Although when people refer to me as a mother, I doubt them. And their sanity!
As much as I'm not much of a reader of general birth stories, I thought I would share mine. Mostly because I'm starting to forget it and as much as I want to, I don't.
It all began....hold on... I'm gonna get myself some refreshments before I begin.
Ok, I got my chips and iced tea.
The morning of August 19th, I woke at 5:30ish to a little surprise. I thought perhaps my water broke, but it wasn't much so I kind of ignored it since I knew I had a doc appointment at 11 that very day. Eric got up to go to work, at which point I considered telling him to stay home because I thought something might be happening, but I was too relaxed to tell him because for the first time in a few weeks I wasn't in constant back pain for the extra 45 pounds I gained.
When I got to my doctor, I told him that I thought my water may have broken, he checked and sure enough, it had. At which point he consulted another doctor about whether or not to induce me as I hadn't experienced any contractions. He then sent me off to Boundary Trails Health Centre to start the induction process.
I called Eric and made my way to the land of needles and bandages. I got into my room and soon after Eric arrived. They got me all hooked up to the IV, after a few tries (oww much?) and started the Oxytocin around noon. We sat and watched The Office on the laptop while they kept upping the dosage every half an hour. They were monitoring my contractions, but I wasn't feeling a thing (hallelujah). Eventually, around 5 or 6pm, I started to feel a hint of something. As I had already spoken to my doctor about drugs, he informed me that if I wanted drugs to get them as soon as possible as being induced is more painful than natural. With that in mind, I asked for the epidural, not that I was in much pain but I wanted to get it before things got bad. They checked but I was only 1cm dilated so they said "nay nay".
After been checked any feeling during contractions went away. This is where my memory becomes I little hazy. I believe this is when they got my up to start walking around. It sucked. For those of you who saw how gigantic I got while pregnant, standing for more than 5 minutes felt like death. So walking with an IV and super awesome hospital attire wasn't appealing. But I put on my fluffy slippers and slippered my way around the halls. We were literally the only couple having a baby that night, so I owned those halls and the nurses (respectfully).
My parents arrived around 7ish so I went back to my room to sit and talk. Whilst talking with them, little baby boy kicked with the force of a thousand waterfalls, which in turn caused my water to gush with the force of a billion waterfalls. Literally! The nurses came in and said "whoa, yeah, ummm.... that's a lot of water". Three bed pads later, it had slowed down. Also side note: this was not a gentle process; the nurses really plunged.
At that point, all pain became known to me. I had been contracting for most of the day so my contractions were lasting two minutes, every two minutes. So I went from feeling nothing, laughing and chatting to "oh Lord Jesus". Since being checked the last time sort of slowed down the process, I endured the pain for a while without being checked. Eventually I asked for the epidural again, at which point they checked again, and I was 4, almost 5cm. They called the on call Doctor and she graciously said I could have the epidural (apparently she doesn't say yes a lot).
The epidural was amazing. I've always been pro-drug when it comes to birth, as I don't enjoy being in pain when I don't have to be. They ran an ice cube up and down both sides of my body, and I couldn't feel a thing! I'm thinking I may just get an epidural for the entirety of our harsh winter months. It had been a long day, so soon after I got the meds I went to bed (around 11). I slept so good. I mean, so good!
At 6:30am I was awoken to the word "wake up girl, you're going for a c-section". I woke up slightly confused and a little startled, I turned to Eric who looked just as tired as I felt. They hooked up all their lovely tubes, and I must say catheters are the bomb. After months of having to get up to go pee at least 3 times a night, not having to get up at all was a welcomed relief. Eric got the iconic blue garb get up, which I wish I would have gotten a picture of, but I had other things on my mind. Like my breath. As a lover of fresh breath, and a diligent tooth-brusher, I didn't want to go into surgery without the hint of mint on my words. So I ate an icebreaker. Bad choice.
Off I went, to the OR. As they were pushing me through the halls, it began to sink in. I was about to have a baby, and I was also about to be cut the heck open. As they got my into the frigid OR room, I started shivering. And when I say shivering, I don't mean a tiny little quiver. I was full on shaking, of course just my upper torso and arms because the rest of me was just a slab of meat. The drug man who stands by your head in the OR told me that it's perfectly normal and that was the way my body was trying to generate heat for the rest of my lazy body.
They began to tie down my arms, when that darned icebreaker came back to visit. I became so incredibly nauseous. I heaved and heaved and heaved, all the while my upper body was convulsing uncontrollably. It was beautiful. Eric came in, and I quickly informed him through the shaking and heaving that "this is normal". Eventually the drug man just untied my arm so I could hold my own vomit suction tube (he didn't seem to be enjoying that responsibility) and told me "don't touch your stomach".
Then, at 7:26am on August 20, I heard it. A little big cry. I thought "who let a baby in here?". I think that may have been the drugs talking, until I realized.... that's mine.
Eric went off to see our hefty baby and quickly brought him over to me. I turned and looked at his sweet little face, and I remember thinking "awwww, he normal!" and then promptly fell asleep. I was informed that I fell asleep approximately 7 times on the OR table. Like not in a death way, just overly tired sleepiness. I remember feeling guilty because I couldn't stay awake for the most amazing moment of my life,. I just wanted to sleep. I don't remember much after that, but I do remember feeling my stomach after it was stitched up and being totally pumped at how flat it was.
They hoisted me away to recovery at which point I got to cuddle my new bundle. He was perfect. I was continuing to fall asleep still at this point, but every time I woke up I saw the face of my handsome husband and beautiful baby boy. If only our minds could take pictures that could be developed. Those would be worth gold!
I'm running out of chips, so I better wrap this up.
The days following were some of the hardest/best of my life. Eric got sick and had to go home for night, Wesley had jaundice, so he got to hang out in a light bathing machine for a few days, and on top of feeling like I may never walk again, my emotions were all over the place. Looking back, it was rough, but so worth it.
Right now, little Wesley is softly snoring as he's napping in his swing. Just to see his little face, I'd do it all again.
