Okay, okay so I know many of you have been patiently waiting for a post... First let me explain the pictures. The first one is me squatting outside under a full moon (as many of you suggested I do), of course I didn't really do squats, but it was all in good fun. This was around 10 pm. Low and behold at 2 am I woke up with painful contractions. Does the full moon really cause women to go into labor?!? I was due any second, but there was a full moon...hmm.... :) Anyway, the next pictures are right after delivery and in the recovery room. I'll post pictures of just Barrett in another post (I can only post so many pictures at one time).
So here's how it all happened. I woke up at 2 am with painful contractions. Yet, I have been stuck timing contractions before so I tried waiting these out in bed. They were so painful though that laying down was not a relief. I read somewhere that if you're laying down, get up and walk around. If the contractions go away then they are false labor pains. So I got up, got a drink of water and they were still there. So I showered and blow dried my hair (yet all the while these contractions were very painful). After that I decided to start timing them (it was now 3:15 am or so). The contractions ranged anywhere from 2-5 minutes and lasted about 60 seconds each time. After an hour I got tired of timing them and decided that I should wake Ben up so he could get ready to go to the hospital (on the way to the bedroom I had to stop walking during a contraction and knew it was the real deal). So around 4:30 am I woke Ben up. I was scheduled for an appointment at 10 am that day so Ben's first response to being woken up was "Can't it wait until your appointment?". Granted he was partially asleep, but I replied "Um, no". After all of our discussions about feeling like we were going to be pregnant forever and wouldn't it be nice if I had to wake Ben up to go the hospital, the day had finally arrived and it seemed surreal. I decided that I should call Jocelyn (at 4:30 am)also since she would be my second coach (she wanted me to call when we were thinking we needed to head to the hospital so that she could get things arranged at home with Gwen and other things). Anyway, Ben and I loaded up and headed to the hospital. We arrived around 6 am and that had me gown up and wait in a Triage room. They examined me and found that I was only 3 cm dilated. They decided to wait an hour and check me again to see if I had dilated anymore. So again they examined me and I was in their words "alittle more than 3" the next time. So they kept me hooked up to a machine that watched the contractions and they seemed to want to keep us waiting. I guess there was discussion about whether or not to admit us. 3 cm is borderline for admittance, yet I was overdue so they thought they shoudl admit me...they debated for a long time. During this time was when my water broke (9:30 am). Luckily I was in a hospital gown on a hospital bed (meaning no mess at my house!). That whole process is weird and very gross, but it is all natural so you have to deal with it, right?!? It felt like a balloon popping inside and then a lot of water came pouring out. After this we called in a nurse. She was so casual about the whole thing, checked that it was clear fluid (which it was) and examined me again. Her response was "Well, now that your water has broken, the contractions will become more uncomfortable". Mind you that I was already having a difficult time with each on, so this was not good news for me. Boy was she right, because no sooner were her words out of her mouth and I had another contraction. It was 1,000 times worse than the ones I had before that. They seemed to happen one on top of another and they are so indescribably painful!!! They had to admit us now (they won't let you leave once your water has broken) and I was only at 3 cm dilated. They quickly had me get onto a wheel chair so they could take us to our delivery room. At this point I was asking for the epidural like crazy and saying that I was "in hell". I literally felt like I was losing my mind. Come to find out later that my contractions were long meaning they built slowly and came down slowly after peaking (meaning they were painful for longer). Each second felt like an eternity and the epidural was heaven. Although I thought that the epidural was immediate (it's not), they said that I would have to go through a few more contractions with pain (AHGGG!). I somehow got through those and was finally able to feel "normal" again. About this time Jocelyn arrived (11 am-ish) and the doctors examined me again. They said that I was now 6-7 cm dilated. I was happy to hear that, yet I was thinking about how fast that seemed to be. Around 9:30 am when my water broke I was only 3 cm and now I was 6-7 cm. Wow! After that Ben went and got himself and Jocelyn lunch and they casually ate while thinking that they would have a long day of waiting. Boy were they wrong...soon after they finished lunch (around 1 pm) the nurse examined me again and asked "Are you ready to have a baby?". I said "wait, what did you say?" and Ben and Joss looked shocked! Ben came over to me and was very emotional and sweet. He just kept saying how much he loved me and giving me kisses on the cheek. It was a special moment. Meanwhile, the nurse was setting everything up and getting ready to go. Soon after, I started the whole pushing process. No one really ever told me about this part. There is a lot of pushing hard and waiting for contractions to build. So you push maybe three times during a contraction and then wait a few minutes for the next one, then you do it again. It felt like I was doing a lot of work for nothing, but soon enough the nurse pulled out a mirror for me to watch delivery with and we all began to see the first signs of the head. This gave me motivation with each push and really helped with the delivery. I did keep asking "how much longer" and "is it working". It was so exhausting. With every waiting period, I woudld watch the head reverse and it got frustrating. When the head was in the pelvic area, there was so much pressure and pain that I felt like I couldn't do it any longer. I know that there is no choice in that matter, but I really felt like I had to quit...it was so hard. About this time was when the doctor arrived (it had been about an hour and a half) and the head was almost out. At this point was when I pushed a lot more with each contraction because I didn't want to wait for another one. I remember pushing with all my might and watching the head come out. The doctor suctioned the nose and mouth and then asked me to give her another push. So I did and then I felt sort of a plopping/slipping out of the baby. It was a weird but wonderful feeling. Then they just put him on my belly and wiped him off. They left him there for quite a while (which was wonderful) while the doctor worked on stitching me up (I tore a little bit). The nurse then took the baby to stamp his feet and hands and do other newborn tests. We shortly after got him back and got to stare at his new eyes. It was a wonderful moment.
There is much more to share, yet I feel like I've written enough for one day. I'll quickly post more pictures of Barrett and then I'll be off for the day.
Yesterday I sent my boys off in style! It was opening day of gun season and Ben was off for the day so he could shot a deer (he did not get one yesterday). Barrett was dressed like his daddy to show support. Whether you are for or against hunting...I must say that my boys look pretty cute! :)
(Aren't Barrett and Louis so precious in their baptismal gowns?!?)
Last Sunday was Barrett and Louis' baptism. It was a wonderful day spent with family. Barrett has wonderful godparents and he is loved by many. After the baptism, Amanda and Pat hosted a party to celebrate. Then the Rainey clan headed to dad's to celebrate his birthday. Overall it was a long day, but a great one. I couldn't ask for a more loving, caring family. :)
