Despite what you might think, it was actually the best time to have our baby. Madelyn had gone with Shane's parents (
Nino and
JoeJoe) to see Shane's sister (
Beebs) at the camp in Arkansas where she was a counselor. It was supposed to be the quiet weekend. The last hurrah as I was two days away from being 39 weeks pregnant.
Saturday July 17th ~ Shane and I slept in for what we figured would be the last time for a while. When we got up we went outside to do a little yard work. After a while I was feeling the heat so I went inside while Shane mowed the front and back yard. After he did that I helped him clean Elsie's bed and Shane took her out back and bathed her with the garden hose.
Once done with the "work" we enjoyed a nice quiet lunch. After lunch, we took a nice long nap. Waking up fully rested, I decided that we should get on the same routine that I was on when Madelyn came. That consisted of walking and eating Pei Wei. We had been walking every day for a week or so, usually in the early morning or late afternoon when it was cooler. This day we really hated that Maddie wasn't with us because we saw so many deer and other animals out at
Radnor Lake. She would have had a ball pointing them all out to us. We normally walk to the second pier (1.5 miles or so), but today my tummy was having none of it. It tightened up so much I thought Shane was going to have to grab one of the wheel barrows the park workers had to carry me back to the car.
After the (short) walk, we went to Pei Wei. I got Pad Thai Chicken, and 2 Spring Rolls. After dinner I got on a cleaning kick. I vacuumed the den and then Shane got the steam cleaner after the carpet. Perfect timing too, because I started having contractions an hour later. I asked Shane if he would give me a back massage out of pity. He said sure;)
On my way to the den I made a stop at the bathroom.
*POP!* (yes...literally I heard a POP!)
"
Ahh?! Shane?!? Um...my water just broke..."
Shane verified the situation, and as he started grabbing the hospital bags (we packed the week before) I called my sisters Lauren and Allison, and Shane's sister Jenny. It was 12.15 am, but I don't think they minded getting that call.
Within the hour both of my sister's were making the 5-hour trip up here.
After we took showers, we got the car loaded and headed to the hospital. We got checked into a triage room at 1.30 where they monitored Murphy's heart rate and my contractions, and did the strip test to make sure the water had broken...bright blue... It had! She also checked me and said that I was 2-3 cm dilated!
(The "ride" back after getting checked in, Shane and I were laughing at the fact that they make you ride instead of walking when I was fully able!)
(Our L&D Room)
Thirty minutes later we got into the Labor & Delivery Room. Our first nurse was
Rebecca. She let me get up and walk the hallways so that I could get the contractions going stronger. We walked for the next 5 hours with little progress made.
(Enjoying a
Popsicle between walks while being monitored)
By 7.30 Dr. Burch (the on-call doctor until Dr.
Draughn could get there) told us we might want to get on
Pitocin to help contractions move things along. When he checked me I was a solid three...do the math...1/2 cm in 5 hrs...bummer...
My nurse changed at 7:00. Her name was Serena! She was wonderful! She also had 28 years under her belt!
Before I got put on
Pitocin I decided to walk the halls one more time.
Luckily my sisters had just arrived from MS. They walked the halls with me and kept me company. It was nice having them around. By 8.00 am the nurse was ready to put me on
Pitocin. It worked. Contractions started coming on stronger.
Jenny arrives bringing goodies (but nothing that I can have)...donuts and coffee. Allison and Lauren leave the hospital to take a shower and nap at our house.
I am really tired so I take a nap, and Shane and Jenny go to lunch. When they got back I was checked by a nurse and was a nice 4. Sadly I was a 2-3 when I came in so I hadn't made much progress.
After the pain became a little too much to bear I called in for an epidural. My sweet nurse even held my hand through every contraction while getting my epidural.
Shortly after I went from 4 to 8 in an hour, and 8 to fully dilated 10 minutes!
(fast picture with the gals before I start to push)
(O-yea...and a quick kiss too!)
Showtime...
Serena comes in and checks me one last time. Her face goes from smiling to fairly serious. "Don't do anything. Just breath." she says. Apparently I was REALLY far along. She calls Dr.
Draughn and tells him that he needs to hurry.
Dr.
Draughn arrives. Right on time. I had just pushed once and the nurse told me that I REALLY needed to wait for a doctor to arrive.
We push just a few times when Dr.
Draughn tells me that we may want to take it a little slow to let my body adjust to baby coming. After one more push his head was out. As we took another break I asked Dr.
Draughn if I could pull baby the rest of the way out. He said sure!
I reached down and grabbed him underneath his arms and delivered the rest of his body. As soon as he was out I pulled him up to my chest.
(a little graphic)
(I had just pulled Murphy up to my chest)
The neonatal nurse was next to me and immediately started to stimulate him by rubbing him vigorously. Shane got to cut his cord (think that was a little too "involved" for him).
(take a look at sweet Jenny's face!)
After a few minutes the nurse took Murphy over to the warming station to check him out. He was very lively.
(Murphy and Dr.
Draughn)
He scored well on his
Apgar tests. (9 &9) Then they weighed him. Shane, Jenny, Allison and Lauren all thought that someone was leaning on the scale because this
chubba wubba came in (or out) at 8 lbs 13 1/2 oz!!
The nurse brought him back so that he could lay on my chest under my gown. This is called the "Kangaroo Hold".
What was so sweet was that when he was getting checked out he was crying loudly (this kid has some lungs). When the nurse came to me with him and laid him down on me, he immediately stopped crying. He got real still and closed his eyes like he wanted to go to sleep. The nurse brought in several warmed blankets and put them on top of Murphy.
(Murphy and his daddy!)
The best part was that within 30 minutes he was latched on and nursing. He ate for 45 minutes (a boy with a big appetite. who would have guessed that?)
I can't say enough about how well this delivery went. I was a little disappointed that my body didn't progress further without medication, but I understand that most of the time your body just needs a little push.
This delivery went so much better than Maddie's. The difference between first and second child I'm told. The best part of it all was that I delivered on my terms. If I wanted to walk the halls, I did until it wasn't safe for me to do so. And I got to help deliver him! How cool is that?! It meant so much to me. And I got to have skin to skin contact with him right after he was born rather than having him whisked away for hours, I was the first person to hold him and comfort him. That was a beautiful thing to me.
(Dr. Jeff Draughn, Kat, and Murphy)
(Maddie requested to hold Murphy while Joe Joe was holding him)
