BACK STORY
The birth of my first was anything but ideal. After 51+ hours of labor,
my desire for a natural birth ended in a c-section. I struggled for
22-hours with no pain meds (plus pitocin), and only dilated to 4-5 cm.
After laboring for another 22+ hours with an epidural, I dilated to
5-6cm. By that point, it was time to have a c-section. Don't get me
wrong, I was THRILLED to hold my little girl, but the experience was
long, painful, and nothing like I had planned or imagined. I was left
feeling a little disappointed and slightly "cheated" from the experience
of giving birth naturally.
Early in this pregnancy, I woke up from my night's rest and had received a vision/dream from the Lord that 1) I was going to have a baby boy and 2) I was going to have a natural childbirth. (God really knows me well and knows how much of a processor I am!). The chances of a natural birth after a c-section are not very high, especially after the labor I had with Abe. I knew that God had great plans to bring Samuel into this world but I must say that I was very skeptical that this vision would come true. I had a little more confidence when I was 19-weeks pregnant and found out we were having a boy, but I was still unsure if I could indeed have a natural delivery.
BIRTH OF SAMUEL
Here is where the story of Samuel's arrival begins...
I started having Braxton Hicks contractions at 31 weeks. At week 37, I had contractions 4-6 minutes apart and thought my water may have broken...false alarm. BOO-HOO! We were ready to meet Samuel! Week 38 came and went with many contractions...some strong while others I barely noticed.
At my 39-week appointment on Wednesday, December 16, I was 3.5-4cm dilated/70% effaced and I had my membranes stripped (we decided to do this as a natural way to support my desire for a VBAC-- vaginal birth after Cesarean). The thought was membrane stripping would put me into labor within a few days by releasing hormones...if it would work at all.
Saturday, December 19 & Sunday, December 20, I thought FOR SURE I
was going to have my baby! Contractions were close together and strong
but after about a 1/2 day on both days they would stop. I was highly,
highly disappointed. I was getting very discouraged from
being in the pain of contractions but nothing noticeable happening. We
even added in spicy food, pineapple, raspberry leaf tea and walking to help the
process along. I was either ready to be pregnant forever OR to get that
baby out! I was certainly in pre-labor for at least four days leading to the actual labor & delivery of Samuel.
Monday, December 21, out of the blue, my doctor called me in the morning just to check in on me. I happened to be in the middle of a contraction when she called. Out of curiosity, she wanted me to come in around noon to get checked out, especially with the contractions I was having the last few days. We got Gram-Gram to watch Abe as we headed to our appointment. After getting checked out, I was a solid 4cm/75% effaced. With my due date approaching and a better chance at a VBAC, we
decided to have my membranes stripped again. This doctor was pretty aggressive with it. To say it was uncomfortable is certainly an understatement!! OUCH! Much different than my appointment the Wednesday prior. Again, we had high hopes that this would put me into labor quickly. The day moved on with little to light contractions. Again, I was highly discouraged and asked a few close friends to pray. Since I was going stir crazy, we decided to go to the mall just to walk around. I desperately needed to get out of the house and get my mind off having this baby. We let Abe walk the whole mall and even play in the play area (something she never gets to do). The day came and went...no baby.
Tuesday, December 22 (one-day before the due date). I stated this day feeling almost human...normal. :) I had little to no contractions throughout the day and had honestly lost hope that I would actually have this baby on his due date. Nothing extraordinary happened on this day....until 6:34pm. We were all downstairs as a family. Abe was playing in her playhouse, the husband was taking a shower and (un)apparently I went into labor. Abe was in the process of cleaning up her toys
when out of nowhere I was struck to the ground with a painful contraction. Out of habit, Tyler said I should look at the clock and begin to time them...for fun. 6:34pm. In less than four minutes, I was back down on the floor having another very painful contraction (see 2nd picture on the right). It was time to get a little more serious about timing these things. As we moved upstairs, I found myself leaning against our bookcase, pounding with my fist rhythmically to redirect the pain I was having. Within about 30 minutes, contractions were 3:30-4:00 minutes apart and getting stronger. Yup! Time to call in the grandparents to watch Abe while we went to the hospital. I had no signs of my bags of water breaking but since contractions were close together and painful and I was hoping for a VBAC, our doctor recommended we go to the hospital when all of these signs presented themselves, especially since I was considered to be a high risk delivery. Off we went.
My contractions continued the whole ride to the hospital. To control the pain, I found myself pounding the passenger side window with my fist with every contraction (apparently this is what I do when I have babies...I used this same "method" with Abe during the first part of my labor with her). I bet those next to us at EACH stoplight (YES--we hit EVERY red light going down 6th Ave!!) thought I was crazy but honestly, I didn't care. By 8:30pm I was in triage and getting examined to see if I was "really" in labor. To me, it was pretty obvious that I was. By this time, contractions were happening every 2-3:30 minutes. When I was checked, I was already at 6cm! I was amazing! This was as far dilated as I ever got with my first labor so I was pretty excited! Shortly after, we were taken to our labor and deliver suite and getting set-up to have this baby!
