Thursday, September 12, 2013

Hadley's Birth Story Part 3

Click on the links to read part 1 and part 2 of Hadley's birth story.

Like I said in part 2, time was a blur to me. I had basically been up since 3 am and got the epidural around 10:30-11:00 pm (Sunday, August 25th). I was really hoping to have the baby by midnight but that didn't happen. I also knew since they didn't know what time my water broke they would only give me so long to try and deliver. I was thinking to 3 am since that's when I had told them I woke up to the contractions. But thankfully they let me keep going.

I started my real pushing around 4 am on Monday, August 26th. I became very frustrated at first because I was getting no where with the pushing. Hadley would not budge. The nurse and Josh were amazing. The nurse was great because, well, that's her job--to get the baby out! We were told that this nurse never has left a patient without a baby before her shift ends. No pressure. We made sure to remind her of this too. The lovely "c-section" word was brought up quite a few times. Every time I was determined to get her out myself and not have a c-section. After hours of pushing we were finally getting to the point where the doctor was able to come in.

Time was definitely a blur but this part is a major blur. I feel like when I remember her being born it's like a movie. I remember the doctor coming in. I remember the nurse and J holding my legs. I remember pushing with everything I had. I remember having so much support from all three of them. I remember my new nurse coming in and the old nurse staying because she was determined to stay with me until this baby was here. I remember the doctor telling me around 6:30 am to make sure I did not touch the epidural button anymore. I remember feeling a lot...and crying...and thinking I couldn't do it. I remember telling Josh that I was going to pass out and he kept telling me how amazing I was doing and that we were so close. Finally I remember the doctor and nurse pushing on my stomach to get her out. I told J that I was never doing this again.

Then I heard her cry. They laid her on my chest and we fell deeply in love. Then I changed my mind and told J I totally get why people forget about the pain and are willing to do it all over again.

I don't remember the nurse weighing her or measuring her. I have a picture in my mind of her in the little bed but that is it. Josh told me that she weighed 8 pounds and 5 ounces and was 24 inches long...which she was really 20 inches! Oops! J stayed with Hadley while the doctor finished things up. I could feel that he was giving me stitches and when I asked what was wrong he told me I had a 4th degree tear. Yes, that was tmi but it's something that I can't really forget about! {Trust me that is nothing to what J has told me. I'll spare you the details} I didn't know at the time what the recovery process of that would be but I definitely do now. I also found out that Hadley was face up. This is why she wouldn't move down and was blocking my bladder. It also explained all the pain even with the epidural.

Finally I was able to hold our baby once again. I was able to nurse her while they cleaned up the room and got us ready to move into our recovery room. The epidural definitely took its toll on me. I could get up by myself to get in the wheelchair (I don't know if this is normal or not but I think the nurse assumed I could) and I was extremely dizzy. Thankfully the recovery room was on the same floor so we didn't have far to go. Within a few hours our family was able to stop by for a quick visit while we were waiting for H's temperature to regulate for her first bath.

The rest of the day is a big blur! After over 24 hours with no sleep and lots of pushing, we were all exhausted. Our room was cleared out by 8:00pm and we crashed for the night. H did very well her first night and only woke up three times to feed. However, the nurses were in there quite a few times.

We are so thankful for our sweet Hadley. Even though things didn't work out as planned she is a healthy baby and that is all we cared about. Over the next few days or so I hope write about how she is doing now, my sweet husband, and the recovery process (promise not to go into detail). I definitely learned a lot through the labor and delivery process and am thankful for keeping an open mind and all of the support from my husband, family, and medical staff.

8 comments:

  1. congrats on your healthy little girl!

    i'm guessing the "you did this to me" shirt for josh would have been appropriate for your delivery. :)

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  2. What a long day that was for you! I hope your recovery wasn't too bad and you're enjoying your time with Hadley...she's beautiful & I'm sure well worth the pain!

    By the way, I definitely shouldn't have read this until AFTER I have our baby girl in just a few days or weeks haha!

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  3. Great Story! So glad everything worked out in the end. Leah was facing to the side, not down or up, and I had a 2nd degree tear. I cant imagine a 4th degree tear. The stitched heal up fast :) But yes, when its all said and done all that matters is your sweet baby girl. Congrats!!!

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  4. Sounds so familiar to Hayden's birth story. He was face up and I had to have an episiotomy so I totally feel your pain girl! The good news is that it DOES get better, although it was a lot longer of a recovery process than I thought it would be!

    Hope you are doing well and soaking up every minute of that sweet girl!

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  5. I love reading birth stories! So glad everything worked out! I'm terrified of tearing and like Jenny, should have waited until after baby girl's arrival in the next week or so to read it! haha Hope you're enjoying every minute with that sweet girl!

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  6. Congrats on your sweet girl!! I love your story, probably because it is quite similar to my first. Long labor, 3+ hours of pushing, tearing(which I hope you have no problems healing like I did!). It is so worth it and labor #2 will be easier. :) Good luck and i know you are going to be an amazing mom to that little one!

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