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Monday, April 9, 2012
The Labor/Delivery Story of Ethan!
Once again, I almost went MIA! :) But I'm glad I have a little time to share my labor and delivery story. It was such a journey.. I was full term (40 weeks & 1 day) when I went in for my induction. Man, oh, man.. NEVER EVER will I ever get induced again (unless there are actual health reasons).
I had an overall smooth pregnancy since he was FULL term, it was okay for him to come out. But even though they help you induce your labor, baby will still only come when he wants to.. So basically, you'll be in pain and contracting and waiting. At least when your water breaks or you start contracting on your own, your baby is telling you they want out, so most likely they'll be coming very soon. I was in active labor for 2 days and INTENSE pushing for 2 hours straight. It was thee worst pain ever! And the pain didn't stop even when he came out. Here, let's make it easier and I'll just break it down..
The day of the induction..
The hospital had told me not to eat anything 1 1/2 hour before I went in, so babe and I went to Buffalo Wild Wings for the first time earlier that day. I took a nap at home until I had to check myself in around 4pm. The nurse had told me if I wanted to eat, I'd better eat asap because I could only take the meds an hour after I eat and I won't be able to eat again until baby is out. I honestly thought everything was going to move along fast.. NOPE. I took the meds and fluids to help me dilate and contract, but my body was taking forever to do both those things. I chose 3 people to be in the delivery room with me: babe, my mom, and my best friend (known this girl for 15 years and I was in the room for the birth if my godson!).
I walked around the hospital so many times and eventually after some hours, I felt a little pain. I was stupid and believed that little pain was my contractions. Boy.. I had no idea what FULL on contractions until I REALLY felt it. I wanted to die!!! They were really strong and so close together, but I was only dilated 3cm, so they did what they could to slow it down.
The next day..
A day later and still no baby, but of course, I was still contracting and VERY slowly dilating. I was STARVINGGGG too!!! No food since the day before and I still wasn't allowed to eat until baby got here. Man, oh, man.. Everyone was hungry and babe stopped by and picked up Taco Bell for everyone. I don't know what he was thinking getting 20+ tacos just for the 3 of them! HAHA! Of course, I couldn't eat it. I just glared at all of them while they stuffed their pretty little faces. Sighh.. Aren't they evil? Hehee..
The contractions got REALLY bad at this point. I was in the worst pain ever! And I was still only dilated at 4 cm! 24 hours have passed and I only dilated 1 cm.. I could see on the monitor (and feel) how bad my contractions were. I needed an epidural. I was contracting full out and it looked like baby wasn't going to come anytime soon. I was scared because I've heard from a few moms how bad the needle hurts, but honestly, I felt a little pinch and that was it. It wasn't bad at all!
After about 15 minutes it started kicking in, but it was only working on my left side. I could still feel EVERY little pain on my whole right side. They told me it happens and tilted me so it can get to my other side as well. It took a while, but eventually I was numb all down. I could see I was contracting on the monitor, but I felt nothing. It was a really nice break from all that excruciating pain I had felt earlier. Since I got my epidural early, if I felt anything coming on, I could press a button every 10 minutes that would release some type of pain killer in my back (if I needed it).. BUT I ended up falling asleep for hours and it must have been wearing off because I woke up to a cramping pain again. They gave me shot and it was feeling better.
Day 2 (of active labor)..
I finally dilated 10cm! Good news is that it's time to push and bring my little man out! Bad news is that the epidural freaking wore off!!! Of course at this point it's too late to get any more type of pain medication. It was around 1am and I had to push:
- ..with no epidural (& feeling EVERYTHING),
- ..no energy from lack of food (been two days since my last meal at this point),
- & 7 people in the delivery room (felt like I couldn't breathe)!
Anyways, I was in ACTIVE labor for 2 days overall and it took 2 hours of pushing until he finally came out. It was the WORST 2 hours of my life! I threw up a couple times during the pushing and I really felt like I couldn't breathe. They gave me an oxygen mask, but weirdly, it felt like it was suffocating me even more.
I honestly thought my delivery would be like my girlfriend's. It took 15 of pushing to get her boy out and she felt nothing! Lucky girl.. Poor hubs.. I was soo mean to him! My labor was just like in the movies. A LOT of excruciating screams. Later I was told that the reason I may have been a little crazy is because one of the medications they gave me can make you feel claustrophobic and nutty. Thank goodness it wasn't just me being a wack job. It was the MEDSS!
You know in the movies, after the women have their babies, they feel fine and happy? Well, different story here. So, keep in mind, my epidural wore off so I felt:
- ..the after-birth cramping (felt just like contractions),
- ..the pushing of getting the rest of the placenta out,
- & the STITCHING of your precious area (yup, I tore..)!!!
AHHHH!!!! But he was finally here!!!! He is so beautiful, right?! Although, he did have the "cone-head" at first which made his head look alien-esque, but it's perfectly normal and round now. I remember that's the first thing I asked the doctor when he popped out, "Is his head going to stay that way?!" HAHA, I was getting upset with myself because I didn't push him out fast enough.
Ethan Taeyang
21inches & 8lbs 10oz
Finally getting to hold him!
Hubs with his mini-me!
He was already smiling & laughing!
He's finally home!!!
Would I consider having another one? Uhh.. Well, my initial answer was "NO!" for the first month, but watching this little man grow and because of how much I love him, I actually would! Maybe not anytime soon, but it would be nice to make him a little brother or sister to play with so he doesn't grow up lonely and spoiled. Maybe in 2 years, I'll think about it.
But one thing I do know for sure, NEVER will I do an induction again (unless there are health-risk reasons). I realize, they'll come when they're ready to come. Not only do you have to play the annoying waiting game, but you'll be in pain a lot sooner and longer than if you waited naturally. If you decide to go with epidural, try to wait it out as long as you can. Getting it too soon gives you a higher chance of it wearing off if you're taking too long to dilate. I learned that the hard way. -__- Even so, I'd much rather do it this way than having a c-section. I hear it's an even more painful recovery!
AFTER: MY BODY..
It's never ending! I swelled up. Not just my feet, but my body. I was wondering why generally women look plumper literally right AFTER they have their baby and found out it's because you're sharing certain fluids with baby, and when they are out, you are retaining all that fluid by yourself. Boy, oh boy.. My FEET swelled up so big!!!
Covered my unpainted, nasty, crusty looking toes to you don't go blind!
The swelling took forever to go down. Probably because I was always on my feet trying to get stuff done. It hurt to even walk on these bad boys. Swollen feet, extreme back pains, painfully healing "lady parts", and intense cramping (from nursing).. You can only imagine how overwhelmed and exhausted I felt taking care of a newborn on top of all this discomfort!
Oh and what sucks is that even though the swelling in my feet ha gone all the way down by this point, I feet actually did grow a size up.. ): *SAD BEAR* I looked it up and it says during pregnancy, the ligaments in your feet can expand and it's permanent. OMG. All my nice shoes (even the ones I never got to wear) don't fit anymore! I'm irritated! I'll just have to find them nice homes.. Hmm blog sale?!
All in all, even though I had a rough before, during, and after experience, it was ALL worth it. I love my little boy so much! He makes me incredibly happy. I honestly cannot imagine life without him anymore! :D
Some random shots of him over
the course of two months:
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