My Labor and Delivery

Warning: This post may be too much for the faint of heart. As a Labor and Delivery nurse, I often cross social boundaries that are no longer boundaries for me and may inadvertently discuss topics which are better left unsaid. That being said, here's the story:

Monday, November 16th was my due date. My OB and I set up an induction for that day, so I anxiously woke up, got ready, and was set to leave my apartment when the hospital called saying that they didn't have rooms at the moment because of the storm the previous night, and wanted to have me come in a little bit later. I impatiently waited until noon, when they finally had a room and a nurse available for me. I now have much more compassion for those inductions that we have to put off and put off when we are too busy. I had to remind myself, "You're an elective induction, you're an elective induction."

I got to the hospital, and was 4cm/90% on exam. Nice, huh? And I still hadn't really been contracting at home. Well, at least that's what I thought. Once I was hooked up on the monitor, my uterus was acting like I'd been given cytotec- super irritable and contracting every 30 sec or so. Blissfully, I felt nothing. Pitocin was started, ampicillin hung since I was GBS positive, and we were off to the races. My OB broke my water after about two hours. I think I made it about two hours with my water broken and pitocin and Jess and my mom telling me there was no reason to hurt before I finally went for the epidural. The anesthesiologist did an amazing, quick job and I proceeded to have a wonderful epidural. Great block, could still move myself around just fine. And, the placement was a breeze- no discomfort at all.

Now, let's skip ahead a number of hours. My water is broken, I am on pitocin, they placed an IUPC to monitor my MVUs (sorry to the non-L&D readers: they placed an internal monitor to measure the strength of my cx's). MVUs are good, baby looks great, all is well. Oh, except that I am still about 4 1/2 cm. Oh, and the baby's head is still way high and starting to get caput (swollen). And did I mention that my cervix was starting to swell? My OB came in to check me, and we had our 10 word conversation that said it all, then explained it to the rest of the room.

So, back for cesarean I went. Jess and I had a moment to talk for a second, and he was worried about how I felt about everything. Honestly, it seemed pretty obvious to me what my body needed and I had no reservations. All I wanted was my healthy little boy. If I truly wanted, I could have continued to push labor along to see if I might be able to deliver vaginally, but to me I felt like then was the right time to call it.

The section went without a hitch. My beautiful boy came out screaming with 9 and 9 for Apgars, and Jess was a giddy papa. When he was born, my OB was talking about how big he was. No surprises when they weighed him and he was 9lbs 1.4oz (Jess was 9lbs 2oz). His weight confirmed the inevitability of the c-section. I touched and kissed my little boy, then promptly threw up from the fentanyl the anesthesiologist had given me for pain.

The first 12 hours after my section were not fun. I wasn't in pain and I got to be with my sweet Caden, but I was SO sick. My body does not react well to pain meds. The anesthesiologist gave me duramorph, which made me throw up about every 1-2 hours on the dot. That, and the facial itching from it was terrible! I thought I was going to scratch my face off, and I was so out of it I didn't really realize why I was itching until a number of hours into the night. At this hospital, they just give nubain prn q 4 hours for itching, instead of putting it in the maintenance bag like we did/do at UVRMC. So in my personal opinion, duramorph is yucky and toradol is an amazing, heaven-sent creation.

My nurses were all great. My first postpartum nurse was incredible and helped me breastfeed Caden as soon as I got to my room, even though side-lying is not an easy first-time way to feed and I was SO loopy. She pretty much held him there while I just stared at him and enjoyed being a mom.

After those first hours, I felt great the entire time (hence me blaming my yuckiness on the duramorph, although it could have been other things). I was walking around and moving just fine, breastfeeding was going great. I was bummed when I had to stay in the hospital an extra night (I totally would have gone after 48 hours, but since I delivered at 10pm on Monday, they wanted me to at least stay until the next morning).

Caden is now 6 days old, and I feel amazing. One side note: a c-section is easier to recover from then having your appendix out. C-section is a bigger surgery, but because of the way it is done, you feel much better much faster. I couldn't use my abdominal muscles for weeks after my appy, and I feel pretty much normal already after this surgery.

Caden loves to eat and sleep. His parents love to sleep too, but don't get so very much of it these days. Actually, last night I slept very soundly between feedings and it was my body waking me up to say it was time to feed rather than Caden. It truly is incredible how much you love this little person and how their every desire is your consummate need to fulfill. We've been waiting a long time for this little guy to join our family, and I am constantly thanking my Heavenly Father for the supernal gift of being a mother and having this sweet boy in our family.
Okay, sorry. Too many words. Now for some pictures:

Here I am the morning of my induction, 40 weeks

Jess and Melissa in our Labor and Delivery room, totally unaware that there is 9lbs of baby under that gown

Our little alien baby, straight out of my tummy. Look at that beefy cord! My OB said my placenta was huge (has to be to get a 9lbs baby) and that I probably lost 18-20 pounds during my c-section alone

Tipping the scales at a whopping 9lbs 1oz. They measured him at 20 inches, then later at 19 1/2. Whichever you go with, he's not that long for that much baby.

The proud father with his adorable son

Melissa holding Caden for the first time after the c-section

What a perfect boy!!

Momma and baby

My two loves

Caden ready to go home on a cold, wet day in Indiana