Birth Story

On Tuesday (5/26/09) Jay and I went to see my OB at 8:50am. When we got there they checked my vitals and discovered that my blood pressure was really high, I don't remember what the actual read out was now, but it wasn't good. By the time we saw Dr. Pollock he didn't even hesitate to tell us that there was no reason to wait any longer to get the baby out and so he sent us over to San Martin Hospital. Jay and I had all our hospital bags packed and ready in the car so we left the doctors office totally optimistic and excited.

When we got to the hospital we got a birthing suite right away and they had me change into a gown. Not long after they hooked me up to some IV's and started the induction using a tiny pill placed behind my cervix. We progressed pretty slowly and by the time I even began feeling any pain at all, all our family and friends were hanging out in the room with us. The first part of the day was really great. Everyone was happy and anxious. We watched my contractions pop up on the monitor and I'm sure it was pretty funny when I made faces when I was really feeling the pain. The nurses kept coming in the room to shoot this crazy good painkiller up my IV so I wasn't too uncomfortable. And to be honest, I loved my hospital and the staff. It really felt like I was the only laboring woman in the whole building and I always had my own nurse who was never late to get me anything I needed. So awesome.

It wasn't until we started seeing that I wasn't dilating quick enough that everyone became a little worried. My pain was getting more and more intense but nothing was happening with my cervix. My blood pressure kept going up and down and has stayed like that since Tuesday morning. I eventually had an epidural placed and my doctor came back in to see me. He said that we would see how I progressed on Pitocin but to be aware of the possibility of a c-section if things still hadn't progressed on Pitocin. So we started the Pitocin around 2am, and not long after that my night shift nurse (who was a total bitch) told me that I would probably have a c-section and never be able to deliver vaginally ever again. At that point my mom nearly ripped this nurses head off. I mean she seriously was going to kill her right then and there. At that point I was so tired and drugged up, the idea of having a c-section scared me to death and I couldn't help but start crying and breaking down. Then the whole family cried with me. It was a sad event.

But early morning came and we got a new nurse. I tried to relax and let my body do its thing. I started dilating about 1 cm every hour to two hours. Everyone became hopeful again for a vaginal delivery. I eventually started my actual labor (past 4cm)by late morning and continued laboring all day. By the time I reached 8 cm. I was so exhausted and drained beyond what my body was capable of handling. All our family and friends were delirious and ready for something to happen already. Finally my nurse came in and told me that she would do a few more cervix checks over the course of a few hours and if nothing had changed from 8cm then we would need to consider a c-section. Jay and I cried and cried. I felt like I had failed completely as a mother. I never had felt so disappointed in myself like that before. It was really hard facing the idea that I may never be able to have children vaginally if I went through with the section. But in the end we had to do it.

From this point on things got really bad. Nurses rushed my room at the same time that more drugs were being pumped into my IV. I was so uncomfortable and everyone was just running around and strapping me down. I started having a major panic attack but no one would stop what they were doing in order to let me have a minute to relax. I was wheeled quickly into the operating room. The worst part of all was that I had swollen up so badly I literally looked like a 300 pound woman, no joke, and I was lying on a table naked infront of about ten or more people unable to feel my body. They had me set up in about ten minutes. Jay came in and tried to talk me into relaxing. Before I knew what was happening the doctors had begun cutting me open and I felt painful pressure, tugging and pulling. I can't even describe how horrible I felt on all the meds and having no control. Then all the sudden I hear "Ok guys here he comes" and I was so not prepared for that moment. I got really emotional and my heart was racing. Then I saw Jay's eyes get really big and he said "Did you hear that?". I guess the baby had grunted or something coming out but I hadn't heard it. Then the doctors said some things like "Hey handsome", "Wow this is a very big baby", and "He refuses to let go of mommy". LOL. So my baby really didn't want to come out of me after all and decided to cling to me instead! When they finally got him to let go and I heard him cry for the first time, I totally lost it! I tried to remember that the crying was shaking my body and I was still in surgery so I had to stop but then started up again when they lifted him over the curtain. I can't even describe the feeling I had when they brought him around to see me for the first time. The first thing I thought was that he was short and fat, and then I thought he had a perfect, round head and a really awesome set of cheeks! Then everything became extremely surreal and I tripped out for like the 30th time that day on how he was really my baby and I had created him...all that good stuff.

But all I can say is...my child is the best thing in the world! He is gorgeous. God I love him!!!

After surgery I started to feel real sick. They wheeled me into a different room without returning me to my original room. I hadn't seen any family, and they had Jay leave with the baby while they sewed up my tummy. They told me no one could come see me for an hour but I guess I looked pretty frightened so they got my mom for me. I will never forget how happy my mom looked when I saw her for the first time after the baby was born. I felt so proud that it made her so happy to be a grandmother. She stayed with me for a while in the room until Jay came in to see me. A short time after Jay came into the postpartum and recovery room a nurse and my doctor came in and asked if my vitals had been taken and blood had been drawn. At first everything seemed fine, but slowly we figured out that I had been very close to almost dying on the operating table. I guess I had lost way too much blood and they were going to monitor me in case I needed a blood transfusion. From that point on and up until today I have just been feeling horrible. I have no color to my skin and my eyes look really sunken in. I almost collapsed a few times and have almost gone back to the hospital, but things seem to be getting better now. The hospital wanted me to have the transfusion but I refused it. They say it will take about a month for me to get my bearings back so I've been trying to take it easy around the house.

But back to my story....

So Jay and I spent the next few days taking care of the baby on our own while we stayed in our hospital room. At first we were really scared and afraid to hold him or touch him. He felt so fragile and we had no idea what we were doing. But eventually we got the hang of it all. Shea has a pattern that he likes to do things in...wake up crying because of a poopy diaper, then he eats, he poops again, then back to sleep for four hours. He is really the easiest baby to take car of. Last night Jay and I woke up twice to do his normal routine. TWICE! That's it. And we slept for five hours in between the time he went to bed until the first time he woke up. And its like this every day. Yesterday Jay and I actually woke him up because we felt like he was sleeping way too much.

So that's our birthing story. I'll post pictures today or tomorrow since I should go check on my little man. =)