My Nicolas Emil is here!
He was born November 28, 2018 at 7:50pm, weighing 7 pounds; 2 ounces, 19 3/4 inches long. A seven-hour labor and by far, most painful birth.
Before I was discharged Monday, I talked with Dr. W about an induction since I was having pain from my UTI and would be full term by then. He had me keep my appointment for Wednesday in order to see if I dilated any further and we'd go from there. I was at 4cm Wednesday morning, so he admitted me to the hospital to have my water broken.
I checked into the hospital around 10am, undressed and had my cervix checked, then was hooked up to a baby monitor, as well as a fluid IV. I was told I couldn't eat anything until the baby came, so I was to just stay put and wait for Dr. W to break my water. Around 1pm, Dr. W came and broke my water bag. I sat on a towel and tried to stay comfortable. I was told by Dr. W that I could walk around or take a shower or whatnot after my bag broke so I could get comfortable. However, after he left, I told the nurse I'd like to walk around, the nurse in charge of "taking care of" me refused my request to walk around because "Nurses get the last say since we're the ones taking care of the patients". So, I was confined to my bed until 5pm when I begged another nurse to let me up because my back was killing me and my contractions that started around 1:30pm had been only 5 minutes apart this entire time without progressing. My nurse checked my cervix and claimed I was only at 3cm, but she finally (and resentfully) allowed me to walk around. Dr. W came to check on me and was not happy that the nurse checked me again and advised me to refuse further cervical checks. Once I was up and moving, my contractions jumped from 5 minutes apart to 2 minutes apart and were on the intense I-have-to-crawl-across-the-floor side. I had spoken with my nurse that I did not want to give birth while on my back and would prefer to be up on my knees or all fours, to which she said she had never heard of such things, but I could only do so if Dr. W was comfortable with it. I was glad she was off her shift by 7pm. I liked my next nurse SO much better.
Around 7pm, I was dilated to a 6/7 and had managed to find a comfortable position on my knees, though the pain was extreme in my hips, lower back, and pelvis to where I was overcome with waves of nausea every time a contraction hit me. By 7:40, I was rethinking why I wanted to go natural again, that Elias' birth didn't hurt NEARLY this much and OMG I just wanted to get this baby out of me. Dr. W came and checked my cervix and couldn't feel it, so he said I could start pushing when I was ready, that he'd be right back after he delivered next door patient's baby, and to give him 5 minutes if possible.
I moaned through contractions that felt hours long and panted through my breaks, trying to bear down and push this little person from my body and remember to breathe, which proved so difficult by how much pain I was in. Zac had to press on my lower back as hard as he could to offset my pelvic pain. After maybe the 10th push, I felt every part of my insides burn like fire to where I was actually yelling to get through the contractions and pushing. I put my hand beneath me because the nurses were setting up the warming bed and getting things together while Dr. W was a room over. I could feel a head, and made myself push with everything I had, including an unpredictable scream of pain, and Cole came slipping out in a warm gush of relief. I heard the nurses calling "Dr. W! Dr. W!" and scrambling around trying to get the baby wrapped up. He plopped out from me onto the mattress like a baby giraffe. Dr. W hurried in and helped me turn around so they could put Cole on my chest. He cried a little bit, but was quiet once he was warmed up. I passed the placenta, Zac cut the cord, and I didn't need any stitches. A thought crossed my mind that had I been able to get up sooner, I wouldn't have had to labor so long and maybe the birth wouldn't have been so painful. Fortunately for the nurse, I wasn't able to collect any of her hair, so no voodoo doll vengeance.
I was able to shower since I didn't have an epidural, Zac went and got me Wendy's and Popeye's since I was beyond starving, and then we were moved to a recovery room on the other end of the hospital floor. The bed was more comfortable, which was nice. However, my IV had to be left in, just in case, so it was hard trying to get comfortable without snagging it on my many hospital bands.
Last night, Mom brought my kiddos to see me and meet their baby brother. Elias had happy tears and was so excited to see Cole. He kept saying "Nikwiss is out of your tummy now!" Jac and Leah took turns holding him and my heart exploded. It's surreal to have one more little person in our family, but I'm just over the moon in love. I was enjoying the moment, but Elias slipped and hit his head on the floor and started crying, then Cole started crying because he was hungry, so Elias thought Cole was trying to scare him or yell at him, but once the chaos died down, everything was okay again. I reassured Elias that he helped Mama by getting Cole happy again. He said "I'm glad I helped you because I love you!" and then I melted into a puddle.
Zac and I spent this afternoon relaxing for a bit between visits from nurses and signing paperwork. I caught up on some sleep, watched Friends and snuggled my smallest before we were discharged to go home. I'm going to enjoy sleeping laying in my own bed tonight.
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