Deacon's Birth Story
After my OB appointment on Tuesday, July 1, I started to feel some cramping. These progressed to mild contractions that felt like very intense menstrual cramps. That night my husband and I walked all around our surrounding neighborhoods to try and get the contractions to get stronger and closer together. Needless to say, they didn’t. They stayed mild and 8-10 minutes apart.
Wednesday, July 2, continued in the same way…more mild contractions, more walking, no progress. By this time I was getting very frustrated and worried that this baby would never come! DH and I walked all around Target in the afternoon to escape the valley summer heat. Contractions got a little stronger, I had to breathe a bit more steadily, but was still able to walk and talk through them. As the evening went on, DH and I walked some more and got some take out around 11pm. After dinner we watched some TV, then decided to get some sleep.
Thursday, July 3 at midnight we got in bed. Suddenly at 1am I woke up with very painful contractions. I had to get on my hands and knees on the bed and breathe steady and hard. I definitely couldn’t talk through these contractions and DH felt helpless in my pain. By 5am they were 2-5 minutes apart, so we decided to head for the hospital. I got set up in triage and, of course, my contractions slowed and I was only 2cm! No change since my last OB visit! I was crushed…all that pain and no progress? They had us walk the halls for an hour, when I was checked again, I was still 2cm, but my cervix had moved down, so they admitted me. I think they would have sent me home if I wasn’t a week overdue!
Once we were set up in our room, we walked the halls some more and I was getting through the contractions pretty well. I got examined again at noon and had gotten to 4cm. I was put on the monitor for a half hour every hour, at this point the baby’s heart rate dipped and the dr. had me get an IV to give the baby some fluid. His heart rate went up and stayed up, so they were satisfied to let me off the monitor and off the IV. I got in the shower and had so much relief there. I was able to get through the contractions so much easier and squat down to hopefully move the baby down. At 3:30pm I was checked again, STILL 4cm! UGH! I was working so hard, and making slow to no progress. I was getting so exhausted, and starving!
By 8pm I was 5cm and very tired, so I got the epidural to help me get some sleep and maybe make the contractions get closer and stronger. Unfortunately, they basically stopped coming all together. The doctor didn’t like that so she recommended breaking my water to speed things along.
Friday, July 4, at midnight the doctor broke my water. As the water came out, she said she saw some meconium. This scared me. DH called and texted our friends and family to pray that the baby would be okay. By 1am I was not progressing. I was given pitocin and finally things started happening! I was able to sleep and made it to 8cm by 3:30am. I slept right through transition! At 7:30am the doctor examined me and said I was at a rim, and would start pushing soon. I let the contractions do their thing for an hour, when I could wait no more. The epidural had worn off on my right side and I didn’t want to push my button for more because I wanted to feel when to push. And boy did I! For the next 2 ½ hours I pushed and pushed. Each contraction I got about 3 pushes in. When the dr. came in around 11:25am, she asked how I was and I said “Exhausted.” And with the next contraction I pushed 3 times, and saw in the mirror that his head was so close, so I took another deep breath and pushed one more time after the contraction was over, and it was show time! The rest was all a blur, lots of pulling and a big moan from me and our little boy was born! He took a huge breath right when he came out, which worried me. The respitory therapist was supposed to be there to put tubes down into his lungs to suction anything out before he breathed because of the meconium scare, but only the nursery nurse was there. DH was very frustrated about that, considering I had been pushing for over 2 hours, it shouldn’t have been a surprise that the baby was coming! Thankfully, his lungs were clear and his Apgars were 9 and 9! Praise the Lord! For the next hour I got to spend some skin to skin time with him before the family came in to meet him. Labor was the most difficult experience I have ever been through. But it is so true that when you look at your little baby it does make it all worth it!
Deacon Emmaus
8lb.5oz. 20 3/4in.
11:31am, July 4
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Kara-26 DH-30
"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb." ~Psalm 139:13~
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