Happy Mother's Day to Me!
Well, Bennett has arrived!! I still can't believe it's real...
I left off on Friday, when I was leaking "fluid". By Saturday, I was still consistently leaking, so I called the doctor's office per instruction from my appointment on Friday. They said to come into triage to get everything checked out, and to bring our stuff just in case.
We arrived at the hospital at about 1pm... Dr. Shoenmaker (not our original doctor, but the one that we really liked of all the other doctors we met in the group) first did an ultrasound. My fluid levels that were at about 12 the day before were now at 6! Even though they consider 5 and above to be "normal", since I was obviously leaking at a fast pace, it was time to consider our options! They also did another pH test to confirm that it was amniotic fluid (in case there was any doubt), and it was positive right away.
Okay, now what?! I had been "crampy" all morning, but I didn't think they were contractions because I had been experiencing them all week and they weren't intense, but they were! Unfortunately, even with mild contractions my cervix was not cooperating/progressing at the rate that my fluids were leaving, and I was only dilated to 2cm. After my appointment on Friday when they couldn't conclusively tell me whether or not my water was slowly breaking, I was somewhat convinced that I was "overexaggerating" regarding the amount of fluid coming out. I have never had a baby, after all, so how did I know for sure that what was coming out was "substantial"? But here we were... in the hospital, half expecting we would be going home with more waiting ahead of us, when we were told we would have to induce!
I was given the option of pitocin or cervidil, a vaginal suppository that is a little more mild than pitocin. I really had hoped not to induce at all, but since I didn't have an option, I went with the cervidil. Dr. Shoenmaker said that it wasn't effective on everyone, and because I was still "leaking", there was a chance that the amniotic fluid would just flush it right out, but I still wanted to "chance" it over the pitocin.
The cervidil was given to me at about 5pm. By this time, Sarah and Toph were already there, as well as my mom. We were all hanging out in the room waiting for the drug to take effect. We discussed epidurals and how I would like to hold out and not take one unless I really felt it necessary. I also joked about how we had watched birthing videos in the class Quinn and I had a while back, and how there were women that made the strangest, loudest groans instead of breathing - it was a different technique. Anyway, I said that I couldn't imagine that would be that effective and how I would stick to the "breathing"... HA. So, my contractions officially started at about 5:30pm. By 5:45, I told the nurse, "By the way, I AM going to want an epidural". ;-) I think that I have a fairly high pain tolerance in general, but maybe it was the induction that drove my contractions from zero to sixty, without having the time to naturally progress with them, that made them so intense! They don't call it labor for nothing, I guess!
They had to wait until my saline IV bag was half gone before they were able to administer the epidural. I had about two hours of severe contractions, at the end of which I was transferred to the labor and delivery room and was still only dilated to 3cm. Right when we got into the room, I had a feeling that I rarely get: I was going to throw up! Quinn handed me the nearest container, and that was that! The anesthesiologist came in right during this episode, and soon as I was done, I said, "Nice to meet you!" I was so excited that he was there!
I had heard that getting an epidural could be painful (big needle in the back), but I didn't feel a thing. My contractions were about two minutes apart by this time and the doctor told me it would be about ten minutes before the epi would take effect (about four contractions), but it was instantaneous for me! FANTASTIC! From that point on, I felt great!
They thought they would still have to give me pitocin because I wasn't progressing and they needed my big "bag of waters" to officially break, but all of a sudden, my body took over. My water broke and I went from being dilated 3cm to 8cm! We just had to wait until I was dilated to 10cm and it was time to push. I asked them how I would know it was time to push, given that I had the epidural and couldn't feel the contractions. They assured me that I would know and explained that, although I would not feel pain, I would feel a lot of pressure and a sensation similar to feeling the need to go # 2. They were right, and at about 1am it was time to push!
Everyone left the room except for Quinn. While originally we both thought that Quinn would sort of be standing in the background or next to me, the experience was much different than either of us had expected. Unlike what we thought, the room was not full of doctors. In fact, it was just the nurse, Quinn and me. The nurse grabbed one leg and told Quinn to grab the other, and he got to see the entire event. When each contraction started, I was instructed to take deep breaths in and push for ten seconds, three times in a row. The nurse explained that it was sort of like a see saw... every time I pushed, the head would come closer, but would rock back in until it passed a "barrier". At that point, the head would crown and they would be able to pull out the baby. I pushed for about 25 minutes and the nurse called the doctors in. They said that averages for pushing were between an hour and three hours, but I pushed for a total of about 40 minutes and our son was born!
Bennett Ashley Baldwin was born on May 10, 2009 (Mother's Day!) at 1:43am (also, for those of you that don't know, 143 is "text code" for I love you!). He was 8lbs even and 21 inches, exactly what I was at birth! Although we had that in common, Bennett is ALL daddy! He looks just like him!
My total labor was about 8.5 hours, and in general was a wonderful experience. The moment I saw Bennett, it was instant love. His second and third toes are slightly webbed, just like Nana Donna's ;-), and his fingers and toes are very long! He is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen.
