Labor and Delivery

It has taken me several weeks {my new little guy is quite demanding} but I am finally going to share my birth story. I'm gonna split it up into several posts... and of course I'm gonna start with labor and delivery!!!

And I'll warn you right now, this is gonna be a LOOOOOOONG post. And there won't be any pictures until the end. Don't say I didn't warn you! :o)

It all started on October 16th. Mitch was at work {he works graveyards}, and I was tired but kept putting off going to bed. I finally went to bed at midnight after sitting in Riley's nursery for about an hour.

I was sleeping peacefully {for an entire hour and fifty minutes} when I woke up at 1:50 in the morning. I felt a sharp twinge, and actually said ouch as I sat up in bed. I felt a little damp, and was making my way to the bathroom, when the dampness turned into me being SOAKED!

I just kept thinking OH MY GOD, my water just broke. All my sisters had their water break at the hospital after hours of contractions with all 6 of my nieces and nephews, and my water had just broke in the middle of the night before a single contraction.

I just kept saying oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, over and over again, as I grabbed a towel, wrapped it around me like a diaper, and wobbled downstairs to grab the phone and call Mitch.

It felt so weird to say "babes, my water just broke". He said he would be right home. He called me again as he sped 90 mph to get home. He wanted to see if anything had happened in the five minutes since he had talked to me last. :o)

I called my best friend Andrea, and told her it was time. She was coming from California, and had a three hour drive ahead of her. Then I tried calling my mom, who had her phone off.... OFF!!! I left her a couple messages.

I was shaking so badly. I wanted Mitch to get home. And I decided to take a shower while waiting for him. About 5 minutes into my shower {which was about 10 minutes after my water broke} the contractions started. They were immediately 4 to 5 minutes apart.

I was still in the shower when Mitch got home, which freaked him out. He didn't think I should be showering while in labor, but I was covered in amniotic fluid, and felt gross, so I didn't care what he thought.

He was totally freaking out, asking what needed to be done. The funny thing is, that I had made sure everything was completely packed, sitting by the front door and ready to go the night before. So he had everything loaded into the car, and was frantically pacing before I wad even ready to go.

Hello.... I had to put lotion on after my shower. Have you ever tried to put lotion on while leaking and having contractions every few minutes???? Not all that easy.

I was calm by then. As we drove to the hospital, Mitch kept freaking out, and I was calming him down.

We checked in at the hospital exactly one hour after my water broke. The contractions were starting to get more intense by then. I had to use my breathing exercises pretty much from the beginning.

They had me change into a gown, hooked up an IV line, strapped on the baby monitor stuff and then they checked me.

I was 100% effaced, but only dilated to 1 cm. SERIOUSLY?????

It was gonna be a long labor, and since my water broke already, I was not allowed to walk around. Grrrrrrr.

The contractions were getting worse. Mitch kept asking what he could do. Did I want my laptop? NO! What about a massage? NO! My heating pad? NOT NOW! Did I wanna play with his iPhone? NO! How about some TV? NO! I'll get you your ipod. NO!

I didn't want ANY of my "comfort" things I had brought with me. I just wanted Mitch to sit next to me.

The hospital had a birthing ball, which I thought I would want {I really loved mine my whole pregnancy} but about 15 minutes into using it, I threw it on the floor. Then I decided to give the heating pad I had brought a try. 5 minutes later, I was telling Mitch to get the stupid thing off of me.

Nothing was making me feel any better.

Then things got worse. Nobody ever told me about the shaking and the vomiting. It was horrible, and not something I was expecting.

The doctor on call finally came in around 5 am. He told me that my doctor would be there in the morning around 9 o'clock. And I would still be in the early parts of labor, because first time mothers typically have on average 12-15 hours of labor. So I still had a LONG ways to go.

Yeah, he seriously said that to me!!! I already know all this stuff, and yet he finds it necessary to remind me??? SERIOUSLY!? I wanted to throw something at him!!!

My contractions were about 2 to 3 minutes apart by then, and lasting at least 1 minute each. They were very intense and I was on the verge of asking for drugs, even though I went in there determined to do it naturally.

