WARNING- lengthy post!
All things labor and delivery (don't worry, this will be kept sensitive stomach friendly)
I definitely want to share our labor and delivery story for many reasons. 1) it was our first experience, something I never want to forget. 2) hopefully it will make all you future mamas out there rest easy
My doctor told me only 15% of pregnant women actually experience their water breaking on their own. All of the women in my family have to have their waters broken by the doctor so needless to say, when my water broke at 11PM while I was asleep was a total and complete shock! Rewind a bit to that afternoon (Thursday the 1st). I had a Chiropractic appointment and my Chiropractor suggested some accupressure points that "induce labor". I laughed and said "I'm such a skeptic when it comes to that stuff so you can show me but I'm not getting my hopes up." Well I am a believer! He showed Mr. J places on my feet and legs to rub that supposedly get the process started. Mr. J rubbed my feet at 9pm, we went to bed, and BOOM, 2 hours later, I woke up to my water breaking.
I was so in shock I just sat there while Mr. J asked what he could do for me. I just sat there and said "I don't know, what do we do?" I called my mom and she gently (ok, not very gently) reminded me to call the hospital (confession: I had not even thought about calling the hospital). Once I did, the nurse asked if I was having contractions, my response "I don't know I don't think I've slowed down to notice." She told me to take my time, take a quick shower to relax, and just come when I was ready.
I stood in front of my open closet for 15 minutes trying to figure out what to wear, not because I wanted a cute outfit, but because that's how long it took me to process that I needed pants, a shirt, socks, and everything else. Seriously 'in labor' brain is way worse than pregnancy brain, I kept aimlessly wandering around our house. I would go into a room, stand there for a few minutes then walk back to our bedroom. As I was double checking the hospital bag, I started having contractions, at first they were 10 minutes apart, once we were in the car headed to the hospital they were 8 minutes apart. By the time we parked at the hospital and were walking in, the contractions had picked up and were painful.
My labor progressed very quickly. After being at the hospital for about 3 hours, my contractions were coming every 2 minutes and lasting a minute and a half. Side note----- what they don't teach you in lamaze class, breathing through contractions and trying to keep your sanity is exhausting! Everytime I had a contraction, I would start shaking uncontrollably, which made it difficult to try to breath and relax. It was so annoying to have no control over my body, shaking made it way more uncomfortable since they tell you not to tense up but my muscles were spazzing. To make matters worse, as soon as I got the hospital and hooked up the the monitors, my nurse told me my blood pressure was high. Everytime she checked it, it was higher. She said it was stress induced. Well who isn't stressed when they are about to give birth? I had made a playlist of praise and worship music to listen to and it helped so much, and having a husband who lets you squeeze the life out of his hands is a huge plus. I was THRILLED when my nurse said she would go get the anesthesiologist for my epidural.
Can I just say, epidurals are God's gift to the world. Seriously, I have never loved a needle so much. Once I got the epidural, I was able to relax and actually enjoy the moment. So future mamas, NEVER EVER EVVVEERRR pass up the chance to get an epidural, if it had not been for the epidural, I don't think I would have enjoyed labor at all. Also, the epidural helped my blood pressure lower to normal.
Everything happened so quickly, once I got my epidural, it seemed like 2 minutes later, I was checked for dilation and my nurse said "OK we will have a baby in about 10 minutes, I will go get Dr.K". Mr. J's eyes got big, and my other labor coach, my older sister, said "ahh yay!!!" I only had to push for about 15 minutes and it was surprisingly easier than I had prepared myself for. In that moment I was glad I had exercised all throughout pregnancy, I know it helped. My Doctor was bragging on me telling me how I did so good that I should teach a class on giving birth (he probably tells that to everyone to make them feel good, but hey, i'll take it). Next thing I know, Dr. K was placing my sweet boy on my chest and in that moment when I connected eyes with my son for the very first time, my world became complete. Words cannot even describe that feeling. Love at first sight has a whole new meaning. Looking at Little A while crying with my hubby was such a beautiful moment that I will treasure forever! When they took Little A to check his weight and vitals and clean him up, it seemed like he was gone forever, I was so anxious for him to come back. Mr. J stayed with him and my sister stayed with me.
It seemed like our time in the hospital flew by. We had so many of our sweet friends and family come visit. It was so much fun to see people's reactions when they were able to meet our sweet boy. We are SO blessed. Now let me share some pictures of that wonderful day.
waiting patiently for my epidural
last kiss before
daddy holding Little A for the first time
Finally getting to hold my sweet baby
Our little angel <3
Also, thanks to my other coach my sister, who by the way was 8 months pregnant while she was coaching me!
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