Really really really long birth story.

[coribelle26]

I'm going to tuck pictures at the beginning because no one is going to want to read all this, lol.  But I wrote it out for myself to remember and I thought I would share!  Thank you all so much for all of your support through this pregnancy and before.  I don't know what I would have done without you!





Harrison's story so far (3/9/14)

After losing my mucous plug on Saturday and spending that day freaking out, I had calmed down by Sunday night and was convinced I had at least 2 more weeks before he would arrive. Well, Tuesday morning I got up for my 4 am pee and it turned into 4 am water breaking EVERYWHERE. It was like a movie. So I called the doctor, took the world's fastest shower, threw everything I could think of into a bag and we headed to the hospital. When I went up to the desk in the ER I was in this crazy calm moment and was like, "Good morning, I'm 36 weeks pregnant and my water broke, can you please tell me what I need to do next?" and the guy at the desk said, "Sounds like you need to go the hell upstairs." Then we chatted while H parked the car. (Another funny moment was, "Do you want a wheelchair?" "No, I'm good." "Are you sure? They're free." Lol!) There was another moment of hilarity in OB triage when they were like, "ok, we'll just do a quick swab to confirm the presence of amniotic fluid" and lifted up my sheet to it still continually coming out in crazy waves. They were like, uh well we will swab but yeah you're having a baby today.

So I was admitted and we were hanging out waiting to hear whether/when my doctor wanted to induce (I had no contractions at that point) and I was trying to furiously send work emails to tie stuff up. (I was getting SO FRUSTRATED trying to type with the heart rate monitor and IV on my hand.) Finally around 10 or so they did start the oxytocin, and that was when all hell broke loose. The baby's heart rate dropped waaaaay down, and a whole crowd of people converged on my room. They put an oxygen mask on me and had me get on all fours, and then they inserted a heart rate monitor onto the baby's head. They eventually got him stabilized but estimated his HR was below 90 for 4 minutes or so. As things were calming down one of the residents whose face I never even saw because of everything going on stood right next to me and talked me through everything, and she braided my hair because it kept falling in my face.

My OB got there shortly after and told us that, with little to no fluid left, there was a good chance the cord was getting compressed somewhere during contractions. She said that they could try to fill me up with more fluid but that the likelihood was high that I would need an emergency c-section if they let labor continue, especially if they tried to induce again (they had stopped the oxytocin and I was contracting on my own but not with any real strength or regularity). We talked about it and decided to go forward with the c-section because doing it under planned conditions would be better than a "get the baby out immediately" situation. I had some orange juice that morning so the "empty stomach" math put us at 2PM. (My OB was like, "Oh that's perfect, I have to go home to meet the dishwasher repairman at noon but I'll be back by then!") So we waited, I had contractions that were unpleasant but not terrible, and I still tried to finish up as much work stuff as I could. My parents also came to the hospital at that point because they were too worried to stay away.

Surgery prep started almost on time and, while I had been totally terrified of getting the spinal block, by the time I was in there I was so overwhelmed by everything going on that I barely felt it. The anesthesiologist and NA talked to me about my tattoo while they did it which was a good distraction. H came in, surgery started, and the doctors/nurses were chatting about their ethnic backgrounds and local restaurants. I remember thinking, okay things must be going well if they're over there naming Lebanese restaurants. Eventually my OB said, okay, this is it, and I held my breath waiting to hear crying. It felt like it took FOREVER, but then we heard it! And the second thing we heard was one of the nurses shouting, "His toes are SO LONG!!" So that was the first thing I knew about my son, lol! They lifted him up to show H but I couldn't see him, so I had to wait. They brought him over though, and he was tiny and squirmy and perfect and he settled right into my chest like a little baby monkey. We stared at him while they put me back together, and as things were wrapping up my OB said, "Well this was a great c-section, I really enjoyed learning about everyone's cultures." And I started cracking up because, I mean how much better could surgery possibly go if THAT is the main takeaway?

Anyway the next little bit is kind of a blur but a few hours later is when they found that his blood sugar was lower than they wanted, so he went to the special care nursery that first night. I had to wait until I could get out of bed but once my legs worked we were down there frequently trying to feed him and hang out. After those initial two checks, his blood sugar actually went up to normal and never dropped again without ever even putting him on a glucose IV, so we got him back in the morning (there was actually some tension between the nurse and doctors because the nurse wanted to err on the side of caution and let the attending see him, but a resident released him). Then the real fun started with visitors and lack of sleep and realizing that ohmygodweareparentsnow. I've had about 40 total mental breakdowns but they're getting further apart and less in severity.

