Sorry it’s been so long folks, I know you are waiting to hear how things went. It will be hard for me to go backwards in time but I will do my best to fill you in on the last week including labor and delivery. Around 4:30 on August 9th, my parents arrived from their long 10 hour drive from Baltimore MD. They lavished me with gifts and compliments on how I only had gained baby weight. I think my mom expected me to be really fat, but aside from my huge protruding belly there wasnt much more fat on me than before I was pregnant. And quite honestly I’d lost so much weight that my face actually looked thinner now than before I was pregnant. We spent some time talking then as each hour went by I got more anxious for what was ahead. We enjoyed a great dinner, my mother in law had made us a lasagna, so luckily none of us had to cook that day. I kept saying how it was my last meal, if I’d only known then how long it would be til my next meal!
After a breif nap and a quick shower Dean and I gathered up our things to head to the hospital. We left home around 9:10 pm, we had to be there by 10. The only good thing about going to the hospital at night, good parking! We had no problem finding a spot! After about 15 minutes of waiting on the busy labor and delivery nurse to admit us we finally found our way to our room. The first hour was spent getting informed about the plans for our induction and going over my health history with the nurse. Finally about midnight the cervidil was inserted, which was to start the process of thinning my cervix. I was told that that would stay in place for 12 hours, much longer than I had anticipated, I thought for sure by then we’d be well on our way to having a baby. So I was a little upset. About 1:00 am I started to have severe back pain and cramps. When they checked me at 3:00 there had been no changes, and apparently by then I should have started thinning more and becoming more effaced. By the way, we started out at midnight, 1 cm dialated and 50 percent effaced. So I was the same then. At 6 or so in the morning the nurse checked and said still no change, and that that might mean we get sent home to come back to try another day or that they might consider a c-section. I was definitely not going to go home and go through all of that again in a few days so I held on for hope. Around 7 the dr arrived and told us that he and the nurse would talk and would decide what to do next. So at 8 am they decided to break my water and get the ball rolling. And as the doc put it, there was no turning back now. And boy was he right!
It was not long after, even before 8:30 that I began having contractions every 2-3 minutes. This continued for a few hours and when they checked me next I was at 3 cm. Until this point I had been having non stop contractions on my own, but to speed things up they decided to start me on pitocin to make the contractions stronger. After that I kept having strong contractions almost a minute apart but I was not dialating any more. I got stuck at 3 cm and was in severe pain. I was given nubane through my iv to take the edge off of the pain because I couldnt get an epidural until I was 4 cm. But after another hour or so and no change and I was a mess, the nurse ordered for me to get the epidural. I was so scared. The anastheiologist was great though and his calming nature helped a lot. I cant believe I got through that yet I know that I couldnt have done the rest of the day without it. Almost immediately I went to 5 cm! The nurse said sometimes the epidural relaxes your body and speeds labor up, apparently I was so stressed and in so much pain before that that I had stopped the progression of my labor. At 5 pm I was still at 5 cm and we werent going anywhere. Around this time it was discussed that I only had a few hours left to keep trying or that they would do a c-section. I was very upset but knew Caleb was still doing fine. So when they checked me at 8 pm nothing else had happened, the doc said I was maybe at 6 cm but barely. It was decided that my epidural be turned off and the pitocin turned up. Before we knew it I was complete, at 10 cm and ready to push. I pushed, despite what a very rude anastheiologist thought, for 3 hours. I was so numb from the epidural that I had no feeling at all and had a very hard time pushing until the epidural started to wear off. But the anastheiologist kept saying I wasnt trying hard enough and that it wasnt his fault I couldnt feel my legs to push. He was covering his own butt is all. So his rudeness pushed me to push with all my might, and before we knew it the nurse told us she could see a head of hair! I was thrilled, we had kept wondering if he’d have hair when he was born.
But after 3 hours of hard labor, that little head of hair wasnt coming out any further. Around 10:50 pm I was told we would be going to across the hall to have a c-section. The hardest part after that was trying not to push through the strong contractions. I was terribly upset yet relieved that shortly it would all be over. There is a lot I have left out, but this is the facts of it. The iother important stuff is: during that 3 hours of hard labor when I couldnt feel my legs while I was pushing, I had my mom, my mother in law, the nurse and my sister in law, and dont forget Dean, holding my legs and helping me push. It wasnt until we got to the point where I had to push that I realized there was no way I was going to do this on my own. Until that point I had not decided who would be there or not. All I remember is that at one point the dr came in to check me and sent everyone out of the room. Sometime after that I was asked who could come back and I know I asked for my mom and Dean’s mom came in. And luckily Rachel just let herself in (my sister in law). After that I was asked if certain people could come in and I said no, not to be rude but because I didnt want anyone to get upset seeing me in so much pain, my mom was already a mess and I doubt whether it was good for her to be there, but I am glad she was. Dean was great the whole time I was in labor, the whole 14 hours of it! I was looking at pictures of it the other day and there were some pics of us together, and ones of all of us laughing, and I remember that. I remember the laughs, the tears, and the pain. I also remember getting very sick during that last 3 hours and someone putting a rag on my forehead that kept falling off everytime I had to vomit, I eventually yelled about that dumb cloth on my forehead, I got so mad at it! I even remember yelling at my mother in law for taking pics while I was pushing. Aside from that I dont think I really got rude or nasty with anyone, I was very determined to get through , especially after I was at 10 cm and I was told about his head of hair!
