Weddingbee boards

So I'm just going to copy and paste this from my blog, since rewriting would take forever! So excited our little lovebug is finally here.

It was 10 pm on Sunday, August 21st. We had just finished watching my favorite show, True Blood, and the incredibly funny Curb Your Enthusiasm that followed. I laid down in bed hoping to get a good night's rest, and after about 15 minutes was hit with some Braxton Hicks contractions. They lasted for a good six hours, so at about 4am we decided to head up to the hospital. I fully expected to be sent home, but at 5 days past my due date we got good news: Charlie would be coming today! They started me on an iv of fluids and Pitocin, and for the next few hours my contractions found a rhythm. My ob was called, and she showed up around 9am to break my water. It was weird. I had two false alarms with thinking my water broke, and actually feeling it was a completely new experience. It wasn't the giant gush you see in the movies, it was a strange warm trickle that felt like I was constantly peeing myself. She also attached this odd little monitor that kind of corkscrews into the baby's head to monitor her heartbeat, so I had a strange metal wire coming from my vajay. While all this was going on the Husbane took a nap on the couch in the room. We got a good video of my contraction monitor going crazy, then flipping to him passed out and snoring ;) Will definitely be using that as blackmail in the future!

Once my water broke, my contractions picked up in speed and intensity. And pain. Lots of pain. My good friend Sam (our husbands grew up together, and we met after we were both pregnant and became fast friends) was working her shift that night, so she got to start me on all the meds and labor. I loved having her around, it was such a blessing to know that not only do you have a friend around, but you have a friend who happens to be an experienced labor and delivery RN and doesn't judge you when you start muttering obscenities under your breath! She advised me to try and see how long I could hold out on the pain before they gave me the IV meds that come before the epidural. I think I lasted maybe an hour or so after my water broke. The pain, holy cow, the pain! I am a total weenie, I admit. So once I got to 3cm, I needed to have the meds. My day nurse (Sam works nights, so she made sure to take a nap and a shower and hung out with me during the day until it was time to push) told me that I would know it started working when I started seeing double. That took all of eight seconds. I immediately fell into a total giggle fit for at least 30 minutes, which kept the Husbane entertained. I also talked about Bon Temps and True Blood quite a bit, most likely because of watching it the night before. Sam had warned me that while the IV meds won't take away any pain, they will help me sleep in between contractions.

And boy did they do that. I was so completely out of it. I would wake up for 20 second stretches, babble nonsensically, then pass out again before waking up two minutes later thinking 20 minutes had passed. I also got very irritated with the Husbane during this time. I was in tons of pain, as it took a few hours to get from 3cm to 4cm (and eligible for an epidural). I would whisper scream at him, begging him to find the nurse to give me more meds. I was so pissed off, because I thought he was just sitting around, when in reality the time between waking moments was only a few minutes. Sometime during those hours his mom and dad stopped by to sit in the room with him, and I got pissed. I didn't want anybody around watching me moan, but apparently they were there for a good chunk of time while I was completely passed out. Once I woke up for good, though, I made the nurses kick them out, because I was getting to the tipping point with what I could stand. Oh, and somewhere in there he made the mistake of telling me to "Calm down." Oh, HELLS no! I kicked him out over to the couch and told him to leave me the fuck alone. Not the best thing to say to an incoherent laboring woman. After a little bit, Sam came back and made him say he was sorry and hold my hand again through the next few contractions. Then my ob showed up, and pronounced me at 4cm and ready for an epidural!

Not gonna lie, I was pretty out of it when the anesthesiologist showed up (who ironically was Sam's uncle-in-law and amazing at his job). My pain level was at a 9. They had the Husbane prop me up on the side of the bed, and I'm pretty sure I just drooled into his shirt. He said watching the needle was gross, and I bled a lot. I don't remember anything but the sweet relief 10 minutes later when it kicked in. Aaaaaaaah, peace. Though you read that the pain-relieving drugs can slow down labor, they definitely didn't for me. I kept progressing at about 1 cm an hour, going from a 4 to a 6 in three hours. It was not too fun. In these early stages, I didn't really feel much of the contractions. Once I hit a 6, the pain started coming back. On the upside, things started really kicking into gear. I went from 6cm to 9cm in only 45 minutes! We were shocked! Sam was resting on the couch, and when we heard that she snapped awake and went straight to go shower since pushing would be soon. I stayed at 9cm for another hour or so, and wow, it was excruciating. I remember thinking, "This is going to be the best and worst day of my life." I was really excited to be done with pregnancy, to meet my little girl. But the pain was like nothing I could have mentally prepared for. I was under the delusion that the epidural would block all the pain. While it did make my lady-parts completely numb, I still felt every single contraction. I had to do some breathing exercises, and a lot of moaning. I was nearly out of my mind with the pain. I commend all you women who do the impossible and have a natural birth.

