So I thought I'd write up Bunny's birth story. I've never written one for either of my guys, but I thought it fitting this time around. I know when I was wanting to become a surrogate and reading every surro blog I could find, I wanted to read about how the big day actually went down.
That being said : This post is about the size of a novel. Plan accordingly. Also, I'm not going to spare many details. If this is not your thing - I respectfully advise you to move on. Check back in a few days for a post about how much I love college instead.
from the beginning
we had an induction scheduled for 11/1.
none of us wanted to make it to that day. inductions are not fun.
The weekend came and went and there was no baby.
Monday (10/28) we had an OB appointment in the morning where the doc stripped my membranes and we had one last ultrasound. Bunny was estimated at 8lbs13oz. Big. We also nailed down the specifics for the induction on Friday.
After the OB appointment we had another acupuncture appointment - at this point I was resigning myself to the fact that we'd just wait until Friday at 8am and make the best of the induction.
Monday night I slept like a rock (another gigantic selling point for the acupunture!), and woke up at 7 to get up and going. Christian and I had school, and Nolan was excited to play at daycare, just like any other Tuesday. I was convinced that this baby wasn't coming a minute before Friday so it only made sense to carry on with business as usual.
As I was going about my morning I noticed that my bladder must be leaking or something. Gross I know, but I went through 2 or 3 panty liners before noon. Then it dawned on me that maybe I wasn't losing control of my bladder, but maybe it was amniotic fluid... But probably not. I'd been having contractions, but braxton hicks had been a constant in my life for the past couple of weeks so I didn't think much of it. Just to be sure, I called into the doctor and she said to come in and she'd see what was up. Well, I was in the next town over about to give a lecture on Thomas Jefferson and the faith of the founding fathers so this last minute appointment would just have to wait. I didn't call Jack, Jill, Yosi, the doula, or my mom. I figured really, it's got to be nothing, why bother?
I gave my lecture (which was fascinating I might add), and then headed back to town for my appointment.
Weight, blood pressure, pee in cup, and then pants off exam. Doc sent a swab to lab to confirm/deny the presence of fluid, and then
I sat there and waited for the results to come back. I was just kicking myself for even coming in. It was nothing, the contractions were just nothing, and this was a wasted trip. I was glad I hadn't called anyone yet because I could just keep this whole mistake to myself.
Then the doctor walks back in and says "It's definitely amniotic fluid. Do you have your hospital bags with you?" I proceeded to ask her about 15 times if she was sure - eventually she just gave me the lab results to read for myself because I was not convinced.
I, of course, did not have my hospital bags with me. So at this point I drive home, pack my bag, and drive myself to the hospital to get checked in. Yosi went off to pick up the guys and get them settled at grandmas before meeting me at the hospital around 4pm.
I didn't call Jack and Jill just yet because I had a brilliantly cute idea that I'd wait until I was checked in and then text them a picture of my hospital bracelet saying "It's a beautiful day to have a baby!" - this was especially cute because the day was really dreadful and rainy and cold. I thought that they were just across the street at their hotel, but as it turns out they were also over an hour away doing some shopping.
So it ended up just being me and Yosi at the hospital for a little while as Jack and Jill rushed back to town. We talked about all sorts of stuff, mostly keeping our minds off of the long night ahead.
Doctor came in about six and really broke my water. It had been leaking for maybe twelve hours already but was still partially intact.
It was shortly after this that Evie (the doula) and Jack and Jill arrived. The mood was still pretty light and the contractions were still not that bad and everything was going along swimmingly. Jack ran out for some grocery things and a pizza. Jill and Evie chatted in the corner and Yos kept me focused on him and our light and unimportant conversation.
Then our we added to the party. My nurse came in and said that there was a nurse who had worked at the hospital for many years and was in the process of becoming a midwife. Would I mind if she came in to observe? Gosh, there was already so many people around... but I love me some students. So I said yes.
And then a medical student who I'd seen a few times before poked her head in and asked if she could stick around for the event too. Of course she could join.
Then the midwife student (Jen) checked my progress (maybe around 9) and I was a solid 7. I was really relieved that my body got the picture and was doing its job. Jen then suggested I get into the shower. The shower was good. The water was nice and the quiet was nice. It was about this time that I was ready to be done. I didn't want drugs, or a csection, I just wanted to be anywhere but there. I wanted to be at home in bed, like I usually was at that time. I wanted to be relaxing with my husband and not in the middle of labor.
I got out of the shower and got dressed and then just stood leaning against Yos. At this point I'm not sure who was around anymore. It was maybe midnight, and then everything was hard. Standing was bad, sitting was bad, laying was bad, the shower was bad. Everything was bad. The least bad was standing so that's what we did.
If I wasn't already convinced that my husband was the best in the whole world, I was now. He stood with me and when I asked what we were going to do tomorrow, he listed off exactly what I wanted to hear.
*watch Boston win the world series.
*eat pie
*play with the boys
*go to bed at our normal time
*with Lucinda (the cat)
*and the fan on
I asked him this over and over and over again. And he responded, in that order, over and over and over again.
Then it was time to push and this was some hard work. The room was full with Jack, Jill, Evie, Jen, the med student, the doctor, the nurse, and Yosi. It was a full house! I was most afraid of this through the whole pregnancy and now I had to just face it and get it over with. Except I was really terrified. And tired. And I wanted to be anywhere but in that hospital, doing anything but having a baby.
I took about an hour at this. Could I have been done in 30? Sure, but I just couldn't bring myself to push that hard. But then there just wasn't a choice anymore. Lucky for me, as I asked repeatedly what we'd be doing the following day, Yosi didn't miss a beat.
Bunny was born at 3:10 am on 10/30 weighing 9lbs8oz. Watching Jill's face as she came close to hold her baby was possibly the best thing I've ever seen in my life. She had the most priceless look.... Her face in that moment made every pregnancy discomfort, contraction, and push, worth it tens times over.
In all of the joy, this is where I first knew something was off. The placenta was taking a really long time, and both the nurse and the midwife had a strange look on their faces. Then the doctor started some pitocin to help get things going. But we still waited quite a bit.
At this point Jack and Jill were in the nursery with Bunny and the med student went to get some sleep before she had rounds. It was just the nurse, Evie, Doc, Midwife, and Yosi. After the placenta came out it looked like things might be fine. They started to clean me up a bit, the doctor and midwife student left, and Evie and Yosi rested. As time progressed and the first liter of pit wasn't slowing the bleeding, I started to feel crappy - nauseous, pale, shaky, cold, and just yucky.
This is when talk began of transfusions and a possible D&C... Honestly I felt so crappy that I was more than ready to agree to anything that would make me feel better.
After another liter of pitocin, some cytotec, a shot of methergen, nausea meds, and pain meds the wonderful nurses cleaned me up (because I still hadn't gotten in the shower - or out of bed at all) and moved me to a recovery room to get some sleep while I got two units of blood.
By the end of the day, I was feeling much better. I was able to shower, and get up and move (slowly) around my room.
In the morning, I was able to walk down to the nursery to visit the new family. Boy did they look wonderful. I went home later that day and finally got some real rest in my own bed with my husband, at our normal time, with Lucinda, and the fan on.
Until next time,
Carmen
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