Monday, January 10, 2011

Birth Story











Warning: NOVEL AHEAD!!!!

My due date was 12/8/10 and after walking around Dilated to a 3 and 80% effaced for 3 weeks prior, Doctor Haskett decided to schedule my induction. I am Strep B Positive, and Dr. H was concerned that my baby was getting too big, because my belly was HUGE!! Anyway I was scheduled to be induced on my due date, Wednesday December 8th at American Fork Hospital. It was a beautiful sunny winter day, not too cold, and not a cloud in the sky. I was the 1st one on the induction list so I was expecting a phone call to tell me to come in early in the morning. My dad was flying in to Salt Lake from Butte, Montana for the big day on the 6:30 AM flight. So Brian and I were up nice and early about 4:30 AM to make sure we had everything we would need in the car and ready to go so after we got my Dad from the airport we wouldn't have to go all the way back to Eagle Mountain before we could head to the hospital.

So funny side story that happened on our way to the airport, we were driving on bangeter highway to get on I-15 and were in the far right hand lane. We were following a silver car going about 70 mph and all of the sudden a plastic bag fell out from the bottom of the car and went sliding down the road. Brian swerved gently to miss it, and we realized it was not a plastic bag, but a live cat! He must have been up by the engine of the car to stay warm and when they had been driving a while got too hot and jumped out. He was sliding on his back, with legs waving wildly, and his face was the best "Oh Crap" face I had ever seen! Luckily we didn't hit it and because we were in the far lane it just slid off the road and on to the side of the road, relatively unhurt! (except for a little road rash I'm sure)....now rewind back in time to a month earlier when Brian had been texting his Cousin Dan. They were in the middle of a conversation when Brian asked Dan, "Are you serious?" Dan responded with, "As serious as a cat on the highway" and Brian said, (like the cat lover he is) "That isn't a serious situation." and Dan said, "It is for the Cat!!" anyway it had been something we had laughed about several times, now back to when we were driving to the airport. After we passed the cat I was a little emotional, and worried for the cat. I was about to cry when Brian looks at me and says, "That was a SERIOUS SITUATION!!!" I busted into a mixture of laughing, and sobbing and we both laughed the rest of the way to the Airport.

After we picked Dad up we met my sister-in-law Liz and one of her sons Payton at Jims Family Restaurant for breakfast. I was having a craving for a Gandolfo's breakfast sandwich, so we picked one up for me and I took that with me to Jims. Ha ha I had to live up being pregnant while I still could right?! While we were at Jim's I got a phone call from AF Hospital telling me they were ready for me. So as soon as we all finished breakfast we met up with my mom and headed to the hospital.

Because I am Strep B Positive they started me on Antibiotics at 10 AM then at 11 AM they started the Pitocin. By 1PM I was dilated to a 4 and 90% effaced and when Doctor Haskett came over on his lunch break he broke my water. Unfortunately not much water came out, and Dr. H said, "Uh-Oh...I was really hoping to see more water then that. I really hoped that your belly was more water then baby." About 2:30 PM the Contractions we really hurting so I decided that it was time to get my epidural.

When I got my epidural it felt more on the right side of my body, but after asking the anistesioligist he assured me that it was normal to feel more numb on one side than the other. I was pretty numb and labor after that was pretty much a party! That is until about 4:00 PM. When my epidural quit working. They tried rolling me from side to side and laying me down so the medicine could get farther up back but nothing worked. At this point it was 5:00 PM and the decided they needed to pull it out and redo it! The contractions hurt so bad in my stomach and even worse in my lower back! I have no idea how women "go natural" it was one of the most horrid hours of my life. When they sat me up on the side of the bed and had me lean over I was in tears, and vomiting from the pain. Then in the middle of a contraction they tell you not to move...yeah....like that is even possible!! But every time he would stick me with the needle he would ask if it felt like it was more on one side or the other and I would tell him where I felt it. After 12 pokes he got it where I felt it was in the middle. He said that the place he is looking to place the needle is smaller than the width of a pencil lead! After he got it right, they pumped me full of a heavy hitting dose to get me numb fast. Well they weren't kidding, I was numb from my neck down! I could barely move my arms and I couldn't feel anything else! I was so numb that it suppressed my drive to breathe so they had to put me on oxygen. Well about this time they had to start to pump water back into my uterus because Andrew was in distress. With no water in there he had come down and was pinching the umbilical cord. They needed me to roll onto my right side because that seemed to help the baby, but I was so numb I couldn't feel it, so Brian had to lift me and set me on my side. I have never felt so helpless in my life! I am so glad that my hubby is so strong! After they got me all situated I was so exhausted that I took a nap.

I was awaken from my nap about 8:25 PM because I could feel my contractions again, only this time it was different...I told Brian I thought it was time to push and to go get the nurse. He went out to the hall to get her and she was in assisting with another delivery, but that she would be in to check me in 15 minutes. Well I waited as long as I could and asked Brian to go find her again. He went out and a different nurse came in to check me. She did and I was 100% effaced, Dilated to a 10 and the baby's head was at a 3 station. AKA it was time to push! She said lets try a trial push, and when I started pushing she told me to stop because the babies head was right there and she didn't want to deliver the baby! So she ran to get Doctor Haskett and said what ever you do DON'T PUSH! For those of you that haven't had a baby that is like saying, don't breathe!!! Well Doctor Haskett came in and was kinda chill because most women push for 3 hours or so before they deliver, well he told me he wanted to see where we were at and to do a trail push. So I pushed and he said, "STOP! STOP!! Let me get set up! I don't really want to do a dive and catch today!" After he was ready I pushed for 3 contractions, and at 8:45 PM Baby Andrew was Born I pushed for a grand total of 8 Minutes! Pretty much I am an amazing pusher LOL!! I had a mirror and was able to see my son born. He was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. He had a full head of light brown hair, and these crazy little pinky toes that stuck way out from the rest of his toes because he was stretching. His eyes were wide open, and he immediately wanted to eat! His little tongue was going crazy looking for something to eat! They set him on my chest and as they were wiping him off and sucking out his mouth and nose, he pee'd all over! We knew his plumbing worked! Brian got to cut the umbilical cord and they took him over and weighed and measured him. Only 7 lbs 2 oz and 18 1/2 in long! Just a little thing! My belly was mostly water after all! (I was very thankful for that!) They wrapped him up and handed him to his daddy. I sat there in amazement at the brand new spirit straight from heaven and into our arms. I hadn't seen him for more than 10 minutes and I already knew I loved him like I had never loved anything else in the world, and that I would do anything for him! I was able to watch my amazing husband as he became a father, words cannot describe that feeling. We both sat there quiet with tears rolling down our faces, as we looked at our new little family. Brian looked at me and together we stared at every little piece of our new son, from his beautiful face, to his tiny fingers and toes. He was perfect. The room felt full of people, though there was only a couple of us physically there. I knew that we had other family members that are on the other side, there with us. It was one of the most spiritual moments in my life, and it was a little daunting and humbling to know that Heavenly Father had trusted us with one of his cherished children, to teach the right things, so that he can return to be with him again someday. I love my Family, and I am so grateful for all the things that Andrew has taught me in the short time he has been here, and I look forward to many happy times ahead of us.

1 comment:

  1. OMG! You're lil' man is soooo cute! CONGRATS! I'm glad you're both healthy! I hope your recovery is going well... and that your getting sleep, lol :)

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