Landon - Born 12-28-09 - 5 lbs 15 ounces - 18.8 inches
It all started at 3:00 am on Sunday, December 27th. I was 37 weeks and 3 days pregnant. I lost my mucus plug and it was covered in blood. I knew this was a beginning sign of labor, but it really doesn’t mean you will have the baby that day- just sometime soon…you could have hours, days or even weeks before delivery. I couldn’t sleep so I just paced around the house and tried to get comfortable in the TV room, but I never could. I started feeling cramping pains, but they were very light. I continued to bleed, but I didn’t worry since the blood wasn’t bright red and I knew that it was a normal part of the early stages of labor. By 5:00 am I just did not feel right and I was pretty sure that I had felt some sporadic contractions. So, I woke Matt up and told him. I took a warm bath and waited to see what would happen. Would the contractions pick up? Or would they just stop - signaling a false labor. Little did we know at this time that many hours later we would still be wondering the same thing. Matt grabbed his stop watch and a notepad and I tried to let him know when I thought I felt a contraction. It wasn’t super easy for me to tell. My belly was already very painful and full of baby, so it was hard and that made it almost impossible to tell when the first faint contractions were starting and stopping, But, we tried, kinda figuring it would just fade out like it did with Braxton Hicks. We spent the entire day in bed. I was all over the place- laying on the workout ball, on my side, on my hands and knees, in the bath tub, leaning against walls- basically just toughing out the pain in any position that helped! Matt massaged me, kept me fed and we just kept on trying to determine where I was at contraction wise. The contractions started out 30 minutes apart and all over the place in length. They actually never got regular at all. There just came a time (7:30 pm) when it was easier to tell that they were getting longer, stronger and closer together…this is when I started contemplating going to the hospital. I just didn’t want to go in and then be observed, just to be sent home (in the freezing cold)…to be told that I wasn‘t really in labor! We had been wondering how the baby was doing through it all and figured it was better to be safe than sorry, so we made a final decision to go in and see what was going on. I have heard so many stories of women who thought they were in labor - only to be sent home and not even have actual labor for weeks. At the time that we left for the hospital my contractions (by our very unsure calculations) were about 7 minutes apart…I had always said I wouldn’t go until they were 5 minutes apart, but it had been a long day and we just needed to know. It’s not like we were going to sleep anyways! When I stood up one last time to leave, my body started to shake like crazy
and I felt extremely nauseous - this was a good sign.
The ride to the hospital wasn’t bad…I only had one contraction. We parked across the street and I walked all the way across the sidewalk and inside, up the elevator to Labor and Delivery. That was a freezing cold, painful walk if I ever had one and it made me more sure that I was doing the right thing by going to get checked. We walked up to the desk in labor and delivery and a nurse named Mary asked how she could help us. I said, “Um, I think I am in labor. I lost my mucus plug and I have been having contractions.” She said, “OK then come back to the observation room and we will take a look.” So we went back and I changed in to a gown. I laid on the bed she put a monitor on my belly to check for contractions and baby’s heart rate. Matt and I were just looking at each other like, “Is this really happening?” I was glad to see on the monitor that my contractions were real and they were even more regular than we had realized. They were nearly 3 minutes apart. I guess when you’re in pain all over that timing a contraction can be hard to determine. We could also see that the baby’s heartbeat was good and staying that way. In other words, he did not appear to be in distress after an entire day of me laboring at home with him in my belly! Next, the nurse checked me for dilation. I was hoping to at least be something…a 2 or 3 would have been reassuring. Nope, I was dilated to a 5! She said you are at a 5...you are halfway there! This was at around 8:00 pm. We determined that I did want an epidural. So, they wheel chaired me back to a room and we got things going. It was surreal. Matt and I weren’t expecting this for a couple of weeks. The anesthesiologist came in and they had Matt sit in front of me while I leaned forward hugging a pillow. I was really unsure about ever getting