Beginnings and Endings

Tuesday the 8th of April I started having contractions at around 9pm. I had been feeling wonky all day Monday and suspected that this would be coming sometime soon. The contractions weren't too strong or regular, mainly just really annoying Braxton Hicks type contractions. They went away enough for me to sleep until about 3 am and then started coming more regularly along with severe lower back pain. I slept on and off until A woke me up around 6am. S was planning on staying home anyway to watch A during my last OB appt at 11:45. I decided to wait to see what Dr. F said at my appt rather than go to the hospital. The contractions weren't really that bad...bad enough that I had to breath through them but not bad enough that they were particularly painful. They kept petering out and then coming back stronger and then petering out. I didn't want to go to the hospital until I was sure that I was really in labor. My Mom was going to drive 3 hours one way for the birth and I would've felt terrible if she had started her journey only to have to turn around because the hospital sent me home.
When I get to the Dr's office she is running 3o minutes behind on appts. Meanwhile I am contracting in her waiting room and starting to sweat a little. I brought all of the stuff for the hospital with me in the back of the car in case she sent me to the hospital but I was wondering if I would be able to make it to the hospital driving by myself.
Dr. F checked my dilation (nothing). She asked me if I wanted to just do the c-section. Of course! But first she had to call the hospital and make sure they had an operating room ready.
Well, I guess every woman in town had decided to go into labor that morning and they had no rooms available! WTF? They considered my c-section elective since I wasn't dilated and basically told my doctor to send me home until they had room. At this point I was picturing laboring until Monday when I had my c-section scheduled anyway. Dr. F told me that there was no way in hell this baby wasn't going to be delivered that day. She suggested I go home and wait until after dinner (but not to eat anything before then as they want at least 6 hours before giving the anesthesia) and then go to labor and delivery. Once they saw I was in labor they would have to call her for a recommendation and she would tell them to keep me at the hospital until a delivery room opened up.
So I went home and labored and waited. It was hard to just wait not knowing what was going to happen. Plus I was worried about my Mom making it in time since this would be her last grandchild as she had missed A's birth.
We left for the hospital around 6pm and they admitted me to monitor my contractions. I still wasn't dilated at all, but I never dilated with A even after 16 hours of hard labor. Sure enough, I was in labor so they called Dr. F. She told them to admit me for surgery at 8pm. Things started happening really fast from that point on. My Mom arrived and they prepped me for surgery. Before I knew it S and my Mom changed into scrubs and were put in the surgery waiting area. After an extremely painful spinal block where the anesthesiologist missed my spinal cord 4 different times and then told me there must be something wrong with me because she couldn't get the needle in. Bitch, I am contracting and have a uterus the size of an aircraft carrier. Don't fuck with me right now.
After what seemed like forever they tested me for numbness, my doctor came in and chatted with me for a while while they prepped me. S and my Mom were let in. Everything seemed so surreal. All the nurses and doctors were chatting while they were working. The only indication that there was actual surgery going on was the occasional pause in conversation with my Dr. asking for some surgical tools or the smell of my cauterized flesh wafting over the drape. I felt some tugging and realized that we were very close. My Mom and S were watching them trying to get little W out and S told me later it was a good thing I couldn't see what was going on because apparently she was stuck in there good. My Mom said that Dr. F was pulling so hard her face was turning red and the assisting doctor was pushing down on my upper abdomen while leaning into it with his feet off the ground. At one point they called for reinforcements because they weren’t sure they could get her out. My Mom said she almost felt like passing out at one point but looked down at my face and saw I wasn't in any discomfort. At 9:21pm little W was born quietly into the world. S cut the cord while my Mom took a million pictures. I started shaking and feeling cold which is a reaction to the blood loss and anesthesia. Dr. F informed me that I had a lot of scar tissue and that it was going to take her a while to sew me up. S stayed like glue with baby W while they checked her out.
It took the doctor so long to sew me up that I was starting to get really worried. Luckily the anesthesiologist warned me before the most uncomfortable part happened...the stuffing of my aircraft carrier sized uterus back into the incision. I can't even describe what that feels like, but even numbed up it was extremely uncomfortable.

W started nursing like a champ in the recovery room and stayed pretty much latched on to my ni.pple for 48 hour straight. My hospital stay was very restful, although I was desperately wanting to see my little A and wondering how he was going to take having a little baby around.

So far everything has been very very good. A has had his temper tantrums and jealousy and I have felt like the worst mom in the world, but what else is new? W is a dream baby…very calm and even tempered. She sleeps pretty well at night, which is all I can ask.

Which brings us to this blog. My 40 weeks is officially up and I really don’t think continuing here has a point. Here is my new blog

www.18yearsandcounting.blogspot.com

You are welcome to join me.