I was wheeled off to surgery , but before I went I remember telling my mom not to worry about me, and through her tears she said ok. I remember that like it was yesterday. I will never forget how funny Dean looked all geared up to go into the O.R. with me! Surgery was a huge joke to me at the time, I think between being so numb and on so many drugs I was on a huge high. I kept laughing at every little push and tug I felt on my stomach as they operated. I kept saying it felt like I was being tickled. I kept asking how much longer, and that last 5 minutes seemed to last forever. Even before I heard Caleb cry the first time I knew he was no longer in me, I felt a huge weight being lifted off of me. And a few seconds later I heard him cry. I immediately wanted to see him but I couldn’t. It was at least 5 minutes before Dean brought him over, I never got to hold him then, just got to look at him and his proud Daddy. I remember those first few minutes and how protective I felt of him, but after that I dont remember much. I remember waking up to voices later of my family and Dean. I think Dean showed me Caleb but I dont remember. I remember everyone saying they were leaving and after that I have no memory other than waking up the next morning alone in a different room – without Caleb or Dean. Around 9:30 that Saturday Dean showed up and they brought Caleb in sometime before or after that, but I wasnt very coherent much of that day either. It wasn’t until Dean was around that I felt safe and comfortable.
There is a lot that I left out, but there is so much that happened that I cant possibly put into words here, and lots that I dont care to remember about the whole experience. I’d have to say the best part of labor and delivery was laying on that OR table staring at my husband and our new baby. From that moment on Dean didnt want to put Caleb down and took care of him until well, until today when he went back to work. I was told to take it easy because of the c-section but after being on bedrest for so long I couldnt keep myself in bed. By Saturday evening I was walking around a little and by Sunday afternoon I was walking the halls without help. The nurses said I looked like a whole new woman. We left the hospital Monday afternoon, not even 3 days after giving birth. I have had no pain, other than some stinging where my incision is since the day we left the hospital. I have been doing laundry, cleaning , and I even made dinner once. I know my recovery is not normal of a woman who’s had a c-section, and I attribute it all to lots of prayers and a strength that only God could have given me. During the whole process of labor, delivery and recovery, I know that we have experienced almost every possible problem along the way, and I even had to endure the two greatest fears I had : an epidural and c section, and along there were lots of little things that happened during the course of events that I didnt mention that scared me even more. The end result that arrived at 11:19 on August 10th weighing in at 7 lbs 9 oz was our little angel Caleb Richard McKenzie.
SINCE THEN: At our one week check ups both Caleb and I did great. Caleb weighed in at 7 lbs 12 oz. I weighed in 23 lbs lighter than I was the week before! And boy was I happy about that. The only negative thing was my blood pressure was still up and I have since started on some blood pressure medicine. Dean is doing a great job taking care of me and Caleb. From day one he has changed more diapers than me! It was hard for me because I was so out of it at first and then in so much pain, that Dean had to step up the plate right away and he has done great! Thanks honey!
We had some issues with our attempt to breastfeed so we are currently bottle feeding Caleb the breast milk that I pump. it’s a chore but it gives him what he needs most, and Dean can feed him so it is helpful. Dean was off all of last week and stayed home taking care of us. Despite his orders and the drs I have done much more than I should, like laundry and cleaning, all while Dean tends to Caleb. Today was my first day alone with Caleb and we did okay, I am extremely exhausted, but I am sure that is completely normal.
Forgive me for not getting to posting earlier, I’ve been either in bed, feeding Caleb, changing diapers, or pumping for his next feeding. It’s a vicious cycle! But it’s all worth it to gave into his beautiful blue eyes, and we are so blessed because Caleb is not a fussy baby at all. When he does get fussy it is ussually because he is hungry or bored with his current postion so we just move him around and he is fine.
Aside from baby news, we just found out that we will be relocating to Washington DC for Dean to start working on Sept 10th at his companie’s office there. It will be a huge move for us, but it is closer to my family that lives in Balto so it should make a lot of people happy. Well I’ve been neglecting my intake of food lately and Dean is pestering me to eat something, all I’ve had to eat today was 2 peices of cold pizza at 3 pm, and I know I should be eating a hearty 2100 calories, and I know I am no where close to that nor have I been since I came home from the hospital so better go find something to munch on. I’ll try to write more often as Caleb allows. ……………
