Once the epidural took effect, the day got easier in terms of pain, but more complicated in terms of laboring. I was cold and shivering the rest of the day, never without at least three blankets over me, and often, with a heating pad in between them.
At first, I was allowed to lay however I wanted and just sort of relax. I slept a lot during this time. After a while, though, Reese came back in with another nurse to start "positioning" me. They got out what they called a "peanut," which was an exercise ball shaped like a peanut, and sat up the head of the bed, and had me mostly on my left side with my right leg propped up over the peanut. I was twisted like a pretzel. It took two nurses probably 20 minutes to achieve this position (I couldn't help because of the epidural). Hubs came out of the restroom to quite the sight.
Now Babykins really didn't like me being turned into a pretzel and went into distress. So the two nurses who'd worked so hard to get me situated rushed back in to untie me, and have me lie on my right side while Hugo stabilized.
After a while of cooperation, the monitors started to show rapid decelerations in Hugo's heart rate. Reese Witherspoon and Dr. C decided that it was likely being caused by the umbilical cord being compressed during the strong pitocin contractions. In order to combat this, Nurse Witherspoon did an amnioinfusion on me- a procedure in which she essentially put fluids back into my uterus in order to free the cord from its location where it was being compressed. At the same time, she installed internal fetal monitoring and internal contraction monitoring since we'd been having trouble all day keeping Hugo on the monitors. The pitocin drip was stopped temporarily to see if I would keep contracting on my own, and to allow Hugo to stabilize more, and I was put on oxygen.
Unfortunately, I didn't have contractions- or at least not the baby-having kind, so after a while, the pitocin was started again and I was taken off the oxygen.
Around this time, I started to get really hungry, after having not eaten since the evening before, and started to imagine all my ice chips as different foods: chicken nuggets, ice cream, Magnum bars, steak from my favorite Cuban restaurant in south Florida, and so on.
After some time, I was laid back on my left side and had my right leg propped back up on the peanut- but only my leg. They didn't twist me up this time.
Soon after, Dr. C came back in and checked me, declaring me roughly 7cm dilated, and he asked me to do a "test push." He didn't say whether my attempt at a push was good or bad, and that really stressed me out for the remainder of the labor.
From this time until I started pushing, I was in and out of sleep, and was going back and forth between crying and not. I started worry that when it came time to push, I wouldn't kow how to push, or that I would push ineffectively and would either wear myself out (after a long day of stress without food or water), or that I'd need a c-section.
Around 6:35 pm Dr. C came in to check me and yelled, "She's 10 +3!" This basically mean Hugo was about to crown and no one knew.
Dr. C asked if I was ready and if I had any questions...
My only question was, "Can I have water soon?"
Dr. C, my hero, said "Girl, you can sip on water now and between pushes. We're almost done."
That first sip was pure delight.
From there, everything went quickly.
The bed was turned into a table, and all my warm blankets were removed. I instantly started violently shivering, so Next-Shift-Nurse quickly ran and got me a warm blanket it put over my chest and stomach.
I started pushing at 6:45 pm.
Hubs held one leg, while New Nurse held the other. Reese stayed late with us and was helping Dr. C. During the contractions, I had two different counts that I was trying to push through. I ended up blanking them out and pushing as hard as I could until I needed to breath again.
Then Dr. C asked me, "Have you ever broken your tailbone?"
And I thought, "This is a really odd time for small talk," but I answered, "No."
If he replied to that, I didn't hear it.
Dr. C had to perform an episiotomy, and before he did, he told me he needed to and explained why, and answered my question- "will it hurt?" "You won't feel a thing." Go for it if you need to, then.
On the final push, Hugo's heart rate dropped scary low.
At 6:58 pm, a tiny human entered the world.
Hugo was born really gray with a really low heart rate, so Dr. C immediately started rubbing him to get him stimulated, pinked up, and crying.
Dr. C put him on my chest, and Hubs cut the cord.
The nurses brought him to the baby table, where Hugo's breathing was very labored. You could see his little rib cage with each breath and his nostrils were flaring, which meant he was working too hard.
The nurses used a little tube a few times, inserted into his mouth, and down into his stomach, to remove excess amniotic fluid. He was put on oxygen to make sure he was getting enough.
At one point, Hubs asked, "Can I touch him?" and the nurse was like, "sure! He's yours!"
Then they decided he had to go to the NICU for their better equipment and to make sure everything was OK.
They wrapped him up and brought him back to me, where we were able to take a few pictures before the nurses whisked him off to the NICU. I commanded Hubs to stay with him.
When Hubs came back, I was finished getting stitched and cleaned up, and we invited our parents in for a visit. I don't remember a lot of the visit because I kept falling asleep mid-conversation. Gimme a break! I just had a baby.
The family packed up the bags and brought them up to the Mother & Baby recovery room on the fifth floor, and I was loaded into the wheelchair to go see my baby in the NICU. His little NICU bassinet was a little too high for me to really get to see him from the wheelchair, but I could see enough to know where to put my finger for him to hold.
