I have been meaning to write this blog post for some time now! So many people have been asking for pictures, blog posts, e-mails etc. So here it is!!
***WARNING!! This post could include too much info for some. If you're not into the nitty gritty details regarding labor, girl parts, blood, etc., then this might not be for you :)***
9.8.09- I'm fed up with being preggo. Jon brings home castor oil...I partake...and have the worst night ever with contractions and pain :( or so I thought...read on! Thought if I could make it to my appt the next morning, maybe they would admit me and get this over with!
So on 9-9-09, I had a doctor appointment. Jon and I were ready to meet Averie (of course) so before the appointment, Jon had me walk the stairs outside of the hospital a couple times to get my heart rate up and running. It worked! We get into the exam room and my pulse and blood pressure were outta control, so the doc gets in there and notices that I am uncomfortable (duh) and she offers to strip my membranes. Of course I said YES. She checked my cervix, which was a tight 4 cm, she did the stripping (I wanted to crawl up the wall it hurt so bad) and she sent me up to L&D since my blood pressure and pulse were raging.
So up to L&D we go. By this point, my contractions are coming, but just not regular enough to be considered "active labor." The nurse we had was great...however...the punk (i'm putting it nicely) of a doctor tried to chalk up my contractions to "dehydration" and sent me home. Basically he didn't want to admit and induce another woman since he was busy. Rude!! So Jonny and I left a little ticked, but oh so determined. The nurse told us as she is taking me off the monitors that we would be back later that night.
We get home, and Jon has this ENTIRE ROUTINE planned out in his head on how we are gonna get this baby out. I remember him saying, "You want a baby? Then stick with me kid and we'll have one!" This was Jonny's plan...
Step 1- Get your running shoes on! Jon took me on a walk, or should I say "power trail" through our neighborhood. I was supposed to keep his pace and slow down only for contractions. He stated before we started that I know I'm gonna hate him, but he's only trying to help. He was right, I was ready to punch him at times, but knew I had to do it! Not to mention I realized how desperately I need to get out and run/walk whatever. I'm a slow poke to the max!
Step 2- Hot bath with hot compresses to the ta-tas. Jon lit candles, filled up the tub with bubbles, put me in the tub and left to get me my favorite gatorade. I was under strict instruction to soak for 20 minutes keeping the washcloths hot on the chest, and after that rinse off and let the hot water hit the ta-tas. Let me just say that cold gatorade was a relief after that :) Of course I didn't scorch myself, but after that stuuupid walk, the last thing I wanted to do was soak in a hot tub!
Step 3- Whip out the pump! We got the breast pump set up and I laid on our bed and got to business..for about 15 minutes.
Step 4- This step is just for Jon and I to remember...I'll leave the details out ;)
Step 5- Dinner. We headed up to Chili's (after my next dose of castor oil) and noshed on some old favorites.
I was getting pretty dang uncomfy after dinner. I Had lost all kinds of mucousy bloody stuff from down below. Laid on the sofa when we got home, and the contractions got stronger. We called the hospital, I had to stop talking to the nurse since I had a contraction that was hard to talk through, started to cry, and away we went to tripler.
That was in the 8 o'clock hour. Jon somehow magically made it to the hospital in like 13 minutes or something, which is amazing from Ewa Beach. The night nurse who took care of us when we got there said the nurse who took care of us that morning left all our paperwork for her since she knew we would be back. LOVE HER! I got checked, was a good 5 centimeters now. The night nurse went to bat for me and convinced the staff to admit me. I guess they were thinking of sending me to walk around the hospital. What is wrong with these people and admitting patients?! My uterus isn't made of steel you know, sheesh! Doctor Kern was assigned to me for the delivery, and she made mention of how they would probably do pitocin and augment my labor. I'm thinking...whatever lady, just get me back there and get the epidural drippin'!
Through my contractions, I would squeeze Jon's had so hard that his wedding ring made a dent. Whoops! By the time I got to the delivery room, I was MISERABLE with contractions. I think it was a combo of me being soo exhausted mentally and physically, because the toco score on the contractions were only in the mid to upper 30s...or so i thought. Nevertheless, those puppies hurt!
