Weddingbee boards

It's been almost 3 months and I am finally getting around to posting it! I've missed you Bees! DH came home for R&R, my internet went out a week before Baby J was born, & life has been so busy with a newborn!

Baby J arrived on Saturday, September 3, 2011 at 9:17pm. He weighed 9lbs 5oz and was 20 inches long. 

DH got home for R&R on August 21st (his birthday!). He was scheduled to be home for 2 weeks and that would officially start on the 22nd. I was due on September 1st and that didn't give us much wiggle room when it came to little man making his arrival! We went to my 39 week appointment a few days after DH got home. I was 3cm dilated and 50% effaced. My midwife stripped my membranes at this appointment. It was awful. It made me feel so sick. I still hadn’t felt any contractions by this point AT ALL. I was excited that I had made so much progress though.

Well, the next week came & went and we made it to my due date. I still hadn't had any contractions and baby wasn’t showing any signs of arriving anytime soon. We were also on day 11 of R&R. I was getting anxious. My birth plan was to have a natural birth. I wanted to avoid an induction at all costs. We were definitely in a tough spot with DH's leave ending soon. His NCOs had told us that we could get an extension on his leave if baby didn't come but that is nowhere near as easy as it sounds. We went to my 40 week appointment that day. I was dilated to a “tight 4.” I had my membranes stripped again and it was much easier than the first time. After talking with my midwife and deciding that it was very important for my DH to be here for the birth, we reluctantly scheduled an induction for the upcoming Monday. I left that appointment feeling very disappointed. I knew an induction would increase my chances of having an epidural and/or csection. I was really bummed about it.

Let me add that we tried every "trick" in the book to induce labor...sex, evening primrose oil, walking (even though my feet were extremely swollen and I had to shove them into my tennis shoes), eggplant parmesan, spicy food, Chinese food, jumping jacks (i looked ridiculous). I even tried castor oil as a last resort. It was disgusting and it didn't work. Nothing worked! To all of you expecting bees: do not waste your time or money! Baby will come when he/she is ready!! :)

Fast forward to Saturday, September 3rd…

I woke up at 3:00am to go to the bathroom. Obviously, this is not an unusual occurrence at 40 weeks. I did my business and returned to bed. I was so excited because I actually managed to get comfortable! That lasted for about 2 minutes because MY WATER BROKE! I got out of bed and turned on the light to check things out…like there was any other explanation for the gush of water. Ha! I woke DH (& had to yell at him not to roll over!) and we got things ready to head to the hospital. I was oddly calm during the whole experience. I even did my makeup. I couldn’t believe my water had broken and I still hadn’t had any contractions.

We got to the hospital and they checked me to make sure my water had broken. I was still barely dilated to a 4 and I still wasn’t contracting. They got me all checked in and told me I could walk around the floor to try to get some contractions started. Let me add that the nurse we had at the beginning was awesome but had to leave an hour after we got there. Then, we had another nurse. She was nice but not as wonderful as nurse number one. & I think she was only temporary because we ended up with another nurse who was RUDE. Hahah sorry…she was ridiculous though!

DH & I walked the floor and checked in periodically for them to check on the baby. After a couple of hours, we took a break to get some sleep. They let me know that my midwife would be in around 8:00am and asked if I wanted to go ahead and get started on pitocin. I quickly declined and asked to wait for my midwife to arrive so I could discuss my options with her. My midwife came in between 8:30 and 9:00. I had had maybe two contractions while on the monitors. I hadn’t felt anything at all and it could have been the baby moving for all we knew. I had been in labor for about 6 hours now and nothing was happening. I had to have the baby within 24 hours of my water breaking because of the risk of infection. After discussing all of this with my midwife, we started the pitocin. I do want to say that I never once felt pressured by my midwife. I completely trusted her and knew that she had my best interest and our baby’s best interest in mind. I’m a little fuzzy on exact times after that.

I was on pitocin for several hours until I got to 20ml. This is the highest amount you can have without having the intrauterine catheter. I was feeling fantastic the entire time. Every time they asked me to rate my pain, I was quick to say “zero.” I wasn’t feeling a thing. I have to admit, I was excited about that! I had hoped that meant I was in for an easy peasy labor. My midwife came to check me to see if I was making any progress. It was probably around 3:00 in the afternoon and I was only 5cm. That was definitely discouraging. So, in order to up my dosage, I had to have the intrauterine catheter. My midwife discovered that my bag of waters hadn’t broken completely and had to break it the rest of the way. She then inserted the IUC. It was miserable to have done and it was miserable to have in during the remainder of my labor.

