Gunners BIRTH day & photo journal

I know I'm a little overdue in writing this.. About a month overdue to be exact, but life's been a little busy (to say the least). Before I made Gunners "One Month" blog, I wanted to make this blog so everything could be captured, including his delivery into this world :)

 

On Tuesday October 30 I went in for my 38 week checkup with my Dr. He did his weekly exam and said everything was looking great and that the baby had completely dropped. That wasn't much to my surprise considering how uncomfortable I was. Ever since I had hit 35 weeks my pregnancy was a lot harder. Extreme pelvic pressure, entire body swelling, not able to sleep a wink because I was so uncomfortable, all the fun effects of being full term, lol. However, with all that, the doc still said things were "right on track" and I teared up when he said I wasn't dilated at all. I couldn't even imagine having to go through (at least) another 2 weeks of pregnancy. But little did I know, I wouldn't have to.

On Friday, November 2, my office threw me a surprise going away party. I was scheduled to work up until the following Wednesday, Nov 9 (I only wanted one full week maternity leave before my due date on the 14th). However, with how miserable I was, they were hoping I would take my surprise party as a sign I needed more time off to relax before baby came, and my boss insisted that be my last day so I can just take it easy the last 2 weeks before baby came. HAHA, so much for that. I had a great time at the party, but still planned to come into work the following week. But at the end of the day I had a feeling I should clear out my desk and just square everything away at work, in case this weekend would be the weekend. I did this everyday before I went home for work, but this day was different.. I has a strong feeling I wouldn't get the chance to come back to work on Monday, and I was right.

Towards the end of the day in my meeting, I started feeling a (for lack of a better word) "leak".. I didn't think too much of it because it happens a lot towards the end of your pregnancy. When I got home from work around 6 I asked Rick if he could look under my jeans and see any fluids leaked trough my jeans.. And being the amazing husband he is, he bent over and checked without question (lord knows I couldn't look no matter how bad I tried).. And sure enough, I had leaked through my jeans. Not a lot though, so I took a shower and just decided to we what happens.

I fell asleep rather early (I always got my best sleep after work) and woke up around 3am to see I had leaked through everything again, this time my pajamas. So I changed my under garments and wrote down what time to see how long it took to leak through to be sure I wasn't imagining this leak or confusing it for a little pee.. Yes, you pee on accident a lot during the end of pregnancy, lol. However, while I was awake I started feeling REALLY bad cramping.. They felt like menstral cramps but sharper, and they lasted over a minute long before going away. And my back, oh my goodness, it hurt so bad. And (I apologize for the bluntness here) it felt like I was really needed to go to the bathroom.. All in all, when I woke up at 3am I was miserable. I had always wondered of is know when I was in labor, If I'd be able to tell or not.. And let me tell you, when the time comes, you'll know. The menstral cramps, the "bathroom feeling", the lower back aches, the dizziness.. It didn't take me long to connect the dots. I hopped on google to read up on "signs you're in labor" and sure enough, they reassured me that's what was happening. At that time I started writing down every time I had a contraction and timing how far apart they were. I wanted to make sure I was in labor for real before I woke up Rick and we made the 25 minute commute to the hospital. After all, I was 2 weeks early (rare for first time pregnancies) and just 2 days prior the dr said I wasn't dilated at all! But after 3 hours of increasingly painful contractions, I woke up Rick at and told him it was time.

I'll never forget the drive to the hospital. After we grabbed our bags (they had been packed since I hit 8 months) and grabbed the carseat and got in the car - we were both beaming with excitement. I didn't want to call any family until the doctors confirmed what was happening. But we both knew this would be the last car ride in my pregnancy. The next time we'd be in the car, we'd be driving our son home.

As exciting and memorable as that car ride was, it was also incredibly painful. By the time we got to the Mercy San Juan hospital and checked in, it was 630am and I was tracking my contractions at 2 minutes apart (big change from them being 15 minutes apart at 3am). Rick was so proud wheeling me in my wheelchair and telling the nurses at the counter I was in labor. He must have told everyone we passed that we were here to have a baby. As soon as we signed in, they quickly got us into a room and me into a hospital gown to be examined. At 730 the nurses confirmed that we were in labor! I was 3cm dilated and 50% effaced! WOW, it was really happening. She told Rick to call his boss to tell him he wasn't going to make it into work (he was in his work clothes in case this was a false alarm), and to alert the family - our baby was on his way.

