Delivery

So now that Mitchel is taking a little nap I figured I could put up a post with some words instead of just pictures. All the picture posts actually came at the request of the aunt and grandma who live 15 mins away but said I need to put up more pictures. So you have all been blessed by their request.

Now I will tell you the story of labor, delivery, and a wonderful thing called induction and an epidural. So the last two months of pregnancy I was feeling pretty miserable. Not sleeping much and my feet were so swollen that I couldn't find shoes to fit so I ended up wearing my flip flops to work the last few weeks. That was a little awkward and I felt dumb but oh well. The doctor had wanted us to induce labor 2 weeks early because my baby was going to be big (8 lbs 8 oz). Not very big I thought. I had always had in my mind how labor went and how it was a surprise and even though I hate surprises I really wanted this to be a surprise. So we waited and waited and waited. At all my examinations nothing was happening. It was discouraging. Either one or two days before Mitchel was born I woke Eric up before 5 AM and told him I really wanted to induce. We decided that I could stick it out another week.

So I had my 40 wk appointment on June 10th. Turns out there was no more progress. Also turns out that "you'll feel a little bit of pressure" has varying degrees of "pressure". The first couple exams didn't hurt at all and then the 40 week "little bit of pressure" was a little more than I expected....not so much fun. After giving me "a little bit of pressure" the doctor told me I was showing signs of high blood pressure or preclampsia or what ever it is. I was pretty swollen and my blood pressure was on the verge of too high. He sent me immediately to labor and delivery triage to have some blood tests done to see how bad it was. Well....my dr appt was at 2 PM that day and I usually use those appointments and a weigh in of some sorts so this day I ate half of what I usually eat for breakfast and just had a small snack for lunch because I figured I'd be home by 3 at the latest and I could pig out on salsa and chips. Well....surprise....I didn't get to pig out. My blood tests came back showing that my liver and kidneys were starting to work over time and Eric and I met with the doctor. There weren't any real problems and the doctor said that this sort of thing usually gets worse. So Eric....being the cautious one in the relationship voted we induce because he didn't want to take me home and something bad happen. And me...being the stubborn one "thought"....I don't want to do what this doctor says but then I want this thing out. At 5 we were admitted and they gave me cervadil overnight to see if I would dialate a little more to break my water. I didn't get to eat until 7 pm and then I had ICE CREAM!!!! My last meal. It was a long night. Not comfortable and we were so anxious I don't think either of us slept much. They got us up at 5 to shower and get ready and broke my water at 6 AM and started pitocin. Oh boy I found out I am a wimp because contractions probably barely started coming and I did not like it. I was hooked up to all sorts of monitors and could only lay a certain way. I didn't expect so much restriction...surprise. So I opted for the epidural. It was a wonderful thing. I got it at 8 AM and 4 cm. I probably should have slept then but I was so intrigued by the contraction monitor and that I was having contractions but couldn't feel anything. At 11:30 I got to start pushing. Oh boy. It was hard work....another surprise. I hate surprises. Once Eric looked and saw the baby crown and said something like "holy crap!". I got after him and said don't say those kinds of things! Anyway...1hour and an episiotomy later Mitchel was born and we survived. That's my story.