he's here! part 1

well, he’s here! my baby boy decided to arrive exactly a month early – ready to meet the world. here’s the extra long version of my birth story (no, there’s no cliffs notes, so grab a mug and settle in). also, i don’t hold back. if you get squeamish or are a boy that doesn’t want think of the vaginal canal, then i suggest you skip this story :)

part 1: water breaks, labor starts.

during my 35th week, i had been feeling crampy, but no pressure (well, no additional pressure) or real contractions. at 35w4d, i noted to mr. h3b that he had dropped. there was a slight overhang at my lower belly and i had lots of extra squishy room at the top of my stomach. on wednesday, at 35w5d we had our hospital tour. luckily we learned all about labor and delivery locations and protocol. after all of the walking, i definitely felt some lower back pain and cramping that evening.

i woke up on thursday feeling fine. at 3:30 pm, as i was cooking hard boiled eggs and starting a homemade batch of chicken noodle soup, i felt something strange. i took a step and felt a bit of wetness. if you’ve been pregnant, this isn’t that concerning. (if not…someone has warned you now ;) but then i took another step toward the bathroom to check things out and wooooooosh. epic, movie quality water breaking. i knew it wasn’t pee instantly. it came gushing out and soaked my leggings down to the knees. i hopped on the toilet and out it came, pouring. part of me tried to convince myself that maybe it was pee…i was 35w6d and so not ready. i tried to get up and make it to my phone, thinking that after the big gushes, maybe it was all done. another note, the water keeps coming. let’s just say my dogs are excellent at cleaning crumbs from the kitchen and, um, “mopping”…

so i stuck a towel between my legs and called mr. h3b in tears. i think he knew instantly based on the quivered voice that grew into all out sobs. i was pretty scared and felt alone and unsure of what i knew was happening. he started to make his way home form work and i called my doctor. they said i needed to go to l&d immediately and called to arrange my arrival. i started rushing around the house, pantless, stuffing things into my hospital bag. between my nervous tears, i found clothes, overnight supplies, food, camera, ipod – nothing was ready so i imrovised. i saw my husband running up the sidewalk (he walks to work and i keep the car) and lost it. when he got into the house, i just needed to be held. he was amazing and supportive and convinced me that we were ready, and whatever wasn’t ready at home would get there.

he packed the car, i said goodbye to my baby dogs and we headed to the hospital, our last trip as just him and me. we got to l&d at 4:30 pm and i went to the birthing room right away, got changed and hooked up to the monitors. i was having small contractions that i couldn’t feel and baby h3b had a strong heartbeat. they came in to check that my water had indeed broken and i swear to you, the speculum was the most painful thing i think i had felt in my life (this was before the rest of labor, of course…). i was barely 1 cm and besides my water breaking, i would have had no idea i was in labor. they inserted an iv line and i managed to stay conscious through the procedure ;)

 

 because we had our second newborn care class that night (ha!), my dr. decided it was ok for us to go up for an hour to get some last minute information. about 40 minutes in i felt a ton of water leak out and had my first “painful” contraction. i went back to my room and at 9:15 pm my dr. decided that i needed to start pitocin to move things along a bit faster. my contractions were 5 minutes apart and barely noticeable.

by 12:30 am my mom had arrived and my contractions were now painful. i could still talk through them but things were progressing. i decided to shower at 1:30 am, which was a nice break from laying in the bed. by 3:30 am my contractions were extremely painful and i could no longer talk through them. i had gotten no sleep and had a crying breakdown over the pain for which i knew i was in. i continued to labor naturally and at 5:15 am they checked me. i was 4 cm and 100% effaced and his head was low. the pain was so strong, both during contractions and during rest, where i felt it in my lower back. i tried the birthing ball, which was a nice change but didn’t ease the pain. they were coming one on top of the other and the pressure on my bladder was so strong that i got up to pee every few minutes. mr. h3b’s mom and sisters arrived and the four spectators saw me at my worst. it was impossible to speak through the contractions and i had had enough. at 6:15 am i decided to get an epidural. i knew i would never have the birth i had imagined in the state i was in. i was terrified of the epidural but the thought of enduring the contractions for another 4 or more hours was too much.