First, back it up a few days. My due date was April 13th. I went in for my doc apt and I was still only 3cm dilated and 80% effaced. Still no contractions. At this point, all we needed to do was schedule an induction. The doc said she would call and and then call me with the time.
We had planned to have the baby at St. Lukes East since it is so close to the house. Well apparently they did not have an open induction slot until the NEXT friday...meaning I would have to be pregnant for another week and a half. I was NOT okay with that. I was so uncomfortable and so ready to be done and have little guy here already. So she asked if I would be okay delivering at Centerpoint instead and see if they could fit me in sooner....I said yes.
Well we couldn't do it on Thursday because billing had to make sure insurance would cover a birth at Centerpoint...so we were scheduled for 5:30am on Friday!
Early.
Really freaking early.
But I didn't care because there was an end in sight!
So thursday I had to distract myself. My mom came up and hung out with me. We went shopping, out to eat and I got my hair done. It had been almost a year since it had been done..it really needed the love. Thursday night, I didn't sleep at all. I was worried about not waking up and anxious for the induction. I had heard horror stories and didn't want that kind of experience....
We arrived at the hospital ridiculously early and got signed in. The paperwork took quite a long time because we had all the pre-registration stuff done for the St. Lukes East, not Centerpoint. So we had to re-do it all.
By 7:30, I was finally in the room and the pitocin had started.
At 8:30, the doc came in and broke my water. Weirdest feeling ever and glad that it didn't break on its own at home!
The machine said I was having contractions, but I didn't feel them. By 9:30, I finally started feeling contractions. The nurses were great, and since I was already dilated, they said that I could have the epidural at any point. I just had to ask.
About 8 contractions in, I was like - screw this shit. I've done the whole pain thing for hours with the ovarian torsion at 10 weeks...I'm not doing this again when they are offering drugs!!!
So drug me up!!!!
Epidurals. Are. Glorious.
Couldn't feel a freaking thing. By 10:30, I was completely numb and I was doing great.
Now we wait. And eat Popsicles.
And wait some more...and nap
By 2:00, I was completely dilated and ready to push..but they asked if I wanted a nap before we started...heck yes.
At 4, they woke me up and said it was time to push. They told me what to do (because I was pretty damn determined to not do any prep work...figured the nurses would help me out - and they did!). I started pushing. They make you push in sets of 3 during contractions. Still couldn't feel a thing, so I would push, then just hang out and wait for another contraction, then push, then hang out. After the first set, I decided we needed music, so Brian put on AC/DC. We were having quite the good time. The nurses were laughing with me, Brian probably thought I was nuts, my mom kept telling me I sucked because it was like I wasn't in labor at all. I thought the hardest part was holding my breath during the contractions. Just hanging out and having a party.
After the fourth set of pushing, I had this thought...hmm...feel a little nauseous. (back story on me...when I'm in a lot of pain, I throw up...but since I couldn't feel anything with the epidural, I didn't know I was in pain but the nausea was still there). So I told the nurses I felt nauseous and they ran to get the bag, but I started throwing up before they made it to me...they got there like halfway through. All i remember hearing the nurse say is "He's coming...and he's coming NOW"....and then there was a crying baby on my chest.
My first thought was, where did you come from? Yep, I threw up my baby.
But he was HERE!!! And he was crying!!! And holy crap he looks identical to Brian!!!
Then next bit is basically a blur. The doc came in to see the baby already out, the nurse was wiping him down while I was in shock. He was crying and I kept telling him sorry for kicking him out of his warm home. We did skin to skin and I remember thinking how soft he was and how long and skinny he was. He really didn't feel that big!
Then my body pretty much went into shock. The doc was doing the stitches and clean up and I remember being so freaking cold. I was shaking (my teeth hurt the next day they were chattering so bad). So they took Connor to get his feet prints done...look how cute!! They also got his stats. 8lbs11oz (so much for him feeling small) and 20 inches long.
While they were doing that with him, they were layering me with blankets and watching my blood pressure. Blood pressure got down into the 60's and I freaked them out a bit. They said that it just happened so fast that my body had to play catch up. (Started pushing at 4, he was born at 4:28) I went pretty pale too, so that was kind of crazy. Once I stabilized, they brought Connor back all wrapped up.
He still wasn't very happy, but at least he was a lot warmer. Then everyone that was in the waiting room got to come in and say hi. I really don't remember everything that happened, it was all so fast and I was pretty focused on Connor and getting my mind to wrap around the fact that he is mine. It was so surreal.
Well...that's how it happened. Little man finally made his appearance!
