bran_flakes09: Cody's Delivery

Posted Monday, June 15, 2009 4:53 PM

"My doctor told me if she didn't know better, she would have thought this was my third or fourth baby, as fast as I pushed..."

The beginning

I was scheduled to go in for an induction at 6 a.m. on Friday the 24th. Instead, my water broke around 12:45 a.m., so we headed to the hospital. Once my water had broken, the contractions started coming on strong (they had been painful but pretty bearable until then). Soon after I got a hospital room, it got to the point where the contractions were killing me. But my doctor wasn't there, so they gave me Nubane and Phenergan to help with the pain until he could get there.

At 2 a.m., I was 3.5 cm dilated, and about 70% effaced. They checked me again at 4:30, and I was 5-6 cm, 100% effaced, and feeling like I was going to die. They called my doctor and told him to get there right away so they could give me my epidural before it was too late.

Getting that epi

My doctor finally got there at about 6:30, so they got the anesthesiologist up to my room to give me the sweet relief that is the epidural. It wasn't exactly pleasant going in, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I had curled up into a little ball in my husband's chest while he put the needle in so it wasn't horrible. Once it was in, it took about 15 minutes for it to kick in, and then my right leg was so numb I couldn't move it or do much of anything. The catheter, however, was a Godsend.

My other (favorite) doctor came in around 8 a.m. and checked me. By then I was about 8 cm and she said we would more than likely have a baby around lunchtime, so we were all pretty excited. She gave me Pitocin to speed up the process and slowed the epidural down a bit, too.

Time to push!

Then, around 9:30 a.m. I started to feel some pressure so I told the nurse they might want to check me. When she did, she had me do a few "sample" pushes, and by then I was 10 cm and she said she needed to grab the doctor, because I was about to have a baby.

My doctor came in around 9:35 and by that point, I put my game face on. I was so tired of being numb (and pregnant). I wanted this baby out! So when she told me to push (around 9:45ish), I did. I remember I refused to make eye contact with my DH or my mom, and my MIL and FIL ended up getting stuck in the room (in the corner so they couldn't see anything). I didn't care anymore about DH or my mom seeing my vag (this had been a big thing for me). DH kept talking to me (I have no idea what he said, but it worked). I bared down and pushed like you guys would not believe, and baby Cody came into the world at 10:04 a.m.

Meeting Cody

Cody was 9lb, 4oz, 20 1/2 inches long. He scored a 9 and 9 on his apgars, and the minute I saw him, I was hysterical. I was so emotional. My DH is like the most unemotional man in the world, and even he had tears in his eyes. I had a second degree tear, so my doctor had to stitch me up, and as she did she told me if she didn't know better, she would have thought this was my third or fourth baby, as fast as I pushed. (I didn't poop on the table, either.)

Now that we're home, things are going pretty well. Cody had jaundice, and was but under the lights for the majority of the next day, and we had to supplement with formula since we needed to push the bad stuff out. It's not easy in terms of breastfeeding, but I had been really torn about BFing anyway, so we decided to just stick with formula. Just recently he had a checkup at the doctor's office and he is already back to his birth weight and still absolutely perfect.

> Read more about bran_flakes09!

> Want to share your birth story? Email it to kstanford@theknot.com.