I left off on Friday, when I was leaking "fluid". By Saturday, I was still consistently leaking, so I called the doctor's office per instruction from my appointment on Friday. They said to come into triage to get everything checked out, and to bring our stuff just in case.
We arrived at the hospital at about 1pm... Dr. Shoenmaker (not our original doctor, but the one that we really liked of all the other doctors we met in the group) first did an ultrasound. My fluid levels that were at about 12 the day before were now at 6! Even though they consider 5 and above to be "normal", since I was obviously leaking at a fast pace, it was time to consider our options! They also did another pH test to confirm that it was amniotic fluid (in case there was any doubt), and it was positive right away.
Okay, now what?! I had been "crampy" all morning, but I didn't think they were contractions because I had been experiencing them all week and they weren't intense, but they were! Unfortunately, even with mild contractions my cervix was not cooperating/progressing at the rate that my fluids were leaving, and I was only dilated to 2cm. After my appointment on Friday when they couldn't conclusively tell me whether or not my water was slowly breaking, I was somewhat convinced that I was "overexaggerating" regarding the amount of fluid coming out. I have never had a baby, after all, so how did I know for sure that what was coming out was "substantial"? But here we were... in the hospital, half expecting we would be going home with more waiting ahead of us, when we were told we would have to induce!
I was given the option of pitocin or cervidil, a vaginal suppository that is a little more mild than pitocin. I really had hoped not to induce at all, but since I didn't have an option, I went with the cervidil. Dr. Shoenmaker said that it wasn't effective on everyone, and because I was still "leaking", there was a chance that the amniotic fluid would just flush it right out, but I still wanted to "chance" it over the pitocin.
The cervidil was given to me at about 5pm. By this time, Sarah and Toph were already there, as well as my mom. We were all hanging out in the room waiting for the drug to take effect. We discussed epidurals and how I would like to hold out and not take one unless I really felt it necessary. I also joked about how we had watched birthing videos in the class Quinn and I had a while back, and how there were women that made the strangest, loudest groans instead of breathing - it was a different technique. Anyway, I said that I couldn't imagine that would be that effective and how I would stick to the "breathing"... HA. So, my contractions officially started at about 5:30pm. By 5:45, I told the nurse, "By the way, I AM going to want an epidural". ;-) I think that I have a fairly high pain tolerance in general, but maybe it was the induction that drove my contractions from zero to sixty, without having the time to naturally progress with them, that made them so intense! They don't call it labor for nothing, I guess!
They had to wait until my saline IV bag was half gone before they were able to administer the epidural. I had about two hours of severe contractions, at the end of which I was transferred to the labor and delivery room and was still only dilated to 3cm. Right when we got into the room, I had a feeling that I rarely get: I was going to throw up! Quinn handed me the nearest container, and that was that! The anesthesiologist came in right during this episode, and soon as I was done, I said, "Nice to meet you!" I was so excited that he was there!
I had heard that getting an epidural could be painful (big needle in the back), but I didn't feel a thing. My contractions were about two minutes apart by this time and the doctor told me it would be about ten minutes before the epi would take effect (about four contractions), but it was instantaneous for me! FANTASTIC! From that point on, I felt great!
They thought they would still have to give me pitocin because I wasn't progressing and they needed my big "bag of waters" to officially break, but all of a sudden, my body took over. My water broke and I went from being dilated 3cm to 8cm! We just had to wait until I was dilated to 10cm and it was time to push. I asked them how I would know it was time to push, given that I had the epidural and couldn't feel the contractions. They assured me that I would know and explained that, although I would not feel pain, I would feel a lot of pressure and a sensation similar to feeling the need to go # 2. They were right, and at about 1am it was time to push!
Everyone left the room except for Quinn. While originally we both thought that Quinn would sort of be standing in the background or next to me, the experience was much different than either of us had expected. Unlike what we thought, the room was not full of doctors. In fact, it was just the nurse, Quinn and me. The nurse grabbed one leg and told Quinn to grab the other, and he got to see the entire event. When each contraction started, I was instructed to take deep breaths in and push for ten seconds, three times in a row. The nurse explained that it was sort of like a see saw... every time I pushed, the head would come closer, but would rock back in until it passed a "barrier". At that point, the head would crown and they would be able to pull out the baby. I pushed for about 25 minutes and the nurse called the doctors in. They said that averages for pushing were between an hour and three hours, but I pushed for a total of about 40 minutes and our son was born!
Bennett Ashley Baldwin was born on May 10, 2009 (Mother's Day!) at 1:43am (also, for those of you that don't know, 143 is "text code" for I love you!). He was 8lbs even and 21 inches, exactly what I was at birth! Although we had that in common, Bennett is ALL daddy! He looks just like him!
My total labor was about 8.5 hours, and in general was a wonderful experience. The moment I saw Bennett, it was instant love. His second and third toes are slightly webbed, just like Nana Donna's ;-), and his fingers and toes are very long! He is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen.
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~Lots of Love~
Beth