an epi. I know that I have a high pain tolerance, but never being through labor before and being such a small woman (a hipless woman) I determined that it was better to be safe than sorry…partially for the sake of the baby, partially for me and partially for Matt- who can not stand the thought of me being in pain. My main fear in regard to the epidural was that it had the potential to slow down my labor, but I had been told that if you get it at 5 centimeters it will not alter your labor and the anesthesiologist confirmed this thought. So, I was hugging the pillow and he just stuck some topical stuff on my back and then inserted the epi in to my back. It wasn’t painful- it felt like getting a shot in the roof of your mouth at the dentist. Not a pleasant feeling, but not intolerable. The epidural did not make me completely numb. I could still feel my legs, I could still feel pressure, I could not feel severe pain though. This was really it…we were really doing this! Matt was instantly nervous when this all started, but I think that he felt much better once the epidural kicked in and he could see that it had worked and I was feeling better. I went in to a different world at this point. Next, the doctor came in and broke my water. My water came out like Niagra Falls. They said the average person would lose 2 liters and I lost over 3 liters…it went all the way up my back and soaked everything. Matt and I just hung out in the room and the nurses checked in on us from time to time. At about 10:00 pm my mom, dad and sister all showed up. Matt’s parents are old pros at the grandbaby thing, so they waited it out at home. We all just hung out in the room. I was feeling ok- just throwing up from time to time as labor progressed. The nurse would come in periodically and check my dilation. I stayed at a 9 and a half from 1:30 am to 4:30 am…before that I had been progressing really well. There was just something about that 9 and a half that my body didn’t want to go past. Contractions seemed to ease up for some reason. But, at 4:30 I hit a 10 and began to push. Even though I had an epidural I still felt pressure to push.. In the beginning it was much less pressure, but as the epidural wore off I felt the exact time to push and I could feel all of my contractions which was helpful in trying to get the baby out. It was only the three of us in the room and the doctor would very rarely come in and check on us. It was actually pretty peaceful and I had high hopes in just pushing the baby out soon. The nurse predicted an hour and half of pushing since I was pushing well and my body was working so perfectly., but that was before she noticed my mis-formed bone. We hit a standstill. At one point the nurse mentioned the word C-section. I asked if it was possible that I would need one and she said that it was. This put me in to an internal panic since I did not want a C-section. I had made it so far- a C-section would be heartbreaking at this point. Needless to say, I was informed that the baby was having a hard time getting by my pubic bone. Most people’s pubic bone is curved up so the baby’s head has a much easier time getting through. My pubic bone is narrow and it is more strait across to dipped in the center. I moved from side to side pushing through contractions. Matt held one leg up and the nurse held the other. We tried every position to try to get him through,, but he wasn’t able to- no matter how hard any of us tried. At the time I didn’t know exactly what was going on…I didn’t know the shape of my bone or why the baby could not come out. I just knew that he didn’t seem to be going anywhere. The baby moved in all different positions trying to get through and I pushed like a maniac for 4 hours. That made it 8:30 am. Over 29 hours had passed since my first contractions in the early morning hours the day before. The doctor came in to the room and this is when the nightmare began. Emergency C-section time. No choice. They had already let me push too long…far too long. I broke down and cried. All of those hours…for this. The doctor said that I should be glad that I had the possibility of a C-section since if one wasn’t available me and baby would have just died. That didn’t make me feel a lot better at the time, since I had never had surgery before I thought there was another big possibility of something going wrong there too. They told me I had about an hour before surgery and they left Matt and I alone for a while- and we cried together. We were worried about the baby, about me having surgery and we were upset that we had spent so much time and energy to end up with this result. Shortly after they left they came back and got me prepped and wheeled me in to the Operating Room.
