Labor & Delivery

 "Before you were conceived I wanted you. Before you were born I loved you. Before you were here an hour I would die for you. This is the miracle of Mother's Love."

I'm not going to spare you the gory details, so if you don't want to  know, don't read on. It's important to me to write about my entire experience, the good, the bad and the ugly. Also, this is going to be a long post, so make sure you set side some time to read it in its entirety and if you make it the whole way through, then you deserve a cookie. This is the story about the birth of my son. You have been warned.

I went to my final doctor's appointment on Tuesday, 8/9/11 at 2:00pm. As usual, I was asked to pee into a cup and have one final weigh in. The nurse started the appointment by asking the typical "how are you feeling" questions and then taking my blood pressure. The nurse then told me that my blood pressure was a little high. The OB came in shortly after and confirmed what the nurse said about the high blood pressure, She then asked me if I wanted a stretch & membrane sweep as a last ditch effort bring on labor. I had her proceed with the sweep and although a little uncomfortable (much like an exam), it wasn't painful. I didn't make much progress since last week. I was just over 2cm dilated and 80% effaced and baby Charron was at the zero station. She measured my belly, which measured right on, then sent the nurse in back in for a second blood pressure check. My blood pressure was still high, even after the additional check so the OB told me that she needed to send me over to the hospital to be monitored and possibly induced.

Glen was still at work and my emotions were running high. I was thinking, "is this really happening? am I really possibly having a baby tonight?". I immediately called my friend Jen and asked her if she would mind taking me to the hospital and waiting with me there until Glen could get there. She eagerly drove right over and picked me up and we headed to the hospital. I remember feeling overwhelmed with emotion and grilling her for answers to my many, many questions about labor and delivery.  Finally, we arrived at the hospital, parked in the ER parking lot and walked to Labor & Delivery. Jen is an ER nurse and was teasing me about bringing me up to the third floor via wheel chair. We finally arrived and I was showed into my room. Jen stayed with me until Glen arrived, which was really nice because it helped me feel more at ease. Meanwhile, I made a call to my Mom letting her know that I may possibly be induced so that she cold come down to the house to watch the animals while we stayed at the hospital.

Jen took this right before we were leaving for the hospital 

 

Let's get this party started!

The nurse that I had seemed a bit cold. Actually her assistant was much more involved in conversation with me and I preferred her over the nurse.  The first doctor I had came in and performed an internal exam. He confirmed that I was 2cm dilated and 80% effaced. He didn't really engage in conversation with me or even walk me through what he was doing. His bedside manor needed some serious revamping. I was hooked up to a blood pressure machine and to two monitors around my belly. The nurse game me an IV, which really hurt. I blame that on my nurse though. She didn't honestly seem like she really knew what she was doing. The Attending physician came back in and ordered monitoring and a 24 hour pee test. Basically I needed to be hooked up to monitors and pee in a plastic hat in the hospital for 24 hours. His plan was to watch me, then possibly send me home after 24 hours. I was really frustrated at this point because I didn't want to be in the hospital if I wasn't going to have a baby.

Shortly after this news, Glen showed up. The attending physicians had a shift change and I got to meet Dr. Hazzard. The name is enough to scare you, but she was actually really sweet. She came in and said that since I'm past 40 weeks and since I have a thinned out cervix, that we were going to have a baby! I could have hugged her...I was so happy. By this time (6:15) I was feeling regular contractions. The stretch & sweep must have worked. They felt like cramps. My belly didn't get hard like a Braxton Hick contraction, they just felt like regular cramps before a period. The contractions were about 4-5 minutes apart and 45 seconds to 1 minute in length. I was checked by the attending physician and I dilated to 4cm on my own (due to the sweep).

I had to pee and because my nurse lacked communication skills, I had no idea how to walk to the bathroom while hooked up to all of the monitoring equipment. So I just kind of unhooked myself and walked over. The nurse then kind of yelled at me about it like I was suppose to know not to do that.

At 7:00, I met my new nurse, Lauren. She was very sociable and you could tell that she loved her job. I was so happy that I got to work with Lauren for the next twelve hours and not the old cranky nurse.
Lauren hooked me up to Pitocin around 7:15pm. At this point my contractions were stronger and about 3 minutes apart. At about 8:00 I informed the nurse that I may want to look at getting an epidural. I first asked for some Stadol to help relax me between contractions and received it soon after. The Stadol had no effect on me. My contractions were getting stronger and stronger and I just tried to breath through the pain I can compare them to a severe UTI and the pain you get when you pee. Almost like your organs are being squeezed.

At 9:00 I asked about getting an epidural and she said that I could and that I just had to wait 1 hour because the anesthesiologists were needed in the OR. I patiently watched the clock and an hour and 5 minutes went by. At this point my contractions were getting stronger and they were harder to breathe through. The nurse came back in and told me that the anesthesiologists just went into the OR and that it would be another hour. The next hour was tough. Contractions were closer together and I could barely think or talk through them. Glen helped by holding my hand and giving me some encouragement. He also watched the monitor and told me when they were peaking and coming back down.  This really helped me clear my head and concentrate on getting through the contraction. At this time, it was time to speed up the contractions by breaking my water. I always heard that it would be a huge "gush" but honestly, it didn't feel like that at all! It was more like a light trickle and I hardly felt it.

At 11:30 the anesthesiologists came in with the epidural.  The contractions were really hard and very painful. For an epidural, you have to remain very still through the contractions. I had two strong contractions while I was having the procedure done. The epidural it self is not scary at all. It's a little pinch in the back that is over within seconds. I was told that the medicine would take approximately 20 minutes to get through my system. I was watching the clock diligently and breathing through the contractions as best as I could. 20 minutes go by. The contractions are getting stronger and stronger by this point. The anesthesiologists ask me numerous times if I'm feeling any relief. I continue to tell them that no, I feel that the pain is worse. They took ice packs up and down my body and asked me if it felt cold on my skin. I replied yes. My biggest fear was happening; the epidural didn't work. The head anesthesiologist told me that I was in that 1% of women that didn't get immediate relief. I looked at the nurse and said to her "what if it doesn't work? I'm scared" and she assured me that they would find something for me to help with the pain. On the outside I was somewhat calm but on the inside I was screaming. After 45 minutes, they tried a second epidural (12:15am). Another pinch in my back and the second epidural was in. I was asked ten minutes later if I was feeling relief and I was. The contractions were not as strong, but I could still feel some pain. I felt my entire left side numbing although I could still curl my toes, move my legs and lift up my entire butt of of the table. The right side was still unaffected by the medication and I could feel the contractions. The nurse helped tip me on my side and then I felt the medication move to the right. I still had pain and the nurse referred to it as "windows" meaning that my body left little windows open and most likely I will not get pain relief in those areas. I was ok with that because the pain was manageable. At 1:00am, I was feeling pretty good. Again, I had some pain "windows" and I could move my entire bottom half of my body, but the pain in my belly had mostly dissipated. 

Around 3am, I felt some pressure. This sounds pretty disgusting, but the pressure I felt was in the back-almost like I had to poop. The nurse assured me that the pressure I was feeling was normal and that the baby is probably moving down into the birthing canal. At 4am I was feeling a lot of pressure. This time it was that feeling of "I have to poop NOW". Again, I know it's disgusting but that's exactly how it felt. The nurse checked me and I was 9 cm dilated and 100% effaced. The nurse told me that the attending physician would check me in two hours and that a baby was being delivered down the hall.  5 minutes go by and I tell the nurse that I have so much pressure and that I feel like I have to push. She assured me that this was completely normal and I should just breath through the pressure. 5 more minutes go by and the nurse takes one look at me and runs over to get the attending physician. Dr. Hazzard comes in within minutes and checks me and confirms that we are going to have this baby now and that I had to start pushing.

I was so scared. This was the moment that I've been waiting for and dreading at the same time. I was so, so scared to push. I started crying uncontrollably and breathing heavy. The attending told me that I could do this and that the baby is ready so I had to get it together. She helped me calm down by coaching me through long slow breaths. With each contraction, I was to push 3 times for ten seconds. the nurse and Glen were holding my legs back by my head and the doctor was sitting at the bottom of the bed coaching me through the contractions. I pushed through 3 contractions as hard as I could. At the third contraction the baby's head was out. I looked down and saw his head and pushed through one final contraction and he was completely out. The pushing felt great and it wasn't painful at all. It was empowering. They bought him up and laid him on my chest. I was in complete disbelief. I can't believe I was holding my son. I feel like I waited for this very moment my entire life and it was really happening after all this time. As I write this, I'm tearing up a little. It was such a beautiful memory.

Glen cut the umbilical chord and after a minute or two, my son was taken over to the warming table and scale. Glen went over there with him and had tears running down his cheeks; he was so proud and so in love with our son. Amazingly, I wasn't crying. I was very excited and just watched in awe. Glen took some photos of the baby on warming table and scale. Then Glen got to give our son his first bath and hold him. Glen just stared at his son; it was precious.

Baby on the scale

 

Just a few minutes old

Meanwhile I was on the table while the doctor was delivering he placenta. She put some pressure on my belly and it came right out. I remember saying "that wasn't so cute" and then jokingly asked "what the damage was". The doctor took a look and said that it was just a small skid mark and that I would need one small stitch. She was also very impressed on how well I did as a first time mom with the pushing. All in all, it was just under 20 minutes of pushing and he was in the world. I had minimal damage "down there" and actually felt great! I got to hold him in my arms soon after and it was absolutely surreal.

I then breastfed the baby a little bit and to my surprised he latched right on. I was amazed on how well he latched. I consider myself very lucky because this doesn't happen to a lot of women this soon after delivery. Within 1 hour after birth, I jumped out of bed and sprinted to the bathroom. I had to pee so bad! The doctor stared at me in total disbelief because my legs were suppose to be numb. I wasn't scared to pee although it did sting a little. I was feeling really good at this point. I then took a quick little shower/rinse and crawled right back into bed and held my son.

Glen and I had not yet named the baby so we thought it was a good time to do so. We looked at him and ran through our list of names, one by one. Then one name came up and we agreed that it was his name. So, we both said it out loud and officially welcomed our son, Wyatt Blaise Charron, into the world.

Wyatt Blaise Charron born on August 10th, 2011 at 4:27am weighing 7 pounds, 5.3 ounces. Dark hair, ten fingers, ten toes, perfect face with a small button nose. He is the love of my life.

Glen holding Wyatt

 

Me holding Wyatt

The entire experience was wonderful and even looking back immediately after birth I remember thinking "well, that wasn't bad at all!" It's so funny how you soon forget about the pain. Everyone tells you this, but it's hard to believe until you've been through it. I promise, that what "they" say is true.

I remember loving Wyatt before I met him in person, but I had no idea that my love would be this strong. I always said how much I loved him but the feeling of love you get when you meet your child for the first time is absolutely indescribable. It was instant and I knew that I would do anything, ANYTHING for him. I'm a Mother of a beautiful baby boy and he is my world.

 

Forty

I’m 40 weeks pregnant….now what? Not to my surprise, I didn’t go into labor on my due date (August 4, 2011). But that’s ok! I really, really wanted to make it to 40 weeks and I really wanted an August baby.

This is my very last entry as a Mom-to-be. My next entry will be my first as a Mom and will include Baby Charron’s birth story and name reveal. Just for the record, we still don’t have a name for him, so it’ll be as much of a surprise to us as it is everyone else.

I’m currently in the pre-labor stages of my pregnancy. The baby has dropped some and I lost my operculum. It’s a plug that fills and seals the cervical canal during pregnancy and is typically lost after your cervix starts to dilate, although not always. Labor is imminent, but the big question is WHEN? Another change that I’m noticing is increased activity where the baby’s head is. The baby’s head is resting low and irritating the cervix a little bit; it feels like a scratching and isn’t exactly comfortable.

This week I asked friends to participate in a baby poll. I wanted to know what they thought the baby would weigh and when I would deliver him. I had mixed responses from 7 to 8.5 pounds and delivery dates from August 3^rd through August 11^th. It’s fun,  encouraging and a nice little reminder that I Glen and I have a lot of love and support in our lives.

Here is my advice to any pregnant woman, especially if this is your first pregnancy:

• When you first find out that you are pregnant, take a few minutes to yourself to reflect on your journey, how you got here, and how your life just changed forever. Also, it’s recommended to think about how you’re going to share the news to your significant other as it will be a special memory for him. I don’t recommend flying out of the bathroom in hysterics shaking your positive pregnancy test in his face.

• Share your news with the world when you’re ready. Don’t feel pressured to share your news right away, only if you want to. It’s ok to take a few days or even weeks to share. It’s also ok to share right away if your excited, but don’t be pressured by society on “when” you should share. This is your moment!

• You’re probably going to have some rough times in pregnancy with morning sickness, heartburn, fatigue, backache, dizziness, soreness…need I go on? What got me through is knowing that these things happen for a reason. I’m caring for a small baby and my body isn’t always going to respond well. Sure, it was hard in the first trimester while I was vomiting every hour and in a state of constant nausea, and in the 2^nd when I thought my back was going to break into 500 little pieces, and in the third when I was diagnosed with a pelvic disorder that made it difficult to even accomplish the simplest tasks, but it’s all worth it. You’re meant to do this and as funny as it sounds, any pain or illness that happens along the way is a sign that your baby is healthy.

• Don’t watch the clock. Enjoy this time because you may only get to experience it a few times in your life (if any more at all). Being pregnant is so special and amazing. I know you want to meet your baby, but try to take this time and focus on being pregnant. You are probably more beautiful now than you may ever be. Also, this is a great time to share with your significant other. Make sure you take time for you as a couple and really soak in those last few months of you-time!

• Try to make the right eating decisions for your baby, but also remember to have fun! It’s ok to give into your cravings. I remember when I had to have a big steak drenched in sour cream for dinner one night, and how I easily went through several watermelons and jars of pickles. I tried to make good decisions for the most part, but I didn’t feel guilty when I ate a chocolate sprinkled donut or had an extra cupcake. This is the only time that you can make excuses for eating whatever you want, so take advantage of it and have fun. Also, don’t dwell on what you can’t have, think about what you CAN have! At times, I would have loved to drink a glass of wine or eat raw sushi! But, I resisted for the good of the baby. With some creativity I was able to make awesome non-alcoholic spritzers and I got to try an arrangement of cooked and safe sushi rolls that I may have not tried otherwise. This is also a great time to try out some fun, new recipes!

• Sometimes you’re going to feel removed or anti-social. Even other pregnant women don’t know exactly what you’re going through because every pregnancy is so different. Just remember that you do have support and caring people around you that you can talk to. Try not to remove yourself completely. It may take some extra effort at times, but make sure to spend good, quality time with your family and friends. After the baby arrives, you may not have as many opportunities, so take advantage of them now. So many times I felt that I was all alone, I’d go to parties and feel restricted, and sometimes I just didn’t want to be around people at all. It’s ok to feel this way sometimes, but don’t let it drag you into a depression. People don’t always understand, even your husband, but they love you and care about you, so don’t push them away and don’t shut them out.

• People love to give you opinions and they love to judge you. You will be judged on what you’re eating, drinking, or doing at any possible moment. You’ll be judged for not baring a wedding ring on your ring finger or for wearing a cute outfit (because you know, us pregnant women should look frumpy like we just stepped into a sack). And my absolute favorite; you’ll be judged on your baby decisions and gift registry. People just LOVE to give you unwanted opinions about what you are choosing to do for your baby or what you’re buying for your baby. Some mothers may swear that you need a wipe warmer and judge you when you don’t add it to your registry. I feel like we were often judged when we spoke about cloth diapering our baby. We did a lot of research and decided to try cloth diapering to save money. Most people will love to tell you how difficult it is, and they will love to remind you about the constant laundry and poop that you will have to clean. This is your pregnancy, and this is your baby Whatever decisions you make will be the best ones for your child and it’s going to be a learning experience regardless of what you decide. Do your own research, read reviews and even ask around, but in the end, make the best decision for you and your family and try not to let those negative comments influence you.

• Don’t make excuses, but don’t over exert yourself either. Before I fell pregnant, I was under the impression that pregnancy was going to be dreadful. Not often do people talk about the positives of pregnancy; they like to dwell on the negatives. For instance, before I became pregnant, I thought that pregnant woman should not carry anything or stay active or even work. So many pregnant woman would talk about how tired they are and how challenging life is and many would make excuses to be couch-bound for 9 months while eating bon-bons. It was like they used pregnancy as a temporary “get out of jail free card”. I tried to stay active throughout my pregnancy and it actually made me feel really good! Even last night, at nearly 40 weeks into my pregnancy, I helped assemble our new tv stand, made dinner, did a load of laundry and vacuumed the entire house. Staying active will prepare you for labor and will help you recover faster after the birth of your child. Remember though that your body does have some limitations. Please don’t try to pick up a 50 pound box or spend 8 hours straight on your feet. And every now and then, enjoy some couch time with your bon-bons!

• You’re going to get a lot of questions throughout our pregnancy and after a while, it becomes quit repetitive. It’s exciting at first because it’s so new, but after a few hundred times of being asked “do you know what you’re having” you might want to pound your head into the wall. Just try to remember that people are excited for you, and that’s why they are asking. If they didn’t care, they wouldn’t ask! I don’t know how many times people have said to me “Are you excited”. As frustrating as it can be at times to hear that same question over and over again, try not to act annoyed. Of course you really want to say in a sarcastic way, “nope, I’m not excited at all, actually I’m quite depressed and miserable…..OF COURSE I’M EXCITED YOU IDIOT!!!????” But I find that just smiling and saying “yes” is a much more appropriate and remember that people are just trying to relate to you and that they are excited for you!

• I’m going to say it again, stay positive! I heard horror story after horror story of pregnancy, labor and birth. Try to shut those negative thoughts out and focus on the positives. People are often going to say things like “after the baby comes, you’ll want to wish you never got pregnant” or “Labor is going to be awful and incredibly painful, make sure you get an epidural because you have no idea what’s coming to you”. These are just two small samples of the negative remarks that I received throughout my pregnancy. People just LOVE to tell you how awful things are going to be in labor and after the baby is here. Tell those people to shut the hell up! First of all, I can’t ever imagine regretting the decision to get pregnant or have a baby. I feel sorry for those that have resentment towards their children. Secondly, labor is going to be hard and painful, but it’s also very beautiful. You will end up with a miracle and it will be, what I can imagine, the single greatest time in your entire life.

I think that about sums it up. This has been a long and wonderful journey. I can honestly say that I really enjoyed being pregnant and I do feel that I will miss this feeling. I don’t think I’ve had it easy, but I believe that staying positive really helped get me through those rough times. I’m feeling very nostalgic this week and remembering back to when I first announced to Glen that we were going to be parents. Seeing his reaction and hearing my own words out loud is such a special memory. Then sharing the news with our family and friends and feeling that love and excitement! The experience is very surreal and I sometimes can’t believe that this is really happening. Glen and I are truly blessed. One thing we will know for sure, a week from today (or possibly less), Glen and I will be holding our newborn baby son. I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited about anything in my life. 

Thirty-nine

I’ve officially moved to the couch at nights and I’ve gone from not sleeping at all to sleeping for a few hours. I’m really uncomfortable and finding it hard to get into any comfortable position. I’m not allowed to lay on my back and I can’t lay on my belly, so I’m forced to pick a side. The problem with picking a side, is that if I lay on my left (the desired side) the baby kicks into the couch all night and it’s extremely uncomfortable, not to mention that I feel like I’m squishing him. I can lay on my left, but then my face is buried into the couch and it’s kind of awkward. So, I’ve started laying sort-of on my left/sort-of on my back in the “crook” of the couch. This is accompanied by a plethora of pillows, blankets and of course, Anakin. Not only am I uncomfortable, which is making it difficult to sleep, my brain is also on overload and racing thoughts are preventing me from getting any rest. Lately I’ve been spending hours reading the baby boards, researching cloth diapers, looking at baby names, thinking about photography props and packing (and re-packing) my hospital bags in my head. Then, when I do finally fall asleep, I find myself dreaming about breastfeeding cats.

 

This week Glen turned 27 on the 28^th, which coincidentally, was the birth date of my new niece, Evelyn. Forever Glen and Evelyn will share a Birthday. Glen and I made dinner at home and I got a small cake for us to share. I gave Glen his Birthday gifts which was a nice pair of slippers and a “baby manual” which is an amusing book that’s written like a car manual. He thought it was hilarious and he could easily relate to how it was written. I also gave him this adorable Dad-to-be card (that I actually bought over a YEAR ago and what I had planned to give to him when I found out I was pregnant). 

 

 

 

Over the weekend, I went into Nesting overdrive. Here is what I got accomplished: Cleaned the kitchen, went shopping for a TV stand, Did 4 loads of laundry/folded/put away, vacuumed house, scrubbed hard wood floors, vacuumed new basement carpet, removed remodeling tools and trash from the basement, filled up our giant hutch with books & DVD’s, scrubbed fireplace and window sills in basement, assembled pack n play and bouncer, moved baby items to nice clean basement, cleaned out bedroom junk drawer, made homemade strawberry lemonade and baked a peach/blackberry pie from scratch. The house looks nice and the basement remodel is progressing nicely. 

 

My pie

 

 

 Basement Progress

 

I tried many “Old Wives Tales” over the weekend to help bring on labor, and it didn’t do much at all. I had spicy Thai curry, Pineapple, stayed really active, and took a hot bath. This morning I had my weekly doctor’s appointment and I did make some progress from the previous week, but it was very little. My cervix is currently dilated to 2 centimeters (it was stretched by the doctor to 2 cm, and it was slightly painful/uncomfortable accompanied by some cramping), and I’m 75% effaced, which simply means that my cervix is softening and preparing for labor. So, when can I expect this little one? Well, that’s still completely up in the air! Really it could be any day now, but from this morning’s progress report, it seems likely that I will go past my due date. As of now, I have an induction scheduled for 8/11/2011 at the Penn State Hershey Medical Center. So, I will either go into labor before or on this date. Either way, in less than 2 weeks from today, I’ll be a Mother to a beautiful baby boy!

 

 

Thirty-Eight

With every day that passes by, I’m one day closer to meeting my son. I’m getting really anxious. Even though I want him to wait to make his appearance until August, I find myself hoping that TODAY will be the day. Then of course, that day passes and I’m still here…as pregnant as ever. The heat wave isn’t helping matters much either.

I don’t have a whole lot to report on this week. I had a pretty nice weekend of being pampered; I had my hair highlighted along with a manicure and pedicure. I’m going to miss my beautiful pregnancy nails! Glen and I went on a date this weekend. Kind of a last “Hurrah” before the baby comes. We went to Chalits, a local Thai restaurant for dinner and then to the movies where I pigged out on candy.

Monday I had my 38 week appointment (which takes place at 38 weeks and 5 days). The OB confirmed what I had thought, that the baby’s head is very low into my pelvis, thus the pelvic pressure and pain. She also took measurements and because I was measuring at 36 weeks, ordered a second growth Ultra Sound. The OB didn’t check me internally, so I have no idea is I’m making progress, but I’ll find out soon enough. 

My growth ultrasound was the following afternoon, July 26^th, one day shy of 39 weeks. The technician said that the baby was measuring just fine and estimated that he’s about 7 pounds right now. Of course, that is an estimate and maybe skewed one way or another by 1 pound. However, I feel like that’s pretty spot on. She was able to get a few 3D pictures, but honestly, I’m not crazy about sharing them on my blog. The baby’s head is so low and he’s so squished in there that he hardly looks like a baby at all. More like a mutant pig from outer space.

My next appointment is on Monday August 1^st. I will have an internal check at this appointment and I may find out a little more about the baby’s progress and possibly when about I’ll be delivering. This is my last scheduled appointment. My OB discussed the possibility of induction if I don’t go into natural labor by August 10^th. Hershey doesn’t allow you to go too far past your due date without an induction. So, with that being said, my last day of work will be Tuesday August 9^th if I don’t go into labor before then.

Glen and I finished up the nursery this weekend and I thought I’d share some of the pictures. Enjoy!