When did your baby come? How early was your baby? Did you have your baby on their due date? When the end of my pregnancy drew near it's end I found that the answers to these questions did not help because everyone is different so you really can't go off of anothers story even if you wish it would happen to you. Because of this I was so excited to finally know what my personal birth story would be. Well here it is.
Feb 23-second day I had regular braxton hicks contractions. Nothing too painful just uncomfortable. I heard from a few people that raspberry leaf tea has worked for inducing their labor. So, we tried it. I drank only half a mug around 7, and didn't feel any different. If it wasn't me talking I'd say it was a wild coincident because at 1:30 in the morning Feb 24, I woke up to some mildly painful contractions and then liquids draining from within. WHAT?! I got up and rushed to the bathroom and without a doubt I knew my water had broken and was continuing to break. There was also blood so I knew this was it. I called to Nick and told him that my water broke. I called my midwife and she okay'd us to be on our way to the hospital with no particular rush. We were finally on the road about a half hour later. We checked in, and they got me all set up like they do. This is it, we're going to have our baby soon, like this morning! I know it because my water broke. So, normally when your water breaks you're at least dilated to a 2 or 3. The first nurse to take care of me told me I was dilated to a 1 (which later I found out was assumed) once my midwife showed up a little before noon, she confirmed I was not even dilated and was very surprised herself. "How did you water break?" she'd ask me. With how things were looking she mentioned he might not come till the middle of the night the next day. Luckily that was not so, once they gave my cytotec which got me to a 4 in about 4 hours. She was so excited that it worked. By that time I was still unmedicated and the contractions were intense. I got the epidural soon after which was glorious; I felt so relaxed afterward. Well like most people I continued to dilate over a period of a few more hours. It was incredible that I couldn't feel the contractions because they were literally off the charts. Around 7:30 with each contraction I felt a lot of pressure (which was him dropping) I'm glad I felt these because I was able to inform them each time they checked on me that it was intensifying. Around 8 o'clock I was cleared to push. Things were fine, not too uncomfortable, just pushing every contraction (or when I felt the need) until about 9:15 or 9:20 the medication wore off completely and I experienced real birthing pain and turned totally Hollywood. I was giving birth and I could feel it. Nick was able to help deliver the baby which was neat for him. He did great and didn't even come to close to feeling faint. At 9:35 he was completely out and hearing that cry was incredible. Of course I cried with joy and relief. I DID IT! That day was full of surprises. The first being that my water broke, the second that I was not dilated (would have easily been sent home had it not been the water) the third being the amount of time between checking in and to when he was born, and the fourth his weight- 9lbs 8 oz. No wonder pushing was so hard! It's so true- the instant love that falls over you in just seconds. I love the bond I feel with my son and the bond I know he feels with me. We were one for 9 months, and it's wonderful to finally be able to feed him, smell him, and hold him. He's an angel.
Monday, the pediatrician visited us and gave us some quite alarming news, she discovered a cleft on Graham's soft palate. So far this has hardly affected his feeding which is a relief. He doesn't nurse too well so I'm going to pump but we won't stop trying. He's perfect with bottles and not bad at the pacifier. Surgery won't be performed for another 3 months or so. Again it's his soft pallet which is a relief because that results in a much easier procedure than if it was a cleft on his hard palate. Regardless, he is beautiful and healthy.
We love our baby and are already having so much fun with him! We can't wait to go home this evening and begin our new life together. We are a family!
