Well it's been one week and I think I can finally blog a little about the whole experience. I personally believe that talking about the whole birth experience is T.M.I. so I'll try to give the short story with minimal facts so skim the entry as you like or skip to the bottom for a 1-week-post-baby-tummy-picture.
Sunday night I went in to be "prepped" for a Monday morning induction. At 8PM I was given a hormone (Cervadil) and told to get some rest and that I'd be able to sleep through the night. Well, one hour later, I was in labor. What was worse... the nurses would not accept that I was in labor! I thought I was being a big wuss about it all, I thought if this isn't labor WHAT could tomorrow be like!!! The nurses said, "NO ONE goes into labor from Cervadil."
Basically, don't go into labor during a San Jose Sharks playoff game, because the nurse who knew what she was doing was too enthralled in the game at the nurses station. They told me to take a walk - or "walk it off". I pretty much shuffled around the hallway and when I came back, a nurse came into my room and said, "we think we're gonna call the Doctor, you look like you are in labor"... yeah, NO SHIT!
I almost lost the window to get the epidural because no one thought I was in labor. Thank goodness Bob pushed for me to get it and convinced the nurses it was the right thing to do (They wanted to give me a temporary one hour relief medication). Well... after the epidural, I was a NEW woman. At about 11:00 there was a nursing shift change, THANK GOD. The nurses that took over were awesome and moved everything right along. The new nurse came over, checked me out and said "get the doctor here, she's going to deliver in the next hour".
When it's your first baby and you hear that you'll deliver in the next hour, your heart skips a beat. The moment you have anticipated and dreaded at the same time is upon you, there is no turning back. You have no idea what it will be like or what is about to come into your life.
I'll spare you the gory in between details, but there were very scary moments, for example they lost the baby's heart beat and the cord was wrapped around her neck. Believe it or not, I am leaving A LOT of the drama out of this note. It was about as dramatic as an episode of ER... a 3.5 hour long episode. Bob and I were glad we didn't pay for birthing preparatory classes, because nothing, and I mean NOTHING, went the way ANYONE expected it to.
A little past midnight, I was put in a "holding pattern" to... get this... wait for the doctor to arrive. At one point I questioned, "Sooooooo we're waiting for the doctor?" Answer: "She's around the corner." (10 minutes later) "How FAR around the corner is she??"
All is well that ends well. The whole experience was 3 1/2 hours long and I only had to push MAYBE six times, but I'll defer to Bob for the exact answer. All I can say is, Thank goodness for drugs!!!
The next morning, laying in the recovery room with Bob and our brand new baby girl, a nurse came in and said, "Just think, you could be going into labor right now." Ugh. I have to admit, as dramatic as it all was, I am soooo glad it went FAST and that our baby is HEALTHY.
Fast forward one week
Ayla (pronounced EYE-la) is doing great and I am really surprised how much I have rebounded in such a small amount of time. Bob has been absolutely AMAZING - but I'm saving that for another blog entry.
Yes, I am breast feeding and it's going much better than I expected. Never thought I'd say that. My next hurdle... Pumping. That contraption is SCARY and I'm dreading it even though I'm sure it will help a lot.
I lost almost 18 lbs this past week (I had gained 28 total). Actually, the part that is taking the longest to recover is my left arm where the awful first nurse blew a catheter about 20 minutes after I got to the hospital(this is the same nurse who would later say that she "couldn't find my cervix", I am NOT joking).
When I showed Bob my arm today he said, "you'd think you gave birth through your forearm" LOL
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