A Baby Story Starring Lucas

Well now that I have taken a nap, a shower, had something to eat (THANKS LISA) and Curt is over joyed to help take care of Lucas I thought I would sit down and try to explain the events leading up to Lucas' arrival.

We arrived at 1:00 Monday at the birth center in Rincon thinking that we would get labor going, have the baby and be home sometime Tuesday maybe Wen morning at the latest. Boy were we in for a surprise!!!!

I took the second dose of castor oil and then started taking blue cohosh every 30 minutes. I also had my blood pressure taken and the baby's heart beat was being checked on a regular basis) Then we relaxed and tried to nap so we would be well rested once labor kicked in. A few hours later I started walking around to try to move labor along. My mom also came and brought us food and we all waited for the contractions to begin.

I thought contractions = pain so I had been having them for quite a while and had no clue. Really how you tell is that your stomach gets really hard, like a rock. I thought that was just the baby running out of room! (We never did quite figure out the whole timing thing exactly)












While my contractions got started Curt kept everyone updated on our progress and relaxed in the comfy bed in our room.

About 10:00 we sat down with Jill (my midwife) to decide what we should do since my labor didn't seem like it was progressing. We could go to sleep and see what happened or I she could go ahead and break my bag of waters. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep so (and Curt chimed in that he wouldn't be able to either) we decided to have my membranes ruptured. I was scared this was going to hurt but it didn't I just felt this warm gush and we found out there was the faintest presence of meconium.

We thought things were going good because I seemed to be progressing. I remember when Jill finished checking to see if I was dilating further she said "she is now 4 and a wiggle," right then the phone rings and I hear Curt repeat what she said... Luckily it was my Dad on the phone calling to see how things were going. So I kept walking and we were still sure things were going as planned. So while my contractions were getting stronger Curt was back in the bed snoring.

Curt sleeping didn't bother me because he had worked part of the day and had been back at work after his back injury. Also I enjoyed spending the time talking to Jill and my mom. As the morning hours progressed my contractions kept getting stronger so I jumped in the shower... WATER REALLY IS AMAZING and then I kept drinking and snacking on things to keep my strength up. (All the while they kept checking my blood pressure and listening to the baby's heart tones).

Tuesday afternoon I started to feel exhausted and nauseous and was able to take a nap. My contractions just seemed to have disappeared. We tried to get them going again by nipple stimulation and while they did cause contractions they were not progressing like they had been earlier and I had stopped dilating. It is quite an odd feeling to be told to rub each nipple for two minutes and to take a two minute break in between, and to keep this up for an extended period of time, only to cause yourself "pain."

Still with no more progress the decision was made that I would be taken to the hospital and would have to be given pitocin to get things going again. (It is a synthetic form of the chemical your nipples release so it acts just like nipple stimulation). At this point Curt was wide awake! He was a nervous wreck! Both he and my mom left and went to the hospital to register me and Jill and I waited on the ambulance. I've never ridden in an ambulance before. Since it wasn't an emergency, just a transport I didn't get any lights or whistles, but the EMT's were both really nice! I felt like I was on ER being wheeled on a stretcher through the hospital and up to the maternity floor. It was the strangest thing. I had to keep my toes tight in my flip flops so they wouldn't fall off.

When I got to the room I went to the bathroom on my own for the final time until Wednesday morning. It was about 5pm. Then I was put into a bed and started having all these gadgets and things hooked up to monitor the both Lucas and me. This was quite a change from the birth center and I didn't like it. The most annoying thing was the blood pressure cuff that automatically inflated about every 15 minutes. Then there was the monitor that showed how strong my contractions were and were responsible for me yelling at Curt "SHUT UP!!! DON'T SAY OH WOW IT's GOING UP!" From what I understand Pitocin contractions can be stronger than "Natural ones." I was also starving and could no longer eat. I could have clear liquids and all the ice chips I could eat (but no water to drink for some reason).

At this point things start to go fuzzy because all I was so exhausted and in pain from the contractions and stressed from being strapped to a bed and hooked up to machines. Having a baby in the hospital is a lot more stressful to me then being at the birth center. I couldn't get up to go to the bathroom because I had all these monitors and catheters in my vagina monitoring different things. So I had my first (and hopefully last) experience with a bed pan. All the while my husband is snapping pictures of me.

The rest of the night I don't really remember except that I was in pain but I was so tired I could sleep in between contractions but I remember getting to a point when I no longer was getting a break in between and I could no longer take it. Also I was starting to get really nauseous and I remember throwing up and poor Curt having to hold a pan up for me to puke in while he tried not to be grossed out. Also I had to pee again and the force of puking during a contraction just would not let me hold it.

I started begging like a crack fiend for drugs and was offered an epideral and something else. Once I heard epideral (even though needles freak me out and I didn't think I would want one) I "sweetly requested" one. It seemed like ours before the anesthesiologist got there and I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get one because there was no way I thought I could stay still. I don't remember seeing any drug crazed women in labor that were covered in pee and vomit on the discovery channel or the learning channel.

I was able to get the epideral and it was heaven! It kicked in immediately. All I remember is thinking "I wonder if Katie Holmes' parents secretly wear 'Free Katie' T-shirts" before I drifted off to sleep. I know randomly people would check to see if I was making progress but I was off in happy dream world.

The possibility of having a c-section was very real! Especially since my membranes were ruptured Monday night and this was now Tuesday late night early Wednesday morning. Finally, there was good news and I was 8 cm dilated and around 5 AM I was 10 and ready to push.

Now you don't instantly know how to push out a baby! They tell you to push deep in your bottom like you are trying to poop. At this point my epideral was turned off so I could start feeling my pushes. Let me tell you, in labor you quickly get over any problems you have about being naked in public! I felt like I was going through yoga poses trying different ways to get Lucas out. I was on my hands and knees, on both sides, and then with my legs braced pulling on a sheet (think the same idea that you use elastic exercise bands for) to be able to bear down. Once the epideral started to wear off it felt like I HAD to push even though it hurt and it hurt more to push. Everyone was really encouraging and Curt who couldn't stand to watch the labor videos during our childbirth classes was watching and encouraging me.

I remembering hearing "if you want to you can touch his head) and I quickly stuck down two fingers and felt the top of my baby's head before I pulled them back. It felt so tiny. BOY WAS I WRONG AGAIN! I was a little more focused to push at this point and at 6:13 AM on July 27th Lucas finally arrived! I was 1 day shy of being pregnant for 42 weeks.

Because of how long my labor was and the meconium factor he was quickly whisked away to the warmer to get checked out. Normally he would have been brought to my chest and Curt would have been able to cut the umbilical cord. I wasn't really thinking about anything at this point my senses were overwhelmed and because he was 10 lbs 4 oz I tore the slightest little bit. Curt went running back and forth between me and our baby.

He stayed with me while I was being stitched up and I told him he could go over to Lucas that I was fine, but he stayed with me anyway. Finally for what seemed like forever I was done and they brought Lucas over for me to hold him.

Soon after he was whisked away to the nursery for further tests and I was brought breakfast and I think my sister Lori came in at some point and she ended up taking Curt home to get a change of clothes (because he didn't think he could drive). Sometime before they took Lucas away I think I breastfed him for the first time.

After I ate the sweetest Nurse named Natalie helped me out of bed and to the bathroom to pee and clean me up before she rolled me down to my room and brought our stuff down. I think I napped a little and before I knew it Curt and Lucas were both in the room and for the first time we were this little family of three.

I will post more about our first few days later. Life as we knew it no longer exists!