I was a little mean to the doctor that was telling me about the epidural. He said he was going to put in the order, and I, in a not so nice way, told him to "type faster." That's putting it nicely. At that point, Jon came over to me and reminded me of the saying, "Don't poop where you sleep." Meaning that I should probably be nice to the staff, since they are the ones that are taking care of me and our new arrival. LOL Looking back this is pretty funny, but at the time I felt horrible, and apologized to Mary, our nurse for the delivery when she came back in the room. She has been a nurse longer that I have been alive, so my behavior didn't phase her one bit. Lucky for me I guess :)
Shortly after this, Fred, the CRNA, came in for my epidural. He became my best buddy. I was in so much pain, telling Jon to make it stop, that Fred's face was like a breath of fresh air. Super cool guy, has done TONS of epidurals. He hooked me up, I was able to wrap my arms around Jon while they inserted the catheter, and that was the best I had felt at that point. The meds hadn't kicked in yet, but I was hugging Jon, and hadn't been able to for quite awhile since all the admitting stuff and IVs and monitoring.
Jon was able to leave now (I let him) and get my paperwork from downstairs to properly admit me to the hospital. I wanted to keep him with me until after the eipdural since I was kind of a crazy person leading up to it. I still was feeling contractions, and was still in some REAL pain, after 15-20 minutes of the epidural being placed. With Aiden, I didn't feel crud, and I was thinking that is how I should feel. Mary asked if I was still feeling them, I promptly responded with a moany voiced YES, and she left to get Fred again. So Fred the BFF came back and gave me another bolus, and he ran off to help with a c-section.
Jon came back and asked how I was feeling, and he said my eyes were floating and having a hard time focusing on him. HA!! Guess the meds were working! He went and sat at the computer across the delivery room, and I was still waiting to feel nothing down below. He would check on me every couple minutes and ask how I was. I looked over and smiled at him after him asking if the meds were working. I said, " I can still feel it..so I don't know." Jon was cracking up inside since according to the monitor, that was the strongest contraction that I had had thus far....and I was smiling through it! So yes, Fred's procedure was successful. :)
Shortly after that whopper of a contraction, I gasped and told Jon, "I feel pressure...I think my water just broke!" I was waiting on the doc to come in and break it for me, but my body apparently did the trick. It was just Jon and I then, and he walked over and lifted the sheet, his eyebrows raised and he took off with a little more speed. My water didn't break, but my amniotic sack, IN TACT, came out and was just hanging there. Averie could have came out with it! I guess that's a rare thing, but sometimes babies are born in their water bags. After Jon saw this and took off, Mary came back to check me, discovered I was complete complete +1 (fully dilated, effaced and baby's head was almost chillin') and ran for a doc. Mary came back, said I should do a practice push so she could see how I would do. So I did that once, got the green flag, Dr. Kern came in, got gowned up, I pushed for 4 push sets, and pop! Out comes the sweetest baby ever! No rips tears, episiotomy nada! Averie was born at 12:50am on 9.10.09. During the pushing, it was actually peaceful. Everyone was calm, quiet and just waiting for Averie to make her decent. I felt no stress, didn't feel rushed, just ready to meet our baby girl. It was just Jon, Dr. Kern, and Mary and myself. Totally awesome! I would do it again in a heartbeat if I could only skip the part leading up to the epidural :)
Once Averie was out, they had placed her on my chest and I just stared. She was fussing, sticking out her tongue and I think I was in a state of shock. I thought, wow, there she is. She's mine. She's Jon's. OH MY GOSH Jon and I have a baby together! Yahoo! It all seemed so natural, like she's always been with us. Jon got the video camera out and was filming Averie getting dried off..she was COVERED IN vernix and stuck to everything. She also grabbed the nurse's lanyard with her credentials on it and was pulling so hard towards her that Jon had to pry her fingers off! The nurse was shocked and said that has never happened before. She also would have rolled off the scale if it didn't have a side on it. I knew she would be super crazy active! She nursed right away and and not wanted to stop since!
I could go on about this day forever, but I should stop. All I can really say is that I am SO GRATEFUL to my Father in heaven for blessing me with such an amazing husband, son, and now a daughter. My mom told me once that she thought she understood better how much the Lord loves his children now that she has her own. That could not be more true. The love you feel for your kids is beyond anything I could imagine. And to share that with such a loving, kind, thoughtful, strong, courageous, and utterly amazing man is something truly special, that I will never take for granted.
