Saturday, July 24, 2010

Hudson's Arrival




The day after Hudson's due date and Jeremy's birthday, I woke up the next morning and realized around breakfast time that contractions were starting. It was Thursday and Jeremy works remotely from home or from Dunn Brothers on Thursdays, so I knew he would be close by or easy to get ahold of. I was very busy with Annalise so sometime during or after breakfast I started to time the contractions I was having on my iphone contractions log application – much easier than calculating them on a tablet! All I have to do is touch the screen when one begins (there is a picture of a pregnant belly that you touch on the screen), and then touch it again when the contraction ends. It logs the duration and the interval. I noticed they were already around 4 minutes apart, but they weren't too intense. I continued to stay busy with Annalise and household chores a few hours longer, thinking to myself that I would go to Target that afternoon for some last minute shopping possibly. I thought that since my labor with Annalise had lasted for days at home I had plenty of time. After lunch I got Annalise down for her nap, and during the contractions I realized they were getting much more intense and I couldn't pay much attention to her until it was over. I wouldn't be going shopping at Target that afternoon I knew! I decided to call Jeremy, and then I called my Mom to come over to stay with Annalise. Once they were both here I finally called a nurse and asked if I should come in. She said that I should come in and they would check my cervix to see how much progress I had really made. While we were getting bags ready to take to the car I was bustling around the house in between contractions trying to do last minute chores. I had Jeremy dust the ceiling fans in our bedrooms and then I was ready to go. We drove the 5 minute drive to the hospital, parked the car in the ramp and walked through the subway. All during that time I was carrying the iphone and punching the screen...they were about 2 minutes apart now. We got up to the floor of labor and delivery where I met the midwife on duty and several nurses. My midwife told me that I was fully dilated 10 cm! I got up and we all walked back to one of the private birthing rooms. It was around 5:30 pm. My midwife also asked for my birthplan and they all understood that we were hoping and planning on a natural birth this time, with no pain medications. Labor continued to progress and my water broke while walking around in the room. They advised me to start pushing if it felt more comfortable and I did. Not long after that they were having trouble picking up Hudson's heart rate and had to monitor it, and that was when we discovered it was dipping down very low after each contraction. Not long after that an OB doctor came into the room and said we would all have to go to the delivery room, which is where the surgical deliveries are done. At that point I didn't care what happened to me, I just wanted to see Hudson! We were wisked very quickly across the hallway and an epidural was started for a c-section. Hudson had never made it out of the uterus into the birth canal, so I was thankful we had time for that instead of putting me out under general anesthesia. It seemed within minutes they had him out and then I heard him crying and got emotional. Jeremy carried him over to me and I could hold him. Within the hour I was able to nurse him and it went really well. He was delivered a very healthy baby, weighing less than Annalise weighed but with a larger head circumference! He was very cuddly at birth and loved to be held all the time, and still does! Maybe next time, if I want to, I can try again for a natural childbirth.

~Lisa

No comments:

Post a Comment