2016
20
Sep
20:36

part I: the perfect birth

   Posted by: arcanai   in pix, the sequel

it turns out that the sequel decided to begin his arrival on his due date after all.  the contractions i was having all afternoon were, indeed, early labor. it was hard to tell whether it was just soreness and reaction to the exam at the dr appt that morning or if it was more meaningful progress. after work, we took the turkey for a walk and i was having some pretty intense contractions but they were so irregular. they would come close together with high intensity and then they would either space out at the same intensity or mellow out at the same frequency. they didn’t affect my walking, never got to the point where i had to slow down or really pay them any real attention. at one point during that walk, i even layed down on a bench to see if they would change. i pretty much decided it was all much ado about nothing. at 23:30 that night, i was still trying to determine whether it was labor.  my contractions were still in the 7-8 minute range at that point but i was having an increasing amount of discharge with them.  since my water just spontaneously broke with my first one and i never really started having contractions until a few hours after that, i really felt clueless about what i should be expecting from a “normal” labor.  and so, at 23:33, i was googling my situation because i am that stupid girl.  by 23:40, my contractions spontaneously dropped from 7 minutes to 2 minutes and kept getting stronger.  i got up and walked around and when several more 2-3 minute contractions went by with no change, i decided it was time to have a baby.  around midnight, we called sunny to come stay with the turkey.  while giving her last minute instructions and transferring the car seat, contractions were strong enough that i had to stop walking to get through them.

while they were transferring the car seat, i managed to grin and bear my way through a selfie in the sequel's room

by the time we got down to the car to leave, i was having to fight the urge to push.  we were on the road at 00:34 with hubby driving like a maniac.  i had to warn him to slow down on the speed bump road or else he’d be delivering his son.  after running all the red lights and running into the er to get someone to bring a wheelchair, we made it to the labor/delivery ward by 00:47. they asked me a few questions and had hubby fill out some paperwork but after witnessing my 60-90 second contractions, they quickly decided to skip all the rest of the formalities and get me into a room.

away she goes

i was wheeled into l/d3… the same room that the turkey was born into.  i felt a huge calm over that coincidence.  when we got into the room, they made me take off my wonder woman gown and change into the good ol’ hospital duds before getting me into the bed and hooking me up to the monitors at 01:01.  they tried to get an iv in my arm but the contractions were about a minute and i was rolled over holding the right side rail in a death grip chanting “don’t push, can’t push, too soon to push”.  the on-call midwife came in and informed me that i was fully dilated but he was still at 0 station so i did, indeed, need to hold off on pushing.

yes, the nurses were laughing at me for smiling for the pictures between contractions

just a few contractions later, i told them there was no way for me to fight it any longer; i had to push.  they rushed the midwife back in and she seemed a little shocked to find him crowning.  finally, i was able to push and, oh my goodness, that was so hard.  the contractions hurt.  but i can’t really call what i felt during that pushing pain.  it was burning.  the most intense burning ever.  like the world’s worst uti to the millionth power.  but more than that, it was exhausting.  i pushed with everything i had, my left leg shaking uncontrollably in the nurse’s arm, and they asked for more.  i pushed again, finding a new reserve of power when i looked down and noticed that i could see the top of my son’s head.

"i can see him!!!"

when i took a breather that time, i didn’t think i could possibly go anymore.  i felt completely drained.  but as the next contraction started, i focused on wanting to see the rest of that head and i pushed until i did.  and on the verge of tears because i just didn’t see how i could possibly muster up anymore energy to finish freeing him, i pushed one last time and watched his shoulders break free and then he just slipped out while the midwife turned him.  it was the most amazing thing i’ve ever seen.  i watched with perfect clarity as my son entered this world and they immediately handed him straight to me.  at 01:20, nineteen minutes after getting in the bed, he was in my arms.

instantly in love

perfection

beaming with pride

this whole thing was such a different experience from the turkey’s birth that there really just is no comparison.  i really can’t complain about the turkey’s birth but there were things that i would go back and change (mainly getting the stupid phenergan that made me miss whole chunks of the experience).  this time, there isn’t a single thing i would have changed.  it was completely the ideal.  i was able to be 100% present for the entire duration.  i felt every single contraction and every single push and i was able to witness the delivery from start to finish.  my birth plan (what a joke those are) was going to be to ask for a mirror this time because i didn’t even know that was an option last time and i really wanted to be able to see everything.  what a blessing that i didn’t even need that.

even the hospital’s philosophy was completely different this time.  two years ago, they did all kinds of things like suctioning and roughing up before handing him to me.  i got to hold him for just a few minutes before they took him away to bathe, weigh, measure, and print him.  i didn’t get to nurse him until they were done with all of that.  this time, they handed him straight to me.  they roughed him up while he was in my arms but didn’t do anything else to him.  he actually didn’t even get his first bath until he was two days old.  i was able to hold him and nurse him at my own leisure.  unfortunately, it was during the nursing that we discovered a problem…

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 20th, 2016 at 20:36 and is filed under pix, the sequel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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