March 17, 2015
7 pounds 4 ounces
20 inches
and absolutely perfect
I was told at my 36 week check up that our baby would for sure come early. Well, four weeks later--one day before his due date, Baby Boy finally decided to come.
On the evening of the 16th, at about 11:30 p.m. I started having contractions that were slightly stronger than the few I had had here and there for the last week or so. After about an hour of laying in bed trying to ignore the cramps, I got up and started walking around. I didn't want to wake Matt up until I was sure that I was actually in labor. I double checked our hospital bags, picked up the living room, and did other little things to try and distract myself. I decided to start a movie and finally woke Matt up at 2:00 a.m. I told him that I had been timing the contractions and that they were about 5 minutes apart and lasting about a minute each. The doctor said to come in when they were 10 minutes apart lasting one minute each, but they weren't very painful, so I wasn't sure if this was the real thing! Matt suggested that we wait another 30 minutes and then see if we felt like they were strong enough to go to the hospital. Well, a few minutes later my water broke.
One of the things that worried me most about going into labor was not being able to tell if I was actually in labor. Luckily we only live five minutes from the hospital, but I really wanted to be able to know for sure when would be the right time to go to the hospital. When I found out that having your water break at home was one of the ways to get admitted right away, and that it was actually quite rare, I specifically prayed that it would happen to me. God answers prayers, my friends!
On the evening of the 16th, at about 11:30 p.m. I started having contractions that were slightly stronger than the few I had had here and there for the last week or so. After about an hour of laying in bed trying to ignore the cramps, I got up and started walking around. I didn't want to wake Matt up until I was sure that I was actually in labor. I double checked our hospital bags, picked up the living room, and did other little things to try and distract myself. I decided to start a movie and finally woke Matt up at 2:00 a.m. I told him that I had been timing the contractions and that they were about 5 minutes apart and lasting about a minute each. The doctor said to come in when they were 10 minutes apart lasting one minute each, but they weren't very painful, so I wasn't sure if this was the real thing! Matt suggested that we wait another 30 minutes and then see if we felt like they were strong enough to go to the hospital. Well, a few minutes later my water broke.
One of the things that worried me most about going into labor was not being able to tell if I was actually in labor. Luckily we only live five minutes from the hospital, but I really wanted to be able to know for sure when would be the right time to go to the hospital. When I found out that having your water break at home was one of the ways to get admitted right away, and that it was actually quite rare, I specifically prayed that it would happen to me. God answers prayers, my friends!
I hopped up off the floor and started to shake, slowly at first and then violently. Nerves...which always lead to, you guessed it, throwing up. I quickly put on the dry clothes Matt grabbed for me and started dry heaving as he grabbed our hospital bags. Well, the force of the dry heaving pushed out the rest of my water, so Matt grabbed whatever he could find off the floor (a super cute pair of baggy purple pj pants and an oversized and stained Sherwin Williams sweatshirt) for me to wear. I grabbed a towel to put between my legs because the water still coming and off to the hospital we went!
As we drove to the hospital, my contractions started to become more and more painful. My shaking hadn't stopped and Matt was worried that I was going into shock. It's so embarrassing when you literally have no control over what your body is doing. I kept trying to tell him through chattering teeth that I was really fine, just nervous.
We arrived and were admitted to the hospital at 3:00 a.m. By this time I couldn't even stand up straight because my contractions were so painful. I was dilated to 5 cm and the nurse asked if I wanted an epidural. I told her I couldn't get one quick enough! No way was I going to endure this torture if I had another option. Fifteen minutes later I was on cloud nine. Never in my life have I felt such a drastic change from misery to pure joy. Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating...or maybe I just have seriously low pain tolerance. Either way, I will be forever grateful to whoever invented the epidural.
At 6:00 a.m. I was fully dilated and effaced. The doctor came in with the nurse and said I needed to give three hard pushes, to which I responded, "Wait, is this the real thing?" Everything was going so much more smoothly than I imagined! This was in fact the real thing. "Ok!" I thought, "Let's do this!"
Well, after almost three hours of pushing with several breaks in between, I wasn't as enthusiastic. Our little man was trying to be posterior, but wasn't quite facing all the way up. The doctor was able to turn his head so that he was facing sideways and said that he might naturally turn face down as I pushed. Well... I pushed and pushed and his little head just wasn't moving. The doctor said he was still too far in to safely use forceps or a vacuum, and it was looking like a c-section was the best option. What?! C-section? I had not prepared mentally for this. How could this be? I had a perfect and easy pregnancy; my labor and delivery were supposed to follow suit! I pushed for half an hour more and then gave in. I was mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted. My pushes were less and less effective and Baby's head was starting to swell. It just wasn't going to fit through my pelvis.
I have to pause a minute here and give a shout out to my very patient parents and sister who were there in the delivery room cheering me on. Their support was so needed. Mostly though, I'm so grateful for my wonderful husband who sat next to the bed the entire time, raising and lowering my legs with every contraction and counting to ten with every push, giving kisses and tender words of support reminding me that all of this would be worth it, and feeding me flavored ice chips. I can honestly say that I couldn't have done this without him there by my side.
