Happy First Birthday, Bubba!

You GUYS!  It's been a whole year!  I should do a big update post with pictures and whatnot, but I wanted to get the little guy's birth story posted.  As a quick update, he has seven teeth, refuses to crawl - he travels by rolling instead, which is HILARIOUS!, won't hardly sit up because he has places.to.go, isn't sleeping through the night, still weighs a ridiculous amount (can't wait to find out how much on Monday), and he loooooves his mama's milk.  I found out tonight he can feed himself pretty much an entire torn up egg, bits at a time, and though he will eat every last everlovin' thing he finds randomly on the floor, he does not care for steamed and finely chopped carrots.  (maybe I should've scattered them on the floor?)

Anyway, here's the story:

My water broke at 1:20 AM on Saturday, October 6.  I had been sleeping on a chux pad for a while just in case, and I was glad that I did!  I woke up Hubs and told him, and we both tried to go back to sleep.  I had a few contractions, but nothing big.  I couldn’t sleep and my water kept leaking, so I got up and sat on the couch on a towel and chux pad.

Goosie woke up a bit before 7 AM, I think, and wondered what I was doing!  I told her that the baby would be coming soon, and she was very excited.  I had her call Grandma so Grandma could come back to our house and help out.  (She and my dad had *just* been at our house two days before on their way home  but she repacked her bags and hit the road that morning, in snow and fog.)

I was thankful that Hubs spent lots of time at home, even though harvest was in full swing and it was a very busy time for him.  My contractions continued on and off, but didn’t get very strong or closer together.  I was in frequent contact with my doula, Rebecca, who was very encouraging.

My last gush of water was on Saturday, around 5PM.  By the time I woke up Sunday morning, the break had sealed and baby was back to swimming again.  Most everyone else was getting quite antsy that I wasn’t going to the hospital, but I knew it wasn’t time yet.  My mom scrubbed the bathtub so I could soak in the water and relax.  Goosie though it was hilarious that I was taking a bath!  I was thankful that my contractions picked up a little.

Sunday evening, Hubs and I had a discussion and we agreed that we’d go to the hospital in the morning.  We didn’t make it that long, though!  I had several hard contractions between 11PM to midnight, and I wanted in the Jacuzzi tub!  Also, I was on my left side in bed so Hubs could put counter pressure on my back to help with contractions, and with baby being on my left side, gravity pulled him really low toward my hip and it hurt!

We woke my mom up and told her we were heading in.  We stopped on the way for some sustenance – Hubs got me two snickers bars.  He wasn’t able to eat before Goosie was born (I had Burger King breakfast that time) and this time he just got an energy drink.

We got to the hospital about 2:30 AM and got checked in pretty quickly.  My first nurse was one who was there when Goosie was born which was fun.  She had been pregnant then, and this time she had a 4 month old baby.  I was surprised that my Certified Nurse Midwife showed up pretty quickly, and my doula Rebecca soon followed.  I think my midwife even did my first check, which showed I was about 6 cm dilated, but baby's head wasn’t really down.

I got in the tub, we walked the halls, I sat on the birth ball, I asked Hubs to pray.  Baby still didn’t come down, and I wasn’t progressing.  Rebecca showed Hubs a trick to help with pain relief, they both squeezed a spot between my thumb and index finger, which did help.  My midwife and Rebecca also tied a sheet on the bathroom door hinge so I could try a hanging squat.  It HURT, but it didn’t work to bring baby down.

Finally, my midwife said it was time to do Pitocin.  I agreed, but asked for pain meds.  I knew I could do it without them as I had with Goosie, but this time I wanted help relaxing to let my body do its work.  They gave me a shot which helped some.

Baby still didn’t come down.  My midwife said it was time to do a c-section and I cried.  She assured me that I had done everything I could.  I remember the contractions being unbearable after that because they were pointless, and they gave me a shot to stop them.  I asked Hubs to “call the moms” to let them know I was having a c-section but that it wasn’t an emergency, baby and I were OK.  He opted to send a text instead.

I remember the anesthesiologist talking to me quite a bit.  My main concern was that I was cold (about the only time I *ever* get cold is in labor!) and he didn’t think it would get any better when I got the spinal epidural, but surprisingly, it did!  (I actually remember a warm feeling traveling through my body.)

The doctor who did the surgery wasn’t my favorite, but he is very good at doing surgery so that was a blessing.  I remember him asking if I wanted my tubes tied and I emphatically said NO, plus I reminded him of that again in the operating room.

I remember hating being wheeled down the hall again, but I was glad it would be over soon.  I think I wished that an OR nurse we know was there, and as it turned out, she was, but didn’t come in.  My midwife asked if I wanted the drape lowered so I could see, and I didn’t.  I asked Hubs to come and hold my hand.  I remember Rebecca taking lots of pictures.

Having baby pulled out of me was a pretty wild feeling even though I was numb.  I’m pretty sure my midwife was the one that announced it was a boy, and I was surprised! (I was 60% sure baby was a girl.)  She brought him over to show me and he was rather blue but crying.  I immediately recognized his cry and face even though I had not seen or heard either before.

They had him on the warming table for a while before weighing him and he peed and pooped, and I wished they’d hurry and weigh him before he lost any more weight!  I was shocked when they said 10# 2oz, though I now wonder if his weight was inflated any from IV fluids.

My midwife gave him to me to hold while they wheeled me back to my room, but I asked Hubs to carry him instead because I was a bit woozy.  I don’t remember him crying as much as Goosie did.  Since I was still so cold, they put the warmer over both of us when we got back to the room, and they kept restarting it.

I remember Goosie and Grandma coming in to see us – Goosie was a bit shy.  She brought her stuffed Nappy Cat (that her aunt had given her *right* after she was born in that same hospital) and so I had her bring Nappy over to sniff the baby. :)  I also remember being a bit surprised at how quickly I fell head over heels in love with him.

I was surprised that I was OK with Hubs not spending much time at the hospital, though he did come every night for a while.  We had quite a time deciding on a name, and since Hubs conceeded a few other things, we went with his choice for a first name and my choice for a middle name.

My physical recovery from the c-section was fairly smooth, I was thankful to not suffer much in the way of complications from the surgery.

It hasn't been an easy year for us, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.