Then I was wheeled up to my room, and was made to try to use the restroom before being allowed to lie down/eat. This is also when I used the phrase "I think I forgot how to pee." I didn't realize it was an activity that I had ever necessarily learned to do, but I did seem to forget. (I remembered and pee'd successfully about an hour later.)
Friday night was filled with family and Hubs bringing them individually to the NICU to meet Hugo! Papa (Hubs' dad) fulfilled a tradition that has been in my family for some time, by gifting the new baby his first teddy bear. He gave it to me to open, and I cried.
Then Hubs and I shared a celebratory beer in fancy champagne glasses.
Shortly after, our family left for the evening, and Hubs and I were left to sleep and think about the huge life changes that were about to happen.. starting when they brought Hugo up from the NICU to try nursing for the first time.
Soon after, Dr. C came back in and checked me, declaring me roughly 7cm dilated, and he asked me to do a "test push." He didn't say whether my attempt at a push was good or bad, and that really stressed me out for the remainder of the labor.
From this time until I started pushing, I was in and out of sleep, and was going back and forth between crying and not. I started worry that when it came time to push, I wouldn't kow how to push, or that I would push ineffectively and would either wear myself out (after a long day of stress without food or water), or that I'd need a c-section.
Around 6:35 pm Dr. C came in to check me and yelled, "She's 10 +3!" This basically mean Hugo was about to crown and no one knew.
Dr. C asked if I was ready and if I had any questions...
My only question was, "Can I have water soon?"
Dr. C, my hero, said "Girl, you can sip on water now and between pushes. We're almost done."
That first sip was pure delight.
From there, everything went quickly.
The bed was turned into a table, and all my warm blankets were removed. I instantly started violently shivering, so Next-Shift-Nurse quickly ran and got me a warm blanket it put over my chest and stomach.
I started pushing at 6:45 pm.
Hubs held one leg, while New Nurse held the other. Reese stayed late with us and was helping Dr. C. During the contractions, I had two different counts that I was trying to push through. I ended up blanking them out and pushing as hard as I could until I needed to breath again.
Then Dr. C asked me, "Have you ever broken your tailbone?"
And I thought, "This is a really odd time for small talk," but I answered, "No."
If he replied to that, I didn't hear it.
Dr. C had to perform an episiotomy, and before he did, he told me he needed to and explained why, and answered my question- "will it hurt?" "You won't feel a thing." Go for it if you need to, then.
On the final push, Hugo's heart rate dropped scary low.
At 6:58 pm, a tiny human entered the world.
Hugo was born really gray with a really low heart rate, so Dr. C immediately started rubbing him to get him stimulated, pinked up, and crying.
Dr. C put him on my chest, and Hubs cut the cord.
The nurses brought him to the baby table, where Hugo's breathing was very labored. You could see his little rib cage with each breath and his nostrils were flaring, which meant he was working too hard.
The nurses used a little tube a few times, inserted into his mouth, and down into his stomach, to remove excess amniotic fluid. He was put on oxygen to make sure he was getting enough.
At one point, Hubs asked, "Can I touch him?" and the nurse was like, "sure! He's yours!"
Then they decided he had to go to the NICU for their better equipment and to make sure everything was OK.
They wrapped him up and brought him back to me, where we were able to take a few pictures before the nurses whisked him off to the NICU. I commanded Hubs to stay with him.
When Hubs came back, I was finished getting stitched and cleaned up, and we invited our parents in for a visit. I don't remember a lot of the visit because I kept falling asleep mid-conversation. Gimme a break! I just had a baby.
The family packed up the bags and brought them up to the Mother & Baby recovery room on the fifth floor, and I was loaded into the wheelchair to go see my baby in the NICU. His little NICU bassinet was a little too high for me to really get to see him from the wheelchair, but I could see enough to know where to put my finger for him to hold.
Then I was wheeled up to my room, and was made to try to use the restroom before being allowed to lie down/eat. This is also when I used the phrase "I think I forgot how to pee." I didn't realize it was an activity that I had ever necessarily learned to do, but I did seem to forget. (I remembered and pee'd successfully about an hour later.)
Friday night was filled with family and Hubs bringing them individually to the NICU to meet Hugo! Papa (Hubs' dad) fulfilled a tradition that has been in my family for some time, by gifting the new baby his first teddy bear. He gave it to me to open, and I cried.
Then Hubs and I shared a celebratory beer in fancy champagne glasses.
Shortly after, our family left for the evening, and Hubs and I were left to sleep and think about the huge life changes that were about to happen.. starting when they brought Hugo up from the NICU to try nursing for the first time.
Man, I got stressed out reading this. I know you probably felt the same way I did -- incredibly thankful and so much more in love with Hubs after the way he supported and helped you bring your son into the world. I get choked up thinking about it. It's miraculous, and lovely. I can't imagine living in the pre-80s era where fathers in waiting rooms was the norm. We need our fathers there fighting the good fight with us! Well, as much as they can. They don't get their tailbones broken or special places cut up/ripped.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you wrote this all down even though you weren't planning to write a birth story. You'll come back and re-read it plenty.