The Birth Story

Sorry it's taken me forever to finish this, but I don't want to forget a thing. This is going to be really long!

I woke up in the morning on July 28th, feeling the same as usual. By about 10am, I started having contractions that were different from the Braxton Hicks I had experienced. I started timing them and they got closer and closer together. I sat on the exercise ball and paced around the house. I knew labor takes quite a bit of time to progress for most first time Mom's so I wanted to labor at home as long as I could. By about 3pm, I was really hurting and feeling nauseous. I called the on-call OB and they told me to go to labor & delivery. I took a shower and Nick and I headed in. They took me into my room and hooked me up to the monitors. I was definitely having contractions, but I had not progressed at all. I was maybe 2cm. I couldn't believe it and I was pretty bummed. I was apparently very dehydrated and that was causing the intense contractions. I usually have amazing veins, but not when I am really dehydrated. They wanted to get IV fluids in me because they thought that would slow down the contractions and they talked about then sending me home. They stuck me six times before they finally got a vein in my wrist. I noticed my contractions began to reduce in intensity.

The nurse came back into my room after being in L&D for a couple hours and said "Well, we are going to have a birthday today! You are going in for a c-section immediately. Baby isn't tolerating the contractions well and he needs to come out. Now." Huh?! I thought I was going to be sent home. Holy crap. I looked at the monitor at that point and saw that Grayson's heart rate had been stuck way up at 180. I called my Mom really quick and let her know what was happening. They got me into the wheelchair and into the OR within minutes.

The anesthesiologist was awesome. She was super funny and talked to me a lot. Thank goodness because I was pretty freaked out at this point. They took Nick to get dressed while I got my spinal. I've never been so happy to see him! They started the surgery and Nick held my hand. Everything went really fast. I felt some tugging and then I heard the most amazing sound - our son crying. I immediately lost it sobbing and Nick went over to take pictures of him. It was so crazy to think he had just been inside my tummy moments before and now he was here. It's definitely something that must be experienced and is really impossible to put into words.

While the doctors finished up on me, they set Grayson on my chest. That was the first time I saw him. I couldn't stop smiling, despite the shakes and the nausea. I was holding my son! Once they finished, they moved me onto another bed and wheeled me into recovery. I started vomiting, so my skin-to-skin time was limited. But I did my best. They kept ordering more anti-nausea meds, but none of them really helped. They didn't want to wheel me into my room until I stopped throwing up. I finally got to my room a few hours later. I was really out of it, but I remember the nurse telling me that they needed to start me on 24 hours of magnesium to prevent seizures due to my post-birth preeclampsia. The magnesium makes you feel horrible :( I felt like a truck hit me and I was seeing everything in double vision. Ugh.

I eventually could feel my legs again, had my IV removed, had my catheter taken out, was moved to the Mother Baby Unit and then had to be straight cathed because I couldn't pee the second time they asked me to. Not fun. The nurses and Nick took great care of us, and we had a pretty ocean view :) I started breast feeding right from the start. It was difficult, as I expected, because Grayson was still learning to latch, I didn't have much to feed him yet and I was still recovering myself. I started walking around, had my staples taken out and we went home on Tuesday, July 31st. We couldn't wait to be home and sleep in our own bed!

We had a tough few days in the beginning. Post-partum is hard. I was so tired I was having trouble forming words. I have never experienced fatigue like that. I wasn't 100% physically and that is frustrating when you are trying to take care of your baby. Breast feeding was REALLY hard in the beginning. You definitely have to be determined to do it and have a great support team. Nick and my Mom have been wonderful, cheering me on and helping me through the tough parts. A week and a half in and I am beginning to feel like an old pro already ;) Things are getting better and easier as time goes by.

I am so thankful and happy that Grayson was healthy and my recovery has been pretty smooth, considering all things.