Around 2 a.m. on the morning of Saturday, August 11th, I woke up to use the bathroom and my water broke. I called the birthing center and they said to time my contractions and call back in an hour. My contractions were coming about 6 minutes apart and only lasting about 30 seconds. Jason and I tried getting some sleep, but we were a little to anxious and I was finding it hard to sleep through my contractions. We finally went into the hospital around 7 a.m. and when I arrived I was only 2 cm dilated. Dr. Guenther came to see me around 7:30 and wanted to know if we wanted to speed things along with some pitocin, but I really didn't want to at that point. My contractions started getting a little stronger but still very tolerable. At 9:30 I was still only dilated to 2 cm so I finally agreed to the pitocin. They hooked up my IV and within 45 minutes I was pretty uncomfortable. I asked for drugs, but instead tried some walking and showering for relief. I walked the halls of the birthing center and that helped a little. There was a girl about 10 years old following me all around asking me all of these questions and I was wondering what the heck she was doing there and where her parents were. She finally quit following me after about three laps. Then I headed back to my room to take a shower. As I was undressing the nausea hit me and I threw up a few times. I stayed in the shower for 45 minutes and my contractions were pretty bad. I would have stayed in there much longer, but the nurse couldn't find the baby's heartbeat with the doppler so she made me get out. She hooked me up to the monitors and I was back in the bed. I wanted drugs pretty bad at that point. The nurse checked me and I was dilated to 5cm. I told her I felt like I needed to push. Jason kept yelling at me not to push but my body was doing it on its own. There was a lot of pressure. The contractions were the worst thing I ever felt. I wished I was back in the shower. The baby's heartrate was decelerating with my contractions and the nurse was concerned so she called the doctor in. He checked me, only about five minutes after the nurse had checked me, and I was dilated to 9 cm. He went to scrub in, told me it was too late for drugs, and had me lay on my side until he got back. He returned and we started the pushing. The baby was coming out face up so with each push the doctor had to turn him around. He was finally born after 5 pushes at 12:26 p.m. He had a mark on his forehead from the doctor's thumb pushing on his head. He weighed 7 lbs, 14 oz and was 19.5 inches long. We named him Jackson Xavier.
Today he is 5 days old and he is perfect. He mostly just sleeps and eats and lets us snuggle him.
2007-08-10 (40 weeks)
40 Week Appointment I had my non-stress test this morning. That went well except I had to hold the monitor in place otherwise the machine wouldn't pick up the baby's heartbeat. Then every time he moved it would have to be repositioned. It was a little difficult to get the accelerations recorded, but finally we did and everything looked great according to the doctor. She checked my cervix and it's finally dilating! It's a little over 1 cm and the baby has dropped down low. Which is a lot of progress since last week when I was not dilated at all and the baby was way up high. My belly is still measuring 41 weeks, same as last week. The doctor wanted to come up with a plan since I'm overdue. She wanted to schedule an induction for Monday, but I told her I would prefer to wait just a little bit longer, so she scheduled it for next Friday, the 17th, instead. I really hope I don't have to be induced. Next Wednesday I go back for another NST and regular appointment. Hopefully this little guy will come on his own before the 17th!!! If he doesn't, it's a little relief to know the end is in sight.
2007-08-08 (40 weeks)
Officially Overdue. Well, my due date was yesterday! I'm still hanging in there pretty well, although I don't remember being quite this uncomfortable when I was pregnant with Lucas. Every little movement I feel I question if it is labor. I guess I've forgotten what it actually feels like. I'm sure I'll know when it's real, but for now I'll continue to analyze even feelings of digestion to determine if they are labor pains. :)
The most annoying part of all of it is the people at work. When I come in I'm immediately greeted by people asking me what I'm still doing here, and then I receive several phone calls throughout the day of people asking me if I've had the baby yet. Obviously I wouldn't be at work if I'd had the baby, would I? And obviously I'm still here because I haven't had him yet. It's a bit frustrating. I am going to miss being pregnant, but not this part. Not the last couple of weeks when I've been having false labor pains and swelling extremities and absolutely no energy to do anything but order my husband around. Poor guy.
2007-08-02 (39 weeks)
39 Week Appointment Just returned from my 39 week appointment. My belly is measuring 41 weeks baby's heartrate was 142 beats per minute. The doctor checked my cervix. It isn't dilated at all, but she said it's very soft. I was a little disappointed to hear that I'm not dilated at all, but I am still a few days away from my due date. My next appointment is on Friday. I have to have a non-stress test at the hospital before my appointment. I guess they do that when you're overdue. It's a little refreshing to know that the end is so near. He has to come out eventually so I'll try to be patient for a little while longer.
