My Birth Story

Just a little warning - there is going to be some very detailed stuff about my delivery and I will also write about some mushy baby-love stuff so skip this post if you don't want to read any of that.

Here it goes...

I went in for my induction Wed. Dec. 31st around 7 pm. I was 37w 3d. I got all hooked up to the monitors, IV and they drew all the blood work to get me set up. At 8 pm my doctor put the cervidel in. It basically looks like a long piece of white tape that is put onto the cervix and hangs out of you kind of like a tampon string. At that point I was 1cm dilated and 80% effaced. Then there was nothing much to do but watch TV and wait until morning. Ed and I watched Dick Clark's Rockin NYE and couldn't believe that 2009 would start with a baby and not a miscarriage like 2007 and 2008 did. Something so close, but yet it seemed like worlds away that it would actually happen for us. The nurses brought us sparkling cider so we could toast in the New Year. It was very sweet.

Then at 2 am I felt a warm gush between my legs. I assumed it was my water breaking. I took a peak under the covers and was about to push the nurse call button, when my world stood still for a moment. It wasn't my water breaking. It was blood pouring out of me. It was coming in buckets. It seemed like an eternity until the nurse came in and when she saw the look on my face she ran over to my bed. She took one look at the amount of blood and ran to wake up my doctor in the on-call room. She arrived in what seemed like half a second. She examined me (btw, internals SUCK when you're 37 weeks pg) and I hadn't dilated any more than my original 1 cm. She said her fear was an abruption and recommended an emergency c-section. I said OK. The only thing that kept me from freaking out at that point was that EJ's heart was beating away on the monitor so I knew that - at least for the moment - he was just fine.

Within five minutes, the anesthesiologist was in asking me all the silly questions - height, weight, etc. By 2:45 I was in the OR being prepped and getting my spinal. That wasn't all that bad. The worse part was the initial sting, but after that it was totally manageable. Actually, it was quite pleasant for a moment when the medicine starts to work and your butt gets all warm and tingly. It's a very funny sensation and I started to actually giggle on the operating table. Then they laid me down, put the sheet up so I couldn't see from my waist down, and then Ed came in. He sat at my head, held my hand, and at 3:12, the first incision was made. I didn't feel a thing. I could feel that my body was being moved around, but there was no pain or even pressure. If it wasn't for the fact that my upper body would move occasionally I probably would never had known anything was going on below my waist. It was the most surreal moment of my life.

The entire team of doctors and nurses was AMAZING. Nobody would believe me if Ed didn't get it on video, but we were actually all laughing and joking during the surgery. We just couldn't believe we were so close to meeting our little boy. My doctor kept commenting on how inspiring I was and she's never been so impressed with someone and how they handled the scary situation I was in. I said that it was nothing, and I had know much more pain than an emergency c-section could ever pose. I can handle the physical pain after all I've been through. I don't think the smile ever left my face.

With the first incision, apparently there was a ton of blood that gushed out from the abruption and everyone kept saying how lucky we were to having been there for the induction. I think I would have had a heart attack if I was home in bed and saw that blood pouring out of me. It still amazes me at how quickly it goes. It started at 3:12 and at 3:20 EJ was born. They first pulled his head out and we heard him cry for the first time.

Time. stood. still.

I just heard my baby cry. MY BABY. I have a baby boy.

Ed and I locked eyes for a moment and the world around us went silent. Except for that tiny cry.

He then peaked over the curtain to look at his son and his eyes welled with tears. Two seconds later, EJ was pulled out and put onto the baby cart. They had Ed go over to him to cut the cord and see his son. I heard them all counting - ten fingers - ten toes - and of course, one penis. Ed and the neonatologist had a good chuckle and then they both got peed on. LOL.

EJ got all cleaned up and then they brought him to me for a kiss. I couldn't believe how tiny he was. 5 lbs 6 oz and 19 inches long. He had the tiniest nose I have ever seen and he was just perfect. Ed then went with him to the nursery to be checked out and he scored an 8 and then a 9 on his Apgars. I stayed back in the OR to get all sewed back together. I just laid there amazed at what had just happened in the past hour and half. After I was stitched up, I went to a recovery room for about an hour. I had the post-op shivers and my nose was sooooo itchy. I could barely even stand it. Both are side effects of surgery and totally normal and they passed within the hour or so. I was then wheeled down to my room and they put those boot things on my legs to keep the circulation flowing since I wouldn't be able to move them or stand up for a few hours.

Once I was settled in, they brought EJ to me to hold for the first time. I was in some serious pain from the surgery, but totally ignored it to reach out for my little boy. I was in love from the moment I first laid eyes on him and I haven't stopped smiling since.