I guess the whole story begins with dh and I deciding to DTD on Monday night, since we were scheduled for a Tuesday night induction. After we dtd, I could not get to sleep. I got up around 2:00 because I felt a gush of fluid. I thought my water had broken, but my underwear were soaked with blood. I knew it was normal to bleed a little after sex, but not this much. I sat on the toilet and passed 3 or 4 quarter sized clots, and a good deal more blood, so I decided to call L&D, who told me to call my OB. My Dr. wanted me to go in and be checked, so we headed out. I soaked another pad on the way to the hospital, but once we got there and got on the monitors the bleeding stopped. I wasn't contracting, but I was dilated to two, and very soft, so they wanted to just keep me and do the induction. My Dr. decided to hold off until Tuesday night as planned since my water hadn't broken and things had calmed down. He really wanted to be there for the delivery, and since I hadn't had any sleep that night he did not want me to labor when I was already exhausted. Great call on his part. So I went to work for 1/2 the day, and then went home and slept. I had a lot of cramping throughout the day, but no regular contractions.

We headed into the hospital for our 8:00 induction. I got the lovely room with the jacuzzi! They placed the Cervidil at 10:00 PM, and I pretty much went right to sleep. I woke up at 5:00, really rested and ready to go. They started pitocin at 7:00, and the contractions started right away but they were really mild. They upped the level every 1/2 hour until 10:00, when the contractions started to get pretty painful. I was still able to breathe through them, but the next time the nurse came in and checked me I was 4 - 5 cm, so I decided to ask for the epidural. I wanted to use the jacuzzi, but since I was on pitocin, they would not let me off the monitors. Fortunately the anestesiologist (sp?)was on the floor, so I got my epidural around 11:15. It was a perfect epidural...I could still feel the contractions, but they were not painful, and I could still move my legs, which was awesome. I decided to get some rest and sent dh to get some lunch. I dozed off a couple times, but I was having some pretty intense pressure that kept me from falling asleep. When dh got back, I called the nurse because the pressure was so intense I wanted to push. She checked me and I was 8 cm! She paged my Dr, but she didn't think he would get there in time. I remember getting really nervous, and I kept pushing the button on my epidural because the pressure in my bottom was so intense. My husband was amazing...he got me through every contraction and kept me calm and coached me on my breathing. I started shaking...so I knew it was almost time. My nurse checked me again, and I was at a 10. This is when they told me he was sunny side up, so I would have some pushing to do. The resident came in and I started pushing. Nothing against the resident, but I was really relieved when my nurse called the OB on site and asked him to come oversee.

I have to say, the pushing was not fun! I only pushed two times with my first two, so I had never really pushed before. I know they were trying to coach me, but both the resident and the OB kept telling me I was doing it wrong. It was so frustrating. But after about 10 minutes I got it down and he really started to decend. They let me take a little break, and then it was time to push him out. I pushed for another 10 minutes before his head came out...and then they told me to sit up a little, and I gave a little push, and he was born! It was so amazing to see. I labored the whole time with my water intact...my water broke just as his head crowned. I don't know if that's why, but he was the cleanest newborn I'd ever seen. They put him on a blanket on my tummy, and dh cut the cord. My student nurse was also a doula, and she asked me if since I wanted to breastfeed, if I wanted him to go to the breast. He immediately latched on, and I think it has made all the difference in the world as far as how sucessful breastfeeding as been so far. It was also a wonderful bonding experience. My OB did not get there in time, but the resident was great, and it was reassuring to have the staff OB there in case anything went wrong. But everything went beautifully. Carsten was born on April 30th at 2:43 PM, weighed 7 lbs, 15 oz, and was 21 inches long. He is the perfect completion to our family...I am already so in love with this little guy!

[mshel]

Such a wonderful story! Congratulations on your new little man! I'm so glad he latched right on....I'm hoping my little one will too....as it was a struggle with DD for several weeks.

[Mirandabelle]

Congrats on your little boy! Way to go Carsten for latching so quickly!

[Mrs_Vw_03]

Congratulations! I'm glad you were able to push him out sunny side up. It's been a worry of mine with this one. I am glad your little guy is here to join your family.

[GrowBabyGrow]

What a great birth! Congrats Christina!

[Soup Dragon]

Sounds like you had a great birthing experience, Christina. Congratulations on the birth of Carsten.

[rbarnes]

Sounds like a great birth. Glad he latched on so quickly and is a good eater!!!
My eldest DD was sunny side up but it took me two hours to push her out!

I love his name too. Glad you stuck with it!!

[Jaime23]

Congratulations on your little boy!!! Sounds like everything went well! Thanks for sharing your story!!!

J-Me

[amy1980]

Congrats again Great birth story!
Hope you and baby Carsten are doing well