Here's the story of Connor's birth; if you want you can skip the details and head straight to the pictures at the end of the post :)
On Wednesday, May 19th at 39 weeks and 4 days pregnant, I had an ultrasound and a doctor's appointment because I was measuring way big. At the ultrasound, they estimated Connor to be 8 lbs 9 oz, in addition to having high levels of amniotic fluid. My doctor knew that I wanted to avoid a C Section, so he sent me to the hospital to get induced because the bigger the baby, the more likely I was to have a C Section. I was nervous about getting an induction, but SO excited to meet my baby!!
I knew that once I checked in to the hospital I'd only get ice chips to eat, so Bryan and I went for one last dinner as just two of us at California Pizza Kitchen. Then, on the way to the hospital, I had Bryan stop at Golden spoon, and I got a small frozen yogurt :)
We got to the hospital at 6 pm, and pretty much immediately started Pitocin to start contractions. We had a slow start, and it took a while for them to pick up. When I went in to the hospital I was already 2 cm and 80% effaced; at around 5 am on Thursday the 20th, I was
almost at 3 cm, so the nurse broke my water, which put me at a solid 3 and 100% effaced, and started to help the contractions along. Once the contractions started getting painful, my back was also cramping, so I asked for the epidural sooner than I may have otherwise because back labor was not fun. Then, the wonderful man with the epidural came, and I felt great. Even though I was in labor for 23 hours, I slept through most of it. After my water broke, I progressed much quicker.
At around 4 pm on the 20th, I was completely dilated and started to push. I wasn't in pain (thanks, epidural), but it was very tiring work. I pushed for 50 minutes, and Connor William was born at 4:59 pm. He had a very big head, and even though my doctor gave me 2 episiotomies, I still tore, and had to get stitches from front to back. On top of that, the doctor had to use the vacuum to help Connor out because I just wasn't making as much progress as I needed with the pushing. He ended up being only 7 lbs 12 oz and 20 inches long, but his head circumference was 14 inches!!
As soon as he was out, Bryan cut the cord and they put him on my chest. He was so amazing and beautiful, I couldn't believe it! The doctors were concerned with his cry; instead of the loud, deep cries that babies need to clear all the fluid out of their lungs, Connor had softer, faster, shallow cries. He ended up going to the NICU for a while and they took some chest x-rays and monitored him to make sure that the fluid wasn't a problem, and to raise his oxygen levels. Turns out that he's great!!
Meanwhile, I wasn't doing so great. My uterus wasn't clamping down like it was supposed to, and I was bleeding heavily. While labor and delivering was a piece of cake thanks to the epidural, immediately after was a different story altogether. While the epidural was still in place, I could feel a lot. They had to "massage" my uterus to try and get it to stop bleeding, which basically means that a nurse was kneading my gut, and it hurt SO bad that I started vomiting. I hadn't had any food for 24 hours, so it was all bile. They put a shot of something (I'm not sure) in each thigh to try and help with the bleeding, and my doctor was simultaneously trying to stitch me up and control the bleeding from my uterus at the same time.
My mom told me that at one point she looked at the monitor and my blood pressure went WAY down, while my pulse went way up. My doctor ended up using 40 packages of gauze to soak up blood, and the delivery room looked like a war zone when they were done. My mom and sister stayed in the room with me, and Bryan went to the NICU with Connor. I wasn't worried about Connor because I thought they were just doing the usual tests and measurements on him, and when I saw him he was crying and seemed to be doing well. Apparently what was happening to me was pretty scary, but I was just focused on the pain and wondering why the nurse was being so mean to my stomach. I had to have a few rounds of IV antibiotics to make sure I avoided infection since I had such a big tear.
I'm recovering really well, but it's tough. I'm taking Percocet for pain, Motrin for swelling, stool softeners to help keep my stitches intact, and prenatals so me and Connor continue to get what we need while I breastfeed. I can't stand for too long or get up too quickly without getting dizzy or nauseous, and walking around, getting up and down, and even changing positions on the couch or bed is pretty painful. I have to have someone else hold Connor while I get up or down because I'm not stable yet and need both hands to support myself.
Breastfeeding is going well; my milk came in quick, and Connor only needs short feeding sessions before he's full because I have so much. We're still getting used to each other and trying to figure everything out. Bryan has been amazing and such a huge help, and my mom is here helping too. Sorry to everyone that we've been MIA, but we really haven't been calling anyone because we're trying to adjust, and since Connor's birth was a little on the scary side, I haven't wanted to tell the story over and over.
Now for the fun part: pictures!!!
First picture; 7 lbs, 12 oz and 20 inches long. Born at 4:59 pm on Thursday, May 20th
Going home!!
What are you lookin' at?
