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| Swollen feet and ankles-and this was just at 35 weeks! |
We went to my sister-in-law's house that evening to celebrate Asher's (my nephew's) birthday. I was still feeling what I thought was Austin moving awkwardly. I began to time the movements just for kicks while we were there. They were coming consistently at about 10-11 minutes apart each time. I didn't tell anyone, even Stephen, that I thought I might be having contractions. I didn't want to get Stephen's hopes up. I think around 10pm or 11pm that night when Stephen and I were home watching tv, I mentioned to him that I 'thought' I was having very mild contractions. I told him that they were now between 10 and 7 minutes apart and I hadn't missed one since I started timing them at 9pm. I told him I had been having them all day and didn't realize it til we were at his sister's house that night. He was a little excited like me but we were both skeptical because they didn't really hurt yet and because we never thought I'd go into labor!
We went to bed that night around 1:30am (morning, I guess), and my contractions got a little more intense through the night. They would wake me up often. When Stephen woke up the next morning he thought we had missed church-but I told him we weren't going to church because I was still contracting and they were getting stronger and between 8-4 minutes apart. We got things in order in the apartment and put clean sheets on the bed. Stephen texted his mom and told her we thought I was contracting. I also texted my mom and told her the same thing. At about noon, I was on the couch and thought I had peed a little bit in my pants so I went to the bathroom to clean up and everything pointed to my water breaking. I texted Stephen's sister and asked her about contraction intensity and water breaking. She called back and said it sounded like it was the real deal.
I then called the doctor who was on call and described what I had been experiencing. She told me to head to the hospital because it sounded to her like I was having real contractions and that my water had broken, which was the main thing to monitor. So, we took our time getting our things together and then headed to the hospital. I told Stephen that when we got to the hospital my contractions would probably stop and that they would tell me it wasn't my water that broke...well, that was not the case. Once we got there,we were there to stay.
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| Lookin' large and in charge |
They got my weight (I had gained 45lbs this pregnancy-most of which was water weight because I was incredibly swollen), my pee in a cup, and my blood pressure. I had some protein in my urine and higher blood pressure-neither of which I had ever had throughout any of my pregnancy. They tested to see if my water had truly broken-yep, no going back now! I think they used a catheter for that and it hurt! The nurse said usually when people get a catheter they've had an epidural! My poor body...This was at 2:30pm on Sunday, August 26th. And they told me I was just at 2cm dilated. That didn't surprise me-it was actually 1cm more than where I had been for 4 weeks-so to me, that was good! Stephen texted our parents and told them we were there to stay and that they could start getting ready to come see us in Lynchburg.
They took us to our labor and delivery room (where we would end up staying for about 24 hours til Austin arrived). At about 5PM, I did some walking for half an hour and it was still pretty easy to move through contractions. At 8PM, I did even more walking for an hour but had no progress in dilating. The contractions were a little stronger now and I had to slow down a little when walking and contracting at the same time. When they checked me at 9PM, they realized I still had some of my 'water bag' intact, so they finished breaking my water for me-I didn't really feel it, which was good. They told me they were going to start me on pitocin.The nurses came at 10PM to start the IV of pitocin in me, but my arms and hands were so swollen that they tried 4 times and half an hour and 2 nurses later they finally got the IV in me. They couldn't numb me either because I was so swollen so that didn't really feel very comfortable. I started feeling nauseous on the pitocin 15 minutes later and did actually get sick (we caught it in the bucket- I can usually feel those things coming) and so I took some Zofran to help with the nausea which I guess helped a little. Finally, an hour after the pitocin started I was another centimeter dilated-now at 3cm. I walked around the room with the IV by my side but the contractions were starting to hurt like nothing I had ever felt before and I could barely breathe through them let alone walk. I would just stop, lean my head down, close my eyes and try to breathe through them. I was trying to hold off on the epidural for as long as possible, but this was pushing it because I couldn't even talking in between the contractions that were coming every 3 minutes. They say crack kills, but my goodness that pitocin would have killed me I think if I had not have gotten the epidural soon after...
A few minutes before midnight, I asked for the epidural. I had had enough and I didn't care if someone were to call me a wuss, because it HURT! I didn't know how any woman could go all the way to 10cm without one because I felt like my body was dying only at 3cm dilated! 20 minutes later the epidural was in. Of course I was contracting when they put it in so it took all I had in me not to flinch when he poked me with the needle. I didn't want to be paralyzed to say the least. Maybe 10 minutes after getting the epidural, I had to say goodbye to feeling my legs and anything below my belly button. I thought it was so funny that I couldn't move my legs-I would look at them and in my head try to lift them but they wouldn't budge! Stephen kept poking my feet and legs asking, 'Can you feel that?' and I of course, couldn't at all. I also had to get a good ol' catheter because I obviously couldn't get up to pee. This time, I didn't feel the catheter at all. That epidural is something else! 2 1/2 hours later at 2:45AM, I had progressed 3-4cm and was now at 6-7cm dilated-not too shabby! And then at 4:45AM I was at 9cm dilated. The night was long and I was able to take many naps. I was so tired! I could barely keep my eyes open. I obviously couldn't go anywhere because I couldn't feel anything below my belly button so it was ok ;)
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| After the epidural-I can finally breathe and rest again! |
Well, I started pushing with the nurse to get Austin moved a little and the nurse turned out to be an incredible nurse! She explained everything so well to me that I was able to push for only about 25 minutes before the doctor did the rest and pulled him out! He wasn't crying or making any noises but he was moving, The doctor put him on my stomach for us to say hello, and asked if Stephen wanted to cut the cord. When Stephen declined, the nurse kept saying, 'Dr. Baker just cut it!' When the nurse said that, we could tell something was wrong. You see, when he came out, he didn't breath for 3 minutes. He had swallowed some blood that had come out when my placenta ruptured (the doctor's didn't know this had occurred prior to pushing) and about 10 nurses rushed in immediately and took over to care for him. I think they arrived in less than a second of the nurse pushing the help button.
Stephen and I were scared to death because we thought he was dead. We asked what was wrong and if he was going to be ok, but no one answered because they were so busy caring for him. Stephen was about to grab the doctor and shake him ( I would have but I was a mess emotionally and physically) because no one would tell us anything even though we kept asking. They gave Austin oxygen, did chest compressions, shoved tubes down his throat-so of course we were freaking out because we could see all this happening. All we could do was pray pleading, 'God please let him be ok' over and over again. At least that's all I remember thinking, I was crying and Stephen did all he could to comfort me and tell me it would be ok even though he didn't know himself. He took my head in his hands and prayed with me for Austin as Austin was being worked on. It was so scary because we really thought he wasn't going to make it. They took him to the NICU and Stephen followed to be with him. He ended up being ok and was able to come to our room around 7PM that night. We were so happy that he was alright. He snorted though when he breathed because he was swollen from tubes being shoved down his throat-poor fellow.
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| Austin Douglas Proffitt-Born 8/27/12, 1:06PM, 7lbs 5.1oz, 20.5in |
We still can't get over the fact that Austin grew inside of me. He is a complete miracle, like all babies are. I don't see how people can still not believe their is a God after seeing a little baby, especially a newborn. The entire pregnancy and delivery process is incredible. I'm so overwhelmed thinking about it all and I'm thankful that God allowed us to experience Him in a new way. I already am missing my pregnant belly but I don't want to have another baby anytime soon ;) But I know next time around (yes, there will be a next time-it's too incredible to experience just once!) I'll be just as excited, if not more, to help carry out God's miracle again. And, I'm thankful for epidurals because without them, I don't know if I'd be able to even think about having another baby :)
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| Our family of 3 |
