As you probably know by now, Mike and I welcomed our son, Henry Thomas Holland into the world on Wednesday, March 24th at 2:48 pm. He weighed in at 7 pounds, 9.6 ounces and 19.5 inches long. He has gorgeous blue eyes and depending on the light, blonde to strawberry blonde hair. We're falling more in love with him each day.
I wanted to write about our birth experience for memory's sake, but please don't feel obligated to read any of this. I left out the gorey details so it's still safe to read, if you have time to kill. :)
On Monday, March 22nd I had a checkup at 38 weeks, 4 days. Due to high blood pressure, dizzy spells, and a few other factors, the doctor and Mike and I agreed that it would be best to induce labor that week. So, on Tuesday, March 23rd, we checked into the hospital where ironically enough, I was already having contractions. They weren't productive or painful, but I knew it was only a matter of time before things would get interesting.
At 5am the next morning, the contractions were still going, but the nurses started me on Pitocin as planned. This drug is the devil reincarnate when it gets going. The contractions were very consistent, every 2 minutes, and fortunately didn't feel like anything more than menstrual cramps. Silly, naive me thought, "If contractions are this easy to handle, I can totally do this without drugs or an epidural."
Well at 8am, my water broke on its own and I was definitely singing a different tune. My word, those contractions hurt like none other. Oof! I was miserable and asked for IV drugs, still trying to hold off on the epidural. Something about a needle in my back that just didn't seem appealing. At this point, I was 3 cm dilated. They gave me a medicine that didn't do anything but irritate me and then it was on to the Stadol. I love that drug. It made me just loopy enough to space out between contractions. (I got a second dose about halfway through labor but it wore off as I started to push which was ok with me as I didn't want to be stoned for the event. :)
The nurse checked me a couple of hours later and I was dilated to 5 cm. Mike was getting hungry and needed a break so we told him it would be best for him to go and get some lunch. About 30 minutes later, I was checked again and was at 8 cm. I was super pleased that things were progressing so quickly, especially with it being my first delivery. Mike's lunch was cut short and I started pushing around 12:30pm. I pushed for about an hour and felt horribly discouraged. I begged for a break, but thanks to Mother Nature, you don't get a break when you're in labor or when you're pushing. Your body takes over and you're at the mercy of the entire ordeal. It's an awful feeling when you don't have any control over your body like that.
Around 2pm, after 90 minutes of pushing, the nurse called my OB and she showed up about 10 or 15 minutes later. She said that the baby was sideways and not going to come out. I asked her if I could keep pushing in hopes of it finally working, but she said that even if I pushed for another hour, the baby still wasn't going to come out; it was time for a c-section. Under other circumstances, I may have lost my composure (that's serious surgery and recovery), but by this time, I was ready to throw in the towel and meet my child. Mike was suited up in plastic scrubs and I was wheeled off to the operating room.
Once we got in there, I was hooked up with my epidural and a spinal block. Both were quite dreamy and a total relief. A lot of what happened from this point is a little hazy but eventually Mike was brought in the room and the c-section was under way. The anethesiologist asked Mike if he wanted to call the baby's gender. He was a little hestitant at first, not wanting to take the chance at seeing anything gorey, but he was reassured that he'd be fine. The doctor pulled the baby out and Mike stood up to see. The look on his face was priceless and one I will never forget. "It's a boy! We have a son!" Seeing the pride and joy on his face was worth not knowing the gender before delivery. I've never seen him so happy.
Henry checked out healthy so he was bundled up and brought over to us. We were finally a family. God blessed us in ways I never knew possible. I get emotional every time I think about this moment.
After a few more minutes, Mike took Henry out to the waiting room to meet our anxious, but patiently waiting family. Mike was so proud to show off his son!
Once the c-section was complete, I was taken to the recovery room where Henry was being weighed, measured, and monitored. He had the sweetest little wimper, I'm sure exhausted from the day's events. Since I had a spinal block, I was unable to move my legs. I began trembling at some point so I was unable to hold Henry. I was super bummed by this but at the same time, I was so horribly exhausted and didn't feel like I had the strength to hold him. Family members were allowed back one at a time so we were able to visit for a little bit with them before being wheeled to our postpartum room. Henry was taken to the nursery where he received a bath and immunizations. Our family watched through the windows and Mike was able to take video so I was able to watch later.
I spent the remainder of the afternoon and evening stuck in the bed as the spinal block hadn't worn off yet. We were blessed with several visitors all anxious to meet Henry. Around 8:30 that night, I was finally able to hold Henry and give him a bottle. I was instantly in love with our son and overwhelmed by the miracle of his life. God is so, so amazing!!
We had many more visitors over the next 3 days and I was able to get a little rest along the way. Henry checked out healthy and I was on my way to recovering from the c-section. We were released from the hospital around 11:45 am on Saturday, March 27th. I'll write more about our homecoming and first couple of weeks in a later blog.
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