Well since I totally spaced blogging Jonnie's labor story, I figured I better get this one done before I do the same thing so here goes... it will include
lots of details and pictures so if that will bother you then just skip it:)
Don't say I didn't warn you! This is mostly for ME to remember and look back on. My mom was taking pics of it all... thanks mom:)
I was 39 weeks and 3 days on Monday when I went in to the doc... i was dilated to a 2 1/2 and about 60% effaced so he stripped my membranes to possibly get things rolling. Since my family was gonna be up here til Sunday I wanted to have the baby sooner than later so they could have fun with him at home for a few days before they had to leave {and of course i knew i would need their help}. So we picked up some castor oil at the store and headed home. I took about 1 1/2 tablespoons around 4 cause I didn't want it to make me sick.... just maybe get things going if the little man was ready to come. Well I was having little contractions that night but really I was just waiting for the runs to come first. They never did. So i figured the castor oil didn't do much and went to bed.
At around midnight I woke up to some decent contractions and couldn't sleep much after that but tried to til about 2:40. That's when I woke up and went into the living room to kick it for a while. I was reading stuff online... at this point I didn't know if I would have to make a mad dash to the bathroom soon or if I was really starting labor. So I read Mal's labor story {which got me excited and hoping it was the real deal} and started timing the contractions. They were about 4-5 minutes apart and uncomfortable but not too bad. I hung out for about an hour and finally woke JD up at about 3:30 to tell him to go get my mom {they were staying in a separate house and didn't have cell service}. i mainly just wanted to talk to her and see if these were the real things since i was induced with jonnie and didn't experience the going into labor part. They got back {along with my dad, lil bro & sis} and were ready to go to the hospital. While they were gone, i did go to the bathroom and it wasn't the runs at all so that was kinda nice to know that these contractions weren't just a tummy ache:)} We were a little nervous about being 45 miles from the hospital with minimal cell service in between and it was snowing so we had to factor that in as well when deciding when we should leave. So I packed the rest of my bag and got things ready for Jonnie while we kept timing my contractions. At this point they were consistently about 2 minutes apart and painful but not bad so JD and my dad gave me a blessing and we decided to grab Jonnie and head in around 4:15 so we didn't run into any trouble on the way.
JD was a speedster and we checked into the hospital around 4:45 and they got me right into my room and hooked up to the monitors. The nurse concluded that I was indeed in active labor and called my doc to let him know what was going on. I just continued to bounce on a big yoga ball and Jonnie took me on a walk to make sure my contractions stayed cause they kinda started to lighten up a little bit. They checked me around 6 and I was only dilated to a tight 4 and about 70% effaced. We definitely would have stayed home longer if we weren't so far away but it is what it is. So my doc got there around 8 and broke my water. The contractions really picked up after that. The doc checked me before he went into the clinic and about an hour later I was a tight 5 about 85%. I kept bouncing on the ball til it got to the point where that wasn't much fun anymore. They put the IV in me but didn't hook it up yet so I was still able to move around. I have the worst luck ever and of course it took two IV's to get it to work. After they got that right, I went on a walk with my mom and JD and this is when they really got bad. I would just have to stop and hold on to JD til each one was over. This is when I felt like I was going to throw up and had the body sweats super bad.... When we got back from the walk they hooked me back up to the monitors to check on the baby and everything was still going really well. I had the nurse fill up the tub cause I was starting to get some pretty bad back labor. I hung out in there for about 15 minutes or so and it was SO nice! I started bleeding though so I had to get out cause the nurse wanted to have me checked again. At this point the contractions were b.a.d. and i could feel TONS of pressure on my tail bone and just really low. My mom was sure I was getting pretty dang close.
Well the nurse had this other lady come in and check me and she told me I was a FOUR and 75% effaced. {so i went backwards... awesome lady} After all the contractions I'd been having I was LIVID. I thought there was no way I could handle progressing to a 10 if all those contractions really did nothing. Well my mom was sure she had to be wrong but it totally messed with my head. In Dillon, they don't give epidurals so I was gonna try and go natural. They do give intrathecals, which is similar but its just one shot that lasts about 4 hours and doesn't numb everything like an epidural so you still feel the contractions and your legs and such. So I knew that was an option if I really needed it. Well, once that lady told me I was still a 4, I was sure I was gonna need it. However, I didn't jump the gun and just kept trying to concentrate, relax, {yeah right}, and breathe through the contractions. My mom was talking me through them and that helped a ton. But after about another 15 minutes or so there was so much pressure down 'there' and I was already feeling the sensation to push. By this time, I probably would have rather been anywhere in the world than where I was at that moment... the contractions were so bad in my back cause he was turned sideways a little bit. Bad bad combination. So I blurted out in the middle of one of them...'give me the dang intrathecal'! So the nurse got a hold of the anesthesiologist.
Well he must have still thought I was a 4 cause he took his dandy time. While we were waiting on him to come, my doc came in to check me again and said that either that other lady was wrong {DUH} or it was clear that I was in so much pain cause I went from a 4 to an 8 and fully effaced in 30 minutes. So this is why the pressure was so bad! I felt a little better after hearing that and the doc went and got changed. By this time the anesthesiologist came in and was talking my ear off about what he was about to do, I shouldn't have even gotten one cause I'm sure I was at least a 9 by the time he got in there. I wasn't really paying attention or thinking straight at this point, just trying to get through each contraction without screaming out profanities. Jonnie was watching so that did help. She was so interested in what was going on.
I heard the anesthesiologist tell the doc though that he would just give me a really light dose to take the edge off so I sat up and got the shot. He clearly has never sat on the edge of a bed, hunched over, while experiencing some of labor's final contractions. I was basically breathing a mile a minute and doing all I could NOT to push. It was horrible. But I did get a light dose and had about 2 more contractions before the doc checked me and told me i was complete. They set up the table and told me to push with everything I had on the next contraction.... so I did. And three pushes later {about 45 seconds of pushing} Knox was in my arms!
He went through the canal really fast.... I guess I am a pretty dang good pusher.... and tore me in 2 places pretty good. I'm definitely feeling it now. I was just so glad he was finally here. I know I had a little medicine in me for those last 2 contractions and the pushing, but I'm still saying I know what natural childbirth feels like. I'm still pissed at that stupid lady for messing with my head! And the anesthesiologist for giving me even a little bit of medicine when i was already a NINE. oh well... it's done and I have a happy, healthy baby out of it. When I was pushing, Jonnie was watching and she kept saying 'Mommy-big poopy!'... haha she is so funny. JD's mom kinda stepped in her way, and she said 'Grandma, move!' She didn't wanna miss any of it! I'm so glad she was in there for everything. She knows that Knox is the same baby that she loved in my belly for 9 months prior and I think that has really helped with the adjustment. She is such a cute big sister. We only had to stay at the hospital for 24 hours so by the next day at 3 we were home.. which was SO nice. Knox is so precious and we love him so much!
