Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 - On the second day of Christmas, my Good Lord gave to me the most precious tiny baby.
So Anna has offered me pain meds and I have informed her that I do indeed want to do the epidural. So I take the Nubian, and it does help somewhat take the intensity out of the contractions, but let's not be silly here. They still hurt like a mug. She then tells me that I can have the epidural when I am ready. Well, what are we waiting for? So Dr. Singh comes in and becomes my best friend ever. Suddenly, my whole body relaxes and I have never felt so tired and relieved. I can feel the contraction in my body, but there is no pain or uncomfortableness. I can still move and feel but it's like when your foot falls asleep. Without the pins and needles. A very interesting feeling.
In the meantime, Brad's parents have arrived. They didn't need to be here at 3 in the morning but here they are. It's nice to see them and know they are so excited.
The nurses start preparations to move to the new hospital and they are informing Brad and me about how the transfer will take place. Brad won't be allowed to ride in the ambulance with me because Dr. Raja Chatterji, the lead ob/gyn at Sherman Hospital, is going to be riding with my nurse and me. They ask Brad to take all my belongings and then the paramedic crew arrives to move me onto a stretcher. I am one of the first ones to be transferred. I guess they worry about getting me out of one hospital and into and set up in the other before I go into labor. Dr. Chatterji was hoping I would deliver on the way.
Well, unfortunately for Dr. Chatterji, I didn't deliver Austin on the way to the new Sherman hospital. What I did do was to get sick on the way there. Something about being flat on your back, covered in fleece blankets, and moving backwards just got me all queasy. I barfed.
They wheeled me through all the media set up outside the hospital to document this historic event. I was really thinking now that I could possibly have the first baby delivered at the new hospital. Now, my nurse is Becky. She rode from the Center St. hospital with me. I have to say that I think she is the greatest. What a wonderful personality. Becky tells me that there is a C-section scheduled for 9:30am. So, it just doesn't seem possible that I will deliver first. Another woman checked into this hospital when her water broke in the parking lot. So, I have some stiff competition to even be the first vaginal delivery at this hospital. It's ok though. The room is so nice. I feel comfortable.
So, they get me all situated in the room. It overlooks the lake. Pretty nice. I rest. Brad leaves to go let the dogs out and get a bite to eat. His parents stay with me and stare fixated at the monitors. They watch the baby's heartbeat and the contractions. I play on facebook.
About 9:30, Dr. Epstein stops by and breaks my water. I can feel the gush. It's weird. Now things should get rolling. Becky stops in about an hour later to see if I have progressed at all. When she notices it is still moving pretty slow, she gives me a small amount of Pitocin. Things start to move but are still pretty slow. So about noon she ups the dosage a tiny bit. Then at about 1:00pm, she checks me and I am at 10cm. Yay! Now let the pushing begin!
It's weird to push. You have to grab your thighs from the inside, spread wide, and bear down like you are using the bathroom. Kinda scrunching up in a tense little ball. It was hard not to put all the pressure in my face. Brad stood right by my side and helped me. He coached me with the counting. He helped to hold my head up and he gave me the oxygen mask between contractions. I got the hang of it pretty quick. When a contraction would come on, I would reach down, grab hold and push. That was so exhausting. I really couldn't feel Austin at all. But they stopped administering the epidural medication so the longer I pushed, the more intense my contractions became. By the end, it was all pretty uncomfortable.
During all of this, I tried to pay attention to what was being said by the nurses. Sometimes it sounded like they were worried that Austin was in distress. What I gathered is that after my push, Austin's heartbeat would drop. They would massage his head and try to get him to "wake up". He was not moving forward the way they wanted him to. It sounded like they were saying he was stuck against my pelvic bone. When Dr. Epstein arrived, they decided he could be delivered vaginally but would need the forceps for help. I pushed with all my might and a few prayers. Austin arrived at 3:32pm on December 15th. No c-section needed and though not the first vaginal delivery, the first forceps delivery at the new hospital. Dr. Epstein was thrilled! I think he went around telling everyone about his accomplishment. Maybe he planned it that way the whole time. Who knows.
So now Austin was here. They put him on my chest and I was just overwhelmed. I couldn't believe that someone that large was living through me. Amazing. I can remember the first look I had of him, the look on Brad's face. Priceless. Then they picked him up and started all their work. They bathed him, weighed him, measured him, did all kinds of things with him. All right there next to my bed. I couldn't take my eyes off of him. They were still doing all kinds of things to me, too. Little did I know what kind of "recovery" I was in for, but at that moment, I didn't care. Little Austin Joseph, red hair glowing, lungs functioning in short sharp baby cries, weighed in at 7 pounds, 6 ounces and measured 20 and a half inches long. All his tests were good and he seemed healthy as a baby could be.
His remarkable red hair led me to immediately call my mom. I could not keep that from her. As soon as I could reach my phone, I dialed her up. We were both in unbelief (except that I could see it) that I wuld have a red haired baby. My mom was just super excited. We posted to facebook, called the siblings, and then just let the chain flow.
Once I was all stitched up, They delivered the placenta. That had to have been the strangest feeling I have ever felt. Suction!
All the excitement shifted to Brad's parents coming in and then the photos started. Lots of pics were being snapped all over the place. No one even considered that I hadn't showered or done my hair in over 24 hours...yik! But who cares? I just love looking now at those first snapshots of him. They really do grow fast. I rested there for only a brief period of time and then they were taking off my catheter. The epidural had been stopped and the anesthesiologist came in to remove it so I had no need for the catheter any more. Once removed, my nurse, Carmie, helped me to the bathroom. What a mess! Please, ladies, if you ever have your first baby by vaginal delivery, don't wear your good socks or slippers! She was so kind and helpful. Then they wheeled me to my own room in the mother/baby unit where I spent the rest of my time at the hospital.
I got into the room, they took all my vitals (again), checked Austin (again), and then gave me some pain meds. I had to go to the bathroom (again) but really couldn't do it by myself. So Michelle (my nurse) helped me. She was really great. But only there for about an hour of my stay. Brad left to go get some dinner and check on the dogs and I tried to get some sleep. It really is difficult to sleep in the hospital. The bed really made my back and that lovely hemorrhoid the pushing gave me hurt. I tended to like to sit up in the lounge chair most of the time. Austin stayed with me pretty much the whole time I was there.
The lactation specialist came in to check on me and she stayed with me for about an hour. It was really difficult to get Austin to latch on. She manipulated my breasts and showed me ways to hold him and hold myself so that he would take to it. It just all led to frustration. Plus I knew I really wasn't producing much. I also knew, from things I had read ahead of time, that the longer I stuck with the breastfeeding, the more milk I would produce. We'll see. For now, I just needed to supplement with formula and get some sleep.
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