I figured since my blog is going to be saturated with my baby. I might as well FINALLY write out his birth story. It's been almost a year and a half & I haven't written it all the way out. So bare with me.
Here I am. December 22nd, 2007. 32 weeks pregnant
Thinking I had over a month left to go. I was really beginning to love my big belly, even though I couldn't eat anything because there was no room for the food to go. Well, exactly a week after this picture was taken me & Doug were watching Blades of Glory on a Saturday night. There was a part in the movie that said something about wetting themselves & at that instant I felt like I had wet myself. I went to the bathroom & nothing happened. I started thinking, I wonder if that was my water, but it didn't continue to leak or anything. Kelli called me and I mentioned it to her, but said I don't think it was anything since it didn't continue. She told me that she would get in the car and drive down from Seattle just tell her when. Poor girl already had birthday plans to spend New Year's Eve in Seattle with friends.
I talked to my parents & my mother-in-law after that. I then called the on call doc and they said to come in if I want to get checked. I wasn't in any pain or anything, just a little discomfort, nothing I couldn't handle. So I went to bed.
I didn't sleep at all because my mind was racing & I was a little uncomfortable. At 7am Sunday morning (December 30th, 2007) my Grandma called me because she locked herself out of my parents house. She was staying there with their dog while my parents were visiting my Grandma Nikki & Hal over in Redmond. Mom had said she had a bad feeling about leaving for the weekend. Since it was snowing real hard & it was hard to make it over the mountain.
Doug had asked if I needed him to drive me over to let Grandma in & I said yah, you better & we might want to grab the hospital bag. So we did. I called the doc on call who happened to be my OB, I was thrilled she was back from her Christmas break that morning. We stopped in the hospital to get checked out. I still wasn't having any pain, just uncomfortable. I just kept walking around & I was fine. The lady at the admitting desk said something about how we're having a baby today. Me being in my strong stage of denial, said, good God, I hope not! At this point I was still only 33 weeks.
I got into my gown & the nurse explained these strips that she was going to insert and if it changed color than my bag had actually broke (which would have been 12 hours prior). The strip did change color & still in my stage of denial, I said, so that means it wasn't my water?! The nurse said, nope looks like we're going to have a baby today, 8am by this point.
The doctor came in and explained to me that since my water had been broken for 12 hours & I was only 2-3cm dialated that I needed pitocin. One of my fears. I was trying for an all natural, no med birth. I questioned my alternatives & she explained that if baby didn't come within another 12 hours the risk of infection is really high & that it would be a dry birth which could be VERY painful & might be dangerous for the baby.
So they hooked me up to the pitocin which brought lots of painful contractions. I dealt pretty good. Aside from freaking out on ANYONE that tried to touch me or make noise. I was in my zone & concentrating & I wasn't having Doug shuffling his cards or the conversation going on within the room. Oh & by this time mom & Dad had made it back over the mountain in record time. Should have taken them close to 6 hours in the snow barely took them 3 hours. Kelli flew down I5 & made it in record time & Stacey skipped out early on church and stopped by and picked up Grandma on the way. I had a whole audience that I was trying to NOT be aware of!
After about 8 more hours of pitocin I caved and got the epidural. MAN, I was back to my comic self after that. I was feeling good & really enjoying my experience & everyone there. I was glad to look across the room to see everyone sharing in this blessed moment! I have to say that I will try for the no meds birth next time, but if it comes down to pitocin then I'd rather not torture myself, I'll take the epi with the pit!
Once I started feeling the urge to push, I let my body take over & the doc was cool with that. She said whatever you're feeling go with it. At this point the neonatal team was called in and waiting for his arrival. His heart rate kept dropping & I was concentrating on getting the oxygen in me, to get it to baby. So after about 20some minutes of pushing and 22 hours of laboring (half of which I didn't know I was in labor) here came our bouncing baby BOY! They took him straight from me & took a few seconds, which seemed like HOURS, for him to start squeaking. Right then I felt relief & warm tears. When they got the oxygen on him they let me see him for a second & then they swept him off to NICU (where he stayed for a week). The whole room was cleared. Everyone followed Dallen down to NICU (daddy didn't leave his side the whole time). Thankfully Doug's family was waiting outside to visit. They kept me company.
Dallen George was 5lb 15oz & 19 3/4 inches long.
I got my shower & we rolled down to the NICU so I could snuggle my baby for the first time.
The following week was VERY hard. The NICU staff was excellent & very understanding of my emotions. At one point a nurse came over to me & Doug & looked at Doug & while rubbing his back said, "she's going to cry. Let her cry. It's normal." I broke down. I was trying to hold it together. But it just wasn't right that I carried my baby for 8 months & didn't have him coming home with me. I had to leave him with the nurses to take care of him. I was there for almost every feeding during the day and I'd go home and sleep at night. Looking back on it, it was a blessing in disguise. He's my first baby. All the nurses showed me how to care for him & helped me while I was there. I got to go home and get a full nights sleep. Although it was VERY hard to not have my baby, it was good in some ways to have the extra help.