The ride to the hospital wasn’t bad…I only had one contraction. We parked across the street and I walked all the way across the sidewalk and inside, up the elevator to Labor and Delivery. That was a freezing cold, painful walk if I ever had one and it made me more sure that I was doing the right thing by going to get checked. We walked up to the desk in labor and delivery and a nurse named Mary asked how she could help us. I said, “Um, I think I am in labor. I lost my mucus plug and I have been having contractions.” She said, “OK then come back to the observation room and we will take a look.” So we went back and I changed in to a gown. I laid on the bed she put a monitor on my belly to check for contractions and baby’s heart rate. Matt and I were just looking at each other like, “Is this really happening?” I was glad to see on the monitor that my contractions were real and they were even more regular than we had realized. They were nearly 3 minutes apart. I guess when you’re in pain all over that timing a contraction can be hard to determine. We could also see that the baby’s heartbeat was good and staying that way. In other words, he did not appear to be in distress after an entire day of me laboring at home with him in my belly! Next, the nurse checked me for dilation. I was hoping to at least be something…a 2 or 3 would have been reassuring. Nope, I was dilated to a 5! She said you are at a 5...you are halfway there! This was at around 8:00 pm. We determined that I did want an epidural. So, they wheel chaired me back to a room and we got things going. It was surreal. Matt and I weren’t expecting this for a couple of weeks. The anesthesiologist came in and they had Matt sit in front of me while I leaned forward hugging a pillow. I was really unsure about ever getting an epi. I know that I have a high pain tolerance, but never being through labor before and being such a small woman (a hipless woman) I determined that it was better to be safe than sorry…partially for the sake of the baby, partially for me and partially for Matt- who can not stand the thought of me being in pain. My main fear in regard to the epidural was that it had the potential to slow down my labor, but I had been told that if you get it at 5 centimeters it will not alter your labor and the anesthesiologist confirmed this thought. So, I was hugging the pillow and he just stuck some topical stuff on my back and then inserted the epi in to my back. It wasn’t painful- it felt like getting a shot in the roof of your mouth at the dentist. Not a pleasant feeling, but not intolerable. The epidural did not make me completely numb. I could still feel my legs, I could still feel pressure, I could not feel severe pain though. This was really it…we were really doing this! Matt was instantly nervous when this all started, but I think that he felt much better once the epidural kicked in and he could see that it had worked and I was feeling better. I went in to a different world at this point. Next, the doctor came in and broke my water. My water came out like Niagra Falls. They said the average person would lose 2 liters and I lost over 3 liters…it went all the way up my back and soaked everything. Matt and I just hung out in the room and the nurses checked in on us from time to time. At about 10:00 pm my mom, dad and sister all showed up. Matt’s parents are old pros at the grandbaby thing, so they waited it out at home. We all just hung out in the room. I was feeling ok- just throwing up from time to time as labor progressed. The nurse would come in periodically and check my dilation. I stayed at a 9 and a half from 1:30 am to 4:30 am…before that I had been progressing really well. There was just something about that 9 and a half that my body didn’t want to go past. Contractions seemed to ease up for some reason. But, at 4:30 I hit a 10 and began to push. Even though I had an epidural I still felt pressure to push.. In the beginning it was much less pressure, but as the epidural wore off I felt the exact time to push and I could feel all of my contractions which was helpful in trying to get the baby out. It was only the three of us in the room and the doctor would very rarely come in and check on us. It was actually pretty peaceful and I had high hopes in just pushing the baby out soon. The nurse predicted an hour and half of pushing since I was pushing well and my body was working so perfectly., but that was before she noticed my mis-formed bone. We hit a standstill. At one point the nurse mentioned the word C-section. I asked if it was possible that I would need one and she said that it was. This put me in to an internal panic since I did not want a C-section. I had made it so far- a C-section would be heartbreaking at this point. Needless to say, I was informed that the baby was having a hard time getting by my pubic bone. Most people’s pubic bone is curved up so the baby’s head has a much easier time getting through. My pubic bone is narrow and it is more strait across to dipped in the center. I moved from side to side pushing through contractions. Matt held one leg up and the nurse held the other. We tried every position to try to get him through,, but he wasn’t able to- no matter how hard any of us tried. At the time I didn’t know exactly what was going on…I didn’t know the shape of my bone or why the baby could not come out. I just knew that he didn’t seem to be going anywhere. The baby moved in all different positions trying to get through and I pushed like a maniac for 4 hours. That made it 8:30 am. Over 29 hours had passed since my first contractions in the early morning hours the day before. The doctor came in to the room and this is when the nightmare began. Emergency C-section time. No choice. They had already let me push too long…far too long. I broke down and cried. All of those hours…for this. The doctor said that I should be glad that I had the possibility of a C-section since if one wasn’t available me and baby would have just died. That didn’t make me feel a lot better at the time, since I had never had surgery before I thought there was another big possibility of something going wrong there too. They told me I had about an hour before surgery and they left Matt and I alone for a while- and we cried together. We were worried about the baby, about me having surgery and we were upset that we had spent so much time and energy to end up with this result. Shortly after they left they came back and got me prepped and wheeled me in to the Operating Room.
