Friday Phone Dump

Friday Phone Dump

Since I take LOTS of pictures of Mason throughout the week I thought it would be a good idea to dump them on here every Friday so you can take part in his cuteness too! ;)

Mason's Birth Story

On Tuesday, August 6th I went to a doctor's appointment to get a membrane sweep... the doctor said this was the last step of trying to get things moving before inducing me. She gave me the sweep (Ouch!!) and said I was to be induced on Monday, August 12th if things didn't progress. For the next two days nothing changed and I was getting kind of fed up with being big and pregnant and wanted to meet my baby. My friend & I went for a long walk (longer than intended and in the rain at that!) to see if it would help. After an hour and a half walking I felt tired and sore but not much else. I was losing hope that the sweep would work and was now starting to get mentally ready to be induced after the weekend. Just after midnight that night I had some cramps but by Friday morning they were gone. I lazed around the house not doing much Friday morning and BAM my water broke at 9:47am! At first I wasn't completely sure that's what it was but I called my husband and told him anyway. He started on his way home from work since the hospital advises you to go right in when your water breaks. We got to the hospital two hours later and within two more hours we were sent home to see if labour would start on its own overnight. We were told to come back Saturday morning at 7:30am to be induced. We called before we left Saturday morning and were told it would be later than they expected and to arrive for 9am instead. We arrived and registered, brought our bags up, and a nurse took us into the delivery room to get me prepped. After several hours, we were told that it would take even longer to get a nurse to start my oxytocin drip so we went for a walk around the hospital and had a snack. 

At 1:45pm I was finally hooked up to the drip. The nurses told me it would take awhile to get contractions started, then an hour per cm to dilate, and then roughly 1-2 hours of pushing. I don't know whether my body just reacted quickly or if they gave me too much oxytocin but by 3pm my contractions were painful and only about 20-30 seconds apart. The next two and a half hours were HORRIBLE. I felt every contraction in my BACK and no amount of happy thoughts or birthing positions would block it out. I felt like screaming. The pain was so unbearable. At 5:15pm I asked for pain medication, and chose morphine since I was assured it would kick in within 30 minutes and it was safe. By 5:30pm (at 3-4 cm's dilated) I was passed the point of dealing with the pain and I just couldn't take the back labour any longer. I asked to get the epidural and luckily the doctor was ready and available at the moment. She came in the room, did her thing, and was out within five minutes. The next couple hours are a blur... I remember feeling no pain, sleeping some, laughing with my mom & husband... and around 7pm they told me I was 6 cm's dilated. Nurse shift change at 7:30pm (unfortunately). By 9pm I was checked again and told that I was now at 10 cm's and would start pushing. The nurses told me that I would have my baby soon and definitely before midnight...........

At 9:30pm I began pushing. I had my husband and mom rotating holding my left leg up (it was useless from the epidural and I couldn't move it at all), a nurse holding my right leg up, and a doctor, resident and clinical clerk in the room. The whole pushing bit is a blur... but I remember key things: the doctor saying he wouldn't allow me to push longer than two hours (ha!), the nurse giving me three pills, my epidural getting less and less strong, and the feeling from the people in the room that the baby was almost out (ha!). It turns out the doctor felt it was okay to let me push for longer than two hours after all and I ended up pushing for four hours straight. The pills were given to me because I had a fever and really low blood pressure. My epidural had completely worn off on the left side of my back and for the four hours of pushing I felt every contraction. Pushing for four hours was a NIGHTMARE. I remember saying "If I couldn't feel the contractions right now, I could do this all night." ............who knew they would take me literally. I pushed, and pushed, and pushed, and after two hours I was ready to give up. With each contraction (about 15 seconds long) I pushed 3-4 times. I had no break in between contractions because they were way too close together. This means that for four hours straight I literally did not do anything other than push and pray that the baby was close to being out. 

Finally, the doctor suggested that he make a cut and said the baby would be out with two contractions if I allowed him to do it. Of course........ please!! Where was this suggestion an hour or two ago?! He was right, the first contraction brought the head out, and the second brought out the rest of the body. My husband said "It's a boy!" and I remember feeling relieved that he was out, but not at all surprised he was a boy (I knew it!). That was at 12:59am and that was the last of the joy I was feeling.

My husband cut the cord and the next thing we knew they swooped him up and rushed him over to the incubator. About 5 more nurses/doctors rushed in. We couldn't tell what was happening but I could see a nurse counting his heart beats with her hand, them using a bag to get him to breathe, and the doctor pushing his fingers on his chest. This moment felt like an eternity. I broke down crying because it did not look good, and I thought my baby was not going to make it. I could hear my mom praying, and I started to do the same. I was praying so hard that he was okay. Finally I heard my mom say "his arms are moving" and I let out the breath I was holding. Once we knew that he was okay my husband went to tell our family that he was a boy and the nurses placed my baby on my chest. I can't describe that moment... only that the joy returned and I had never felt happier than in that moment. My baby was staring at me with big, wide eyes, and I knew he was going to be just fine. My husband came back in the room and we spent some time as a family of THREE!! Our family came in to meet Mason and then we were left to get transferred to our floor and get some rest. Mason had to be transferred to the Neo Natal ICU so they could keep an eye on him. I did not want to spend the first night away from him when I just got it, but I knew it was for the best. The next few days in the hospital were spent learning to feed him, having my blood pressure and temperature monitored, and back and forth to the NNU to get Mason. Our overall hospital experience was not a very good one to say the least! 

The whole labour experience for me was not in any way a positive one, but my support system was awesome, and in the end we got our little healthy baby boy which is all that matters :-) 

Baby Mason!

Baby Mason Edward is here!! He came late and gave me a rough ol' go (birth story to follow later!), but he is here, he is healthy, and he is a BOY (I knew it!). He was born on August 11th (8 days after my due date), weighing 7lbs 4oz. and he is 20.5 inches long! He is gorgeous! He is amazing! We can't stop staring at him... I know everybody thinks their baby is the cutest baby of all time, but really HE IS! His personality since day 1 has been content. He has cried a total of three times (all when he is given a bath/he is cold), and he feeds like a champ! The last couple of days have been us adjusting to our new family of three and I have to say, WE LOVE IT! 

Due Date- No Baby!

Well, our due date came and went and STILL no baby! I am now officially "overdue". I know by this time next week we will have our little one but it is not easy waiting patiently!  I am starting to get nervous about whether I will be induced or whether I will go into labour on my own. My next dr's appt is in 3 days and the doc said she will do a membrane sweep and get things going then. I would still much rather prefer everything to happen on it's own but we're running out of time... I have three days to do this without any medical intervention at all lol.  If the sweep doesn't work then inducing is an option. I know "they" (who is they?!) say that it will happen when you least expect it, but how can you not be expecting it at every moment?! 

Hopefully this baby is just waiting for the perfect time/moment and is going to come on it's own... 

Meanwhile, we sit. and wait. and twiddle our thumbs. and stare at the walls. and do laps at the mall. AND this................

UPDATE: After a trip to the dr's today and a nice membrane sweep we now have some hope! She said things should get started within 24-48 hours (if it worked). If it doesn't work... then I will be induced Monday probably!