Our due date was May 25th. I was fully prepared to ring in Memorial Day Weekend with a baby in one arm and a Bud Lite Lime in the other (hey, it had been 9 months, and it was the start of the summer season - I was more than ready for a beer). I had an appointment with the midwife on the 23rd, and it was discouraging when she told me I was about 60% effaced but not really dilated. She went ahead and scheduled me to be induced on Thursday, May 31st - which was somewhat of a relief since there was a definite end in sight - but when my due date came and went, I started to get desperate. It was incredibly hot over Memorial Day weekend and my patience seemed to decrease as the temperature rose. We had a fairly busy weekend - on Saturday we went to our friends Adrianne and John's house for a picnic with some of their friends and their families. On Sunday, we ran errands all morning. On Sunday afternoon, Ryan went over to his mom's house to check out her new smoker. They were making ribs and invited us to join them, but I just could not summon the energy to go over there and it was just too hot for a heavy meal to sound appetizing so I stayed home and just made a quick dinner of grilled cheese and fruit salad. Had I known what was going to happen later, and how long it would be before I got my next meal, I would have waddled my way over to Debbie's house for the ribs!
I went to bed around 10pm. Around 130am, a strange sensation woke me. I hadn't wet the bed in years so I figured that it was my water breaking, but I wasn't sure since (1) it is apparently pretty rare for the water to break before the contractions are regular and (2) it wasn't a huge gush like I had imagined it would be, but rather just a little trickle. I didn't want to wake Ryan up until I was sure, so I got up, went into the bathroom and turned on the light...only to be greeted by a giant bat circling my head!!! I honestly don't know how I didn't give birth right then and there. I let out a little scream and ran out of the bathroom. I think I was in so much shock that I just stood there in silence in the dark. I don't know if it was my scream, or my slamming the bathroom door, or my staring at him like some sort of creep, but when Ryan woke up and asked me what was wrong I remember saying "Well, I have good news and I have bad news. I think my water broke....and there's a bat in the bathroom." I'm pretty sure his response was "It is 130 in the morning, which one of those is the good news?" Just kidding. We were eerily calm - Ryan called the doctor's office while I took a quick shower (in the guest bathroom, of course). The midwife on duty (who asked me "what makes you think your water broke?") told us to head to the hospital so I packed the last few things in my bag and we debated whether we should drive or just walk the 2 blocks (we drove).
After we arrived at the hospital, they made sure my water was broken before they admitted me. I was thrilled because my favorite midwife (there are 5 of them in the practice) was coming in at 8am and would be on duty for the next 24 hours. When she arrived, I was not dilated at all so they decided to start me on a pitocin drip to get things moving. I was already starving and when they finally said I could have something to eat (they must have known I was going to be there all day) I was hoping for pancakes & bacon. I got a piece of toast with grape jelly. Not even strawberry jelly. Grape. A few hours passed without much progress so they kept increasing the pitocin. It was very uncomfortable. I really had no illusions of having a drug-free birth but the first pain medication they gave me was fentanyl. Basically, you can get one dose an hour. All it did was make me feel dizzy for 20 minutes and then I spent the other 40 watching the clock until it was time for another dose. Meanwhile, they kept upping the pitocin drip, causing me to have very strong contractions, very close together. Let the misery begin.
Right around this time, my parents arrived. I
I will spare you the details of the next several hours, as I've either (1) blocked them out of my mind or (2) there are no "details" other than it was very slow, very painful, and peppered with phrases such as "I think I'm dying" and "We're not having any more children." I had a meltdown around 10:00pm when the midwife checked me and said "it will be a little longer...and by that I mean 3 or 4 more hours." While I was curled up in the fetal position sobbing, Ryan took a little break and went back to our house to give my parents an update and to make me a sandwich/snack for after the baby arrived since the hospital cafeteria had long since closed. I watched the clock, realizing that my chances of having a Memorial Day baby were pretty much slim to none.
FINALLY, around 12:30am, they told me I was ready to start pushing. Even though i was exhausted, I was relieved that the end was in sight, although I will admit at that point I was so hungry I may have chosen a cheeseburger over a baby. Ryan was great, holding my leg, and the one good thing about being in labor so long was that the super nice nurse from the night before was on duty again when I finally delivered. After about an hour and a half of pushing, our baby made his grand entrance at 2:10am. We were so excited he was finally here and they literally threw him on my chest as soon as he came out, so it took us a minute or two to figure out if he was a boy or a girl. Connor Brennan Linn was a little bigger than expected, weighing 8 lbs. 12 ozs and was 20.5 in. He was perfect and we were instantly in love.
Remember how I told you in the last post that I would have to post embarrassing picturs of myself? Well, this is the first of many. Apparently, 24 hours of labor and countless bags of IV fluid make you look 25 lbs. heavier than when you arrived, despite birthing an almost 9 lb. baby.
Our first family picture.
Meeting their first grandchild. It is almost 4:00am. Doc looks SO EXCITED!!!
Proud papa!
The rest of my hospital stay was pretty uneventful, although I quickly learned that you have zero privacy due to the constant stream of nurses and aides coming in to check my vital signs and bring cups of water (I was a big fan of the crushed ice), shift supervisors bringing survys to see if the nurses and aides were doing their jobs, housekeeping feeling the need to empty the trash at the oddest hours, lactation consultants manhandling my boobs, and physical therapists coming to discuss ways to get my pre-baby body back (trust me, lady, it wasn't anything that special to begin with). But my absolute favorite was the phlebotomists coming in at 6:10am to do a blood draw. Really? I'm here all day, did it have to be done at that ungodly hour? And if you're going to do it that early, please get it right the first time! Sorry, Connor, but you got wheeled back to the nursery at night. I felt slightly guilty sending you back but it was the only time I got any rest!
Needless to say, by the time Thursday rolled around, I was more than ready to get out of there, sleep in my own bed (little did I know I would see very little of my own bed for the next several weeks), and get settled in as a family. It took longer to strap Connor in his carseat than it did to actually drive him home!
So tiny!
I was a little nervous about introducing Connor to Lucky and Murphy. What if they got jealous or aggressive - after all, they were our first babies! It was needless. It was as if they knew immediately that the little guy was here to stay, and they were so calm and gentle around him. They enjoy watching him nap in his swing.
Built in babysitters?
So far, so good for our adventures in parenting!
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