Disclaimer: I realize that some people feel weird about birth stories, that's it's just TMI, or too personal. The nurse in me LOVES to hear and read them. So if you don't like birth stories, feel free to just look at the pictures of my cute little boy!
Tuesday, January 4, 2011 was my due date. This was the date I had been working towards and looking foward to for the last nine months. Also, due to some insurance issues, we knew Chase would be a significantly less expensive baby if he came on the 4th or later, rather than earlier. When January 3 came to and end with no baby, Ben and I both breathed a sigh of relief. At least he had made it that far. At our doctor appointment that day I hadn't made any real progress in the last two weeks and our doctor felt like the baby was getting big and should come sooner rather than later. We made a tentative plan to induce him on Wednesday, January 5 if he didn't come before.
I woke up on the 4th kind of feeling like I was in labor, but not really sure. We called Dr. Hall who said to go to the hospital and have it checked. While we waited there I mostly had contractions every 5-7 minutes, but they weren't super painful and the nurse concluded that I probably wasn't in active labor. However, since we were there and had planned an induction for the next day, we decided to stay and have them move my labor along.
Things were slow getting started, starting with the IV. They had to try 5 times to get a vein that would work. For all of you who had your confidence shattered while practicing IV starts on me while in nursing school, feel vindicated. They ended up getting the anesthesiologist to start the IV, and even he had to try twice. Once we got the IV started and pitocin on board things started moving along. By about 2:00 I was starting to feel significant pain, and started thinking maybe it was time for the epidural. I wanted to wait as long as possible because I was enjoying being able to get out of bed and walk around, so I put it off.
At 3:00, Dr. Hall came and broke my water. The contraction right before he broke my water was really painful and I thought to myself, "Shoot, I should have gotten the epidural already." The contraction right after that was 10x worse, and they stayed that way, every 90 seconds for the next half hour while we waited for the anesthesiologist. They turned off the pitocin because I was contracting way too hard and fast, more than either Chase or I could handle. I told Ben to remind me next time we have a baby to get the epidural BEFORE they break water. I'm kind of a wimp when it comes to pain and I was shaking all over and clenching my teeth so hard trying to deal with it.
Luckily, the anesthesiologist put that epidural in very quickly and it took effect about 10 minutes later. The result was heavenly. It removed almost all the pain, not completely, but so much better than before, and I could still move my legs. It was the perfect balance. My labor kept moving really quickly and Chase did awesome during it. Whenever his heart rate started to dip I'd change positions and he'd come right back up. I was so relieved that he was handling it well. After watching and charting on other women/babies tracings all semester I was watching my own very very closely.
Just before 7 pm my nurse checked me and said I was complete and the baby had moved down really well. She warned us, and I knew from my L & D experience, that first time mom's generally push for over an hour before they even call the doctor. She had me do one practice push and stopped me 3 seconds into it. She said Chase would be here really fast and we would not do any more pushing until the doctor arrived.
Brilliantly, it was time for the season opener of Biggest Loser that my friend Sarah is on. So we got to watch it while we waited for the doctor. We told the nurse all about our friend and she was so enthusiastic watching it with us and cheering on Sarah.
20 minutes later Dr. Hall was there and we were ready to deliver. At this point I wanted to hug the anesthesiologist- my epidural was amazing. I felt absolutely no pain, but I could move my legs completely on my own and had plenty of feeling to be able to push well. 5 pushes later my little boy was born at 7:50 pm. They laid him right on my stomach and I just got to touch him and admire him for a few minutes while Ben cut the cord. He was the most perfect baby I've ever seen.
The next few hours were very busy, Ben and I spent a few minutes just with Chase before we let anyone else see or hold him. He was alert and content, just so sweet and snuggly. Ben went out and got my parents and Heidi who came to admire the little guy. Then Chase was hungry, so everyone left so I could try to feed him. He did awesome for the first time (I wish we had been so lucky since then...) They wheeled us to our postpartum room and did his bath right there in the room. I loved that they didn't take him away from us for one minute. After he'd been all checked out and I was stable, they left us alone to bond with our baby boy. Ben and I just laid in my hospital bed for over an hour just looking at him and admiring him. He's such a little angel.
I'm counting my blessings that everything went so smoothly for us and now we have a healthy little boy at home. The last few days have been completely exhausting, but holding my baby boy makes me so happy. He's such a blessing and we sure love him!
Today is also awesome because it's my dear cousin Ella's birthday. I love Ella. I was looking through her facebook pictures today and noticed a certain album that showed so much of her personality. So I stole the pictures off her page to share here with you. Here's a few reasons I love Ella:
And she introduced our family to awkward balloon...