After that, I finally started having contractions. It was no big deal for a while. It was frustrating to be hooked up to so many different things and not being able to change positions as easily or as frequently as I would have liked to. The not so nice nurse was super bitchy at this point. I had to pee so bad and she wanted me to use a bed pan. Do you know how awkward it is to squat on a bed and try to pee when you are 40+ weeks pregnant and you have this crazy thing sticking out of your hooha? Let me tell you, it is no fun! Not to mention that I can’t pee when my DH, my mom, & nurse ratchet were all just waiting for me to go. I had started to get really uncomfortable and asked if I could stand by the side of the bed. Nurse ratchet told me that I was stuck in the bed for the rest of my labor. HA! There was NO way I was laying in that bed. It was the absolute worst position. I sent DH to get my midwife. She told me to get up and do what I needed to do. She let me use the bathroom like an adult too! We all managed to piss nurse ratchet off in the process. It was pretty funny.

I labored for a few more hours while the pitocin was being gradually increased. I was out of the bed and breathing through my contractions and rocking my hips back and forth a lot. It truly did help with the pain. I would say the pain started to get unbearable around 5:30 or 6:00. I continued with this for another hour or so. After having several extremely strong contractions on top of each other without any breaks, I had DH get my midwife. I was close to tears and exhausted. I was getting 40ml of pitocin which is the maximum dosage you can receive. We were realizing that my body was not doing what it needed to do to get the baby out. I still was not having regular contractions. We decided that I would get an epidural with hopes that I could relax and encourage my body to contract on it’s own.

The anesthesiologist came in around 7:45pm. He was an amazing doctor. I was more terrified of having an epidural than childbirth. He walked me through every step and it didn’t hurt at all. The epidural made me so cold though. I was shivering uncontrollably. At this point, I was preparing myself for a csection. After being in labor for almost 17 hours, I was still 5cm dilated. I was very discouraged and extremely exhausted and I was beyond ready to meet my baby.

My midwife came in right after the epidural and said she was going to give me an hour and then we’d see if I had progressed any. If there was no progression, I was looking at a csection. The hour passed quickly and my midwife came in to check me. I was still at 5cm. I felt like my body was failing me in every way possible and I was terrified of the csection. I was so disappointed that things were going in the complete opposite direction that I had hoped for. I could have waited a few more hours before going in for the csection but I didn’t feel like it was the right thing to do. I had dilated 1cm in 18 hours. I wasn’t expecting to dilate 5cm in the next 6 hours and I didn’t want to push it when it came to infection so, I agreed to go ahead with the csection. The anesthesiologist came back and administered the stronger epidural and they brought DH his special hazmat suit.

I was wheeled into the operating room just before 9:00pm and DH came in once they had everything set up. He sat next to me and held my hand and told me it was all going to be okay. He was amazing throughout the day and I couldn’t have done it all without him. You know how, on the baby story shows, they always talk about mom feeling lots of pressure during a csection? I always thought that pressure would be felt in your belly. NOT TRUE! They told me I was going to feel lots of pressure and I was not prepared for it at all! It felt like they were pushing everything up. All of the pressure was in my chest. It’s so hard to describe but it was a terrible feeling. DH had fingernail marks in his hand for days because I was squeezing so hard.

My midwife was able to assist with the delivery and was the one to pull Baby J out. As soon as she got him out, she started yelling “Mrs. Menard! He’s peeing on me!” It was hilarious. Hearing him cry was amazing. I was so happy to know he was finally here. It was truly amazing. At that moment, I could have cared less that my birth plan didn’t work out. They got him cleaned up and swaddled and brought him over so we could see him. I couldn’t believe that the little boy who had been growing inside of me was finally here. The anesthesiologist was so sweet. He held the baby up to me so I could give him his first kiss and so DH could take pictures. (I would post them, but I can’t find my camera cord! Aghhh!)

ETA: in case you were wondering, DH got a short but welcomed extension. He got an extra week of R&R but had to leave when Baby J was 10 days old.

Congratulations if you read the entire thing! I really wasn’t planning on writing a novel!! Here are some pictures of my little man!!

2 days old.

Skyping with Daddy at 6 weeks old.

:)

OMG, he is adorable. I love his hair!

So thankful and appreciative for the sacrifices military families like yours make. Knowing he had to leave when Baby was 10 days old broke my heart. It sounds like it was hard work getting your little man here but he is absolutely ADORABLE! Congrats! You two made a cutie pie :)

He's adorable and thanks for sharing your birth story!! 

He is gorgeous!and he was born on my wedding day!Congrats to you all,keep photos coming,especially skyping photos,they are so darn adorable!!

Congratulations!!! It sounds like all went well even though it didn't go according to your plan. He is absolutely adorable!!!

I'm so sorry that your husband had to leave when he was only 10 days old... I can't imagine how dificult that must have been for you and still is for you... but I do want to say thank you for families like your who help protect us and keep us free!!!

Thanks everyone!! We are so in love with him! :)

That is one cute baby!  Congrats!  And props to you, Mama, for managing without your husband 10 days post c section.  I sure hope you've had help!