Monday, August 30, 2010

Labor and Delivery



On Monday August 23rd, I woke up around 6:30am having contractions. If you know me, 6:30am is not my time of the day so I was pretty sure that I was in labor. Matt left for Gainesville to go to work because he was saving the little leave that he had to be off when the baby was actually here. We all went to Chick-fil-a for free breakfast. Afterwards, Noah and I went to Walmart and wandered around until it was time that I could drop him off at VPK. After Noah went to school, Amy and I drove to babies-r-us to walk around in the air conditioning. My contractions were about 7 minutes apart at that time. We drove back to pick Noah up and headed to Publix to get a sub with lots of veggies on it. We came back to Amy's and had lunch. Noah and Presslei both slept while Amy and I hung out on the couch. My contractions seemed to slow to about every 10-12minutes. I called the OB to find out when they recommended that I start the drive to the hospital since I was about 1.5 hours away. The nurse said once my contractions were 6 minutes apart for an hour to go ahead and come to the hospital. At 4:20pm the contractions started getting stronger and started a rhythm of every 6 minutes. Around 5:15pm I was ready to go to the hospital. Amy got her stuff together, showered and we were on our way around 6pm. I actually do not remember most of the ride to the hospital, however I do remember trying to point out a house Matt and I would like to look at off of Waldo Rd. Amy and I had Presslei and Noah with us, so Amy needed to take Presslei to Krystle before coming to the hospital. We met Matt at McDonalds and my contractions were about 5 minutes apart at this point and lasting about 1.5 minutes each. Matt, Noah and I headed to the hospital and the boys dropped me off at the door. I made my way up to L&D and picked up the phone to be let in. Unfortunately no one answered, but fortunately a man came out of the hall and let me in. As I walked down the hall, I found a wheelchair to sit in while I had a few more contractions. I made my way up to the desk and leaned there to have a few more contractions. Several nurses were flying around the station, but no one had acknowledged me. Matt and Noah made their way up from the parking garage and after another minute a nurse finally greeted me. There were no rooms available with triage full, so I sat in a wheelchair for awhile (about 20 minutes) until the room was cleaned. When my nurse brought me into the room, we had to go over all of my history because for some odd reason it was not in the computer. She hooked up monitors, and finally checked me around 8:45. I was 3cm. My mom arrived around that time and Amy came about quarter after 9. The fetal heart rate was never consistent on the monitor and to my surprise no one ever came to readjust it or check on me. Around 10:15 I was feeling very nauseous and decided it would be best to get some meds for the impending sickness (I was sick during Noah's delivery also, so I knew what contractions and vomiting together feels like). The nurses came in and I started vomiting. The nurse tried to start an IV on the back of my left hand. She was fishing around in my vein for what felt like forever and ended up blowing it. Then she did stick my right hand. They started fluids and ordered stadol for pain relief around 10:30pm. Probably around 11pm I was feeling like I needed to pee during contractions. My "nurse" Amy found a bed pan and put it under me, but not too much came out. Amy suggested that I change positions and I was much obliged to do so. I actually had requested the birthing ball, but it was not available. Amy had a good idea for me to sit on the edge of the bed and lean on the hospital table. My contractions were rolling one after another and I was beginning to feel a lot of pressure. I told Amy and Matt that I thought I was going to need to push pretty soon and they called the nurse back in. During my next few contractions, my urge to push was so strong that I could not, not push. So I pushed, my water broke at 11:24pm and went everywhere! Because the doctor broke my water during my labor with Noah, I had no idea it would shoot out like it did. It worried me that it broke while I was sitting up and I asked the nurse if everything was ok. She replied that she needed to check me to know for sure. After a few more contractions I was able to lay back for her to check me. I was a full 10cm at 11:25pm and she told me that I could go ahead and push a couple times if I wanted to. The next thing I remember is another nurse walking into my room and saying, "Did you call for delivery?" And my nurse replied, "Yes, I did already and no one is coming. Can you get a doctor or midwife or someone in here because this baby is already crowning!" My mom was in the hallway when 5 people, including the doctor, came running down to my room. I remember saying, "it is burning so much worse than it did the first time!" And the doctor replied, "Honey, that is called labor amnesia!" I also remember thinking, "I can't do this, just give me a c-section." If you know me, you know that a c-section is the last thing I ever wanted. But because they gave me stadol so close to the time of my delivery, I did not have much ambition left in me. It is a good thing he came quickly, or I would have given up. At 11:36pm my second boy was born, Foster Everett Bolin.
A brief break between contractions
6# 10oz 19in long

Noah checking things out


The proud big brother


Noah holds Foster for the first time

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