Nothing natural about it
Hello! I come to you from the comfort of my couch, which I've barely left in a week. I'm glad that I think the couch is so comfy.
Today would have been my official due date but, luckily, I've already been a mother for a week. Nora is awesome. Of course, we're supposed to find our babies awesome, right? I'm sure that other people would find her annoying and needy, but that's why she's mine and not yours. :P
Yes, I'm a bit punchy. Feeding a needy baby boobie juice doesn't always equate to a whole lot of sleep. It's only temporary, though. We'll make it through.
So, yes, how did this all happen? Easy.
Friday morning I woke up around four because Adam doesn't understand the concept of turning off an alarm he has no intention of waking up to and he just keeps pushing snooze. He, lucky bastard, can go right back to sleep and act as if the constant buzzing isn't happening. Me? Not so much. I got up at four and wandered around the house in the dark eating Capt'n Crunch and drinking water. I noticed I was having seriously weak contractions, but shrugged it of because, really, I'd been having them for weeks off and on and I knew they'd go away. Besides, they were so lame I had to really concentrate to feel them.
We killed a few hours around the house and headed to the OB appointment. I noticed I'd dropped about three pounds since the week before when they weighed me. Total weight gain? Yeah, not very high. I shook it off and we waited on Dr. P to come in and do whatever she was going to do.
When she came in she checked me and I was 5 cm and we didn't even talk about effacement. She looks at me and asks, "Are you having contractions?" I tell her yes and she's like, "How about we just send you to the hospital and I'll get you an epidural (for the pain I'm not having), pop your water, pump you full of pitocin and get this baby out?"
She's so funny because she said it like it was a question, but the next thing I know we're being shuffled out of the office and over to the hospital. I wanted to grab my bags and stuff, but she wouldn't let us waste the time.
We walk in to the L&D area and feel completely stunned. I mean, I wanted Nora and everything, but it was suddenly moving very quickly. A nice nurse, Tricia, set me up with a room and a gown and an I.V. so I could be all fluid-y before they gave me the epidural. It was just after eleven in the morning on Friday and I was going to have a baby, even though I couldn't really feel the contractions.
They did something I liked and that was no unnecessary cervix checks. Tricia just got me in the bed and left me there to wait things out. Very pleasant, even if I was dying to know what was going on inside of my body.
Around noon I got fitted with my epidural and at twelve-thirty Dr. Plummer came in to break my water. Dr. P checked my cervix and I was now 6+ cm and well on my way. I could tell from the monitor that I still wasn't having very strong contractions, but they seemed too be effective. This is all before they'd even broken my water.
Oh, funny bit of the story here. Dr. Plummer was in the business, doing whatever it is that they do to check things once the water had been broken, and she suddenly got this shocked looked on her face.
"Oh. That's a hand."
I was a little less calm, "Um, that's not good. Can you push it back in there?"
Dr. Plummer very calmly replied, "I'm pinching her little fingers, but she's refusing to move them out of the way. Oh! She grabbed my finger. She's got a good grip."
Now, the nurse and Dr. Plummer are laughing and I'm sort of freaking out because I'm pretty certain hands don't come out before heads, but then there was some maneuvering and Dr. Plummer wedged the hand out of the way and pinned it with some piece of equipment to keep her fingers from escaping out my cervix, again.
After that it was all lying around and waiting. Boring. I was lucky because I had Adam and Charlotte to entertain me. Mom stopped by, but my grumpiness chased her away. I had originally thought that she'd be unable to make it to the hospital before Reba picked her up, but leave it to Mom to execute a plan all on her own.
Around three I was set up with pitocin to speed things up. I didn't mind because, hey, epidural!
So, then I'm doing more lying around and waiting. By three forty-five I was feeling pressure in my bum, but I wanted to make sure that I wasn't being paranoid. I was going to call the nurse at four, but Tricia walked in right before four and said that she could tell Nora's head was trying to come out.
Now, when I delivered Mazzy I pushed for two hours and forty minutes and I got third degree tears and I could barely get her out. Being the lovely lady that Tricia was, she had a plan. I got rolled on my side and told to wait and let the contractions do most of the pushing for me.
Insert more images of me waiting.
After a while I could feel Nora's head in the chute, as it were, and I just waited some more. Around five Tricia came in and checked things out. Yep, Nora was coming. It wouldn't be long, now.
Tricia called Dr. Plummer and we waited for her to come catch the baby. Fifteen minutes later Dr. Plummer was there and the equipment was set up and I was able to start pushing.
Two contractions later at 5:20PM I was holding my baby girl. She was 6 lbs. 9 oz. and 18.5" long. Nora had a head full of hair and such a large birth mouth I was afraid it wouldn't shrink. I did tear just a bit; I think it was mostly old scar tissue that gave way, but I don't even consider it any damage. Amazing.
