pinkr0ses: Sam's Delivery

Posted Tuesday, June 09, 2009 11:18 AM

"They laid him on my chest, and right away all the pain just melted away..."

 Waiting for baby

On Saturday, May 23, DH and I went to a friends house for lunch. The couples there both have young boys, so we were talking the whole time about going into labor, etc. I took three sips of DH's wine, toasting the hope of having a Memorial Day weekend baby.

Afterward, DH and I took our dog on an hour-long walk. We got home at 6 p.m, and LO was moving around inside like crazy. I started to have bloody show around 8:30 p.m. and took a shower, pleading with my body for my water to break. I finally went to bed around 10:30 p.m.

At midnight, I got up to go to the bathroom and didn't realize until I was in the bathroom that my pajama pants were completely soaked! (I was in such a deep sleep I guess.) I woke up DH, letting him know that my water had broken, but also to tell him that I didn't want to go to the hospital just yet. I wasn’t feeling contractions and wanted to wait it out as long as possible.

Off to the hospital

I started to feel contractions around 1 a.m., and lasted at home until 3:30 a.m.  They were coming at 2-3 minutes apart, and were really low in my abdomen and pelvis. We live five minutes from the hospital, so we were admitted by 3:45 a.m.

I was at 2 cm and 90% effaced at 5:30 a.m.  I was given some Stadol right away, and passed out for a few hours.  When I woke up at 10am, I was at 4cm, 100% effaced, +1 station. I asked for the epidural, and received it at noon.  IT WAS HEAVEN. I didn't feel another contraction after that.  DH and I watched TV, napped, etc. At 2 p.m. I was still only at 4.5 cm, so they gave me some Pitocin.  By 3:30 p.m. I was at 7 cm. I was determined to have the baby by 5:30pm (I have no idea why, but that was the time I had in my head). My doctor was okay with this idea, and came back at 4:30pm to check on me. I was finally at 10 cm!

The baby was really low already, so I was pretty lucky. We discussed tearing/episiotomy, and the doctor was willing to work with me to avoid it at all costs.  We practiced pushing for a bit, and then started for real!  It was so, so, so surreal.  I had an awesome nurse, and DH was unbelievable. Everyone was cheering me on, and counting with me.

Here comes Sam!

I ended up pushing for an hour in total, with no tears or cuts, just a few superficial stitches when his shoulders were coming out. We were on Team Green, and were so excited to find out that it was a boy! They laid him on my chest, and right away all the pain just melted away. I didn't feel the afterbirth or the few stitches I was receiving.  DH cut the cord (which he was not expecting), and LO scored a 9/9 on his tests.

I can't even begin to explain the range of emotions that I have felt this week.  It has been an absolutely amazing experience, one I would do again in a heartbeat.  DH has been the best father/husband I could ask for, and I am terribly sad that he had to go back to work yesterday.

Sam is an amazing baby, and we feel so lucky to him.

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