The Allisons

I'm going to do my best to describe for you the horrors and tremendous joys of the last week.

It officially (at least in my eyes) began last Saturday. I had been having painless contractions (1 every 30 min. or so) for the last couple of weeks, but I woke up about 3 am on Sat and noticed that they were getting closer together. I went for a walk about 10 am on Sat and by the time I made it home, they were about 10 min apart and getting more painful. started timing them at 5 pm and they were 5 min apart like clockwork. I called the hospital about 7 pm and told them what was going on, but that I didn't want to come in yet. They said that was fine and come whenever I was ready. So about 9 pm, we made our first trip. At the hospital, they hooked me up to the monitors, and my contractions were 2-4 minutes apart, however, I was only dilated to 2 cm. So they sent me home with Tylenol #3 to help me "sleep". Yeah right. It did help me to sleep for 2-4 minutes at a time, but every time a contraction came, I would wake up in pain. About 5 am, they slowed back down to 1 contraction every 15 or 20 minutes.
Although I kept contracting (every 5 min after a walk), on Sunday I didn't really feel as though much had changed. I took Tylenol, in hopes of getting some rest, but it was the same as the night before. (Picture is Ezra in the warmer after his bath)
Monday, I went to the clinic just to see if I could get checked for any progress and I was at 3 cm. She gave me Ambian to try to get some sleep (since I hadn't really slept since Sat night). It did knock me out in between contractions, but I when I would wake up in pain, I would try to get up and I was so out of it, I almost fell several times. I remember feeling uncoordinated, grabbing things to keep from falling down, and Mike yelling at me not to get up, but between the pain of the contractions and the disorientation from the medication, I couldn't really make my mind and body work together. Mike said he almost called the hospital because I was really pale and he was afraid I was going to hurt myself, but at 2 am, I was wanting to go to the hospital anyway.
(The picture on the right is Ezra's first bath)
When we got there, they hooked me up to the monitors. I was 4 cm dilated, but they were hesitant about admitting me, because the contractions weren't very regular. They knew I wanted an epidural, but didn't bother to call the anesthetist until regular hours. She finally got there at about 10 am and I was at 8 cm. I debated about getting it, but it still took another 7 hours or so until I delivered. I could have fought the pain for maybe another hour, but DEFINITELY not 7 hours. So I got the epidural and they numbed me up good. But, as is a frequent drawback with epidurals, I was so numb, I couldn't push. So they took me completely off the epidural which slowed the contractions. Then they had to put me on Pitocin to try to get them to speed up again. I was so tired and still in so much pain that they gave me some other narcotic to help with the pain. I can't say it did very much.
When they could feel the baby's head easily, they learned that he was face up. By this time, I was running a fever and the baby's was beginning to creep out of the comfort zone. When I started to push, I was very confused about the manner in which to do so. At one point, the nurse told Mike to look to see the baby's head crowning, but they it went back in. In the end, they decided they would have to use the vacuum. Once I had the extra help, he was out in 2 pushes. I think I probably could have done it by myself if I had gotten some sleep the past 3 days, or if I hadn't been so worn out from the pain of not receiving the epidural in a timely manner. Ezra's not really any worse for wear though. He had a little cut and a big suction ring on his head, but that's already faded tremendously. He swallowed quite a bit of merconium (he had pooped in the amniotic fluid) and between that and the fever, they thought they might have to give him antibiotics and an IV, but thank God they were able to get all the merconium out of his lungs and his temp when down to normal. The above picture is the nurses sucking out the merconium.
I did rip, but the Dr., said it wouldn't have been any better or worse with an episiotimy.
Mike, poor thing, was so steadfast by my side, he didn't have anything to eat or drink all day. He was in pretty sad shape after the adrenaline crash. He was sick to his stomach, pale, and had a headache. We decided it was best if he went home to relax, get some real sleep, and eat some real food. As he was leaving, we learned that they were so full, that I would have to move to a shared room. In a shared room, partners can't stay anyway. It was pretty scary being left with the baby all alone. Especially, because it was such a painful ordeal for me to get up out of bed. But, we survived and are now at home and Dad is doing a GREAT job taking care of Mom and baby.
Thanks so much for the prayers and encouragement. We are so blessed that more problems didn't arise, and that the ones that did, were easily taken care of. Thank God for no C-section!!
The last 3 pics were taken this morning. Hopefully, you can see the ring on his head from the suction. It's just a ring now. Before, it was a giant, purplish-red circle.
More pics to come--I promise.