Sweet Aubrey's Arrival...

Phew! This new parent thing is hard.. I mean people tell you its going to be hard, but being told and then actually doing it are two different things! My posts will be a little erratic as I adjust to this new role, so be patient with me...

My vision of how labor would happen is that I would feel the contractions, labor at home for as long as possible until they were 5-1-1 and then go to the hospital. I would refuse meds, work with my doula and have this baby... I figured I would have time to take a shower and maybe apply a little makeup before heading to the hospital.... and you know what? It didn't happen that way at all...

I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror Thursday evening... Yikes, I thought to myself, I look wretched... I hope this kid comes soon! I went downstairs to JG's office and told him I was heading to bed. He was working on a couple presentations. Friday was a big day for him and he had several presentations that day that would hopefully get him some new accounts. He kissed me goodnight and then told my belly, Whatever you do, do not come tomorrow, daddy has a really big day.... Fast forward a few hours... It was now Friday morning at 2:30 AM and I couldn't sleep... I came downstairs, poured a bowl of cereal and watched a little tv when I felt a "pop"... What the hell was that? Did I just pee myself? Was that my... It couldn't be.... That could not have been my water breaking... That's not the way it's supposed to happen! That's not how I planned my labor starting! Contractions first! Gradual labor! I haven't taken a shower or put on makeup! JG has such a big day today, I don't want him to miss those appointments! But sure enough (and I'll spare you the details)... My water had broken. Apparently reverse psychology works on our kid...

So we called the doctor on call and he wanted me at the hospital right away. JG and I were giddy, but of all the days... Friday was going to be such an important day for JG. He didn't care, obviously this was more important, but he did send out some emails and voicemails to cancel with the accounts before we headed to the hospital. On our way there he joked that he hopes this kid doesn't mind attending a state college, because daddy just had to cancel some big time appointments....

We got to the hospital, they confirmed my water had broken and since I was not dilated or effaced at all, they wanted to start me on pitocin. And that is when my heart sank... I knew pitocin would mean stronger, faster contractions and would make it very difficult to go without pain meds. Of course, the waterworks started and I asked if they would just let me try to go on my own, contractions were starting every 10 minutes, but they said since I wasn't even dilated... no... My water had broken, and they had 12 hours to try to get the baby out, otherwise they would have to put me on IV antibiotics, which I didn't want to happen. I made a call to the doula looking for reassurance and she said to go ahead and get the pitocin. We would try to get through it the best we could... I got the pitocin at 7AM and the labor started at 7:30 AM.... Oh, and by the way? It was all back labor... which I wasn't expecting either! Ouch!

My assigned nurse told me she would gradually be increasing my pitocin. Apparently her definition of "gradual" and my definition are two separate things... because her "gradual" increase was every 20 minutes. After about an hour and a half, I finally asked her to KNOCK IT OFF (I think those were my exact words too) because I wanted to do this without the pain meds and I needed to just let my body adjust. "Nurse Ratched" then curtly informed me that we needed to get this kid out in 12 hours from my water breaking or otherwise we would need to run antibiotics, I asked her to please just hold off and let me see if we can make any progress... They hadn't even checked my dilation since 4:30am. She gave me some attitude but agreed to hold off for a little bit. Around 9:30am my contractions were coming on fast and strong, at times, one on top of each other. It was getting hard to cope with on our own so we called my doula and she got there at 10 AM. Seeing her walk through the door was like seeing your parents after a week of being away at summer camp. I felt immediate relief and knew I was in good hands. The doula immediately went to work by grabbing some essential oils, putting them on my sheets and, of all things, put on some reggae music... Seriously... It was just what I needed! I was attached to all sorts of machines, but was able to be outside the bed. My range of motion was limited due to all the wires. I was allowed to disconnect myself to go to the bathroom but that was it... I ended up sitting on a birthing ball while leaning over the side of the bed. As the contractions came I would tell the doula and JG when I could feel one starting. JG and the doula worked together... JG would put counter pressure on my back while doula, on the opposite side of the bed, pulled the hair on the top of my head (apparently there is a acupressure point up there). I know it sounds weird, but somehow it worked. Did it take away the pain? Hell no. It made me relaxed enough to breathe through each contraction and I just kept reminding myself that the worst part of the contraction was no more than 30 seconds long. The doula kept reminding me that was one less contraction I had to deal with. I progressed quickly and when I was 9.5 cm they called my OBGYN to come. With reggae music playing in the background, peppermint oil on my shoulders and pillows to energize me, I pushed 5 times and Aubrey was out... And our lives forever changed in the most wonderful way....

Editor's Note: This is not, I repeat.. IS NOT right after I gave birth... This was the day after and after good long shower.... and a little makeup.

I had the pitocin to induce me, but other than that, no other medication was used. It was tempting, not gonna lie... A student anestheologist came in to talk to me about the epidural, which was a pretty interesting conversation to have when fighting through pitocin induced contractions... I had to tell her to be quiet a few times as I worked through the contractions. I then found out she was a student and any temptation I had for an epidural immediately went out the window, down the street, and into the next county. Some people may not care, and I'm sure she was perfectly capable of doing an epidural, but there was no way I was going to let a student inject any type of medication into my spine. No way Jose. I was also visited by another medical professional who was checking my vitals and I was trying to make small talk the best I could. He mentioned that he was working with the c-sections... and I became briefly jealous of those girls who were getting c-sectioned that morning... Here I was sitting on a birthing ball, my hair plastered with sweat on one side of my head, a cold cloth on my forehead and the back of my neck, fighting through the contractions and the idea of a c-section, letting someone else do all the work, never sounded so good to me in my life. I know it is major abdominal surgery and should not be taken lightly, but that was my state of mind at the time.... Just being honest...

The entire experience was painful, exhausting, and exhilarating all at the same time. I got to immediately hold my little girl... and didn't let go for over an hour... I was now a mom... JG was now a dad... and it felt (and still feels) absolutely wonderful! Our heads were spinning over the next couple days... Everything happened so quickly... And even though its not how I "planned" on how things would happen, I wouldn't have had it any other way... It turned out to be such a positive experience and I am forever grateful to my doula and JG for all their help. I could not have done it without them...

This little one was absolutely worth it...