Michael Aaron Jr. - Here at last! (Part II)

Here's the conclusion of my birth story!!

5 am Monday morning (Mar. 1)- I had now been in labor for 23 hours... and I was spent. I mean I was seriously at the point where I couldn't talk through contractions, and in between contractions I just wanted to sit still and focus. That's when we knew I was in active labor. So off to the hospital we went! Btw, the ride there was horrendous... every bump made my cervix and uterus angry lol And they made sure I knew it!

6 am - I was checked and was 4 centimeters dilated. Now everyone in that room seemed to be excited... EXCEPT FOR ME. All I kept thinking was that I was in labor for this long already and still only 4 centimeters?! I was expecting 8 by this time and with this intensity of pain! Oh but wait... the pain got worse.

7am - 3 pm - This was the highest level of pain I have ever been through in my life. At this point I was completely confused. I didn't know what time it was, who's voices I was hearing, I mean I was completely in the zone. My L&D room was dark, and there was Christian music playing on the boom box in the background... the songs I had chosen weeks earlier to help me through this experience. Every so often I would hear nurses come in and say how impressed they were with me and how they couldn't do it, etc. etc. My hubs kept with the positive affirmations and our doula gave us direction with walking the hospital halls, sqautting to bring the baby down into the birth canal, and telling me that I could do it everytime I cried and said I couldn't. (I tell ya, hiring a doula was really the best thing we did since we were so gung ho about having a natural child birth! I just know that I would have given up after like 4 hours if she wasn't there.)

I just realized that I have been saying that I was in labor for 29 hours, but now that I'm re-counting, It was more like 33 or more! I experienced 33 hours medication free.. and the rest - well let me explain: Well ladies and gents... around 3 pm, I was checked again and was ready to hear that I was 10 centimeters and ready to push... what did the doc tell me? 6 centimeters... $%&%&#$!!! At that point I broke down and cried in front of the doc, the nurses, everyone. I tell you hearing that number really broke me down. I totally would have been able to have a FULLY natural child birth if labor ended at like, I don't know, say hour 20... but 30+ hours later my body (and sadly my mind) had completely given up.

4 pm - It was at this faithful hour that I turned to my hubs and said our code word for pain meds - PEANUT BUTTER. As soon as he heard it, he ran like crazy to get the nurses... and a short time after that the epidural was administered.

Initially I was a little heartbroken about my decision. Though I was now pain free, I cried and kept asking my hubby and our doula whether they were disappointed in me. Of course they said that they were super proud of me and that I was like a serious warrior for enduring all that I had. After I did a little grieving for the birth story I was hoping for, I focused on having a healthy baby and avoiding the main concern which was a C-section.

6pm - I dilated from 6 cm to 10 cm and was ready to push! Hip Hip Hurray! Our nurse's shift was over but she had gotten so attached to us and our story that she stayed on for the extra time to be present when Mikey came into this world.

The pushing was nuts! The pressure was serious, and my epi was wearing off so I actually started to feel the contractions again! But that was okay because with pushing, I had a purpose, and I was ready to meet our little guy FINALLY! At 6:53pm Michael Aaron Jr. was born! At the final push, he came flying out (according to my hubby hehe, projectile baby!) and he came out crying! When they placed him on my belly, it was the most amazing thing that I have ever experienced in my life. All the pain was washed away, everything I endured was totally worth it when I looked into his cute face. I was bawling and so was my hubby. It was truly a miracle!

Now I'm sitting here and looking over at my little one.. completely and utterly in love. Ya he doesn't do much as of yet - eat, sleep, poop, and cry - but in just a week, he has brought so much joy into our lives. Joy that we had no clue about before his arrival. Staring into his face, it brings to mind the verse that I would say to myself throughout the pregnancy: 2 Corinthians 9:15 "Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!" God is sooo good and we are so blessed to have Mikey in our lives! We love him dearly and couldn't ask for anything more!

Michael Aaron Jr. - Here at last! (Part I)

Our little one is finally here! He's such a cutie pie and we're so blessed to have him! As I'm writing, he's taking a nap in his crib, so I figured I'd write my birth story (plus my buddy Tricia wrote hers last night so that got me motivated!)

So here goes... Well Saturday evening (Feb. 27) the hubby and I went out to dinner, and all was well. I was starting to feel some twinges but my hubs didn't believe me since I had been saying that for the past week or more! I was already 40 weeks 1 day and getting seriously impatient with still being preggers! We then went to visit my mom and she took one look at me and said "oh the baby's coming!" I was like "how do you know ma?!" She said that she just knew from looking at me and the shape of my belly. Well that was exciting but I didn't' really put too much stock into that since I officially felt that I would be pregnant forever.

12 am Sunday (Feb. 28)- I lost my mucus plug in the toilet bowl (sorry TMI but this is a birth story after all so expect some craziness!) As soon as I saw it, I freaked! I mean full blown panic. I ran to my hubs and said "I'm not ready! I'm not ready!" and he just looked at me and smiled. He reassured me that I was ready and that we had been waiting fore this for so long. He then was all over the apartment excited, getting things together, cheering, doing peter pan leaps (sorry babe I had to say it) and made me feel happy and excited again about what we were about to experience.

6am - I was starting to have contractions every 10 minutes but they were totally manageable. I remember thinking "Oh that's what they feel like!" I called my mom to tell her the good news, notified my doula to get ready, and tried to take naps in between moments of pain. But again, they were totally manageable with deep breathing and focus.

10:30 am - Contractions were all over the place. Sometimes 8 minutes apart, sometimes 10 minutes apart, sometimes 15 minutes, and so on and so on for many hours.

3:00 pm - The contractions were getting stronger, but still not closer together. So the hubby and I took a walk around the neighborhood. I tell ya, it was definitely a weird feeling stopping every 8 minutes and leaning on him, all the while moaning and little old ladies and children passed me by with stunned looks on their faces. It took a lot of self control not to shout "Haven't you seen a woman in labor before you big dorks?!"

9:45 pm - Yup, you guessed it. Still in labor. But now the contractions were FINALLY 5 minutes apart and we called our doula, Shanon, to come over. Contractions still manageable but definitely a huge difference in intensity from the morning. So I started sitting and leaning on my birth ball, and the hubby massaged my back, put hot compresses all over me, and continued to encourage me. What a great support he was! (I'm totally proud of how he handled everything! If he was nervous, he never let me know it, which I'm very grateful for!)

After this point, all I can say is God was definitely with me because labor continued for many many MANY more hours. Our doula would help me breath and moan through the contractions, she rubbed my feet, my hubby would rub my back, we took walks, we went up and down the stairs (ya at that point I wanted to sock my doula in the head for having me do that during some seriously challenging contractions but they helped to get the contractions closer together which is what we wanted) Our doula helped me do visualizations of my bubble of peace to stay positive. I laughed, I cried, I ate, I moaned, yes, I even slept for minutes at a time. But it continued.. and continued...

Okay that's it for now! Mikey is starting to wake up and it's time for nursing! Stay tuned for Part II and click HERE when you're ready!!