That determination went straight out the door by 6 am. They gave me something in my IV. I'm not sure what it was, but when Andrea got there a few minutes later I was relaxed and lightheaded. Even smiling.

Yeah, that lasted a whole 15 minutes. Then the pain was back full force. How could it be this bad so early on??? I didn't know how much more I could take.

They finally checked me again around 7 am. Two different nurses checked me three times!!!! They couldn't believe I was dilated to 6 cm already.

Things got really intense, and though I didn't think it was possible, I got even shakier. The contractions were so painful, and I squeezed Mitch's hand and the bed rail VERY tightly for every one.

Andi kept laughing at the terrified look on Mitch's face. This picture is her trying to capture that look!



I wanted to sit up, and the nurse kept making me lay down. It made the contractions soooooo much worse. But they weren't picking up the baby's heartbeat when I sat up. So they decided to attach an internal monitor to the top of the baby's head.

I got one more dose of drugs, which didn't do a thing. And was ready to cave again and get an epidural, when they checked me again. I was 10 cm!! I went from 6 to 10 in ONE hour! It was time to push.

Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!!!

Pushing was awful! OK, I'm sure nobody who has gone through it will say it was anything but awful, but seriously, I was so ready for it all to be over!

I peed while pushing {no poop, although honestly I would NOT have been even the tiniest bit embarrassed, I had it all hanging out, and didn't care AT ALL who seen me, or what kind of funky noises I was making} so the nurse had to insert a catheter to empty my bladder.

I freaked out, I've had one of those before, and they hurt. She said she would do it during a contraction, so I wouldn't even notice. SHE WAS WRONG!!! Later Mitch and Andrea said that was the loudest I screamed, they thought I was gonna go through the roof.

Andrea and her 5 month old son Parker were there for the whole thing, even though I swore Mitch would be the only one in the room with me for delivery. When the time came, I really didn't care who was there.

I had to count to ten for every push. At one point Andi decided to count with me, hahaha, BAD idea. That was one of the only times I snapped. I was already counting in my head, and she started counting very slowly when I was already at four. It was quite distracting, and I screamed at her to SHUT UP!!!!

She went and hid in the corner, scared I was gonna kick her out after that, lol!

I think I might have scared any women in the rooms next to me. I pushed and pushed and let out a scream after each one.

I had an oxygen mask on, and I wanted it off, and I remember I was very thirsty, and kept asking Mitch for water.

I pushed for an hour and a half. I thought it was never gonna end. But at 9:52am, Riley was born!



Eight hours!! That is how long my labor was!!! Nobody was expecting me to delivery him until later that afternoon or evening. I think I shocked everyone with how quick my labor was. Although I will say that when you are the one going through it, 8 hours still feels long, lol!

Mitch was all into the gory stuff that I thought was gonna gross him out. He kept checking out the head as it was crowning, and he was excited to cut the umbilical cord. Check him out!!!



The nurse almost took him, but my doctor told her to give him to mommy. This is the first time I held my little boy!



A few minutes later they took him to weigh him and stuff. I heard Mitch say he was 6 lbs 7 1/2 oz. I was contracting and in the process of delivering the placenta, but when I heard that I perked right up, asking the nurse what he weighed, because I didn't believe Mitch. He was right!! I looked over at Andi, and was sooo happy! Everyone was wrong, and I WAS RIGHT!!! All the people that said my belly was huge, and my baby was gonna be a BIG baby were wrong. Haha! I knew my tummy size had nothing to do with how big Riley was, and am still quite happy to prove those people wrong!!! :o)

He was 19 1/2 inches long, and his apgar score was 9/9. Yay, healthy baby!!!





They wrapped Riley up, and gave him back to me. He was making the funniest little growling noise. Everyone was laughing. I starting crying, {I was cramping really badly, and wanted to curl up, but I tore, and the doctor was stitching me up} when Riley heard my cries, he stopped and just stared at me. It was the sweetest thing ever!

Me and Mitch are mommy and daddy now, so weird!