Once I agreed to the c-section, it was smooth sailing! I was numbed from my armpits down while Matt pulled scrubs on over his clothes. Then, Matt and the nurse wheeled me down to the operating room. I was transferred to another table (super weird to be completely numb and helpless haha), had some nice, warm air blowers placed on my upper body, and then up went the curtain. Matt sat in a chair by my head and we chatted and laughed with the doctors as they began the surgery. It was so surreal--behind that curtain two men were opening my body to take out my baby! I felt a little bit of tugging, and ten minutes later I heard the sweet cries of my little baby! They held him briefly over the curtain for me to see, and let me tell you, I am now a believer of love at first site. Matt got up at this point to be with the baby while he was washed off, weighed, and measured, and I while I was stitched up...and 45 minutes later, it was all over!
I found out later from Matt that it took both doctors to pull the little guy out! Apparently all the pushing wedged him into my pelvis pretty tight, and he had an awesome cone head there for a little while.
It wasn't until about two hours later, in the recovery room, that I finally got to meet my baby. It was one of the sweetest and will be one of the most treasured moments of my life. He was perfect. And he was completely ours.
After a few days, we finally decided on the name Adam, just because we liked it and it fit. His middle name is Matthew, after his daddy.
We stayed three nights at the hospital where we pretty much just sat and stared at Adam and enjoyed the free hospital food. We took him home on a Friday, and now we wonder what our lives were like without him. He is totally worth every missed hour of sleep, every cry, and every diaper change. We are so happy to have him in our little family.
So grateful it was 3 a.m.
As we drove to the hospital, my contractions started to become more and more painful. My shaking hadn't stopped and Matt was worried that I was going into shock. It's so embarrassing when you literally have no control over what your body is doing. I kept trying to tell him through chattering teeth that I was really fine, just nervous.
We arrived and were admitted to the hospital at 3:00 a.m. By this time I couldn't even stand up straight because my contractions were so painful. I was dilated to 5 cm and the nurse asked if I wanted an epidural. I told her I couldn't get one quick enough! No way was I going to endure this torture if I had another option. Fifteen minutes later I was on cloud nine. Never in my life have I felt such a drastic change from misery to pure joy. Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating...or maybe I just have seriously low pain tolerance. Either way, I will be forever grateful to whoever invented the epidural.
At 6:00 a.m. I was fully dilated and effaced. The doctor came in with the nurse and said I needed to give three hard pushes, to which I responded, "Wait, is this the real thing?" Everything was going so much more smoothly than I imagined! This was in fact the real thing. "Ok!" I thought, "Let's do this!"
Well, after almost three hours of pushing with several breaks in between, I wasn't as enthusiastic. Our little man was trying to be posterior, but wasn't quite facing all the way up. The doctor was able to turn his head so that he was facing sideways and said that he might naturally turn face down as I pushed. Well... I pushed and pushed and his little head just wasn't moving. The doctor said he was still too far in to safely use forceps or a vacuum, and it was looking like a c-section was the best option. What?! C-section? I had not prepared mentally for this. How could this be? I had a perfect and easy pregnancy; my labor and delivery were supposed to follow suit! I pushed for half an hour more and then gave in. I was mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted. My pushes were less and less effective and Baby's head was starting to swell. It just wasn't going to fit through my pelvis.
Exhaustion
Prepping for the c-section...feeling incredibly claustrophobic with no feeling in half of my body
Once I agreed to the c-section, it was smooth sailing! I was numbed from my armpits down while Matt pulled scrubs on over his clothes. Then, Matt and the nurse wheeled me down to the operating room. I was transferred to another table (super weird to be completely numb and helpless haha), had some nice, warm air blowers placed on my upper body, and then up went the curtain. Matt sat in a chair by my head and we chatted and laughed with the doctors as they began the surgery. It was so surreal--behind that curtain two men were opening my body to take out my baby! I felt a little bit of tugging, and ten minutes later I heard the sweet cries of my little baby! They held him briefly over the curtain for me to see, and let me tell you, I am now a believer of love at first site. Matt got up at this point to be with the baby while he was washed off, weighed, and measured, and I while I was stitched up...and 45 minutes later, it was all over!
Love this picture :)
I found out later from Matt that it took both doctors to pull the little guy out! Apparently all the pushing wedged him into my pelvis pretty tight, and he had an awesome cone head there for a little while.
He weighed the exact same as I did!
Matt already being the best dad
It wasn't until about two hours later, in the recovery room, that I finally got to meet my baby. It was one of the sweetest and will be one of the most treasured moments of my life. He was perfect. And he was completely ours.
First family pic!
After a few days, we finally decided on the name Adam, just because we liked it and it fit. His middle name is Matthew, after his daddy.
We stayed three nights at the hospital where we pretty much just sat and stared at Adam and enjoyed the free hospital food. We took him home on a Friday, and now we wonder what our lives were like without him. He is totally worth every missed hour of sleep, every cry, and every diaper change. We are so happy to have him in our little family.
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