Birth story

You know when you first find out you are pregnant you are beyond excited (at least we were). Then you start reading up on pregnancy, you may get a bit anxious about certain things happening or not happening when you go into labor. Well the one thing I was anxious about at first was my water breaking in public or while at work. As the time got closer it honestly didn't matter to me if it happened and where it happened. Well here goes my story . .

Tuesday (the 26th) of January, I woke up feeling normal, went about my morning, got to school, taught in the morning, had lunch, the afternoon preschoolers came we did calendar and went to gym to burn a little energy. I think I even ran around a bit when we got there, was playing ball with a few different students, and then . . . .hmmm?!? (About 1:30pm) That felt kinda different! Gush! Another gush! . . .maybe I should go to the bathroom . . .stand up . . .gush! Well the gushes kept coming and I decided I really needed to call the OB, and they of course said "Head to the hospital". So I got my stuff together and drove home, called Chris on my way out the door, and said "Honey, I'm pretty sure my water broke. Meet me at home and we're headed to the hospital!"

I get home, we load the car . . . meanwhile more gushes, gushes (weird weird sensation!!!) and then we get to the hospital. We head up to L&D and I stop at the desk (they knew I was coming) and they had me stop to talk to the nurse in triage . . .explain what happened and they didn't even make me check in there but sent us straight to our room.

We got there about 2:30pm and were checked at about 3:00. 1.5-2 cm dilated, 40% effaced, -2 station. They hooked us up to the monitors, and I was having somewhat patterned contractions (every 5 minutes, sometimes 3) but then they spaced out a bit. We walked around a bunch, were monitored throughout the evening.

Did I mention our OB was out of town this past week? So we saw an associate at the same practice on Monday, and he was on call for the week for my OB. We saw him Tuesday night, and he said if things didn't progress more, they would put me on pitocin in the morning. Morning came, I was 3 cm but still 40% and -2. Start the pitocin! We were pretty much stuck to the bed/bedside area. I bounced a lot on the ball, swayed a but, layed on my sides, praying for quick progress. We got checked again at about 12:00 and we were 4cm, 80%, -2 station. They were pretty sure Parker was posterior, making for a long labor, lots of back labor, etc. We change positions to try to get him to move positions, and the OB came back at about 3:30pm.

We were finally 6-7 cm, 80% effaced, 0 station! This meant we had enough progress to not proceed with a C-section! I hadn't gotten any pain medication and was doing alright with breathing, changing positions, etc until about 4:00. I was NOT comfortable any more, so we decided to get a little medication. Meanwhile, we noticed my IV site was a little swollen, so before I got any drugs I had to have it taken out, and moved (amidst contraction after contraction, probably about 1-2 minutes apart). Well my little tiny veins were a treat to find another site for, but they finally got us set and I got some medication to help a bit. I think they had just finished up and I really felt the urge to push . . . they checked and WE WERE THERE!!!

They got everything set, and we started pushing. I think about 15-20 minutes after we started, 10 or so sets of contractions with about 3-4 pushes with each, Parker Lee made his way into the world at 5:16 pm, January 27th, 2010!

I have never been so proud . . .or so in love so fast! 27+ hours of labor later . . . we had the most perfect little boy in our arms. He weighed 7lbs 4 oz, was 20 inches long, and was just the cutest thing ever!

He continues to get cuter and cuter, he's nursing so well, sleeping pretty good (spurts after eating of about 1.5-3 hours) . . . hates being uncovered for diaper changes or "baths" but is just the best thing that has ever happened to us. He's got a great grasp, loves snuggling his hands up by his face, sleeping in a little ball, and snuggling up on mom and dad. God blessed us SO greatly with our little bundle of joy. We can't wait to see what God has in store for him, but know it is great, and perfect!