and then said I didn't want to stay in the bed much longer. I asked the nurse if they had a birthing ball. She left to go get it and I really couldn't stay laying down much longer. I got out of bed and when the nurse got back she was surprised to see me up. She kind of reprimanded me for getting out of bed without her help. I was a little surprised, I didn't have an epidural at this point, why wasn't I allowed to move around? As I was on the ball, I asked when I was allowed to get an epidural. **I had decided before I went into labor that I wanted an epidural, partly because I didn't want to take the time to prepare for labor (the method I love using takes at least an hour a day of preparation, and I didn't want to use my time that way... I'm kinda busy with my kids...) and partly because I wanted to have a back up just in case I needed an emergency c-section, so that I could be awake to see my baby.
Next thing I know, the anesthesiologist was on his way and I started getting really nervous. (I've never had an epidral before, and one of the major reasons I hadn't is because I'm so scared of a needle in my spine!) He got his stuff ready and talked me through what was going to happen. As he was numbing me, I kept bouncing as if I were getting poked in the sides. The anesthesiologist said that I shouldn't do that once I got the epidural. I got the epidural and I started feeling better but things didn't get better. My blood pressure plummeted and they had to keep a close eye on me (another reason I didn't want an epidural).
As soon as I got the epidural, my water broke and then things started moving! Within 45 minutes I was 9.5 with a little lip. Everyone started gathering and getting things ready. I asked my OB (who I had never met BTW) if I could push in a different position then on my back. She said absolutely not. That was a little frustrating, because I asked at one of my appointments if I could push in a different position. She said it depended on how my epidural took, if I could move my legs, but that I might be able to. I still could move my legs, but they didn't even want to let me try. I was a little frustrated.
Well, then it was time, I started pushing, and 45 seconds later he was born! This is the best moment! He was on my chest and I was so in love! His hands were up by his face and he was scratching his face, so I put my finger in his hands and he held my hand! It was the best!
All in all, from the time I was in "real labor" (they count that when you are dilated to a 3) to the time I was holding Anden it was about 2 and a half hours! Crazy fast!
Anden Jonathan Kershaw was born at 8:02 am, and he was 7 lbs 9 oz 20 1/4" long! So So in love!
 |
| my boys <3 |
 |
| He loves holding my hand. It calms both of us down :) |
Sweet sweet story. Thanks for sharing!! You have such an adorably cute family!!
ReplyDeleteLove you so much!!