Labor and Delivery

most of you (if not all) probably don't want to read the details of my labor and delivery, but seeing as I use my very sparse blogging as a journal of sorts, I'm going to blog about it, if for no one else but me. That being said, there will be photos, so feel free to skip the writing and just look at the cute baby

11/7/11 - The 7th marked 38 weeks gestation, and meant it was time for another doctor's appointment. Pat and I headed to our appointment with no expectations. I was certainly feeling ready to be done being pregnant, and I was way ready to be done working, but I wasn't feeling like the baby thought it was time. The doctor confirmed at the appointment that I wasn't ready. I was only dilated to a one and he even made the statement "plan on being pregnant next week." After being checked we continued to chat about some of my concerns, including the perceived hernia I previously wrote about. The Dr. then surprised us both by saying, "actually let's plan to induce you next week on the 14th." I was ecstatic! We finally knew when this little boy was going to arrive. In addition to scheduling the induction he set up an additional ultra sound at the imaging center to get a better idea of what was going on with my hernia. This turned into a minor freak out on my part. I had the ultrasound on Wednesday which confirmed I had a hernia and then was told I needed to find a general surgeon in the next two days that would operate on it when I delivered the baby. I managed to find a doctor who saw me on super short notice and then actually suggested waiting to operate until at least six weeks after delivery - it was a relief, however, I hate that I still have this to worry about a surgery in the not too distant future!

11/13/11 - Being a scheduled induction meant that I was checked into the hospital the night prior to our delivery date. As I mentioned, my body wasn't prepared for labor, so it was necessary to give it some extra help. I don't remember the name of what I got, but it was used to ripen my cervix. When the nurse gave it to me she told me she wasn't sure how I would react to it - apparently some women don't have any side affects at all, others have severe cramping. Unfortunately I fell into the severe cramping category. It was a long painful night. No matter what I tried I couldn't get comfortable, and of course every time I moved to get relief from the cramping I would move my monitors and the nurse would have to come in and re-position them. I'm pretty confident that my night time nurse hated me. I also was getting up very regularly to go to the bathroom which included unplugging all my monitors and taking them as well as my IV along with me. Around four I called the nurse and asked if I could take a bath to try and get some relief. A different nurse came into the room and helped me into the tub - it sadly didn't really help - that being said, after a failed bath attempt the nurse got permission to give me some pain reliever through my IV. I got this around five and managed to snooze until six.

11/14/11 - Come Monday morning I was pretty miserable. There were multiple times during the night/early morning where I asked Pat if we could go home. The sad part was, I wasn't really having regular contractions and didn't feel any closer to having a baby. Around 8:30 I finally saw Dr. Young. At that time he broke my water. I was super grateful to have had that happen in a hospital bed as opposed to sitting at my desk at work (yuck!) and he started the pitocin in my IV. Where I was already so uncomfortable I also requested some more pain reliever in my IV. The nurse left to get the medicine and in the few minutes she was gone I decided that I was ready for my epidural! I was sorta embarrassed to ask for it as I was only dilated to a three, but the pain over ruled. Once that was done I finally slept comfortably. I snoozed all the way through contractions until I reached about an eight. At that point I wasn't feeling pain, but could certainly feel the pressure of the contractions. It wasn't long before I was a 9+ and the doctor was on his way - it was time to deliver! I honestly don't remember how long I pushed for, I do remember saying I didn't want to do it anymore and even though I couldn't feel it I knew exactly when I got my episiotomy (this unfortunately didn't keep me from also tearing naturally) , but in retrospect it really wasn't very long at all. I think I pushed for 45 minutes max and then baby Dylan made his appearance! What an indescribable feeling! My little boy was finally in my arms. I felt a mix of relief, joy, and concern - I just kept asking everyone if he was okay, I needed pretty constant confirmation that he was perfect and I dare say that he is perfect! Patrick and I made an absolutely amazing little boy.

And as promised - here are some of the first pictures of our little Dylan. We love him so much and feel so blessed to have him in our family.