Thursday, June 7, 2012

Declan's Birth Story - Part 2

May 29, 2012 - 11am
Dr. Rose (the resident on call at the time) broke my bag of Waters (which had sprung a leak about 3 hours before) to help move things along, since they were worried about preeclampsia and really wanted to get the baby out.  It wasn't something we really wanted to do, but more than that, we didn't want a cesarean-section and it was starting to look like we were on that track.  So, Dr. Rose used a crochet hook looking thing to break the bag of waters and after the gush, contractions picked up 100% and got crazy, crazy painful!

I gave in to some painkillers to help relax me between contractions because I was tensing up HUGE amounts in between and making things worse.  The way one of my mom & baby nurses put the use of the painkiller was the best description:  "It's like drinking a margarita for the pain - you feel nice and relaxed between contractions, but when the contraction hits, you're pissed because it still hurts like you had no drugs."

After they breaking the waters, things began moving INSANELY fast.  I went from 5cm to 10cm dilated in an hour and a half. when I hit 9cm my body started telling me to push.  the doctor checked, said "9 cm.  you can push in 20 minutes, but no pushing until then!"

Those 20 minutes were the hardest of my life.  Hubby and my mom spent it talking (and holding!) me down from pushing.  "Breathe, breathe, breathe.  Don't push.  you can do this.  Don't push.  Breathe! Relax!"

Finally, they let me push.  For the first 45 minutes it was the best feeling ever.  I felt strong, in control, and it was a release from the labor that had been plaguing my life for the past 4 weeks.  After that, I just started to feel tired.  I couldn't help but push when the urge hit, but the Doctor wanted 3 pushes with each contraction and the 2nd and 3rd just felt exhausting every time.  At first I was pushing from my back with hubby and the nurse holding my legs and me pulling back on my thighs.  Then I flipped over on to hands and knees on the bed.  It was at this point that I lost any need or desire for modesty.  I tore of the hospital gown, moaning something about "I can't wear this anymore.  get it off, get it all off."  I really wanted to get rid of the monitors too, but they wouldn't let me because they wanted to keep an eye on the baby's heart rate. I pushed for an hour and a half - starting on my back, middle on my knees, flipping back to my back to deliver.  In the last pushes, as he crowned, they pulled up a mirror so I could see his head.  It was so amazing and it hurt SO much.  During 2 of the pushes, I felt myself tear and I screamed like a banshee - my voice was shot for days - not great for a singer!  Finally his head came out and they unwrapped the umbilical cord and I pushed the rest of him out.  They put him on my chest and we waited for the cord to stop pulsing so the hubby could cut it.  There were tears pouring down both of our faces as we looked at our little boy for the first time.  I kept saying "I did it.  He's so beautiful."  over and over again.

The nurses took Declan across the room to weigh, measure, and clean him up a bit while they started stitching me up and worked to deliver the placenta.  

The scary and unusual conclusion to follow.  Please do not read if you are pregnant, a worrier,  or at all squeamish.  

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