On Wednesday October 14th (at 10:00 a.m.) I went to the OBGYN for my 40 week appointment. I saw my midwife in the elevator and told her I was ready to have my little boy. She looked at me and said, "we can work on that!" When we departed from the elevator she said, "see you soon." Once in the room she told me she was unaware that I was 40 weeks. She thought I was 38 weeks and we would strip a few membranes and hope he came early. When she found out I was 40, however, she told me she could get VERY vigorous with the "stripping of the membranes." So, I gave her the go ahead and we were on our way to labor!!! As soon as she was done I felt the cramping contractions. I went to the lobby after checking out and paced back and forth until deciding to run to the mall for some more walking. I had some chick fil a (by the way, chick fil a has free breakfast items every day at Cross Creek Mall!!!) and walked laps in the mall. By the time I went back to my parents house I was cramping pretty badly. My contractions were running about 5-6 minutes apart and they HURT. Pain was good at this point though so I didn't mind. I just stood up with the contractions and felt better!
The contractions were getting progressively worse but I ate dinner, chili, and we prepared to go to the hospital. Josh ran home to get my bag because we knew labor would be soon. Around 7:30 p.m. my water broke. I knew it this time because it was a big gush! I am pretty sure that my water had actually broken on Sunday BUT the doctors said no. It was, however, the very same feeling. I think that Gabriel's head was just blocking the water from coming out unless I was lying in a certain position (usually sleeping!). Anyway, we left for the hospital right away because I was told once my water was broke that I needed to get in right away (I had group B strep with this pregnancy). We got to the hospital around 8:00 p.m. and were admitted into the birthing room! I was 3-4 centimeters dilated and 90% effaced. I decided to get the epideral an hour later because my body was progressing so well, and they would not let me walk around with my water broken. I had dealt with the pain at home by walking but once in the bed it hurt terribly. My sister, Rebecca, also told me tha t I should get the epideral as soon as possible. There is no reason to endure the pain, truly! So, my labor went on, and on, and on, and on!!! I threw up my dinner (yuck, chili) and could not keep down anything else. Even water came up once I drank it down!
The night passed and around 6:30 a.m. on October 15th the nurse checked me to find I was 100% effaced and 6-7 centimeters dilated. She instructed another nurse to get the baby room ready and went through the pushing with me. Josh got incredibly excited along with my mom, sister, and mother in law as the thought of seeing David Gabriel seemed like a reality. Well, the pushing never came. I felt pressure but it was a terrible pain i n my side! The epideral didn't take this pressure pain away in my side (I found out later it was because the epideral wasn't pushed in deep enough and was only numbing my legs!). So Josh was faithful and applied counter pressure to my side with every contraction. I labored some more....The doctor arrived at 7:00 p.m. on October 15th. At this point I had been in labor for 24 hours (actually longer but I am only counting from when my water broke and I went to the hospital. This is when the real pain started anyway..the rest was sissy stuff! haha). Dr. Shutzer checked me and I was 9 cm and 100% effaced. He thought it would be any minute that I would be pushing so he tried to stretch the cervix to ten. I labored for another hour or so when they checked me again, no progress. Dr. Shutzer went to get the ultra sound machine because at this point he realized something was wrong.
The doctor told me that if we looked at the ultra sound and the babies eyes were looking at us then we had a problem. Well, we had a problem! The ultra sound picture came up and there was my mans little eyes staring right at us! Dr. Shutzer said I could labor for 2-4 more hours (whatever I wanted to endure) before we made the call to have a C-section. We were in shock to say the least. I cried and Josh went into the bathroom, dropped on his knees, and prayed that our baby would turn into place and come out. My mother in law also prayed over us. God had other plans, however, because baby never turned. I decided to labor for another hour and a half with hopes that he would turn. At 9:30 p.m. they checked me and my cervix had swollen. They told me he wasn't coming out vaginally. I made the decision to have the c-section because I hadn't eaten in about 26 hours and threw up all the food I ha d eaten before that point. I felt that even if he did turn, and the cervix swelling went down, I would not have the strength to push him out.
They prepared me for surgery, pushed the epideral further in my back, and strapped me down to the operating table. My arms were spread open like a crucifixion and strapped down. I felt the scalpel, the pressure, the squirming, and finally my baby being removed from my body. It was the most amazing and different feeling I have ever experienced!!! It was 10:11 p.m..Josh showed me my baby and I got scared! That sounds terrible but I was drugged, and my babies head looked like it had been stretched into a cone! His nose was squis hed onto his little face and he was blue. Josh will have to write his emotions at a later time. He was not drugged so he got to experience the fullness of the moment. I got to get wheeled off to recovery for 2 hours and 45 minutes!! I didn't even realize I was a mommy until the nurse told me I was. At that point I cried uncontrollably! FINALLY they came and got me, I went to the room where Josh and I waited another hour for our son to get out of the nursery. I asked the nurse for food while we waited and she told me no. I was not allowed to eat because they were afraid I would throw up after the surgery and bust my stitches. Ok, so now its been like 30 hours since eating and I got a little smart mouth with the nurse (I felt bad about that later because she was so nice). I ended up not eating until 8:00 a.m. the next morning when they brought me breakfast.
Four hours after the birth of my son I got to hold my precious little angel! I forgot about eating at this point because the moment was so surreal. I breast fed for the first time and felt the overwhelming love and joy of a mom.
The next morning, October 16th, I bonded with my baby! Gabriel looked me in the eyes and I was taken for the rest of my life =0). The little guy has a very strong neck and was able to prop himself up on my chest and look me straight in the face. Below is a picture of that experience:
I can not even express in words the love I have for that little boy! He is so amazing and I am so proud to be his mommy!
We left the hospital on Sunday October 18th around 1:00 p.m.. My doctor was going to release me on Saturday, but the pediatrician thought it best for us to stay until Sunday because we would have been released so late (11:00 p.m.) Saturday night. She didn't think it was safe. As much as I wanted to leave I agreed with her on that point. It was not so bad staying another night at the hospital. The first two nights were terrible with people coming in and out but Saturday they had slowed down a little bit on the visits. I still had the vital checks every four hours but the other checks stopped after two nights there.
Well, I am not sure what else to say about the labor.. I look forward to telling many more stories about my little prince (daddy said he can't be a king b/c he is the king!). Love yall!!!!
I know it wasn't what you wanted, but now your beautiful baby Gabriel is here, and doing well. I hope that you have a speedy recovery, and get hours to spend just looking at your gift from God.
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