Sunday, July 12, 2009

9 days ago......the birth story

so this was me at about 5:30 am....somewhere in between contraction # 1 and contraction #137. Now if you keep up with the blog, you know that I had been in the hospital on Monday night for high blood pressure, which they monitored all night.. but I had not other labor signs.. other than a few minor contractions.
So we went about our week... lots going on (of course!).. Mentally , I had prepared myself for the fact that my due date of July 4th would come and go, and that I would not be dilated at my next appt. and therefore have to be induced a week later.
And so we made plans for the night of July 3rd.. and we had plans all day and into the evening for the 4th. A favorite holiday of ours.=)
and so our Thursday evening was spent out to dinner at Logan's where we just barely made the time frame for the "cheap two fer dinners"... - after dinner I wasn't feeling the greatest.. but not pregnancy related (or so I thought).. my vision became blurry at the table, and I could hardly see as we walked to the car. As we drove home, my hands became numb. My leg became numb. Then my face became numb. It was very odd. Not sure what was happening, we got home, and I laid down on the couch, under the ceiling fan, and started gulping water. After about 15 min I started to feel like my self.
Andrew had plans to go play poker that night, and I had a good friend coming to visit from out of town. I had a great visit with my friend Jop and Brigham and Tatum had a blast playing with her son Aaron. She was really bummed that she wasn't going to get to see the baby. She had a trip thru town 2 years ago, just a week after Tatum was born, so she got to meet baby girl.
anyway... the night was uneventful, and I went to bed around midnight.
I woke up a little after 3am, with a pain.. could this be a contraction? who knew. I realized pretty quickly that these pains were pretty consistent in intensity, but I had no clue what the frequency was. I got up out of bed.. walked around.. they didn't stop. I did a load of laundry, and took a shower. They still were not stopping.
I had no idea how late Andrew was out playing cards, so I didn't want to wake him for a false alarm.... I started to pack my hospital bag... and then the kids suitcase. Finally at 4am, I awoke Andrew and told him, I thought it was time. He showered, and then I called my mom to come over. In the next 15 minutes, I realized that these "pains" were coming right after one another, and same intensity. Something I could handle, but it wasn't super pleasant.
I still wasn't sure if this was doing anything.. and I was prepared to be told at the hospital that I wasn't dilated and needed to go home. ugh.
As we packed the car, I started shaking, and felt sick. It felt like an eternity before my mom was arriving.. I told Andrew to call her and let her know the house was unlocked, but that we needed to leave. Good thing we grabbed a bucket. We were not far from the house, when I got sick. The contractions came every 1-2 minutes as we drove to the hospital(clear on the other side of town!). It seemed like it was taking forever.
Finally got to the emergency room, and the whole desk staff looked at me, and said.. oh, you're back... looks like the real thing.
In fact they had a desk person wheel me on up to L/D instead of waiting for a nurse to be sent down.
Andrew parked the car and by the time he came up, the nurse was working fast.. she checked me and what do you know.. I was dilated 4 cm!!
I literally cheered right there .. I was so relieved - SOMETHING was happening!!
Time wise, we were about 5;15 am now, and the nurse was rushing around, saying that she had to move fast, b/c I was moving so fast! she was awesome.she stroked my hair and held onto me tight during the contractions, as the epi was getting put in. she was my cheerleader. I was really blessed to have a great nursing staff, and dr. on call. Not to mention my husband is great during these times too. Despite his weak stomach he is right in the middle of things.. literally.
I did get an epidural, but not with out the anesthesiologist going back and forth several times on whether I really needed it or not. She kept saying I was progressing to fast, and that I was doing fine with out it.. and that it wouldn't even have time to kick in.
Having not had a single (even iv) drug with Tatum, mainly because the nurses never checked me until it was too late, and my complaints of the intense back pain I had never clued them in....they should perhaps check me.... anywho.. I managed with the delivery and realized that I had a strong pain tolerance that allowed me to endure it thru the end. The recovery was easy too and I was up walking around 15 min after she popped out!!
Though I will admit, the lack of epidural did not create a peaceful environment for any of us. I was pretty bossy and yelled at Andrew a lot. I think I even yelled at a nurse or two. I remember apologizing later for that.. lol
So this go around, I was prepared to have an enjoyable labor/delivery... I wanted to just 'hang out' until he or she came out!! LOL
Fast forward.. finally did get the epi... I think it had taken effect all of 10 minutes, when I felt the pressure.
I had this huge urge to poop. and I knew it was time. 2 pushes. and they said... um, hold on..we need the dr in here. I had a dr. on call who turned out to be one that was leaving the clinic. immediately following my delivery. I was his last one!! crazy!
eta: (My brother just told me that the dr. came into the irish pub and my brother and he were talking about my delivery! Apparantly b/c the doc had resigned, they walked him out at 7am. and since I delivered at 6:45am, he wasn't able to come check on me for follow up or anything. He had to leave the bldg. right away!! I never thought anything of it.)


2 more pushes and out he came :
God is Amazing.
I love this moment that Andrew captured. It will look incredible in b/w.

Proud papa , shortly after Beckham's arrival


sharing the good news



um, not sure how he knew how to do this already!





Shortly before 8am.. the siblings arrived to meet their baby brother. Brigham was pretty excited!





This was about an hour after birth, just before we switched rooms. I was feeling great. We just had to wait for awhile for the epidural to wear off a bit.




this was his home for the first 48 hours.
I could just eat him up.








grandpa comes for a visit




my brother aka.. uncle monkey visits his nephew


the second visit to the hospital. the kids are still in awe.


celebrating our new little man...Andrew picked up a cake for our sibling party =)
the hospital gives the siblings a dinner of chicken fingers, mac n cheese, etc..
and for mama, and papa , the choice of fillet Mignon or lobster tail.
coming from a hospital cafeteria.. it was a tough choice, let me tell ya.
we got the fillet Mignon, green beans and red potatoes.
and it was terrible. they messed up even potatoes!! so we ordered food later on that night!!






our kids never get soda. except on special occasions.


this counted as one.. and they were so stoked about it!




my mom brought the kids for another hospital visit


these were taken on their second visit. Brigham and Tatum are so in love with their baby brother.



and I am wondering if these pictures are a glimpse into what life with 3 will be?





this picture melts my heart. Tatum's reaction for the first few days as she realizes she ain't the baby anymore!!





and my little guy just before we left the hospital

I am in love.





5 comments:

The Rock Star said...

Beckham, it was very nice meeting you today! Thanks for being in a great mood and sleeping in my arms. I loved it! :)

Janette said...

AWE sweet, sweet pictures. He is such a cute baby. What a wonderful family you have. Congratulations to you all. Big hugsssss!

Kat said...

congratulations!!!! great story, and that first picture of beckham is amazing!

Lisa said...

Awwww! I can see why you are in love! Love the story and the pics, especially the ones of you and your 3 wee ones in the hospital bed. Congratulations, my dear!

Nicole said...

Love reading the story. Congrats again. SO excited for you!

LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin