"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.
