Anyhow, Harrison celebrated being 1 month old yesterday--it's been a whirlwind. We're still getting used to it all...we know that he's ours but it still feels so surreal that we have a child. Last night he only woke us up once (versus two or three times) so I have the energy and brain power to write down my thoughts, yippee!
Ok, labor. I was really surprised. I had heard horror stories and I tried to avoid talking or asking people for any other info on the subject. All throughout my pregnancy I refused to watch any of those gross videos of other people giving birth; we didn't go to any child birthing classes for that and many other reasons. For me, the whole situation began when Dr. New told me that Harrison was getting really big and that my edema was getting really bad...and because of that we would have to induce labor. So we were scheduled to come in the next night and begin the whole process. I was given a pill to prepare my uterus, since I was only 1 cm dilated at this time, and then we just spent the night in the hospital. I was lucky enough to get a sleeping pill. Poor Mark was not. They checked on me all throughout the night (probably why Mark got no sleep) and then the next morning at 8am they broke my water to really get it all started. And no worries, when the Dr. broke my water I didn't feel a thing. It was simple and easy. One fear abated. After this they gave me the petosin so that my contractions would really start kicking in. On the note of contractions, I have to give my husband props. For about the 3 weeks prior to all this, he kept telling me that I was having contractions and I kept telling him that it was just the baby stretching....and for the first time ever, he was right! I really did not think they were contractions--I kept waiting to feel what everyone else had told me. Apparently it feels different for everyone. Mine just felt like pressure, like the baby was really stretching out inside my belly. It didn't feel like cramps and it wasn't across the whole belly, it was mostly concentrated on my right side which is where Harrison liked to camp out. So, all in all, the whole time I was having contractions and didn't know it. How did we figure it out? At the hospital when they hook you up to the machines (pain-free process), they attach a monitor for the baby's heart beat and one for your contractions. Then you can look on the screen and see when you're having one. The nurse had pointed to the screen and said, 'Wow, you're having a contraction right now' and I said, 'Huh?.' That's when we figured it all out.
Ok so back to the labor process. The contractions kept coming, no big deal. We were just waiting around for me to reach 3 cm dilated so I could get the epidural. That took pretty much all morning and some of the afternoon. Once we got right around 3 cm the Dr. came in to give me the epidural, another one of those 'horror story moments' I thought was about to happen. Also, no big deal. After all the fear that had been shoved in my brain about this process, it was pretty funny how easy it was. I barely felt anything. It was so quick and so easy I couldn't believe it. I really thought it was going to hurt--not at all! He was finished and I was asking him if that was all there was to it! Now having the epidural in, my body just started to fill with fluid. You numb up pretty quick and it's so weird not feeling your legs. They get pretty rock solid hard from all the fluid but it's amazing, it really works because the only way I knew I was having contractions was from what the computer screen said. I could not feel a thing. Nor could I move my legs, lol. On that note, don't fret about the catheter either. That was a piece of cake and it obviously makes so much sense. If you can't move your legs, you sure as heck can't go to the bathroom. Anyways, the epidural was a breeze and made the next part of it all much easier.
Waiting. That's pretty much the next part of it. To get from 3 cm to the necessary 10 cm in order to push, that took the whole rest of the day. Pushing began somewhere around 8pm. What's also strange is that when they get you ready to push it's so not a big deal to anyone else. The nurses do this every day, it's not epic to them. So, it's you, your chosen push buddy (my hubby) and a nurse. Since the nurses rotate shifts, by this time I'd met and had quite a number of nurses involved in lots of what used to be 'private moments'. You really get used to it and they make it so easy. I know it seems like it should be so weird...like 'Hi, I just met you. Sure, let me show you my entire birthday suit' but really, they are so professional and you've had so many other nurse change overs at this point, that it's so okay. So, she helped us try a push position (did you know there are tons of different positions? I sure didn't) and it all began. You still can't feel a thing because of the epidural so it's almost impossible to know if you are pushing the right way. The nurse just tells you if you did it right or not and you go with that. But really, I would much rather not be feeling any of this nonsense, I was grateful for the epidural. (I can tell you this as truth because somewhere in the midst of our two hours of pushing, my epidural bag ran out and I felt full blown labor until they could find the Dr. to get a new bag of the special stuff back on there...and it's not something I would want to feel again. I respect but totally do not understand women that do this without the epidural!). So for us, it turned out that the baby just did not want to cooperate. Apparently his head was not facing down (chin to chest) as it should have been; his head was actually turned to his right shoulder. Dr. New said that each time I pushed, the baby would start to move down the pelvic bone area and then with every 'relax' the baby would just pop right back up to where we started. So not funny Harrison.
Time for a c-section. Not emergency, just unplanned. Oh well, I'd read up on both on the odd chance that this would happen and here it was. Mark began changing into his space suit of scrubs and I was wheeled into the operating room. That was probably the freakiest part of it all. It was a lot easier than my imagination was going to let me think at the time, so no worries to any of you who have to have one some day. They transfer you from your hospital bed onto their operating table (which be prepared--your arms are straight out in a giant 'T' formation to your body. Nothing weird. Think they said it was so the IV fluids flowed in right the whole time). Then you start to numb up. I kept worrying that I wasn't going to be 'numb enough' and kept bugging the Dr. about it. He finally asked me 'Did you feel that?' and told me he had grabbed my tummy skin with big clamps...and no, I did not even know anything had happened so that helped quite a bit. After feeling like an eternity, they let Mark in to sit by my head during the procedure. All in all, it just felt like a bunch of people pushing on my stomach. A lot of pressure and random pushing. Then all of a sudden, we heard Harrison cry. It was the most incredible sound in the world. We were both so happy that he was healthy and strong. The nurses took him over to clean him off (I couldn't see any of this--the giant tarp in front of my face blocked it all). One of the nurses did lift up a corner of it so I could see him moving around as they were doing all of the necessary tests and such--all I could see where arms and legs flailing around, but it was a beautiful sight. After he was cleaned, tested (9.9 Apgar--go Harrison!) and bundled up, they let Mark bring him over to me so I could see him for the first time. He was perfect!
So, 24 hours+ and we had our precious baby boy--healthy, strong and happy. Born August 20th at 10:38pm weighing 8 lbs, 9 ounces and 21 inches long. Our amazing family had stayed all throughout the process in the waiting room. It was a beautiful moment when Mark got to wheel Harrison out to see all of them.
He's been a joy and a struggle all at the same time! We're still learning what he wants when he wants it and we are just now getting those very sweet baby smiles from him. We can't wait for his sleep schedule to balance out so we can sleep too! He's amazing--to think that this little guy popped out of my body, super crazy! The whole process is an incredible miracle and we are so blessed to have this awesome little guy in our lives. We realize life will never be the same for us and for that we are very glad. We love him to pieces and look forward to you all getting to know him too!
