I sketched out a skeleton of the details as soon as I thought of it after he was born. Hoping I can fill in the last few details. This is kind of long but I wanted to do it all in one post. Also, I've been told I have the weirdest birth story, ha ha.
Monday, June 6 - It was my birthday. It was a nice relaxing day, hubby brought me home ice cream and flowers! We spent the night with friends and it was great. I remember going to bed telling Kurt that I felt uncomfortable in a different way than normal but didn't really think anything of it and went to sleep.
Tuesday, June 7
4:00AM - I woke up and felt like I needed to use the bathroom. For the next hour or so I got up frequently but couldn't really figure out what I was feeling.
5:00AM - I woke up and realized I was having contractions. It was weird because they weren't like the few that I had previously. I decide to go downstairs and watch TV (there's really not much on that early!) I start timing contractions and they are about 10min apart. I sit on the exercise ball and it seems to help. I decide it's too early to wake Kurt so I wait it out for a bit and finally find Full House on TV.
7:15AM - My friend calls my cell (not expecting me to answer to tell me that another friend had her baby the night before). While talking to her I decide that I should wake-up Kurt, contractions are somewhere around 8 minutes apart. Wake Kurt, still about 8-9 mins. I decided that a shower was a must, but definitely challenging when you're having contractions. I finished packing and Kurt packed his bag. Got a few things in order (put out the trash, fed the dog etc), had an English Muffin.
9:00AM - Called the on-call Dr. Contractions were about 5-6 mins apart. She said we could come in to the office or go right to the hospital. I insisted we go to the Dr. office. For some reason I was scared that they were going to tell me at the hospital that I was only 2cm and to go home.
9:30AM-ish - We head to Dr office, contractions are about 3:30 to 4:30 apart. I'm sure I looked funny in the car one the way there. Kurt said wouldn't it be awful if they told you that you were only 2cm, yeah so not what I was wanting to hear. Ha ha! I insisted I was going to walk from the car to the Dr's office. After we couldn't find a parking spot, Kurt said no I'm dropping you off and I'll meet you up there. I walked up to the office and I can only imagine what people thought of me as I was walking in. The nurse told me to get my weight and urine sample. Yeah that wasn't happening!
10:00AM - I go in to the office. The Dr comes in to check and says you're 8cm! I was so surprised. At this point I decided I couldn't walk so they wheeled me over to hospital which is right next door.
10:15AM - I was admitted, answered a bunch of questions, etc. They work to get an IV in. The left side didn't work, so we move to the right. My hand on the right didn't work so then they went to the inner part of my wrist. My left hand was bruising already. The Dr comes in and says if we break your water I think we'll have a baby here by noon, but there is no time for the epidural to take effect. At this point I was a little nervous. I had gone in with an open mind that I would do whatever felt right when I got there. But I was starting to be weary that I could do it without the epidural. But I said ok.
10:30AM - My water was broken and I started pushing. He wasn't making any progress though. I continued pushing. I was a little frustrated with the nurse at first because it seemed like she was yelling at me (to breathe and not hyper-ventilate) but we figured one another out eventually.
1:00PM - At this point he had made very little progress and I was getting very frustrated and exhausted. The nurse calls the Dr and then the anesthesiologist for the epidural. I was so tired I couldn't push much more.
1:15PM - At this point I get the epidural. My right side numb, but not the left. The nurse works to get left side, by rolling me over etc. It starts to numb. My feet started to get cold. Here's where I'll own up to the fact that I yelled at Kurt the first time. I asked him to put my socks on, apparently he had a cut on his thumb so he was struggling. I looked at him and in a 'stern' tone said 'you're not doing it fast enough'. It wasn't terrible but I was frustrated.
In between we basically just sat there and talked. We were texting people and just chatting. I was starving and thirsty but of course could only have ice chips.
3:00PM - Until now, I had little to no urge to push. He wasn't making any progress (stubborn kid). The nurse said if I feel the urge to push then go ahead. I started to feel it and started pushing. Meanwhile, I can also feel my left leg again. Here's the second and only other time I yelled at Kurt. He was trying to rub the top of my hand to help but really he was pushing on the bruise where they IV hadn't taken and he couldn't figure out why I was pulling away. I didn't really yell this time but kept pulling away and tell him to stop without explanation. Ah, communication. :-)
5:30PM - After pushing for another 2hrs and no baby the Dr comes in and says well we have 2 options, either a c-section or we can try the vacuum, but if he doesn't come out in few pushes, then c-section it is. I was really nervous now. Felt like I was doing something wrong. She inserted the vacuum and I started pushing. She took the vacuum out and said she didn't think it was working right, so she put it in again. Two more pushes, she decides the vacuum is broken and gets a new one. Inserts it a third time. Oh so pleasant. (Did I mention my left side wasn't completely numb) And it's time to push again.
5:57PM - Baby Chapman is finally here!! It's a good thing because the look on her face says one more push and if he wasn't here it was time for a c-section.
He wasn't making any noise. There were lots of people in the room because of the vacuum. Kurt went over to him and he started crying and pee-ing!
They bring him over so I can hold him briefly and then Kurt and the baby go to the nursery and I get stitched up. At this point I sat in the room along. The nurse was in and out. She brought me some crackers and a drink but I didn't have a phone or anything to tell people!
7:00PM - Kurt finally returns with my phone etc and we start calling and texting people. We got caught in the nurses shift change so I think we were there longer than normal.
7:30PM - Someone finally comes to take me to the bathroom. I get in the wheel chair and we get brought to our recovery room.
8:00PM - Once in our room, Kurt goes to get the rest of our bags from the car and a few visitors who had been waiting in the lobby. Alex finally comes into room and Kurt holds him for the first time. Visitors stay for a really short time and head out.
9:00PM - We ordered some food, I was starving. We sat and watched TV and talked. We were in a bit of a surreal state. It was so weird.
10:00PM - I tried nursing him for the first time. He didn't really have much interest.
12:00AM - Tried nursing again and he did a little better. We decided it would be a good idea if he went to the nursery for the night.
4:00AM - I woke up in pain just as they brought him in to nurse again. He did a little better this time. He went back to the nursery until 8:00.
Wednesday, June 8
We had some visitors in the evening. During the day we kind of just sat around and watched some TV. We weren't really sure what to do. Alex started to get the hang out latching on so nursing was ok. That night was not so great. Between 12:00AM and 6:00AM he cluster-fed all night. It was frustrating. At about 6:00 the nurse came in and they took him to the nursery for a few hours.
Thursday, June 9
We were finally discharged!
Miscellaneous:
- The shakes! I got the shakes a lot and it was so weird. I didn't know why but they said it was normal. I just wanted them to stop. They last for a while.
- I was so surprised that I was that far along when I got there.
- I felt like I wasn't doing it right when he wasn't making any progress.
- Kurt was awesome. I don't know how he watched. I don't think I could have.
- Part of me wishes I either had the epidural right away or waited a little to see if he'd make more progress before they broke my water.
- I wish I had my phone right after he was born and Kurt hadn't taken it with him. I was so bored!
Ok there it is! Whew, hope I didn't forget anything!
