Aiden's Birth Story
**WARNING ** Other than the fact that Aiden and I are both healthy, pretty much anything that could have gone wrong, did. Read on if you want, but don't feel as if you have to!
I woke up with the first contraction at 12:25 a.m. on Wednesday, September 16. I tried to go back to sleep, but they were coming every ten minutes and were pretty intense, so I got up and got on contractionmaster.com to time them. I figured I'd let Will sleep, as it was going to be a long day. However, the contractions were getting intense, so I needed his help to get through them. I took a bath first, as it is much easier to contract in the tub (the water takes away some of the pain). After awhile, I woke him up and we played Scrabble until about 5 am, when the contractions had started getting to about 5 minutes apart.
We got to the hospital and they put us in an observation room, where I contracted for about 3 hours. When the new doctor came on shift, she checked me and I was only dilated to a three, but 100% effaced. (You have to be ten centimeters for the baby to come.) Since we wanted as little intervention as possible, she (very rudely, I might add) told me I should go home. She literally told me I could either take the Pitocin or go home because I wasn't going to sit around the hospital "not in labor". I might have ignored her, except that the doctor on call before her had made the same suggestion - to do my labor at home.
So around nine o'clock we were back home. Will's parents and my mom were almost here, so we told them to come on to the house. I spent the next three hours laboring in the tub, falling in and out of sleep, while poor Will had to entertain the families. I got out around noon and "visited" in between contractions, which were still coming every five minutes. My back was seizing up during every single contraction, which was so not fun. Will would have to hold me and apply a ridiculous amount of pressure to my back, and sometimes to the stomach as well - each and every time.
Finally around 3:00, Will got in touch with my doctor, who was so amazing. He literally spent twenty minutes on the phone in the middle of the day with Will, telling him different things we could do and look for. He also said we could come into the office to get checked to see what kind of progress I was making. So we went in (still contracting - not fun) and had made it to a five! Yay!
Back home, more labor in the tub, until about 8:00 that night, when they were coming 2 minutes apart. Back to the hospital it was. I was still a five. Ugh. And the contractions slowed down. Ugh. Once I got to the hospital, they admitted me and we intermittently monitored the baby, which meant I had to lay on the bed. OMG - I cannot tell you how much it hurt to lie down. Much, much worse than the contracting on my own. Thankfully, it wasn't all the time, and I was able to be out of the bed and relying on Will most of the time.
Around midnight, she checked me again, and I was STILL AT A FIVE. Seriously?! I'd almost been in labor 24 hours at this point. So, the very last non-medical intervention they could do was to break my water. She got the little hook and went to break it - nothing. She scraped away at it - nothing. She tried to break it with her hands. It took five stinking tries for her to break my water! No wonder my poor child couldn't do it.
Three hours later I was a seven. Three very long, very hard hours, where the back seizing became unbearable. After 27 hours, I agreed to get an epidural and then Pitocin. The anesthesiologist had to be woken up and brought in, and he was pissed. He - guess what - he missed! It hurt. It took on one side, and then the contractions were centered on my left hip. I have never, ever felt pain like that in my life. And the nurse didn't believe me that he missed, because he almost never misses. She made me roll over onto the hip that was contracting, and go through three contractions to see if gravity would make it take. Wow, was it ever awful. Then she turned up the medicine - still didn't take. Then the anesthesiologist came back and put more medicine in there. He left again, and I was telling them that it wasn't going to work, and finally, after a couple more contractions, he came back to redo it. He ripped the tape off my back with no warning, then yelled at me that he needed "control" if he was going to do it. And again, it hurt.
But finally, I had no pain, and I fell asleep. I'm not sure at what point they put the Pitocin in, but I was pretty out of it. Because they had kept upping my medicine, I was literally numb from my chest to my toes. I couldn't move anything, and breathing was not fun.I was finally coherent enough to ask one of the nurses to turn it down. Five or six more hours of labor - Will asleep on the couch and me in the bed, and a new doctor came on shift. He was sooo wonderful. He measured my pelvis and then laid his hands on my belly to guesstimate the baby's size and he was straight up that I wasn't going to be able to birth him vaginally. He gave me a little while longer, but I was stuck at a seven.
So finally around 10:00 I was wheeled into the OR and Aiden was born at 10:22. It was quite weird, as I was numb. But I could still feel things. Lemme tell ya - it's weird! I could feel them pulling him out, as it took a few pulls. And I could feel them stitching me back up. Will got to make the "It's a boy!" call, and I was so happy, but so out of it. He got cleaned up, and I got to touch him, then he was taken away and I was wheeled into recovery, where I crashed for a couple of hours. I was completely out of it for the entire first day, which was not fun. Luckily Will is an awesome dad, or my poor little man wouldn't have been cuddled at all. I definitely have some regrets about that. I stayed in the hospital for three more days, and recovery is not fun. Eight days after he was born, I am finally starting to feel better, but there's still some pain around the stitch area.
But my little man is perfect and I couldn't be happier! And Will, y'all, I just can't describe to you how incredible my man was. He made it the whole 34 hours with me, by my side, supporting me, working hard to get me through my contractions, and on his feet. Not to mention how awesome he was with Aiden when I was out of it. I would never, ever have made it without him. He's gotten me through this recovery period too, and has been amazing since we got home. I'm ridiculously happy with both of my men!