Within 10 minutes, I had been admitted into the hospital and everyone has been told the big news and were getting ready to come over to the hospital. They moved me into my own room/delivery room and that is where I'd remain until the baby was delivered. It was so surreal. The nurse explained that my water had a small leak, and was slowly leaking out and would eventually break on its own, or they would have to. She said that I was not considered in "active labor" until I was 5cm, and that the goal for the afternoon would be to get me there. So once our families were there, Karin walked me around the hospital for 2 hours trying to get me to 5cm. It was so uncomfortable and painful and every few steps I'd have to stop and wait for a contraction to pass. I hated every minute of the walking but my nurse (who called herself a slave driver) wouldn't let me rest until I hit 5cm. Finally, at 2pm the nurse said that since I had been there for 7 hours and had not accelerated, they were going to give my an epidural, and start my pitocin. Hallelujah!! I was so excited!! I hopped in bed and waited for the nurse, I knew that now the baby wouldn't be that far away.

The epidural: I had heard horror stories of the epidural and the needle. I'm here to tell you, the rumors are true. I'm sorry to say it and I don't mean to scare you, but yes.. It's horrible. Its about the most painful 10 minutes of my life. The needle, the pressure, the incredible loads of pain being shot into my spine.. Yeah, not fun at all. However, 30 minutes later when it kicked in, I felt amazing! So I can't say it wasn't worth the pain, because it was. After they gave me the pitocin (around 4pm) my contractions were a lot closer together, and A LOT stronger. I had hit 5cm by then too. But with the epidural, I could watch my contractions spiking on the monitor, and didn't feel a single thing! Modern medicine is truly a beautiful thing.

Not long after that, my water completely broke. I felt a warm gush and told everyone to leave the room because I thought I peed myself (not remembering I had a catheter). After the nurse came in and told me what had really happened, then the magic of the epidural wore off. I could feel contractions a lot more and the nurse said to prepare, he wouldn't be much further at all.

At 7pm (barely 3 hours after the pitocin) the nurse came in to examine me and to all of our surprise I had hit 8 1/2 cms!!! We were S H O C K E D! Nobody could believe I had jumped almost 4 cms in 3 hours! (they originally estimated a midnight delivery). Baby boy was coming, and fast! At that time the doctor and team of nurses came in and transformed my peaceful room into a fully-functioning delivery room! It was crazy. 30 minutes later the nurse checked me again and I was 10 cms! It was go time! They prepped me, Rick, my mom and Karin and told me it was time to start pushing! I couldn't believe it. Instantly a wave of emotions took over me and I just started crying at the nurses announcement. I couldn't believe the time was here. You go through nine months imagining this day, and it had finally arrived. It was time to have our baby.

I pushed 10 times before the baby started crowning. At that time the nurse called the doctor in and all the doctors crew, and they all stood around me waiting for the baby. Even though my eyes were closed most the time, I'll never forget it. I had Rick on one side holding my leg and encouraging me to keep pushing and being so incredibly amazing, the best coach and husband imaginable. Then I had my mom on the other side, holding my other leg and trying to take pictures to capture each moment. Then I had Karin by my mom helping to keep me calm, and stroking my hair and telling me it'd be okay. I could have not asked for a better support group, or more perfect surrounding for our baby to be born into. The room was full of love and excitement. I didn't cry, I didn't scream, I didn't die and my insides didn't come out (though I freaked out for a minute thinking they did -- but was relieved to here it was just the "afterbirth").

45 minutes after I started pushing, our son was born. And then I couldn't hold back the tears. The moment I seen him my heart literally burst with emotions. I was so overwhelmed with love and joy that I was holding him, nothing else mattered. He cried once when he came out, and then laid peacefully on my chest looking up at me; The most precious moment of my entire life. He was an angel, our angel <3