Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Baby birth story

Warning: read at your own risk, it is a birth story so expect certain details. There may be some sugar coating but you have been warned. And sorry, it's long, but you it's hard to be brief when so much happened!

He was such a stubborn little baby. At 39 weeks I wasn't dilated at all but she said his
head was right there which was good. Fast forward a week to the day of my next appointment. I lost my mucus plug and I am thinking "wow, things are about to get real here" and I was excited for my appointment, sure that she would tell me I was dilated to a 3 or something. Alas, I was still not dilated. Not even one measly centimeter. The next two mornings I woke up to having lost more mucus plug. I also started getting stronger and more often false labor contractions. Wednesday morning from 4-7 I even had consistent 8-10 minute apart contractions for 3 hours. So I got up feeling pretty optimistic about the day. But alas, they stopped when I started moving around and just occurred every once in awhile. 
Wednesday night I got home from an enrichment activity and started having pretty consistent contractions ever 5 mins so we went to the Cardston hospital because there was no way I was driving into Lethbridge (45 mins away) at 10:30 at night just to be told nothing was really going on. The Dr. on call checked to see if I was dilated and sure enough, I was at a 0 still. The only plus was that babies head was really low so he suspected my labor shouldn't last very long when it finally happened. Thursday and Friday came and went with nothing really going on. I had decided that Saturday morning I would drink castor oil and see if I couldn't get things going.

Friday night I was having a hard time sleeping as I was having really bad contractions. I had just changed my position to hands and knees for a contraction when I felt little baby punch and then a gush. I was pretty sure my water had just broke but it wasn't at all like I expected since it was such a small amount. We text my mom to come watch sienna and we are off to the hospital in Lethbridge. (This is at about 1:45 in the morning)

We get to the hospital and they check to see how dilated I am. I am a whooping 1 cm. (they were probably being generous too) They give me some morphine and gravel to help with contraction pain so I could fall asleep. At about 9 in the morning I get checked again and I am at a 2. That might seem discouraging to some but for the 41 week pregnant woman who hadn't dilated at all before, this was pretty awesome. Dr. Browne was on call and decided that we should just get this show on the road. At first I thought I would try no epidural, but after some of the contractions I had that night and being hooked up to the drip which only makes them more intense I just decided to get on from the start. so before they even hooked me up to the drip I got an epidural and it was so nice to not feel any contractions. Only problem was it did some crazy stuff to my body. First I got super hot and dizzy, then I got cold and could not stop shaking uncontrollably.
The nurse told me to tell her when I could feel pressure on my bum because that would be a good sign of things progressing. At about noon, an hour after my epidural and being on the drip I thought I could feel some pressure. They checked and I was now at a 3 and there was a sack of membranes ready to break, which was likely the pressure I was feeling. At the rate I was dilating I was pretty sure I wouldn't be having a baby till late in the night and was super glad I had gotten an epidural. I took a little nap and Matt watched something on his lap top. When I woke up about a hour and a half later I could feel lots more pressure. I was checked again and it went something like this "hmm it feels like you are a 6. Wait, you might be closer to a seven. Hold on, Take a nice deep breath and let it out. You are actually at a 10. You are ready to go" I was shocked! and so grateful that Matt hadn't left to go get something to eat like I had suggested. The Dr. was called and while we waited for him to come they had me do some practice pushing. *Bragging moment* They said I was awesome at pushing, much better then expected.

The only problem was with each contraction now baby's heart rate would drop and then come back up after the contraction was over. They figured the cord was being compressed some how, like around his neck or he was holding it. So I kept poking him and telling him to let it go if that was the case. I really did not want another c-section and knew that this was something that could make that happen. Dr. Browne arrived so the real fun begun. I did a couple of pushes and then he said they would need to hook up the vacuum to his head. Originally, I didn't want a vacuum or forceps used, but if it meant I could avoid a c-section, I was all about it. After a couple more pushes he was here! It was the most incredible thing ever. I loved seeing him take his first few breaths and hearing his little cries. I loved getting to hold him so soon after and take in the fact that I just did that. Things went according to plan and he was here healthy and happy. And boy do we love him!

David Matthew Termeer
Born at 2:45 November 21st
7lbs 8 oz 19 inches

If you look close you can see how squished his poor nose was.
Bigger then I expected! That's what a whole extra week will do to you I guess
Already striking poses for the camera





 For the most part sienna really likes him.





3 comments:

Bethany Olsen said...

I'm so glad it went well! He is seriously cute and I can't wait to cuddle him!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing this with us. He looks wonderful

brypeterson said...

So glad it all worked out smoothly in the end. He is so handsome! Congrats!