I woke up with the first contraction at 12:25 a.m. on Wednesday, September 16. I tried to go back to sleep, but they were coming every ten minutes and were pretty intense, so I got up and got on contractionmaster.com to time them. I figured I'd let Will sleep, as it was going to be a long day. However, the contractions were getting intense, so I needed his help to get through them. I took a bath first, as it is much easier to contract in the tub (the water takes away some of the pain). After awhile, I woke him up and we played Scrabble until about 5 am, when the contractions had started getting to about 5 minutes apart.
We got to the hospital and they put us in an observation room, where I contracted for about 3 hours. When the new doctor came on shift, she checked me and I was only dilated to a three, but 100% effaced. (You have to be ten centimeters for the baby to come.) Since we wanted as little intervention as possible, she (very rudely, I might add) told me I should go home. She literally told me I could either take the Pitocin or go home because I wasn't going to sit around the hospital "not in labor". I might have ignored her, except that the doctor on call before her had made the same suggestion - to do my labor at home.
So around nine o'clock we were back home. Will's parents and my mom were almost here, so we told them to come on to the house. I spent the next three hours laboring in the tub, falling in and out of sleep, while poor Will had to entertain the families. I got out around noon and "visited" in between contractions, which were still coming every five minutes. My back was seizing up during every single contraction, which was so not fun. Will would have to hold me and apply a ridiculous amount of pressure to my back, and sometimes to the stomach as well - each and every time.
Finally around 3:00, Will got in touch with my doctor, who was so amazing. He literally spent twenty minutes on the phone in the middle of the day with Will, telling him different things we could do and look for. He also said we could come into the office to get checked to see what kind of progress I was making. So we went in (still contracting - not fun) and had made it to a five! Yay!
Back home, more labor in the tub, until about 8:00 that night, when they were coming 2 minutes apart. Back to the hospital it was. I was still a five. Ugh. And the contractions slowed down. Ugh. Once I got to the hospital, they admitted me and we intermittently monitored the baby, which meant I had to lay on the bed. OMG - I cannot tell you how much it hurt to lie down. Much, much worse than the contracting on my own. Thankfully, it wasn't all the time, and I was able to be out of the bed and relying on Will most of the time.
Around midnight, she checked me again, and I was STILL AT A FIVE. Seriously?! I'd almost been in labor 24 hours at this point. So, the very last non-medical intervention they could do was to break my water. She got the little hook and went to break it - nothing. She scraped away at it - nothing. She tried to break it with her hands. It took five stinking tries for her to break my water! No wonder my poor child couldn't do it.
Three hours later I was a seven. Three very long, very hard hours, where the back seizing became unbearable. After 27 hours, I agreed to get an epidural and then Pitocin. The anesthesiologist had to be woken up and brought in, and he was pissed. He - guess what - he missed! It hurt. It took on one side, and then the contractions were centered on my left hip. I have never, ever felt pain like that in my life. And the nurse didn't believe me that he missed, because he almost never misses. She made me roll over onto the hip that was contracting, and go through three contractions to see if gravity would make it take. Wow, was it ever awful. Then she turned up the medicine - still didn't take. Then the anesthesiologist came back and put more medicine in there. He left again, and I was telling them that it wasn't going to work, and finally, after a couple more contractions, he came back to redo it. He ripped the tape off my back with no warning, then yelled at me that he needed "control" if he was going to do it. And again, it hurt.
But finally, I had no pain, and I fell asleep. I'm not sure at what point they put the Pitocin in, but I was pretty out of it. Because they had kept upping my medicine, I was literally numb from my chest to my toes. I couldn't move anything, and breathing was not fun.I was finally coherent enough to ask one of the nurses to turn it down. Five or six more hours of labor - Will asleep on the couch and me in the bed, and a new doctor came on shift. He was sooo wonderful. He measured my pelvis and then laid his hands on my belly to guesstimate the baby's size and he was straight up that I wasn't going to be able to birth him vaginally. He gave me a little while longer, but I was stuck at a seven.
So finally around 10:00 I was wheeled into the OR and Aiden was born at 10:22. It was quite weird, as I was numb. But I could still feel things. Lemme tell ya - it's weird! I could feel them pulling him out, as it took a few pulls. And I could feel them stitching me back up. Will got to make the "It's a boy!" call, and I was so happy, but so out of it. He got cleaned up, and I got to touch him, then he was taken away and I was wheeled into recovery, where I crashed for a couple of hours. I was completely out of it for the entire first day, which was not fun. Luckily Will is an awesome dad, or my poor little man wouldn't have been cuddled at all. I definitely have some regrets about that. I stayed in the hospital for three more days, and recovery is not fun. Eight days after he was born, I am finally starting to feel better, but there's still some pain around the stitch area.
But my little man is perfect and I couldn't be happier! And Will, y'all, I just can't describe to you how incredible my man was. He made it the whole 34 hours with me, by my side, supporting me, working hard to get me through my contractions, and on his feet. Not to mention how awesome he was with Aiden when I was out of it. I would never, ever have made it without him. He's gotten me through this recovery period too, and has been amazing since we got home. I'm ridiculously happy with both of my men!