My physical recovery has been fantastic, my doctor is a freaking wizard. I never needed any pain meds besides whatever it is they put in the IV the first couple of days (I could have also taken something vicodin-esque but I didn't need it) and the Motrin 800s I've been on since. As soon as I could get up I have wanted to be up, and the only thing slowing me down in that department is the damn swelling in my legs which didn't show up until Friday when we were going home. It's manageable though.

Harrison is a wonderful adorable little peanut and now that we've discovered that a swaddle sack and pacifier are the way to keep him from screaming all night, we are golden, lol! Nursing was really challenging in the hospital and I had a ton of frustration around it, but things have been going wonderfully in that department since we've been home. He will take a bottle or nurse and has no problems with either. I've also been able to pump a good amount. We were supplementing with formula in the beginning to help with the blood sugar issue but we haven't had to use any in over a day.

My second biggest fear about all of this (after the baby being healthy) is how the dog was going to react, and he has been AMAZING. I seriously can't believe how he just hopped on board like the baby has been here forever. Every once in a while he gets startled by some aspect of the baby gear (he didn't care for the sound of the rock and play vibrating on the kitchen floor), but he is not fazed in the slightest by the baby. He likes to come over and lick his feet while we're changing his clothes, and he has changed his usually hang-out spots in the house to adjust so that he can keep an eye on the baby.

So that's how our boy came into the world and what he's been doing since. It's surreal and terrifying and wonderful. We are headed to his first doctor's appointment soon and I'm excited to get out!

[wambam]

Oh that sweet little face. I think my uterus just skipped a beat.

[Saint Monica]

(heart)Congrats & welcome to the world baby H!

[wonderfezz]

So squishy and new. Congratulations!

[underwaterrhymes]

This made me cry.

I'm so happy for you. He's absolutely beautiful. (Harrison is k's middle name, so naturally I love it.)

[Muddled]

He's so little!
I'm glad it seems things went as easily as they possibly could.

[meganew]

This is so sweet, I love reading birth stories! The braiding of your hair made me lol!

And I love the part about your parents coming to the hospital because they were too nervous not to. As a mom I was all, "I dont want anyone coming in! They'll know when the baby comes!" but now that I'm a parent, and especially now that I have a girl, I'm like "You just try to keep me out of there!!" lol.

[alzi]

Aw I love it. Congratulations!! M so happy for you guys<3

[ladystardust]

It sounds like he is doing great! Congrats on having such an adorable little boy.

[mcfelix]

Congrats and thank you for sharing! Glad you and your adorable new baby boy are home doing well.

[margarita]

Congrats! He is so beautiful.

[aliciaflorrick]

He is adorable. Congrats!

[popple]

Thanks for sharing, and glad everything turned out alright. Congrats!

[pittsmcgee]

What a story!
Congratulations. He really is such a little doll.

[liverandonions]

For such a crazy situation it sounds like this was the best way to bring him into this world
Happy and healthy. I hope you continue to have a good recovery and the mental freak outs go away

[miniroller]

PRECIOUS!!!! Congratulations! I'll admit I did kinda wanna see those toes Have you noticed that they look long, proportionately? So happy for you!

[Deleted]

Congratulations! He's perfect and I love his name

[nahoku]

Thank you for sharing Harrison's and your story! Birth stories always make me a little emotional I'm so glad he is here and healthy. I'm really happy for you!

[jeaniebueller]

He is so beautiful! Congrats!

[cuddlyevil]

Yay! He's adorable

[cbwm1]

I loved reading this - he's so damn cute!!

[FastHands]

He is such a perfect angelic lookin ball o dough! Glad you are all doing well! And I LOVE that the resident braided your hair. So sweet. And I was cracking up, because our delivery nurse commented on DS's long toes before I actually saw him, too! Haha

Hey guess what! You're a MOM! (heart)

[gretchenindisguise]

Congratulations!!

He is so adorable.

Your doctor sounds great

[tinybride]

I love birth stories and he's adorable.

[ginger]

Wow! !!! Congrats!

[iamali]

Congrats!!!

He is so, so handsome!!  (heart) (heart) (heart) (heart) (heart) (heart) (heart) (heart) (heart) (heart) (heart) (heart) (heart) (heart)

Glad to hear you are well. I distinctly remember the "omg, what do we DO it him??".

[vicky]

Awww congrats!!

[grayskies]

Aww, look at that sweet little face!!! Congratulations on your beautiful baby boy!

[nmosrob]

What a great story, I am so happy for you! He is so freaking cute he doesn't even look real. Congratulations!!

[oliveyou]

Congratulations! That sounds a lot like how my son's birth went, I'm glad everything worked out well. He is absolutely adorable!