megan and justin: March 2013

My sister was coming into town the weekend of my due date and I desperately wanted to have the baby that weekend or before. The week of my due date nothing major was happening and I was beginning to think that this baby was never coming. I had a Dr. appt on Monday, February 11th. My Dr. told me I was dilated to a 1. I told her the situation and she responded saying, "Oh do you want to be induced on your due date because I'm on call that day?" Whaaaatttt? I love this Dr. So I was set to be induced on Friday, February 15th. REWIND- I had a birth plan and this plan was now out the window. I read the books and I read the articles. I was prepared to have a natural birth. I prepared myself mentally for 9 months . I wanted to do it on my own and I knew that I could. I was kind of bummed that this wasn't going to happen but at this point I just wanted him to be here. The night before I was supposed to be induced was a rough one. I was anxious, nervous and scared. I was starting to question whether or not being induced was a good idea. Justin gave me a sweet blessing and I immediately felt better. We had to be at the hospital at 9 A.M. I woke up around 5:30 and just laid in bed. I tried to soak in those last few hours of being pregnant. It was very surreal and I was ready to meet this little guy.

We got to the hospital and they immediately asked me to put on a gown and lay down in bed. I don't know why but it felt like things we're moving fast and I got really nervous. We filled out paperwork for about an hour. After that, my nurse checked my cervix and said I was dilated to a 2. We were going to start pitocin soon. Before we could start pitocin, I had to be hooked up to an IV, so I could get fluids. I have a hard time with needles so the IV was a big deal for me. Justin held my hand and helped me through it. As soon as the IV was in, two girls walked in saying that they needed a blood sample from me. One girl was obviously training and the other girl was more experienced. The trainee girl was taking my blood and it was BAD. I have gotten a lot of blood drawn and this was by far the worst experience i've had. At one point she said to the other girl, while the needle was in my arm, there's no blood coming out! Once she got the blood, the girls left and I was left with a massive bruise. My nurse hooked me up to a fetal heart monitor and a contraction monitor. When she hooked me up, she was surprised to see that I was already having consistent contractions every 3-5 minutes apart. I felt some tightening and light cramping but I figured that they were Braxton Hicks. She said that I would have been at the hospital on my own that night or the next day! Next, she started me on pitocin and within 5 minutes I could feel contractions. It was 11 o'clock. They weren't too bad but I could feel them start, get to the peak and then drop off. They were coming every 3-5 minutes and after about 30 minutes they got stronger. I was surprised how quickly they got stronger. Justin helped me through each one and we watched them on the monitor as they came and went. After about an hour and a half, I told the nurse I was ready for the epidural. She said that the anesthesiologist was helping with a c-section and it would be another 45 minutes. After the 45 minutes was up, the anesthesiologist came in to give me the epidural. I had been told before that the first needle, the numbing needle, didn't hurt. When he put the first needle in my back I was caught off guard because I wasn't expecting it to hurt! It hurt so bad that I flinched. As soon as I flinched the anesthesiologist, very sternly, tells me that I CAN NOT flinch when he is putting the second needle in my back. He made it very clear that what I had just done was not okay. Obviously, he had to tell me this but the way he said it was very rude. I was already scared out of my mind and the way he was talking to me made me upset and I started crying. I was doubting whether or not I could hold still during the second needle. I took a minute to get it together and while I was doing this, he said to me "Honey you are about to have a baby, this is the easy part." Awesome. I sat very still during the second needle and everything went well. As he was leaving he said, "Sorry that Carol (my nurse) made you cry." Seriously? These are just things you don't say to a woman in labor. He was obviously very sarcastic but I definitely wasn't laughing. About 30 minutes later, I was really numb. At this point it was about 1:30. My family came in the room to keep me company and brought me magazines. My Dr. came in to check me and break my water, while my family was there. She broke my water and said that I had Meconium. This means that the little man decided to go poop in the womb. I had heard of this before but I had no idea how serious it was. My nurse and my Dr. were very calm and acted like it wasn't a big deal. Although my Dr. did say that it was a good thing I got induced because the longer the poop sits in the womb, the better chance there is that the baby could inhale it. I was dilated to a 3 and feeling pretty good.

My family stayed til about 3 o'clock and once they left I was checked again and this time I was at a 4. I told my nurse that I could feel the contractions. They weren't super painful but they were uncomfortable. She let me give myself a little epidural boost. After that, I took a nap and woke up feeling the contractions again. I called the nurse and by this time it was about 5:30. She checked me again and I was only a 5. This was the first time all day that I actually felt discouraged. I wanted to dilate and everything to go well. The nurse let me give myself another epidural boost. Justin and I just talked and he helped me switch sides because I was too numb too move. It felt good to lay on my side because it took the pressure off my back. I was checked again around 7 and I was dilated to a 7! I was so excited! Around 7:30 my family come back to keep us company. It was nice having them there because it made time to by fast. While they were there I started to feel the contractions pretty strong. I just took this as a sign that things were moving along. A little time went by and I really started to feel sick. I felt nauseous and I had a headache. I could hardly focus on the conversation going on in the room. My family could tell I wasn't feeling well. They left the room so I could get some rest. Once they left, the contractions were still really strong, so I called me nurse in to ask if I could get another epidural boost. She told me to wait and call her if I felt like I needed to poop. Apparently this means I was ready to push. I went through 3 big contractions and I was feeling the sensation like I needed to go poop! I called in the nurse and she agreed to check me. She exclaimed that I wasn't kidding and I was at a 10! It was 9:30. She had me go through a few practice pushes on my side and eventually move into position on my back. The pushing was very intense and I was started to feel really light headed in between contractions. At about 10 o'clock my nurse called my in my Dr. and an entire NICU team. I guess there's a reason they don't tell you this before hand because as soon as they came in I started to panic. Because of the Meconium they were going to take the baby right after delivery and make sure he didn't inhale any poop. I tried to ignore all the people in the room and focus on pushing. My Dr. let me know that his head was half way out. I went through three more big contractions and still no baby. In between contractions, my Dr. gave me a little snip and on the next push he was here! She took the baby and handed him back to the NICU nurses. I threw my head back and cried. I was so overwhelmed and overcome with emotion. He was finally here! I was sad because when they took him out, I didn't even get to see his face. I could kind of see them sticking a tube down his throat and bringing it back up. They were making sure he didn't have anything in his lungs. I kept asking if he was okay and they kept reassuring me that he was. After about 45 minutes they finally let me hold him and it was perfect. I felt like I had known him forever.

Hudson- the moment I met you will forever be one of my favorite moments. I love you more than you will ever know.