Labor and Delivery

Remember when I told you I was looking forward to experiencing labor... because I wanted to know what the whole experience felt like? Well, now I know! I had read that women often have long labor with their first babies and since I wanted to stay home as long as possible before going to the hospital, I had a few things "planned" to do while I was in early labor. I planned to take a shower, make my bed, take a last belly picture, and just make sure the house was in order. I wanted to make sure I had things to do to keep me busy and my mind off of the early contractions. After all, I had read that first time moms often "labor" for about 20 hours. I did NOT want to go to the hospital only to get sent home because I wasn't far enough along. PLUS since Caius was in a "sunny side up" position, I knew that my labor could last even loooonger. My mom, Emily and Irelyn flew to GA on the 15th (6 days before my due date.) We finished projects, made Christmas gifts, and baked for Christmas. Tuesday (Dec. 19th) we were busy finishing up sewing the fleece blankets I was making for the Ellis men, when we decided I should try taking Caster Oil (Mmmmm.) After a quick run to Walgreens, I mixed a couple tablespoons in with a cup of blueberry applesauce, which, if you are curious, was like eating a stick of really cheap lipstick. Where am I?? Get me off of this thing! Now, I can't say for sure that it was the caster oil that did it or not, but..... The next morning Clinton went to work around 5:45. I had been crampy all night (which wasn't a new occurrence.) In my discomfort I couldn't fall back asleep so I went to lay on the couch. Just when I had finally dosed off I had my first painful contraction at around 7:30am. So painful, might I add, that it woke me up and sat me up in about a half a second. At this point I pulled out my phone and pushed the "start" button on my contraction counter app :) From that point on I had strong contractions 3-4 minutes apart. I was a little surprised that the contractions had just started and were already that close together. A little while later it dawned on me that I should probably wake my mom up to let her know what was going on. Within about fifteen minutes the contractions had reached an intensity that made it impossible to talk through them. Meanwhile, Clinton had to drive to the airport (in Savannah) that day... (of course.) As you can see Clinton drove right by our house to get the airport and then would again drive past our house to go back to work. We decided it would probably be best if I went to the hospital because my contractions were getting stronger and stronger, so Clinton was supposed to pick me up on the way back from the airport. Unfortunately Clinton just wasn't going to make it to pick me up soon enough so my mom and I headed for the hospital around 9:30 am. I did NOT have time to do the things I had thought I would get done. I did squeeze in a shower and was able to blow-dry my hair in between contractions before we left :) Then we were off.  Love at first sight I must say that I didn't like having contractions in front of my mom. I could see the "oh, my little girl is in pain" look on her face :) BUT I didn't have much choice seeing as we had a 20 minute drive ahead of us. Of course we were in a "non-decaled" car so we had to go through the "special" lane to get through the gate. Then there was an AAFES semi-truck in front of us turning into the the hospital parking lot who underestimated the turn and had to back up and try again. The parking lot was full, so after circling a few times (which felt like hours) we just parked in front of the hospital. I didn't usually have to wait more than a few seconds for the elevator, but that day we had to wait and wait... and wait. Normally I was the only one on the elevater, but that day there were several others. I walked to the corner of the elevator and faced the wall as I held on to the rail and I heard a lady say, "looks like we are stopping on every floor!"...Really? Then, in order to get into the maternity ward you have to ring a door bell and wait for the nurses to open the doors for you. Let me just say, it felt like a lifetime... I think it was really just long enough for one contraction, but it felt much longer. We had made it to the maternity ward though, which was a relief! Clinton made it to the hospital a few minutes later. By this time I was already "gowned" and hooked up to the monitors in the triage room. I think Clinton was a little surprised to see me like that. My contractions had only started a couple hours earlier, so he was expecting to see me just slightly uncomfortable at this point. Instead, he found me not talking and breathing heavy... in through the nose... out through the mouth :P  I guess the two and a half hours of contractions had been productive because we had already made it to six centimeters. By the time they wheeled me to my room and checked me