Justin's Birth

It just occurred to me that Justin is nearly four months old and I haven't documented his birth story, if for no other reason than my own remembrance later.

Justin was evicted on Thursday, August 12, six days after his due date. My OB was not willing to let me go more than a week past Justin's due date, and though I pushed for an induction on that day, yes Friday the 13th, they were unable to accomodate us (I wasn't aware a reservation was required for childbirth). I slept really well the night before I was induced and we arrived at the Labor and Delivery floor of Covenant on time (!!!). In my typical way of dealing with things I am nervous about - I hadn't really allowed myself to think of what was going to happen beforehand. Thus, I was getting really nervous walking to the unit. I kept thinking, 'When I walk out of here I will be responsible for a tiny, new baby'. It was a surreal feeling. We checked in and were shown to our room. A few minutes later, my labor nurse - a lovely woman named Mary - arrived and handed me a gown, told me to change, and climb in the bed so she could poke me a bunch of times and hook up lots of equipment. Well, you don't really mess with the lady who watches you during birth so I did what she told me.

When she got back, she hooked me up to what I call the 'contraction machine' which showed I was having contractions, unbeknownst to me. I really think that I would have gone into labor on my own in the next day. As it was, she put in the IV and started a pitocin drip - as I was already effaced and dilated a little, I had no need for Cervadil - around 10:30. Mary asked what my thoughts on epidurals were (I was highly considering one since I heard of the induction) and reassured me there was no need for me to feel any pain (lovely woman, truly). Once the pitocin kicked in, the contractions went from unnoticeable to OHMYGODMAKEITSTOP. With every contraction, I felt immense pressure on my bladder and thus tightened all muscles, which is exactly what you are not supposed to do. Mary noticed this and called in the anestheologist. Within twenty minutes I had an epidural in place. It was wonderful. Mitchell did watch the monitors throughout my labor and did say that the ones I felt were some of the worst. Whether he was just trying to make me feel better or not, I do not know.

Around 12:00 my OB came in and broke my water. It was about this time that Mary, noticing my low heart rate and low blood pressure, commented that I 'must work out'. I laughed and replied, 'never'. For the next two hours, I shook uncontrollably which really freaked Mitchell out. As it turned out, I was simply dilating quickly and was in the transition state. I spent the time working on a crossword with Mitchell, online shopping, and checking facebook. The next time I was checked, I was around 9.5 cm. Mary called my OB, and a few more things made its way into our room - tables of sterile tools and gowns and supplies for Baby Hunt mostly.

Mary had me 'practice pushing' starting around 2:30. By practice pushing, she meant 'whenever you feel a contraction, or IF you feel a contraction (I guess I was pretty doped up - even for an epidural), try to push'. So for the next hour, hour and a half, I pushed every now and then, sometimes lapsing 15 minutes ,while Mary helped move me around to get better reads on Justin's monitors and to see which position helped move him further down. Remember - he was already really low, as I was told by EVERY SINGLE DOCTOR AT EVERY SINGLE APPOINTMENT PAST 35 WEEKS WHEN EVERYONE TOLD ME I WOULD GO INTO LABOR EARLY. Around 4:00 things got serious and it was all pushing business from there. The OB used a vacuum on the last push to get Justin around the pelvic bone, and then my baby was here! He was so handsome and had hair! He figured out the eating thing right away and we were surprised that he came in over half a pound less than the estimates.

Mitchell and I waited about an hour until we decided upon 'Justin' to call our families. The ladies in my family are known for quick labors - my parents were afraid I was going to be born on the way to the hospital and Annabanana was born about 4 hours after my sister's water was broke - and they had gotten impatient and just left for the hospital earlier.

So there you have it, the story of how Justin arrived. Now that he has officially doubled in size, I already get nostalgic looking at this picture, thinking of that day and how my life changed.