Nathan's Birth - Part Five

***The final chapter in the story of Nathan's birth***

[NOTE: I started writing this chapter 3 weeks ago, fully intending to be done with the series before his one month birthday. So much for that plan!]

January 21, 2013 - 12:30 p.m.
The OB (Dr. L) came back to check on me a couple hours after the epidural was started. Paul had stepped out for a few minutes to get something to eat while my mom kept me company and fed me ice chips. Amazingly, I was at 9 cm! Apparently the epidural had helped me relax enough that I had progressed another 2.5 cm already. Only 1 left to go! Dr. L said she would be back within the hour and expected that I'd be complete by that point. She asked me to hold off on using the epidural booster button anymore - she wanted me to get used to feeling the pressure from the contractions so that I'd recognize when to push when it was time. Things were really starting to move! Paul wasn't back yet so Mom stayed with me for a bit longer. B came in to let me know that Paul was back from lunch, but the security desk people were giving him a hard time about not having a "visitor" pass and had sent him back to the first floor to get one. Nevermind that he'd been there all night with me and no one had mentioned anything about him needing a pass!

January 21, 2013 - 1:30 p.m.
Eventually Paul was allowed back in (needless to say, he was a little pissed about the situation) and my mom left to update everyone in the waiting room. Less than 5 minutes later, our nurse (Amy) came in and said Dr. L wanted her to check me. Amy did the exam and thought I was more or less complete, so she went to page Dr. L to come ASAP. Dr. L was already on her way back from her office down the street, so she arrived a few minutes later. Paul was in the midst of trying to text the waiting room crowd to give them the update when Dr. L instructed him to come stand on my right side. She showed him how to hold my leg (which felt like it weighed a ton thanks to the epidural). There was a nursing student in attendance as well, so Dr. L had her take my left side/leg. It was kind of funny - both Paul and I thought we were just doing a "dress rehearsal" for when it was time to push. But the next thing we knew, Dr. L was ordering everyone into position and telling me to get ready to push with the next contraction. Suddenly, things were happening very quickly!

Everyone thought that the baby was on the larger side (8.5-9 pounds) so they were preparing me for a lengthy pushing session. Dr. L wanted me to push 3 times with each contraction. As the contraction began, I would take a quick, deep breath in, hold it, push to the count of 10, exhale, inhale again quickly, and repeat. My contractions were actually quite long, so sometimes she had me do a 4th push as well. While I didn't really have the "urge" to push that is usually the case with a non-medicated birth, I could at least feel when the contractions were about to start. In most cases, I would start to get ready even before the monitor picked up that one was on its way. I was also having piggy-back contractions, where one would end and the next one started very soon after. I would have 3-4 of these in a row, followed by a break of a few minutes. The baby's heart rate would sometimes start to drop by the 3rd or 4th contraction, so during the breaks they would sometimes roll me from one side to the other to help relieve some of the pressure and get the heart rate up again.

Is it just me or do the birthing classes neglect to mention just how difficult pushing can be, especially for first time moms? Seriously - pushing is HARD! Maybe it was just my classes, but most of the focus was on the contractions. How to monitor contractions, how to gauge them, how to cope with the pain and discomfort, etc. There was very little discussion of the pushing phase, aside from what to expect as far as contractions during that phase. I can honestly say I felt very unprepared for the physical effort of pushing. There were times I thought my eyeballs might just pop out of my head from the exertion!

But I digress... Once I started pushing, I lost all track of time. Paul's cell phone kept chirping with text messages from everyone in the waiting room, but we decided they would probably figure out what was happening when they didn't get any responses. During the breaks, Paul and the nursing student would help prop my legs up to rest. I did have feeling in them and could move on my own, but was usually so wiped from the pushing that it was too much effort to expend on my own. I was also sweating like crazy and kept asking for cold washcloths to put on my neck. On top of that, I was extremely thirsty and kept begging for ice chips during the breaks.

I have no idea how long it was before I started to feel the baby coming out. Paul was watching and told me when he could see the head, an ear, the eyes, etc. At some point, I definitely felt that there was something "hanging out down there" so I assumed we were getting close. I was so tired, I just wanted to be done. Each contraction felt like a pushing marathon. Dr. L had been cheering me on through each push the entire time, phrases like "almost there" and "just a bit harder." As a result, I didn't fully realize what was happening when the baby finally did slide out.

January 21, 2013 - 2:44 p.m.
I had my eyes closed, straining from the effort of pushing, when I heard Dr. L tell me to look up at my baby. I looked up and said "It's a boy!" And then I realized what he was doing and I started laughing and said "He's peeing!" He literally came out peeing all over. And then I started crying. And Paul cried. And we laughed. And we cried some more. And they put him on my chest and I held my baby for the first time.

I had pushed for about an hour and 20 minutes. It felt like an eternity but Dr. L said it was actually very good for a first time mom. I have no idea how some people are able to push for 3 hours. Dr. L showed Paul where to cut the cord. After that, Paul took pictures and I held our baby as long as possible before they took him to be weighed and measured. He was 7 pounds 4 ounces and 20 inches long. The nursing student took our first family picture together. Then, while they got the baby cleaned up, Paul stepped out to share the news with the waiting room crew. We had agreed previously that he would go out and tell them the gender and stats. We would then spend some time together, just the 3 of us, before introducing him and sharing his name with everyone later in our postpartum room.

I vaguely remember Dr. L telling me to push when the placenta was delivered, but I wasn't paying much attention. A little while later, I noticed that she was stitching me up, so I asked how badly I had torn. It was only a grade 2 - not terrible. The epidural was still dripping away, so I didn't feel any of that part. When they were done cleaning me and the baby, they brought him back over so we could do skin-to-skin. The nurse also helped us with our first breastfeeding attempt. Eventually, all the I's had been dotted and all the T's crossed, and it was time for us to leave L&D and get settled in postpartum. Once we were settled and had breastfed again, it was time to meet everyone!

I will leave off here with the story of Nathan's birth. I have lots of other thoughts and observations to share about the whole induction, labor and delivery, and postpartum hospital experience. But I'll wait until I've organized them a bit more in my head before attempting to post. :)