I'll get one or two up later today. I'm no expert on labor and delivery, but all doctors and nurses said it was a beautiful labor and delivery. There were no scary moments, and, while it did hurt, it wasn't the nightmare of pain I expected it to be.
Beatrice Rose has arrived!
June 26, 2008
Well Ladies, my little bundle of joy arrived yesterday afternoon...at 38 1/2 weeks. SHE IS SO CUTE!
My story goes a little something like this. Tuesday evening, after finishing what I needed to do for work (maternity leave wise) and doing my MAJOR baby shopping trip, I went to bed with a backache and a bit of cramping. Thought it was because I had exerted myself with all of the shopping. Not so much.
At 1:15 am I got up to go to the bathroom...completely normal. Emptied the bladder, got back into bed, had a few more cramps, then a little gush. Not a lot, but it was wet. Honestly, I didn't know what had happened. I really thought I had somehow managed to pee myself, although it didn't feel like pee coming out. It also didn't smell like pee...but I'd had a lot of water in the day.
Anyway, I changed underwear and crawled back into bed, at which point I realized I was having fairly regular cramping every 5-6 minutes. Kind of panicked there, as I realized what was going on. Went to the bathroom again and my mucus plug was fully coming out. Mine totally looked like EWCM with some blood streaks in it. At that point I wondered if my cramping had to do with the mucus plug rather than delivery. Called the doctor around 2am. She said that I needed to come in immediately if I was even suspicious my water had broken. So, at 2:30 am my hubby and I left for the hospital.
Upon arrival I was checked and told my water had definitely broken. Again, panic set it.
At this point I was having 45 sec. contractions every 4-6 minutes. But, I was still only 90% effaced and 1 cm dilated. So, I had a long way to go. Since I was in some pain and I was a bit anxious, I got a lovely narcotic...which seemed to slow down the contractions.
So, at about 10 am my doctor came it and asked if she could serve me up some oxytocin. Since I was Strep B +, and my water had broken, they wanted to get the show on the road.
It took a lot of oxytocin, but, finally, things got moving. REALLY moving. The narcotic had completely worn off by this point, so I was feeling the contractions hard core. And, truth be told, it wasn't as bad as I thought. Don't get me wrong...it is pain...but the fact that they come and go does help. You forget about that. Oh, and, before they got too bad, I got more narcotics, followed by an epideral. Epiderals, btw, are awesome.
I don't know if I really slept, but I was in and out a bit for a couple of hours...no pain. Then, at about 2:15pm I had some pretty bad pressure on my rectum. It felt like contractions all over again...painful, but doable. The fact I was having these pains made my nurse suspect I was getting close, so she checked, and I was between 9 an 10 cm. I kept on with the rectum pain for another half hour or so, at which point she checked me again, and it was time to push!
I have to admit, pushing was harder than I thought it would be. I don't really remember pain associated with it, but it was EXHAUSTING. Still, 45 minutes later, and my sweet, sweet little girl was born.
Beatrice Rose. We love her so.
Thanks to all at FertilityTies for supporting me while TTC, throughout my pregnancy, and listening to my very, very long child birthing story. :)
My story goes a little something like this. Tuesday evening, after finishing what I needed to do for work (maternity leave wise) and doing my MAJOR baby shopping trip, I went to bed with a backache and a bit of cramping. Thought it was because I had exerted myself with all of the shopping. Not so much.
At 1:15 am I got up to go to the bathroom...completely normal. Emptied the bladder, got back into bed, had a few more cramps, then a little gush. Not a lot, but it was wet. Honestly, I didn't know what had happened. I really thought I had somehow managed to pee myself, although it didn't feel like pee coming out. It also didn't smell like pee...but I'd had a lot of water in the day.
Anyway, I changed underwear and crawled back into bed, at which point I realized I was having fairly regular cramping every 5-6 minutes. Kind of panicked there, as I realized what was going on. Went to the bathroom again and my mucus plug was fully coming out. Mine totally looked like EWCM with some blood streaks in it. At that point I wondered if my cramping had to do with the mucus plug rather than delivery. Called the doctor around 2am. She said that I needed to come in immediately if I was even suspicious my water had broken. So, at 2:30 am my hubby and I left for the hospital.
Upon arrival I was checked and told my water had definitely broken. Again, panic set it.
At this point I was having 45 sec. contractions every 4-6 minutes. But, I was still only 90% effaced and 1 cm dilated. So, I had a long way to go. Since I was in some pain and I was a bit anxious, I got a lovely narcotic...which seemed to slow down the contractions.
So, at about 10 am my doctor came it and asked if she could serve me up some oxytocin. Since I was Strep B +, and my water had broken, they wanted to get the show on the road.
It took a lot of oxytocin, but, finally, things got moving. REALLY moving. The narcotic had completely worn off by this point, so I was feeling the contractions hard core. And, truth be told, it wasn't as bad as I thought. Don't get me wrong...it is pain...but the fact that they come and go does help. You forget about that. Oh, and, before they got too bad, I got more narcotics, followed by an epideral. Epiderals, btw, are awesome.
I don't know if I really slept, but I was in and out a bit for a couple of hours...no pain. Then, at about 2:15pm I had some pretty bad pressure on my rectum. It felt like contractions all over again...painful, but doable. The fact I was having these pains made my nurse suspect I was getting close, so she checked, and I was between 9 an 10 cm. I kept on with the rectum pain for another half hour or so, at which point she checked me again, and it was time to push!
I have to admit, pushing was harder than I thought it would be. I don't really remember pain associated with it, but it was EXHAUSTING. Still, 45 minutes later, and my sweet, sweet little girl was born.
Beatrice Rose. We love her so.
Thanks to all at FertilityTies for supporting me while TTC, throughout my pregnancy, and listening to my very, very long child birthing story. :)
Thanks for the kind words, ladies. Hubby and I are still in recovery mode...I guess we will be for the next 18 years, eh?
We're tired, I'm a bit sore, but we're just over the top happy. All seems well. We're home. She's latching on (although one nipple is requiring a breast shield, as the nipple is a bit uncooperative). Life is good.
Oh...6 lbs. and 10 oz was the weight, 19 1/4 inches long.
Finally, here's my baby girl, in all her glory:
We're tired, I'm a bit sore, but we're just over the top happy. All seems well. We're home. She's latching on (although one nipple is requiring a breast shield, as the nipple is a bit uncooperative). Life is good.
Oh...6 lbs. and 10 oz was the weight, 19 1/4 inches long.
Finally, here's my baby girl, in all her glory:
June 26, 2008
Sounds like you had a pretty good Labor and delivery !!!! Hang in there and get as much rest in as you can you will need it!!!