*Times are now approximate*
After laboring for a few hours, by 11pm I was at 9cm. My water still had not broken so we decided to help the process move along by breaking my water. After this point, the baby's heart rate began to dip from the mid-130's/140's to 60 with every contraction! This would only happen with each contraction and then bounce back up but clearly, this was not going to be something that could be sustained for a long period of time. So, the doctor decided to re-fill my bag of water to take off some of the pressure that was on baby's umbilical cord. This worked like magic! His heart rate began to steady with each contraction and the doctor felt comfortable progressing with the birth.
At this point, the contractions became almost unbearable (to state it mildly). There was still a long-ish road ahead and I was tiring out quickly. The decision was made to order an epidural. I was totally
I was surprised at the natural instincts that took over...I was afraid I wouldn't know when to start pushing but after 3 1/2 hours of pushing, my son was born at 3:51am! Throughout the pushing process, my wonderful husband was at the foot of the bed learning how to deliver our baby. The doctor coached him through every step in the process and at many time during the L&D he was running the whole show with our doctor "assisting"... (although she was ultimately in control, she allowed Tyler to play a HUGE role in the processes). As I was pushing, Tyler was not only coaching me on my breathing and counting as I pushed but learning how to safely deliver our son. He was my hero on this day! It was incredible that he got to play such an active role in the process, experiencing it with me not just next to me holding a leg. It was an incredibly powerful bonding time for us as a couple as he "yelled" at me, told me when to push, and ensured that all of my hopes for a natural deliver would occur (like having a mirror to see baby coming out and delaying umbilical cord clamping).
Since repairs took the normal "two-hours in the recovery room" time frame, they allowed me to stay an extra two hours; however, this turned into an additional two hours on top of that to total 6 hours in the recovery room. I lost a lot of blood post-delivery. I was really close to needed a blood transfusion. I realized the effects of this blood loss after my stitching was done and they asked me to walk to the bathroom about an hour after the stitching was complete. With help, I made it to the bathroom no problem but within a minute I felt like I was going to pass out. I quickly sat back down on the shower chair. After taking a moment to compose myself, I tried to walk the 6 steps to the wheelchair. I collapsed in Tyler's arms and he placed me in the wheelchair and rolled me over to the bed...this is why I received the extra 2-hours in the recovery room. They fed me juice and crackers and tried to sit me up a few times, but I was clearly not in an condition to be moved upstairs to the postpartum floor. They also would not allow me out of bed to use the bathroom again so I had the great pleasure, for the first time ever, to use a bedpan. Fun times. On the bright side, I was able to nurse Samuel for the first time and he latched like a champ!!
By 11:30am, I was settled in upstairs on the postpartum floor, Rainier Room 417. This was the first
CHRISTMAS EVE!! Thursday, December 24 at 1am, little Samuel would not stop crying. We called the nurse in to see if they had pacifiers on hand because all baby boy wanted to do was keep sucking (we later found out that my milk had not come in and he was actually just hungry...but that is a different story). Not having pacifiers, the nurse offered to take Samuel for about an hour so that we could get some sleep; he also needed his 24-hour check-up/testing so they did this during that time. Since Samuel was having some trouble swallowing/gagging one of us needed to be awake with him to clear is mouth/throat when needed but we both just reached to point of pure exhaustion. I felt like a horrible mom trusting some strange nurse with my baby (especially since Tyler would not be there with him), but we really did need to take care of ourselves so that we could better care for him. It was a tough/not tough decision to make. So, we both got about an hours worth of sleep.
HAPPY ONE-DAY BIRTHDAY!
We celebrated this milestone by singing Samuel Happy Birthday; and he exchanged the gesture by peeing on Dad for the first time...one of many times I am sure. :)
We survived through the first night as a family, sleep deprived and everything (YEA!); and at 7am the pediatrician came in to check-up on our sweet bundle. Besides not pooping without assistance, everything checked out great. She wanted to see us back in clinic on Saturday to check his outputs since he was having some difficulties with those but overall, she was really happy about the progress he made in his first 24-hours of life.
I decided to brave the shower shortly after our pediatrician left. I was a little afraid about 1) fainting in the shower and 2) pain from my stitches. But it was the BEST shower I have EVER taken!! I never once thought I was going to faint and the hand-held shower sprayer made it so nice and easy to shower and take care of my "special" areas. It was a little difficult to get dressed afterwards because I was so exhausted from the effort it took to take my shower but it was certainly worth it!
My doctor came by at 11am on Christmas Eve to check-up on me. Overall, I was doing well. Samuel bruised my tailbone and I was having some soreness on the lower right side of my back. I was SUPER swollen "down there" and at times it was painful to readjust in bed, get up or sit down. I was sore all over, especially from pushing for 3 1/2 hours. My lightheadedness had gone away for the most part and I was able to get up and walk around without assistance. We were certainly ready to go home!
After our doctor left, we started to pack up and get ready for discharge. After my medications were ordered, baby boy was cleared, and Tyler brought the car seat up, we were discharged!! At 1pm on Christmas Eve, we were going home!! Once baby was loaded and the car was packed, we made our way to Arby's and then home. We slept for about an hour before Gram-Gram brought Abe back to our house. We had a quiet Christmas Eve, enjoying French Dip sandwiches and sitting around the table as a family of four! God had answered so many prayers with the whole labor and delivery. He truly is an amazing God and is certainly worthy of all our praise!
Welcome to the world Baby Samuel!!
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