After about an hour of being at 9cm, Sam and my other nurse allowed me to start pushing to get Charlie into place. I suppose I'm a champion pusher, because after only 2 contractions (so 6 pushes) she crowned. Crap! We still had to call my ob and have her come to the hospital! The nurse said that while they were allowed to catch and deliver the baby, the doctors don't really like that, and she had "caught" her last baby, so she didn't want to make her too angry ;) This was by far the worst 30 minutes of my life. My contractions were one right after the other, and so immensely painful that I could hardly stand it. My nurse wanted me to do these pelvic thrusts to keep Charlie moving forward without crowning again. Oh. My. God. It was deadly. I think I did it for maybe 3 contractions, then started crying. I believe I kept crying "Help me" to Sam. I had to just wait through every contraction until my doctor got there, and it just felt wrong. Wrong and really painful. Finally, she showed up, and was in a super chatty mood. She was in no rush to get her gear on, and kept talking to the nurses about stuff I can't even remember. Finally, I knew my body was gearing up for another contraction, and I remember begging her to let me push, which she did. I maybe pushed 9 or 10 more times, and felt her head finally break through. I cannot describe this bizarre feeling. I felt her sliding out midway through a push, and my body just felt like it gave out. I gave another little oomph, and we had a baby! Like the classy broad I am, my first words were "Fucking A! It's over!"

And boy oh boy, did she scream! She had quite the set of lungs. I was not surprised, given how aggravated I'd been throughout this pregnancy. She was one feisty lady. My husband tells me that the moment she came out, he and Sam locked eyes and just burst into tears. She was perfect. He got to cut her cord, and then my doctor teased Sam that she was supposed to be taking pictures!

I'm surprised now, looking at photos, with how healthy and great her complexion looked. She was definitely a full term baby! You can see that creepy cord popping out of the back of her head. She was for sure a conehead from having to hang out in my pelvis for so long while we waited for the doctor. She also had a raging headache, which she felt no compunction in letting everybody know!

Can you tell he's one proud papa? The awesome thing about our local hospital is that everything is done in the room. The nurse in the foreground is giving her the Apgar test right now, and cleaning her off. She even got her first bath in the bathroom sink! Sam was so happy to get to do that part.

So sweet! And so loud.

Told you she's a loudmouth! While all this was going on, I was getting all stitched up. My doctor gave me a small episiotomy, but I still ended up with a 3rd degree tear (and there's only 4, so it was pretty bad). It took at least 20 minutes to fix me up. And getting the placenta out was creepy too. I thought my contractions were over, but oh, no, there was more. And she tugged on the cord to coax it out, which was super odd. Once I was all packed up and bandaged, I got to hold my little hellion for the first time.

I'm not going to pretend it was love at first sight, and I was overcome with a glow of emotion. I still felt super out of it, very much in pain, and completely exhausted. I loved watching how overcome my husband was with her, and his enamored face when he looked at her. I felt very distant from the entire situation, though. Once I had cleaned up a bit, and taken me to the bathroom for the first time, it really started to set in. I have a kid! My belly is flat! Holy cow, what is going on? Then they brought her over for the first feeding (because we couldn't have visitors until she ate) and I started feeling more at home with the situation. Here was my daughter. My baby girl. The one who decided to punch me in the bladder while she was crowning, who caused me no end of heartburn, and made me proud with her pipes.

Once we had finished up, we started letting family in, and I just let it all go. I don't think I got to hold her again until everyone left at 9. Oh, by the way, I started laboring at 5 am, and she was born at 4:54 pm, just under 12 hours, which was my goal when we checked in that morning. The first night was mostly recuperation for me, while my husband took over the cuddling and snuggling and soothing. She slept really well. I got to hold her again once my painkillers kicked in early in the morning, and had some good quality time around 6am. Now I'm completely smitten, staring at her little face for hours on end. She is perfect. All is well. Now to get the hang of this whole motherhood thing!