the birth story | chocolate & carrots

Wednesday, May 30th 3:00pm

I was in my regularly scheduled 40 week appointment when the doctor I was seeing suggested I get an ultrasound. This was because Liam was thought to be around 6.5 lbs when I was 36 weeks pregnant. At this ultrasound he measured 8.5 lbs, which meant he could be between 7.5 and 9.5 lbs (due to measurement error). After long discussions with my OB, the OB I was seeing that day, the OB that could be delivering me, and with my husband, we decided to go into hospital for an induction because the baby could have been over 10 lbs by original scheduled induction date (June 6-7th).

I was so nervous at this point and had just 2 hours to pick my husband up from work, get myself together, and head to the hospital. Needless to say, I was a mess.

WARNING: From here on out, if you’re grossed out by anything hospital/medicine/blood stop reading. Otherwise…let’s continue.

6:30pm

We arrived at the hospital.

7:00pm

They inserted Cervidil (a tampon-like medicine that causes your cervix to dilate and become effaced). Almost immediately, I began having hugely strong contractions which lasted for a couple of hours. They were about 1 minute apart and never slowed down in intensity between contractions.

This caused me to have absolutely NO break from pain. It was hard to catch my breath. We tried several coping techniques (thinking of clear water vacation helped to an extent): basically everything you could think of doing while being strapped to a fetal monitor, contraction monitor, and an IV.

9:00pm

Seeing that the contractions were so strong and frequent, the doctor on call that night decided to remove the Cervidil. They decided that it was because the Cervidil jumpstarted my body into labor (this can happen with Cervidil, but it’s rare). Once they removed the Cervidil, my contractions slowed down in intensity, but remained. By this point, the pain and hormones had me in full blown shakes and I was worn out from the physical pain.

Thursday, May 31st 12:30am

The nurses decided to give me an Ambien to help me fall asleep for the night, since I was scheduled to have Pitocin administered in the morning. That way, I could get some rest, and be able to fall asleep with the normal hospital noise and disturbances throughout the night.

1:00am

During my nap, my water broke on it’s own. I don’t clearly remember what happened during the next couple of hours, due to Ambien’s side effects. The pain was extreme and hard to manage because I was still under the effects of Ambien. I couldn’t mentally take charge of my pain and to top it off, I felt extremely dizzy and loopy. The nurses asked me if I would like an epidural. I said yes.

2:00am

Dr. Knight arrived to insert the epidural. I instantly began to feel better. I went to sleep and slept very soundly.

4:00am

The nurse woke me up to check my progress. At this point I measured 4cm and was told to sleep until Pitocin was administered via IV in the morning.

7:00am

The doctor checked me and I was already 10cm and +2. We were told that I could start pushing in an hour or so if everything looked good.

8:45am

Our nurse and assistants began prep work and I pushed a few times (through 2-3 contractions). I was told to hold off until the doctor arrived because the baby was crowning at this point.

9:00am

The doctor arrived and I pushed through another 3 or so contractions.

9:23am

Liam was born. He weighted 8 lbs. 10.2 oz. He was surprisingly calm, but cried when the bulb syringe was inserted in his mouth. And of course, I teared up and my husband was elated to see our first born. My husband told me, “you have a son.” Liam was immediately brought to my chest and wiped off. The doctor and nurses all agreed I made it look too easy and that they were very happy everything went so smoothly. They claimed this birth was a good story to share to their coworkers. The doctor was especially excited to share the story with my OB and the other doctor that helped me during the past day.

It was almost textbook perfect. I had 3 small lacerations, which the doctor stitched up. What do you expect from a 8 lb. 10.2 oz baby? 😉

Logan cut the cord and did a great job. 😀 Good going, honey!

Liam immediately started making tongue/mouth gestures (yearning for nipple) and it was quite hilarious. After he had some initial prep/clean work finished, my husband picked Liam up and handed him to me for feeding. My husband claims that Liam was magnetized to the nip. Haha! He latched immediately and fed for 1 hour when we just decided to detach him, so he could be sent to the nursery and I could rest and get cleaned up. We immediately skyped with my dad, Chris, who was unfortunately in California on business to tell him the surprise that we had named Liam Christopher after him. You see, my dad has two aunts, three sisters, and four daughters. This boy is for him. ;D

Since January of 2010, Logan and I have been trying to expand our family. With help, we were finally blessed to find out in September 2011 that we were expecting. These nine past nine months FLEW by and I’m so happy to finally have Liam in my arms. He is truly a miracle baby.