When they say that every baby and every birth and every pregnancy is different...they aren't joking!
Chunkamunk's pregnancy started out the same as miniG...the same ever present nausea for the first trimester, then it was smooth sailing until the end...
I never had Braxton Hicks contractions with miniG AT ALL...but with Chunkamunk I definitely did...for about a month...add that to the fact that everyone said "Oh, your second will come faster than your first"...I went into labor the day after my due date with miniG, so I was ready to go a good 2 weeks before my due date with Chunkamunk...
For those of you who don't know, Chunkamunk was 2 weeks LATE! So, yeah...for those last 2 weeks, I was not a happy camper and I was on pins and needles...I was waiting for every Braxton Hicks session to ramp up to real labor...I was waiting for my water to break at any second...it was miserable....ALL.THE.WAITING.
But FINALLY, one night we were watching TV and I started to feel off...and I was feeling pressure (not uncommon) so I went to lie down in bed...then all of a sudden I had contractions and they were painful...but once it was over, I felt fine, no pressure no nothing...so I assumed it was just a stronger fake one...
I lay in bed timing them and they were about every 7 minutes...hmmm..interesting...so I go downstairs where my husband in getting ready to go to bed and tell him these are different but I'm just not sure if they are real and I don't want to get my hopes up...
So, we sit there for a while, timing them and they are every 5-7ish minutes and strong...but as soon as it was over I still felt fine, like I wasn't going to have another one....my husband is like "what do I do? Do I go to bed or call my mom?" His mom was the designated miniG caretaker while we were in the hospital....
He ended up calling his mom to give her the heads up while I called the hospital to talk to the OB on call...she (the OB) said to drink a big glass of water and see if that helped (just in case I was just dehydrated)....I did that and nothing changed, so Garrett's mom came over so we could head to the hospital to get checked out...
I was talking to my mother-in-law and she said as she was watching me breath through the contractions that they looked like the real thing...I could only hope she was right!
You may be thinking...she's done this before, how could she not know it was labor! Well, with miniG, the contractions started in the morning and GRADUALLY got closer together and more intense throughout the day...it lasted all day...these contractions with Chunkamunk came out of nowhere, there was no slow build up to it, they just WAM BAM started...so, i was still skeptical due to the past 4 weeks of waiting and waiting and fake contractions...
As we are driving to the hospital they are getting closer and closer...they got down to about every 3 minutes as we were driving...but still after every one I felt great and didn't expect another one to come...
We get there, check in, they get me hooked up to all the monitoring stuff, then they finally check me...and to my utter surprise and excitement I am dilated to 6cm!! SIX!!! With miniG I contracted all day with no dilation to show for it and this time I was already at 6!!
My mom wanted to be there, but they live 2+ hours away and the nurse said that she honestly didn't think they would make it in time...SAY WHAT?! So, my mom stayed home and said they would be there first thing in the morning, but I called my sister and she came a running :o)
Now, throughout this pregnancy I was seriously considering doing it with no epidural...my sister had done it twice (once unwillingly because the epidural just didn't take and once by choice) so I had seen in action that it is possible LOL....plus, with miniG the epidural was so strong that I felt NOTHING which made pushing 10x harder and I didn't want to go through that again...
Well, by this time the contractions are super intense and I really had to focus to breath through them and I just couldn't imagine trying to push through that pain, I didn't think I could focus enough...so when they asked if I wanted an epidural I said yes...since I was already dilated so much they rushed the blood test and I had the epidural within the hour...the guy was really good...he did it while I was laying on my side in like 2 seconds...I swear he used magic...but it was in and the contractions were easier to bear...
This labor was already so different than miniG's and in such a good way...with miniG I was doped up with Nubain and didn't really know what was happening...but with Chunkamunk I was alert and happy...the nurse and OB and midwife on call were laid back and since the floor was pretty quiet, they stayed in my room and talked, it was really great...
The midwife had mentioned at one point breaking my water to speed things up...so as they were leaving to let me rest I reminded them of that :o)...so, they checked me again and I was at 7cm...the OB broke my water and told me to let them know as soon as I felt any pressure...as they are saying this they are lowering the bed down so that I'm laying down and I feel super pressure like I need to go the bathroom...I tell them that, the OB checks me again and literally 30 seconds after she broke my water I went from 7cm to 10cm...It's go time!
And this time I definitely felt the pressure and I felt his head...and he had a big head! So, this time there was pain and pretty intense pain at times...I was really thankful that I didn't have to deal with the contraction pain on top of that pain...I knew he was a big baby, the last ultrasound we had predicted his weight to be about 9 pounds...so, in the thralls of pushing through this crazy pain I just know that his head is too big and I'll never be able to do it...when I'm not pushing the OB is using her fingers to stretch me out (sorry if that's TMI) and man that was crazy pain, but I know it was worth it since I didn't tear much...
But, only 20ish minutes later, out he came! I did it! And he cried and I was ecstatic! And this time I got to hold him right away and it was the most precious moment...
I am so very thankful for the hospital staff that we go to...they are all so very nice and supportive...the OB's themselves that I have had the privilege of working with are very attentive...they didn't just rush in at the last second to catch the baby, but they stayed and were so great...even with miniG I knew the OB was there in the background keeping an eye on me...
And my awesome OB that takes care of me during my pregnancy...he prefers things to happen naturally which I really appreciate...granted during those last 2 weeks that I was late, I was cursing him for not inducing, but in the end I'm glad it all happened naturally...
There are things I don't like about giving birth in a hospital...like having to be strapped to the bed and labor there....or laying down to push...I really don't get that one...you are supposed to use the muscles you use to go to the bathroom....have any of you tried to go to the bathroom laying down?...didn't think so...
But, like I said, the staff at our hospital is so great and attentive during the labor process and delivery...and I like the comfort of knowing if something goes wrong that we are already in the right place with the right people to take of everything...
AND thankfully the nurse was there to catch my fall when I passed out on the toilet...yep...
Anyway, Happy Birthday (tomorrow) to my sweet funny Chunkamunk! I love you and will never forget your awesome BIRTH day!!
No comments:
Post a Comment