Before I start to forget all the little details....here is the story about how William came into the world on December 12, 2012! As many of you already know I was scheduled to be induced on 12/14/12 because everyone thought William was going to be a huge baby...lol!!
It all started around 1 a.m. on December 12th. I woke up with horrible back pain. At this point, TJ was sleeping in the guest bedroom because I moved around and woke up so frequently at night that I kept him up so he wasn't aware of anything that happened between 1 - 4:45 a.m. The back pain was pretty severe so I assumed that William had decided to lay on my sciatic nerve. I got on all fours and rocked back and forth to try and make him move (a little trick we learned in our birthing class). I finally fell asleep around 1:30 a.m. I woke up in pain again at 2:20, 2:40 and 3:00 a.m. At 3:00 a.m. it dawned on me that this pain, all be it in my back and nothing like the contractions I had the previous sunday which felt like period cramps in my stomach, was coming in a pretty consistent pattern. TJ had downloaded the contraction app on his Iphone a few days prior to start timing my contractions and I didn't want to wake him up so I downloaded the app on my phone and starting timing my back pain. From 3 a.m to 4:30 a.m. I had pretty regular contractions (anywhere from 6-12 minutes apart lasting for about 1-2 minutes each). When TJ came in at 4:45 a.m. I told him what was happening but that it was probably a false alarm (I had contractions the previous Sunday and they ended up stopping so I assumed the same thing would happen). I told him to go to work and that I would call the doctors office when they opened at 8 to see what they wanted me to do. TJ works about an hour from our house! About 30 minutes after he left for work, my contractions were pretty much coming every 4-6 minutes.
Everyone asks about the pain....it is hard to describe because mine was mostly in my back. It would start in my back and radiate to my stomach but the back pain was horrible....like really really bad stomach cramps but in your lower back. I will say that rocking on the exercise ball at home was the only thing that allowed me to breathe during a contraction. Needless to say, I sent an email to work letting my boss know that there was no way I would make it in because I wouldn't be able to make it through any of my 45 minute long meetings without taking several breaks. December 12th was supposed to be my last day at work anyways so I figured I would just rest up at home until the 14th (still didn't think it was going to happen). I called the doctors office at 8 a.m. and they told me to head straight to the hospital so I called TJ and told him to head home. At this point, I was really uncomfortable and having contractions pretty much every 5 minutes! I was able to get in the shower and grab some toast to eat while waiting for TJ to come home and head off to the hospital. The big workout ball was a lifesaver as it was the only thing that kept me breathing during contractions (something about the rocking back and forth was comforting).
TJ got home around 9:15 and he quickly changed and we headed off to the hospital. I do have to say that I was pretty convinced at this point that William might make his arrival today! TJ was super cute when he got home and got ready to go to the hospital so quickly! I think we were both pretty excited and nervous as the same time!
We arrived at the hospital a little after 10 a.m. and they had been expecting us because my doctors office called to let them know I was on my way! Before being admitted, they hook you up to measure your contractions and see how dilated you are just in case it is too early and you aren't ready yet. The nurse informed me that I was 4 cm but that they wanted to measure my contractions for about 30 minutes before deciding to admit me. After about 10 minutes she can back in and let me know that she was checking with the doctor as I was ready to move to a L&D room! It was then that it hit me that our little boy would finally be here soon!!
I moved to the L&D room and met my new nurses :) Shortly after being in L&D I was given the option to have my epidural, which given the back labor was a wise choice!! TJ is the best at telling the story of the the anesthesiologist who had a thick Russian accent. Basically the only word that we were clearly able to understand was "paralyzed" to which I responded "okay where do I sign!" It only took three tries for them to get the epidural in and TJ was there the entire time. The funny part is that the time he finally got the epidural in was during a contraction...lol! Once the epidural was in (around 12:15) I felt great! I advised TJ to go get lunch since he might not have an opportunity later! I was too excited to sleep so I talked to TJ, played on my phone, monitored William's heart rate and chatted with my mom!
At 1:30 p.m. I was about 6 cm but my contractions weren't strong (due to the epidural) so I was given pitocin to speed things up. The best part about delivering William a little bit later was that we got our favorite doctor, Dr. Gonzalez! He was a lifesaver during my pregnancy, alleviating all of my worries and with a huge sense of humor! While we waited for William to come I was starving but could only have Popsicles (I opted for the orange because I didn't want a red or purple mouth from the grape or cherry flavors). ** My advice would be to skip the Popsicle...more on that later. **
TJ's parents arrived at 4:30 p.m. (my mom arrived at the airport in Seattle to begin her journey east....we had booked her ticket awhile back so she would arrive a few days before my due date so she was pretty upset that she was missing the birth). At 6:00 p.m. I was 9 cm dilated and told that I would probably begin pushing in the next hour.
Unfortunately, our nurse had to leave at 7 pm and the nurse we had during delivery was, for a lack of a better word, a bitch. At 7:10, Dr. Gonzalez came in and said it was time to push. TJ's parents left to wait in the waiting room for William to be born! Remember those popsicles I ate earlier...well right before I had to push for the first time, I threw up the popsicles all over TJ. The funny part was the doctor was excited that I was throwing up and pushing at the same time cause apparently when you throw up you push correctly!
If you ever want to know the craziness that happened between the nurse and the doctor for the next hour, you will need to ask TJ as I was busy pushing!
After an hour of pushing and at 8:19 p.m. William Thomas made his arrival! I heard him cry shortly after being born and my heart just melt! I was in love with my little boy and I hadn't even seen him yet! After a pretty easy labor, our 8 lb 4 oz and 21 inch long beautiful baby boy was born :) He had an Apgar of 9.9 and he passed his diabetes screenings. He was and still is PERFECT!
(I did eat my italian hogie from Little Italy Deli that TJ's parents brought me after he was born!)
All in all, I consider myself lucky to have such a pretty easy labor :) We love you so much William!!
12/12/12
2/25/13
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