Monday, February 16, 2009

Finale...Finally!

Apologies for the delay! I've got no excuse other than all my time is taken up by Lucy...blame the baby! We're leaving on vacation to Florida for Rob's cousin's wedding tomorrow, so I figured I needed to finish up this birth story before we left.

So, where were we. Ah yes, the breaking of the water. Since I still had my epi going strong I didn't feel anything after they broke my water, but according to the monitor I was having some huge contractions. Boy was I glad I wasn't feeling those suckers. At this point it was about 12:00 in the afternoon and they doctor and nurses assured me that I would be pushing before I knew it. 1:00...2:00...3:00, all passed by, I can't even tell you how many baby's cries I heard. Every time I heard on I kept thinking, "Come ON, when is it our turn?!" But Miss. Lucy was going to take her darn time and ever time the nurse checked me she would tell me that I would definitely begin pushing in half an hour or so, but it never happened!

At 3:00 I was 10 cm, but the nurse told me that the doctor was with a second time mom right now, so if I wouldn't mind hanging out and waiting just a little bit longer... At this point I had been the the hospital for when felt like a million hours, my left leg was completely dead from the epidural, I was now farting uncontrollably (another lovely side effect of the epi I'm assuming) and was dying to meet my Lucy, but SURE I'll just hang out here a little longer!

Half an hour later the nurse bustled in, shooed out my best friend Lindsay and my mother and told Rob and I that I was going to do some "practice pushing". Let me tell you, I was sooooo ready to be done with this labor thing at that point. When I say I pushed, I PUUUUSHED. Rob was so great coaching me and the nurse was telling me I was doing such a good job. I assumed she said that to everyone, and thought I would be pushing for quite awhile since the nurse told me that I would most likely push for 1 1/2 to 3 hours. 15 minutes and 4 practice pushes later the nurse said, "Ok well, you're almost there, her head is RIGHT THERE. You are so awesome! Hold it right there, don't push anymore and I'm going to go get the doctor."

Wait a second, hold it? After all of that I need to just HANG OUT HERE with my poor baby's head squished in the birth canal? I wasn't so crazy about that idea, luckily the doctor came in quite quickly, then proceeded to take her dear, sweet time putting on her outfit, which bore a striking resemblance to a Hazmat suit, sat down and 2 pushes later Lucy had arrived! I pushed for 1/2 an hour (counting the practice pushed with the nurse) and out she came at 4:05 pm. Apparently I am quite the talented pusher. And yes, TMI but I did poop on the table. As the nurse said, if you don't poop you're probably not doing it right, and damn it I was going to do it right. Poop or no poop!

Lucy cried right off the bat and the NICU nurses quickly looked her over and left since she thankfully hadn't swallowed any menconium. She was perfect. While the doctor stitched me up, Rob held her, and I somehow, in the middle of delivering the placenta and getting stitched, grabbed Rob's camera out of the back pocket of his jeans and took pictures of him and Lucy. She was so perfect, I just had to document that moment.

Apparently I had only a small tear, weirdly enough it was a sideways tear not a front to back one, and very small. I think I probably only had one or two stitches.

We were moved to our little recovery room very quickly, and even though the first night was rough. I was on 800 mg ibuprofen but was still in a lot of pain and along with my lovely Lucy had also given birth to the hugest hemorrhoid ever, (hey, I told you this was not going to be labor story light, you asked for it!), that was almost worse than anything, it really hurt!

The nurses were wonderful but we were so glad to leave 48 hours later. Any now here we are, a month and a half later, a deliriously happy little family. She's been so wonderful, even with her bouts of fussieness like clockwork at 9:00 pm. We still love her so much I can't even describe it!

I'll be in Florida for the next week but am planning a "Items I Can/Cannot Live Without" post for when I get back. Wish me luck on our 7 hour plan ride tomorrow!!

Pictures to follow!

"It was the tiniest thing I ever decided to put my whole life into."
-Terri Guillemets

10 comments:

AP said...

Thanks for sharing your whole labor and delivery story, even the "gory" details. Finally, the real truth about what to expect!! I hope your flights go well - good luck and safe travels :)

Erin said...

yay and congrats again! Thank you so much for your honesty about the, erm, less pleasant side-effects of birthing. Someone's gotta keep it real out there!

GL on the plane ride!

☆ Loren ☆ said...

Sounds to me like you are a trooper!! She really is a blessing! I enjoyed the birth story very much, now please flood us with pictures!!!! :)!

Kelly said...

What a nice story (even with all of the details!) I do read your blog and missed you with your busy Lucy. I went private, so if you want to read, my email is Kfigueroa7@yahoo.com I can add you.

Good luck on the trip!

Kely

T-Bone said...

It was nice to finally read the finale of Lucy's arrival :) I couldn't help but laugh when you talked about hearing all the other peoples babies crying and wondering when your turn was. It made me think of the Friends episode when Rachel goes in to have her baby. If you haven't seen it, you should get it and watch it. You would really apprecitate it and probably get a real good laugh from it.

I give you a lot of credit getting on a plane for 7 hours with a newborn! Hopefully she will sleep most of the way. Good luck and have a great trip!!!

Jackie said...

Thanks for sharing. I like to "hear" about what really happens, to know what to expect. Glad it all went well at the end. Enjoy your trip!

NHmommy said...

you're so lucky in pushing so little and 2 stitches..fantastic!! me..not so lucky. have fun in FL!

Anonymous said...

Ah, the clockwork fussiness. You could set your clock to DD at 6:30 every night. Glad those days are over! Bringing her in the shower always calmed her down for a bit, at least it killed a little time until it was bedtime. That or the tub is good if she's really upset!

JackiJaguar said...

I just learned about the potential for uncontrollabe farting last week...boy, that was a surprise! Thank you for sharing all the details, the good and the bad. It sounds like you did quite an amazing job! Have fun on your trip :)

Wifezzilla said...

Very adorable. What is that blue thing you carry the baby around in? I am sure you've mentioned it, but I am not sure I recognize what you've called it.

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