At this time, a new nurse was in and she was generally nothing to write home about- mostly impersonal but got the job done. At 9:00 PM, I started pushing with the help of the nurse and another nurse who we had requested. My husband and I had discussed the experience we wanted, and it was important for us to have hubby right along me rather than up front and in the action. The nurse who came in also worked as a doula and she had such a calming presence. At this point my contractions were coming very spaced out and I was getting a lot of breaks in between pushing. Each push I would get coached by both nurses and this went on for an hour until 10:00 PM without much progress. I know I was trying really hard but the little guy was not having it.
They gave me some oxygen to breathe into in between contractions since the baby's heart rate kept speeding up and we decided to let me rest again and then try again an hour later at 11:00 PM. At 11:00 PM I did some more pushing for 35 minutes with the nurses again and the doctor showed up. It took her about 2 minutes to realize that the little guy had somehow turned sunny side up...not the way he was supposed to be facing for an easy delivery. I had been feeling mostly back labor and later realized this was the cause.
We were given the option to either rest some more and see if I could push him out- which was highly unlikely given his position and the distress that labor was starting to cause. The other option was to use a vacuum to assist in the delivery. While I thought I would be a wreck, we asked to speak alone to make a decision and calmly reviewed the options together- we wanted a safe baby and we did not want a c-section. The next safest thing was to proceed with the vacuum.
Once we made our decision, it seemed like an army of people flooded the room, including the pediatrician and NICU staff. The vacuum delivery involved some risks to the little guy and they wanted to be prepared. The doctor also suited up in a ridiculous amount of tarps, gloves, booties, and goggles...yep, googles.
At this point, things started to become a blur, but I knew we had to get the baby out right away. I asked how many contractions I got to get this thing done and the doctor told me they give up to 4 contractions before the give up. My contractions were still running about 10 minutes apart at this time, so the anticipation for the first one was crazy. My epidural had been turned down so that I could feel the urge to push and I started feeling everything- and everything is no joke.
Once they had everything set up, we waited for my first contraction. The doctor told me I would do 90% of the work and she would assist with the other 10%. Between the pain and the fear, I completely zoned out and once I had the first contraction, I pushed like hell. The first contraction got the head out! I was starting to feel a little more optimistic, but also about to pass out because now I had to wait the 5 minutes until I could push again. I had more oxygen and was trying to remain calm and save my energy.
On the next contraction, I was instructed to once again push with everything I had. I had no recollection of the actual pushing or what was going on around me, but I tried again, and as I was leaning forward, I saw this tiny little baby in the hands of the doctor, already whimpering and starting to cry. I later asked my husband what happened and he told me I growled like a lion and got the baby out. I still maintain I was a lady through the process, but I honestly couldn't remember those moments.
The baby was instantly brought over to the warmer to get checked and had great apgar scored of 8 and 9. Hubby ran over to take pictures and I looked over to the side as our perfectly healthy little baby was squirming and kicking, just like he kicked me. His vacuum delivery gave him a little horn, but he was otherwise unharmed.
And that's how we became a family ;)
1 comment:
Congrats on your new arrival Levi!! So excited for y'all!
<3 Sam
Www.loosingweightgaininglife.com
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