The weekend of February 20th when I was due my sister was in town and we tried everything to get me to go into labor but were unsuccessful. Aaron apparently had no desire to come out when we wanted but when he was good and ready.
I went into the doctor on tuesday the 22nd and had an ultrasound. My mother-in-law had just arrived the day before and was ecstatic that she got to come to the dr. appt. I had Dr. Jacobson who was a locum doctor and one of the best. The ultrasound showed that my amniotic fluid levels were low. She decided to send me up to the birth center at the hospital to be monitored.
Before heading upstairs I stopped by the xray dept to let them know what was going on. They were all really excited and couldn't wait to hear the news. Upstairs I was told to push a button when I felt the baby move which was easy enough. After 15-20 min the nurse came back in and told me when I had pushed the button I was actually having contractions! I had no idea because they weren't painful. After the nurse talked to the dr she came back and told me to get my affairs in order and to come back at 5pm to start the induction process. Yikes! That meant the baby would be here soon. We were excited and nervous all at the same time.
We went home and made sure our bags were packed and I had something to eat. We took a trip to Walmart for a few things and then came back to get showered. It was so surreal to think about what would be happening that night and that hopefully by the next day we would have a baby. Of course I also felt bad that my sister had just gone home the day before and wasn't able to turn around and come back.
After being admitted I changed into a gown and was hooked up to the monitors. Before being tied down they let me walk the halls for an hour. Jeremy and I walked downstairs and visited with Dave in xray and told him what was happening. Then my dad and I were able to walk and talk about what a great event this was. After getting back from walking an IV was started and fluids were initiated. They began a Pitocin drip to get the contractions stronger. The next couple of hours were uneventful just laying there waiting for something to happen.
I was moving pretty slow and not dilating very fast whenever they came in to check on me. The dr came in and decided to break my water and help the process. What a weird feeling that was! They kept increasing my Pitocin to get things moving and finally the contractions started coming pretty strong. They started out as back labor and it was awful. My mom and Jeremy switched holding my hand and fanning me. When a contraction came I was tensing my whole body and arching my back and getting extreme hot flashes. They really started to take my breath away when they started coming right on top of each other. I would just be getting done with one and the next one would start. These continued for a couple of hours and really wore me out. I was slowly getting more dilated and tried to get some rest but the contractions kept interrupting me.
Finally at 4am I was dilated enough to get an epidural which I enthusiastically said yes to. I knew Steve, the nurse anesthestist that came to put it in and he did a great job. Gradually my legs began to go numb and the pain from the contractions became a distant memory. My mom could watch on the monitor when I started another contraction and would tell me. It was great to just sit there and not feel a thing. It continued to be a waiting game as I dilated more and more.
When the nurse checked and I still wasn't fully dilated I began to wonder when this show would get on the road. About 10 min later the dr came in to check and all of a sudden I was dilated. Now things were getting closer and I was getting excited to see Aaron! We called my dad who had gone back to our house to get some sleep and told him to get back to the hospital. We also called Laurine and she got right in the car and drove to the hospital from Tri-Cites. My friend Heather also came to give support.
We started things off by slowly starting to push with my nurse. I would start pushing when a contraction would start. My mom and the nurse would count for me so I knew how long to push for. One of the best things about the epidural was that I couldn't feel the pain but could feel the pressure of the contractions so I knew when to push. My mom was on one side and helped hold up one of my legs while Jeremy was on my other side cheering me on. We had convinced Carla my mother-in-law to stay in the room and she was glad she was able to join in the experience.
We continued pushing with the nurse until Aaron's head came into view. Then the dr and another nurse came in. The other nurse held on to my other leg and helped me count and encourage me. Jeremy was great and never got woozy and stayed involved the whole time. He kept whispering to me how great I was doing and that he loved me. At some point the nurse grabbed my hand and let me touch Aaron's head before he came out. That was a little creepy! Finally at 9:57am Aaron was born!! They immediately wrapped him up and put him on my chest. I started crying right away and looked at Jeremy and saw him crying too. What an awesome moment!
Then it was time for them to clean Aaron up and weigh and measure him. The final numbers were 7lbs 7oz and 23in long! He was long and lean. While they were doing that, I was getting stitched up. Thank goodness I still had the epidural on board! After he was cleaned up we started him on breastfeeding to get the hang of it.
The rest of the day flew by with people stopping by and everyone passing the baby around. The dr had us stay another night which was nice to have the help of the nurses. The first night they took Aaron for a few hours so I could try and get some sleep. The second night they didn't take him that long so I got a start on my sleep deprivation! Besides the no sleep and hurting because of the stitches, it was a decent hospital stay.
Thinking about going home was both exciting and scary knowing we were on our own with taking care of Aaron. Can't wait to watch him grow and develop.
