Three weeks ago this past Tuesday, my life changed. I’m pretty sure for the better, but it’s still so new that the jury is still out.
On the 21st of January, I had an appointment with my Obstetrician. My doctor was not in the office, so an associate took her place for the day. It was no big deal, as I had met the doctor earlier in my pregnancy. Since I was at 39 weeks, she did a quick exam to see if I was dilated. I guess I was, because I was asked if I wanted to go to L&D, or Labor and Delivery. I asked, “When?” Doc’s answer – “Right Now.”
I’m pretty sure my husband’s eyes would have rolled out of his head if his eyelids had gotten any wider.
I said no thanks. I would wait until the little guy was ready and go from there. After all, I had about a week to go, and we still had to complete the crib and the minor details of the makeshift nursery! We left the office and went to have a nice Cuban meal for lunch (oddly enough, I was in the mood for Ropa Vieja, or however it’s spelled…) and giggled about the situation. It was odd to think that we could have gone in to have the baby that morning. We laughed about it more than a few times. Little did I know….
At about 9 o’clock that evening, I started feeling like I had some gas. It wouldn’t have surprised me, since the food we ate all day had been on the greasy side. As the night went on, the feeling got stronger. Not once did I think it was contractions. I had never felt one before, but I had the idea that it would feel like cramping throughout my stomach area. At about midnight, I tried to lie down and sleep. That was not happening. I would get up every few minutes to use the bathroom. It actually got to the point where I felt like I had to vomit. When I finally did vomit around 2 in the morning, it woke my husband. I looked at him with watery eyes and said, “I think this is it.”
We took a walk around the block to see if that helped alleviate some of the pain. It didn’t. But when it got bad, my husband would counteract the pressure with a lower back rub. I’m not sure if it felt so good because he was doing so well with it, or because the slightest bit of relief felt like Heaven. Either way, I wasn’t going to argue.
After a shower, I got my overnight bag (which I had *just* put together that day!), grabbed some odds and ends, gripped a pillow and loaded into the car. At 3am on a Tuesday morning there is very little traffic in Miami and Miami Beach, so we got to the hospital pretty quickly. The ER was quiet as well. I got dropped off while hubs parked the car. I checked in and told the security guards and the lady behind the desk that I thought I was in labor and they couldn’t believe it. They told me that most of the ladies that come in are wreck and that they couldn’t believe how calm I was. It was surprising to hear, since it wasn’t all that painful in comparison to what I had imagined.
To make a long story short (TOO LATE), we got to our room and settled in. I was very thankful that I had the foresight to drink some water before we left the house, because from that point I was not allowed to drink anything. As time went on, my mouth felt like it was growing cotton at an alarming rate. I was able to have one small dixie cup of ice chips and enjoyed every little chip that I could!
I was given some pain meds and an epidural (which took four sticks to get right! ouch!) which helped me to sleep a bit. I almost felt guilty about it, because my husband only had an armchair to ‘rest’ in. He did try to sleep, but I don’t think he got much of it. Later in the morning, they did their exams and I seemed ready to go.
Baby wasn’t.
He didn’t seem to want to drop, for whatever reason. Because of the epidural, I couldn’t walk around to see if he dropped, so they tried to break my water. I guess since the lack of fluid makes for an uncomfortable situation for the baby, it usually will try to make it’s way out. Mine did not.
Somewhere around 11 am, my doctor came into the room and apologized to me. I wasn’t sure why. It turns out that since she knew I had wanted to go natural (as in vaginal, not without painkillers, lol) she felt like telling me I had to have a cesarean would be horrible news. Sure, I wasn’t thrilled about it, but I wasn’t completely unhappy, either. I just wanted what was best for the baby. When we found this out, hubs went to make some phone calls to let some family and friends know what was going on, and that our son would be making an appearance a bit sooner than we thought!
By noon, I was being wheeled into the OR and given more pain medication. I was surprised at how quickly they worked. I went from being able to wiggle my toes to not being able to move my legs or hips – all in about a minute! It was crazy. The drawback to the quick relief was the fact that I could not stop shaking! My arms actually had to be bound down, so that I could be a bit more stable, and they wouldn’t have to worry about me trying to touch my stomach. (Not sure why I would, though…)
My husband was nowhere to be found. We had assumed he had been in the waiting room around the corner from the room I was in, but he was not. I called and texted him like a madman as the gurney was headed down the hall, but no answer. Finally I got through – even the nurses were all about him getting there ASAP, so he didn’t miss anything.
He made it, just under the gun. He sat by me the entire time, which really wasn’t very long. He really could have missed it if he had taken any longer to get there! He held my hand and was very quiet. I’m pretty sure we told each other how crazy the situation was, in between the checks the anesthesiologist was making, and the warnings about feeling ‘tugging’ and ‘pulling’ sensations. I did feel them, but they were barely noticeable in all the hoopla!
Finally the time came and we got very quiet. It felt like forever, but then we heard it. Our son cried. It was great! He went and cut the cord. I’m pretty sure he had tears in his eyes.. It was sweet. I wish he had someone take pictures of that, but we didn’t. We do have a lot of pictures from right afterwards, but it’s not quite the same. However, he’s here and that is good for me!
I know this was already a long post, but there will be a continuation for the rest of the week we were in the hospital! Excited? I know you are! =)
Family Life 