He's here, born on November 19, 2011 at 5:36 pm. He was born at 6lbs. 13oz and 19 and 3/4 inches long. What a day! We went to bed the night before and my stomach was feeling kind of funny. I thought maybe dinner didn't settle right with me. I woke up at midnight with some stomach cramping that felt like gas pains. I tried to get comfortable but could't. By 1:00am, they were coming really consistent, so I decided to start timing them. Sure enough, they were coming in at 5 minutes apart, lasting about a minute. So I started tracking them (on this really cool app on my phone)! For about an hour an a half, they gradually got stronger, and were coming about 4 minutes apart. This was it! I woke Steve up about 2:30am and we got things together, got the dogs situated, and both ate some breakfast because we knew that it was probably going to be a long day....we just weren't sure how long!
We checked into the hospital at 4:00am and I was definitely in labor. But, I was only about 3-4 cm dilated, but 80-90% effaced. The contractions were very tolerable, so we just got cozy in our room and Steve slept for a bit. After about 2 hours, the nurse came in to check me and I hadn't made much progress despite walking, squatting, ball work....so, they made a decision to break my water. I had that done at 7:45am and within an hour I went to 5-6cm. Yeah, progress! But, with progress, also come more contractions. I went through the contractions for about 2 more hours, but they were coming much stronger, and closer together. Steve kept asking "did you feel that one, Babe? That was a big one" as he watched on the monitor! Uh, yeah, Babe, I felt that one!! Through this point, I walked, but that became much more uncomfortable. Steve tried counter pressure, massage, I sat on the ball, propped myself over the edge of the bed, but nothing was helping me. The nurse came in to check me, and I was STILL at 6cm. After all of that, no change. I was exhausted. I was functioning on 2 hours of sleep in the last 24 hours and it was already about 10:00am. (I don't really remember, I kind of lost track of time). The nurse came in and talked about pain control. Although I was against the epidural originally, any kind of relief was being welcomed at this point. She said that sometimes when the contractions are so bad, I can't relax enough to let my body do what it needs to do. Mom was there by this point and both her and Steve talked me into getting the epidural.
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| Just got the epidural....feeling MUCH better!! |
Well, all I can say is "why the hell didn't I do this sooner?" After a 1/2 hour, the nurse checked me and I was already at 8cm! She was right, my body relaxed and it did what it needed to do. By 11:00am, I was fully effaced and 8cm. I just kept thinking by 2pm at the latest, he should be here. Never try to plan anything when it comes to labor. For the next 3 hours, my body slowly progressed to 10cm. I never felt anything and was actually able to doze off for about 30 minutes. They kept telling me to rest up because the hard work was coming. Little did I know. At 2:30p, I was given the ok to start pushing. I pushed for 3 hours, and little progress was made. The doctor was called in to "check my progress". There wasn't much. She said that we could look at using the forceps or vacuum to help. At this point, I was exhausted, and was willing to do whatever it took to deliver my son without any complications to him. Dr. Reddy came in, the nursing team was set up and ready. I tried pushing again and Dr. Reddy used the vacuum. I just kept hearing, "I can see the head....just a little bit more Christina" but I didn't feel like I had anymore. I was spent. Then Dr. Reddy looked at me and said that she was going to "have to make some more room" because he was too big and my pelvis was too small. I looked right at her and said, "no you are not." I pushed and pulled every last little bit of energy I had. He was born, absolutely perfect (with a little bit of a cone head) at 5:36pm. He was healthy, I was exhausted, but everything went away the minute I held him in my arms. It was the most unbelievable feeling in the world. Watching Steven hold his son for the first time just brought tears to my eyes. Our family was here and it was perfect!
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| Welcome to the world |
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| First family pic |
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| 6lbs. 13oz |