again (about 10 minutes later) I was at nine and a half centimeters. After an hour and half of pushing Caius was lying on my chest, Clinton was taking pictures, and I was crying :) I knew that morning when I woke up that I was going to have a baby that day....I didn't, however, think he would be here for lunch! I don't know if it's because the whole process happened so fast or what, but it was all surreal. I couldn't believe the whole process was done. The whole labor experience was just odd. I felt like I didn't really have much control over my body... kind of like I was watching from above. I was just a little aloof through the whole pushing process. I even ended up falling asleep in between pushes ... peaceful, relaxing sleep. For those few seconds I was totally unaware that I was in labor. That is, until the next contraction started. That's when I opened my eyes and realized I was lying in a hospital bed with four people at the end of my bed waiting for me to push... oh yeah... I have to push. It's funny the things that pop in your head at inopportune times though. My midwife had bangs and every time I would push I would puff air out of my mouth and her bangs would move. Haha. So in the middle of all the pain I just kept thinking... "Her bangs are moving. I hope I don't have bad breath." To those woman who "like" pushing.... bleh! Pushing.... is no fun. It did not give me "Relief" It did not make me "feel better" bleh. In fact... in my delusional mind I kept thinking... couldn't they just wheel me into the OR and and just do a cesarean. Or is it too late for that?  In all honesty my motivation to push was to stop everyone in the room from telling me to push! By the end of the pushing process I figured out that none of these people were going to let me take a nap until "baby man" (that's what we call him) was out. I figured the sooner I got him out, the sooner they would all just be quiet and the "Push!" "Push" "breathe!" would stop :) It worked, they did stop, but then I didn't want to take a nap. My mom had to rush back to our house to pick up Emily and Irelyn. We were all a little shocked at how fast everything was progressing. "Mima, I'm too tired to open both eyes... I'll just look at you with this one" Mima and Caius meet Unfortunately Irelyn wasn't supposed to be in the room so the nurse made her leave. :( Irelyn is waving goodbye and holding on tight to her french fries :)  I have to point out that the way I'm leaning is making me look more pregnant than I actually looked when I WAS pregnant! Auntie Em and Caius... Already friends! Em has been an aunt for a while now... but out of nine nieces, this is nephew number one! "Mom, I love to suck. If you don't give me a paci I'll find my thumb, if I can't get my thumb... I'll suck on this blanket." Poor Clinton had to sleep on the "Chair-bed".... comfy! On a scale from 1 to 10, how much pain are YOU in? :) I think it's funny that at the bottom of the sign it says, "If this box is checked, this patient is a limited English proficiency patient who speaks only ____________". As you can see the box is checked and it says, "Chinese." Either the woman before me was Chinese or she had a husband who thought he was pretty funny. I'm trying to get pictures of everyone that comes to see Caius but I'm not doing a very good job. Some of Clinton's coworkers stopped by to see him, but I didn't think to take a picture and now I'm kicking myself. It's kind of a funny feeling having people see you lie in bed in your pajamas. That doesn't happen everyday! Our friends, the Griffiths, stopped by to see him before they left town for Christmas. I think little man is stretching in that picture :) (Did I mention they brought us Krispy Kreme :D) Clinton thinks it's just HILARIOUS that Caius is already more tan than I am. He's not jaundice either. He definitely does NOT have my skin coloring. Getting ready to go home felt odd. I couldn't believe that everything was done. Pregnancy, labor, pushing... it was all done. It wasn't the feeling of, "aww, I'm sad it's all over." It was a feeling of, "When did this happen?" When I was in labor, I didn't really have a chance to realize I was in labor... then it was time to push... then it was done. By the time I realize it was over, it was time to go home! That little alarm anklet looked very uncomfortable. I was glad when they took it off. Time to get ready to go home, little man! His going home outfit Car seat check! ...Time to go... We had a cute little fuzzy reindeer one piece in case it was cold when Caius was born... As you can see, it was not. Leaving the hospital just in time for Christmas! My dad arrived the day we came home from the hospital! With two daughters and a grand daughter, we are all used to girls so a little boy in the mix will be fun! Gpa pa and his babies :) Our little Georgia house with our little Georgia peach (Clinton hates the fact that our baby is from Georgia) :) Welcome home baby Caius!