As many of you know, Cooper was due on my birthday, February 22. I had mixed emotions on whether I wanted him to come that day. While I loved the idea of him being my 30th birthday present, I also thought he should have his own day. Apparently he agreed. Sunday we had such a nice day. After breakfast we went for a hike and to the grocery store to stock up, just in case. We went to see my Grandma, who had mentioned she'd like to see me pregnant one more time before I had Cooper. We had a very nice visit with her and I was able to show her my maternity pics on my iPad. Then we went to MILs for my birthday dinner and watched The Help. During the movie I just couldn't get comfortable. Went home and went to bed. Around 11 I started having contractions and bloody show. They weren't very regular but they were intense, so I took a shower just in case. I managed to fall asleep from about 1-2. At 3 the contractions were 5 minutes apart, so I started timing them. After a solid hour of timeable contractions I woke DH up and called the doctor, who told me to come in. I packed the rest of my things and DH made himself some eggs (lol). We headed to the hospital at 4:15.
They admitted me to triage, but felt I was probably just in early labor and thought about sending me home. However my BP was high so they ended up admitting me and started me on Pitocin. I am so glad they admitted me because if I went home, I wasn't sure at what point to come back, the contractions were pretty intense. I started crying knowing he was coming today.
Me in triage:
Once we got into our room (which amazingly enough was room 222...my lucky number and birthday, this made me cry again), we called our parents to let them know Cooper was on his way. By this time it was shortly before 8. The nurse immediately asked if I was ready for my epidural, which surprised me because I thought I had to be dilated a certain amount, and at this point I was only around a 2. I said heck yeah. I got the epi and immediately felt great. While I'm sure a natural childbirth is amazing, the epidural was absolute heaven.
Our parents showed up and the party started. It was surreal to be in labor and in absolutely no pain. A doctor came in to break my water, and I was curious to see what that would feel like. Apparently I had already felt it though, my water had already broken. While in triage, every time I contracted I felt water coming out of me, and I told DH I thought my water had broken, but expected a much larger gush. Good thing they didn't decide to send me home. Suddenly the fun was sucked out of the day though, as Cooper's heart rate was dropping with each contraction and the doctor got nervous. He said their might be a chance of a csection, and I started to cry, this time they weren't happy tears. They nurse had me sign paperwork allowing the surgery. DH was in the cafeteria having lunch with mom at the time, and as soon as he came back I broke the news. I tried to look at the positive though, and came to terms with it. My doctor was so amazing. He said he didn't want me to have a section either, and he would keep monitoring things until he felt there was a necessity to rush me into surgery.
I labored on, and although I progressed to 7-8 very quickly, my body was at a standstill. My doctor mentioned the c word yet again, but said he was willing to give it another hour. The nurse decided to put me in what she called the "magic position", a position midwives use to help patients fully dilate. She said it would either get me to 10 quickly, or a section was imminent. It was the most awkward position (even made me fart loudly in front of my family, but hey, my entire lower half was numb), but wouldn't you know it worked. The next time the doctor came in he said I was ready to go. DH asked when I could start pushing, and he said next contraction. Woo hoo!
I pushed for an hour and half. They asked if I wanted a mirror to look, and I said heck yeah. I figured they would hand me a small mirror, but nope, they wheeled in a monstrosity of a mirror. It was nice though, being able to see the progression made me work that much harder. They asked if we wanted to know they hair color, and DH said please don't let him be a redhead, and to his relief they said he had dark brown hair.
One of the things I was worried about was being on the epi, I wouldn't be able to effectively push. That totally wasn't the case, they were amazed at how well I was pushing. I just wanted to get him out quickly and meet him! The doctor was really afraid the cord was wrapped around his neck, and that's why his heart rate kept dropping. So once he started to come out, he kept telling me to push then stop. Although I couldn't really feel any pain, I sure felt the pressure of that. The doctor also told me I probably wouldn't tear, unfortunately that wasn't the case. They spent about 45 minutes stitching me as soon as he came out.
He finally told me to push him out and they immediately laid him on my chest. DH cut the cord, which shocked me, because he thought he wouldn't be able to. My mom was his backup just in case. My mom warned me that sometimes you don't feel an immediate bond with your baby, but that certainly wasn't the case. Although he looked nothing like I had pictured over the past 9 months, he was so perfect and beautiful. I was immediately in love. Cooper made his arrival at 5:43pm. He was 6lb 3.5oz and 21".
My beautiful baby boy:
Resting in recovery:
Proud Daddy:
Ready to go home:
The two days at the hospital breezed by and we finally came home with our bundle of joy. I was so worried about being overwhelmed once we got home, but I love being a mother. He has been breast feeding relatively well, with the last few feedings being the exception. For whatever reason he screams as soon as he tries to latch, or doesn't try at all. He might be frustrated that my milk hasn't come in yet, but I have a feeling I'm just about there.
Home napping with Daddy:
I ended up very swollen and with lots of interior stitches, which hurt like heck. I'm on pain meds every 3 hours and have an ice pack shoved down my pants at all times. I was really worried about my first poop, rightfully so. It happened about 2 hours ago, and luckily my SIL gave me a tip which sounds totally gross, but was absolutely necessary...I pooped in the tub. I tried to go on the toilet, but it was so painful and basically got stuck. That might have been worse than actually giving birth!
Sorry this was so long and I'm sure I forgot many things, but the bottom line is he's here, perfectly healthy, and I love him more than anything!
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The arrival of Cooper James (very long/pics inside)
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