I still have no idea what labor feels like.
Today would have been my official due date but, luckily, I've already been a mother for a week. Nora is awesome. Of course, we're supposed to find our babies awesome, right? I'm sure that other people would find her annoying and needy, but that's why she's mine and not yours. :P
Yes, I'm a bit punchy. Feeding a needy baby boobie juice doesn't always equate to a whole lot of sleep. It's only temporary, though. We'll make it through.
So, yes, how did this all happen? Easy.
Friday morning I woke up around four because Adam doesn't understand the concept of turning off an alarm he has no intention of waking up to and he just keeps pushing snooze. He, lucky bastard, can go right back to sleep and act as if the constant buzzing isn't happening. Me? Not so much. I got up at four and wandered around the house in the dark eating Capt'n Crunch and drinking water. I noticed I was having seriously weak contractions, but shrugged it of because, really, I'd been having them for weeks off and on and I knew they'd go away. Besides, they were so lame I had to really concentrate to feel them.
We killed a few hours around the house and headed to the OB appointment. I noticed I'd dropped about three pounds since the week before when they weighed me. Total weight gain? Yeah, not very high. I shook it off and we waited on Dr. P to come in and do whatever she was going to do.
When she came in she checked me and I was 5 cm and we didn't even talk about effacement. She looks at me and asks, "Are you having contractions?" I tell her yes and she's like, "How about we just send you to the hospital and I'll get you an epidural (for the pain I'm not having), pop your water, pump you full of pitocin and get this baby out?"
She's so funny because she said it like it was a question, but the next thing I know we're being shuffled out of the office and over to the hospital. I wanted to grab my bags and stuff, but she wouldn't let us waste the time.
We walk in to the L&D area and feel completely stunned. I mean, I wanted Nora and everything, but it was suddenly moving very quickly. A nice nurse, Tricia, set me up with a room and a gown and an I.V. so I could be all fluid-y before they gave me the epidural. It was just after eleven in the morning on Friday and I was going to have a baby, even though I couldn't really feel the contractions.
They did something I liked and that was no unnecessary cervix checks. Tricia just got me in the bed and left me there to wait things out. Very pleasant, even if I was dying to know what was going on inside of my body.
Around noon I got fitted with my epidural and at twelve-thirty Dr. Plummer came in to break my water. Dr. P checked my cervix and I was now 6+ cm and well on my way. I could tell from the monitor that I still wasn't having very strong contractions, but they seemed too be effective. This is all before they'd even broken my water.
Oh, funny bit of the story here. Dr. Plummer was in the business, doing whatever it is that they do to check things once the water had been broken, and she suddenly got this shocked looked on her face.
"Oh. That's a hand."
I was a little less calm, "Um, that's not good. Can you push it back in there?"
Dr. Plummer very calmly replied, "I'm pinching her little fingers, but she's refusing to move them out of the way. Oh! She grabbed my finger. She's got a good grip."
Now, the nurse and Dr. Plummer are laughing and I'm sort of freaking out because I'm pretty certain hands don't come out before heads, but then there was some maneuvering and Dr. Plummer wedged the hand out of the way and pinned it with some piece of equipment to keep her fingers from escaping out my cervix, again.
After that it was all lying around and waiting. Boring. I was lucky because I had Adam and Charlotte to entertain me. Mom stopped by, but my grumpiness chased her away. I had originally thought that she'd be unable to make it to the hospital before Reba picked her up, but leave it to Mom to execute a plan all on her own.
Around three I was set up with pitocin to speed things up. I didn't mind because, hey, epidural!
So, then I'm doing more lying around and waiting. By three forty-five I was feeling pressure in my bum, but I wanted to make sure that I wasn't being paranoid. I was going to call the nurse at four, but Tricia walked in right before four and said that she could tell Nora's head was trying to come out.
Now, when I delivered Mazzy I pushed for two hours and forty minutes and I got third degree tears and I could barely get her out. Being the lovely lady that Tricia was, she had a plan. I got rolled on my side and told to wait and let the contractions do most of the pushing for me.
Insert more images of me waiting.
After a while I could feel Nora's head in the chute, as it were, and I just waited some more. Around five Tricia came in and checked things out. Yep, Nora was coming. It wouldn't be long, now.
Tricia called Dr. Plummer and we waited for her to come catch the baby. Fifteen minutes later Dr. Plummer was there and the equipment was set up and I was able to start pushing.
Two contractions later at 5:20PM I was holding my baby girl. She was 6 lbs. 9 oz. and 18.5" long. Nora had a head full of hair and such a large birth mouth I was afraid it wouldn't shrink. I did tear just a bit; I think it was mostly old scar tissue that gave way, but I don't even consider it any damage. Amazing.
I still have no idea what labor feels like.
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