It has been a long time since I posted of course. Nobody's that surprised I am sure... Lots has been going on though that is FOR SURE!
I am going to document the birth of Jacob for myself most of all and so it might be a little more detailed then some of you want to read about... sorry. So here is the brief version:
Jacob Alexander was born June 10th 2010 at 6:30 PM, after only 2 1/2 hours of labor. I was very surprised and glad it was fast! He was 8 lb 8 oz, 19 1/2 inches long and had long dark hair. I had a successful Vaginal delivery and he was 9 days LATE! I was glad to have him out though.
I went to see a massage Therapist, Wednesday Morning, who does a massage that helps to start labor. At this point I was 8 days late and the doctor was getting anxious about the condition of the baby. He had me coming in every few days to check on the status of the baby via non stress test. So Wednesday morning I went to see Hannah, who was great! She had me lay down on her table, and she had great soft music playing, and she even had me propped up so I would not get uncomfortable. She worked on my feet and then my hands using special pressure points. Poor Eric came with me so I wouldn't have to drive myself. He just sat there for an hour poor guy. At least he had Internet on his phone so he read some newspapers and stuff...
We went home after that as we were pretty tired. That night I had a Primary Presidency meeting and I was able to clock my contractions at 20 mins apart. I wasn't sure if they were real ones or not as they weren't that painful, I could walk and talk through them very easily, and I didn't keep track of them that well so It felt like there were times they stopped. I was able to sleep that night with no interruptions so I don't' know if the contractions were there over night or not.
Thursday Morning I had another non stress test with the doctor. The contractions I was able to time again at about 20 minutes apart but sometimes not that regular, so I was still not sure they were real or not. The non stress test was okay not as good as a couple days ago but the doctor said it was fine. He did want me to go for an ultrasound to check the fluid levels to make sure they were still good. So we had lunch in which I had to drink like 6 cups of water, and drove back to the lab for the ultrasound place. After all the paperwork was filled out they called me back and took some pictures. The radiologist said the fluid levels were good but my placenta was looking aged and had some calcium spots on it. But I was still good for a few more days. I was not going to go past 2 weeks anyway so if this baby didn't come on its own by two weeks I was going to have the c-section. I was hoping the massage would work soon though!
After that we were so close to the mall, and I had a $10 off a $10 purchase so we decided to go walk around some more to see if I could get things going faster. I got a very cute shirt for .42, and then we headed out to the mall. While we walked around my contractions sped up to about 6 minutes apart but they would stop or slow down when I wasn't walking! I was very confused at this point was I in labor or not? Should I go to the hospital or not? We were done with the mall but we said a prayer to know what to do and we both felt like we shouldn't go home just yet. So we drove to a few more stores, and then just decided to go to the hospital to be checked. The worst they could say was I wasn't in labor and to go home. On the way to the hospital in the car my contractions were still at 6 minutes apart even though I wasn't walking around, but they still weren't that strong. I did notice a little increase in strength though.
When I got to the hospital, at 4 PM, I even decided to take the stairs up to the labor and delivery floor. I was still trying to get my labor going! I had to give my whole complicated story to the nurse there, and she said she would check me and had me change into the gown and hooked me up to the machine. You know the one... that tells the whole room, and sometimes even the next room over, the heart beat of the baby. As the nurse was checking me she said I was about a 3 and mostly effaced, but the baby was still pretty high, at that point I heard and felt a pop, and the nurse got a surprised look on her face. She had accidentally broken my water! Apparently my bag was bulgy and just couldn't take that one last check!
At that point my baby was going to be born one way or another soon! Well my labor definitely kicked in at that point. the contractions kicked in and got very much stronger. I also got VERY hot and sweaty! I sweated the tape off my IV and almost lost the IV altogether. The nurse called my doctor who said to give him a call when I was ready to have the c-section! The nerve of that guy! maybe he was joking I don't know, because he did show up for my delivery after all.
Anyway at that point things got moving very fast. My contractions were pretty close and very strong, they transferred me to my birthing room about 20 minutes after my water broke. They checked me when I got all situated and I was at 6, still effaced most of the way and the baby was lower but still not all the way engaged. I had to wait for most of the IV to empty and half the antibiotics as I was Strep Positive before they could give me my epidural, but I was extremely glad when about 30 minutes later they came in and gave it to me. I was sitting up for it and more and more fluid kept coming out. I soaked my entire pad while getting the epidural... I didn't know I had that much fluid still inside!
After I got the epidural I remember feeling a little light headed as the epidural kicked in, and at that point the monitor on the babies heart beat slowed WAYYY down. The nurses kicked into high gear, called for the anesthesiologist and had them give me something, they had me lay on my side, and they attached monitors directly to the babies head. After a minute or two the babies heart rate came back up again. The anesthesiologist came and checked on me a few more times after that but we were good. I remember no pain but a terrible pressure right around the babies head after the epidural kicked in. It was not too painful but I definitely did not feel nothing! After that the nurse checked how close I was and she said I was at 9, still mostly effaced and the baby was still not engaged all the way. She decided to have me push and see if that would bring the baby all the way down and put me at 10. So I got in the position and I pushed once and she said in a surprised voice... Oh, that did it! You are ready! Let me call the doctor!
The Doctor took his sweet time getting to my room... and then when he got there they took my bed apart, and I was ready to start pushing. When I was just laying in the bed I was able to feel the contractions as pressure, but when they put my legs up I was not able to feel them as well. But I was able to feel them a little so I pushed a few times, I remember my pushing this time was not as effective as it was with Lizzie. I was not able to feel my pushing muscles with this epidural like I could with Lizzie's epidural. It was very curious as I later examined the differences between the two epidurals. But I was able to push fairly well, and I only pushed about 4 contractions and little Jacob was born. Eric was able to cut the cord... which he had to cut twice to get all the way through. The nurses took him and did their thing. I did hear them ask what time it was and the nurse replied 6:30. Really! Only 2 and a half hours! It felt like longer then that! They say the more you have the faster things go... well for me it was soooo true!
After all of that I got exactly what I wanted. I had a successful vaginal birth after cesarean. I let my body get ready and my baby to tell me when he was ready to come. I stood up for myself and told my doctor what I wanted to do instead of let him drive my pregnancy. I listened to the Lord, and was patient when He told me to be patient. All that happened, even the delay, did truly happen for a reason. I am very proud of myself and I love my new baby very much. I love ALL My Babies!
