Mommy Talk Tuesdays: {Birth Stories}

As I was reading through my daily reading list of blogs this morning, I came across a new link up that I haven't seen before.  Life as a Lake has started a link up called Mommy Talk Tuesdays and each week they choose a new "mommy" topic to discuss.  Well this week is Birth Stories: Was it everything you expected?

Come to think of it, I don't think I have ever actually taken the time to write down Nicholas' full birth story.  So, for Mommy Talk Tuesday, here goes!
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 As much as I can remember through the pain, Nicholas' birth story went a little something like this:

Being a first time mom, I had absolutely no idea what to expect.  The pregnancy was as smooth as could be.  I had hopes that the actual birth would follow suit.  It didn't.

At 39 weeks and 1 day I woke up in the middle of night and had to make one of the night's many trips to the bathroom.  I remember feeling really uncomfortable, like he had dropped even more than I ever thought possible.

As I climbed back into bed, I had my very first contraction at 3:03 a.m.  I laid in bed for a while trying to time the contractions but eventually lying down became too painful.  I woke up Eric around 5 and had him help me time my contractions.  It definitely wasn't as easy as I had thought it would be.  We had apps on our phones that helped but it just ended up annoying me more than anything.

We kept waiting for the contractions to become regular like the OB spent the entire pregnancy telling me they would.  It just didn't happen.  I would have a contraction and then 3 minutes later another one, the 8 minutes later another one, then 5 minutes, then 10, you get the idea.

I finally had E call the doctor around noon and she told me that it sounded like false labor and that when true labor hit, my contractions would become regular and continuously get more painful.  Well, I definitely had the getting more painful part down but my contractions just wouldn't cooperate.

Eric spent a few minutes talking to the doctor and when he hung up he said that the doctor recommended I take some tylenol and try to take a nap.   She ended by saying that if it got too unbearable, we could call her back and let her know we were coming in.

I spent 4 more hours at home trying to control the pain.  Even after 13 hours of labor, my contractions still were not regular.

Finally, at 4:00, I told Eric we were heading to the hospital.  I think this is where he really started to get nervous but he still thought it could be false labor since the contractions weren't regulating.

The one thing I remember most vividly is riding the elevator up to labor and delivery from the parking garage.  I walked from the car to the elevator door (it was located in the parking garage) and stood on  my own in the elevator, but once the elevator door opened on L & D, I couldn't move.  My legs instantly felt like if I tried to move they would buckle.

One of the nurses brought me a wheelchair and the for some unknown reason spent the next 10 minutes asking me questions and having Eric fill out some paperwork.

When she finally took me into the triage room to be checked she handed me a gown and asked me to change.  The problem was that I still couldn't stand long enough to do it myself.  So, after Eric helped me change I spent a good portion of the next 20 minutes throwing up.

Once the nurse came back in she went ahead and check me and I'll never forget the look on her face (or Eric's) as she opened the door and yelled "I need a delivery room now!"

Within what I think was about 3 minutes they had moved me from the triage room to an actual delivery room full of doctors and nurses and started prepping for the epidural.

I just kept staring at Eric, who was the palest I have ever seen him, while they inserted the epidural.  I remember it taking a while because the anesthesiologist kept having to pause when another contraction hit, which were back to back at this time.

Finally, the doctor walked in and while she was getting dressed in her baby delivery gear she just kept saying to me "Amber don't push yet."  She informed me that I was fully dilated and they were prepping as quickly as possible for the baby.

Once the epidural was in, I immediately started feeling better but at that point exhaustion set in.  Finally, after we had been there for about 15 minutes, at 4:45 I started pushing.

I don't remember a ton of the actual pushing, I just remember that Nicholas' heart rate would drop every time I would try to push.

At 5:15 another doctor entered the room with a consent form for me to sign for a C-Section.  It wasn't what I had originally wanted but with Nicholas' heart rate dropping so low, I wanted to do what would be best for him.

My doctor knew I wanted to have him naturally so she decided to give me a little more time to try.  We took a break for a little while as she wanted to let both him and I rest a bit.

I started pushing again around 6:30 and my beautiful little boy was born naturally at 6:48 p.m.  Of course, he would decide to come right at shift change.  When I first started pushing there were 2 nurses and the doctor in the room.  As he was born there were, according to my husband, like 12 people in the room.  Some giving the shift change report and some receiving it.

It was absolutely nothing like I expected yet, just as is true to his nature, my little monkey came just as he wanted, on his own terms.

Although everything worked out this time, next time we will NOT be listening to the doc when she says it is just false labor.  We WILL be heading to the hospital much much sooner.