Matt waited outside. I was beyond exhausted.
While I was inside they were putting up sheets and the room was so bright. My delivery room had been dim and peaceful, but this was like something out of a freaky sci-fi movie that I was not prepared to watch. The anesthesiologist who had given me my epidural came back and got my legs and lower body completely numb. He hung out with me asking me questions, trying to distract me and make me feel better. Soon, I was completely numb. There were so many people in the room that I lost count. I felt like I was in and out of consciousness. The doctor started to cut me open before Matt even made it in to the room. About 10 minutes later they pulled Landon out. He had a lot of fluid in his lungs at first, so I could hear the nasal aspirator going like crazy. Finally, he cried..he cried and cried. They stuck him around the curtain and I saw him for the first time. I was in shock. Matt and I felt great relief that he was out. The nurses took care of him and wrapped him up and showed him to me. I could barely keep my eyes open or show any reaction, but I was happy on the inside. Landon’s head and face were very swollen and bruised from all of the times that he tried to make it through that bone. I had no idea that was happening to him through my pushing. Landon and Matt went straight to my recovery room and they pulled out my placenta and stapled me up and I followed shortly behind.
They brought Landon to me and we did skin to skin and I breastfed him. Just he and I spent over an hour together in a dark room just getting over what we had both just been through. He did great. We were both exhausted and overwhelmed and glad to be OK. Landon’s swelling is gone and he is doing just fine…he is a sweet little thing who likes to cuddle and eat. He weighed 5 pounds 15 ounces and was almost 19 inches long at birth. He has a heart murmur called VSD. It is the most common type. He does not behave as though he has a defect and we were just directed to treat him just like any other baby. The hole is so small that it is not effecting him at this point. The hole in his heart will either grow back together within the next few months or it will not grow back together and he will need heart surgery. We will cross that bridge when we get there, but he has his first appointment with the cardiologist next week. He is so little that newborn clothes that we stocked up on are huge on him and even preemie clothes are a tiny bit big. He had lost some weight before leaving the hospital, but at his appointment today he seems to be gaining it back and he is looking good.
Many more stories and pictures to come in the future!
While I was inside they were putting up sheets and the room was so bright. My delivery room had been dim and peaceful, but this was like something out of a freaky sci-fi movie that I was not prepared to watch. The anesthesiologist who had given me my epidural came back and got my legs and lower body completely numb. He hung out with me asking me questions, trying to distract me and make me feel better. Soon, I was completely numb. There were so many people in the room that I lost count. I felt like I was in and out of consciousness. The doctor started to cut me open before Matt even made it in to the room. About 10 minutes later they pulled Landon out. He had a lot of fluid in his lungs at first, so I could hear the nasal aspirator going like crazy. Finally, he cried..he cried and cried. They stuck him around the curtain and I saw him for the first time. I was in shock. Matt and I felt great relief that he was out. The nurses took care of him and wrapped him up and showed him to me. I could barely keep my eyes open or show any reaction, but I was happy on the inside. Landon’s head and face were very swollen and bruised from all of the times that he tried to make it through that bone. I had no idea that was happening to him through my pushing. Landon and Matt went straight to my recovery room and they pulled out my placenta and stapled me up and I followed shortly behind.
They brought Landon to me and we did skin to skin and I breastfed him. Just he and I spent over an hour together in a dark room just getting over what we had both just been through. He did great. We were both exhausted and overwhelmed and glad to be OK. Landon’s swelling is gone and he is doing just fine…he is a sweet little thing who likes to cuddle and eat. He weighed 5 pounds 15 ounces and was almost 19 inches long at birth. He has a heart murmur called VSD. It is the most common type. He does not behave as though he has a defect and we were just directed to treat him just like any other baby. The hole is so small that it is not effecting him at this point. The hole in his heart will either grow back together within the next few months or it will not grow back together and he will need heart surgery. We will cross that bridge when we get there, but he has his first appointment with the cardiologist next week. He is so little that newborn clothes that we stocked up on are huge on him and even preemie clothes are a tiny bit big. He had lost some weight before leaving the hospital, but at his appointment today he seems to be gaining it back and he is looking good.
Many more stories and pictures to come in the future!
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