Here is my birth story! I never shared it on the bump. I'm sure there are some errors since I typed in pieces while nurse O at night; my appologies!
Around 4:30 am on 4/10 I woke up to go to the bathroom and had several contractions. I stayed in bed timing them, about every 4-6 minutes. I wasn't expecting to start labor with such frequent and regular contractions. I told dh I was going to try and sleep a little on the couch and see if they continued. I couldn't rest and they kept coming so I got in the shower and got ready. By 8:30, they were pretty painful so we headed to the hospital.
Upon arrival I was 2cm (I was never checked before) and was told to walk to halls for an hour to see if I progressed. So we walked, stopping every 3 minutes so that I could grip the railing during the contraction. After an hour I was 3cm and was able to stop walking. The Dr. broke my water to help things along. I spent the next several hours laboring in the tub. I didn't realize how long I was in there until DH recapped for me after the birth. The tub was excellent in helping with the pain but eventually I wanted to get out and move around. Somewhere around 2ish I asked for an epi. The nurse checked and I was 6cm. The nurse was terrible and said she wouldn't even try to get an IV in my vein; it was too hard. DH took one look and laughed (he's a paramedic). She went off to find someone to do it. The pain started to really get bad and I was so mad that she wasn't coming back. I had entered transition. I wanted my epi and knew I had to have the IV first. About 40 minutes later, still no sign of the nurse so DH went in the hall and grabbed someone. She easily got the IV just as my nurse showed back up...."Oh, I was looking for someone to help". Then it was shift change, thank goodness, and I got a wonderful nurse for the rest of the delivery. I was so excited to see the anesthesiologist walk in the room. He was the same one who did my surgery a few months earlier. When I was sobbing, going into surgery, he was so sweet holding my hand and talking to me to keep me calm. He was amazingly encouraging while doing the epi too. It wasn't long after the epi that I was 10cm and ready to go.
Unfortunately, I was really numb and couldn't move my legs even the slightest. The doctor decided to just let me have the initial dose of the epi and that's it, in hopes I would be more efficient in pushing. And then I pushed, for a long time. The doctor popped in and out and explained that I was pushing well but she was stuck, rocking under my pubic bone with each push. I didn't think it was going to happen but he insisted I was going to push her out. It was exhausting, I wanted them to turn the epi back on or just pull her out lol They had me pulling on a towel tied to a bar and man, were my arms sore after that! 3 hours later, at 7:33 pm Olivia Jane was born.
We were team green and I was so surprised it was a girl. I couldn't stop laughing/crying and saying, it's a girl! She had a short cord, so after DH cut it she lay on my chest. It was a crazy pregnancy; I felt like we had already been through so muh together. To finally meet her was amazing. Here was my little guardian angel, in my arms, healthy and perfect. She ended up with a quarter sized scrape on the back of her head from the delivery but luckily all her hair made it less noticeable. I also suffered damage....a lot. I didn't realize how much, but it was taking a very long time to stitch me up. I didn't ask until I heard the Dr. say to the nurse he hadn't done that in awhile. I ended up with 3rd degree tear AND and episiotomy. WTF.
Here are some pictures of my sweet Olivia from the first week:
Aw, she is so adorable! I had the same pain in my arm muscles the day after Edie was born. I complained to the nurse because I had no idea why my biceps were killing me!