Hawkins Scott Roderick
A Birth Story
This pregnancy was so much different than Scout's. Looking back, my pregnancy with Scout was super easy (other than the morning sickness). Starting at 30 weeks I had braxton hicks pretty regularly. Initially, they made me uncomfortable but they got to a point where I didn't want to be on my feet anymore. So the last few weeks I found myself waddling from sitting spot to sitting spot which made me feel terrible. I'm normally a pretty active person so to be so static was terrible! I'm pretty sure I cried about it more than any human should.... Anyway, Taylor's parents came into town during week 36 and I had no choice but to be on my feet and going, which was great! Until the evenings...and I would get contractions so bad. I was hurting to a point where I couldn't sit still through them and had to excuse myself up to bed a few nights during their stay. But, they were never regular enough to time and they didn't bring me to tears (two of the requirements for me to go to the hospital this time around. I was not going to be turned away like I was with Scout!). So I would take some Tylenol and wait for sleep to come, which it always did and I would wake up the next morning contraction free. It was kind of depressing to be honest, but I knew that Hawkins would come when he was ready even though I was so beyond ready for him to be here.
At my 37 week Dr appointment I had my cervix checked and was only dilated to 1cm and 50% effaced. Also, a little depressing. Although those measurements really don't mean anything. Once you go into labor that all changes pretty quick. Or can. So I tried not to let it get to me. That week was again filled with contractions that brought no baby.
Sunday, March 27 was Easter. I woke up at 5am in pain. I didn't time anything because it wasn't regular, but this pain was more intense then the last few weeks had been. Tay and I took Scout to church and I couldn't even sit through the first hour. Tay taught our Sunday School class while I entertained Scout and tried to keep my mind off of things. After that second hour I decided I needed to come home and rest. I was pretty confident this baby was coming. We ended up going to our friends house for dinner and I took my hospital bag just to be safe. I was still hurting, but the pain wasn't worsening so we stayed away from the hospital. I talked with my parents that night and told them I was pretty sure I was in labor, and after a few hours they called and told me to go to the hospital because things could progress pretty quick with this being my second baby. I debated, but ultimately decided to wait. Especially becasue the next morning at I had an appointment with the OB at 9am.
At my 38 week Dr. appointment (Monday, March 28) I was checked again, hoping that all of the contractions (which had gotten pretty bad over the weekend) had brought some progress. This time I was dilated to 4cm! I'm pretty sure I almost cried I was so happy. I called my mom to tell her the good news and she immediately began looking up plane flights. She ended up booking a flight that landed that night which was exciting, but also stressful. I was nervous that Hawk was going to take his time coming and I didn't want to waste my mom's time by having her here with no baby. But she came! We had dinner at the house that night and i went to bed early still uncomfortable.
Tuesday morning, (March 29) I woke up at 2am hurting but also feeling super nauseous. I went to the bathroom and sat on floor just waiting to throw up. After about 15 minutes I went and laid back down hoping it would pass. I kept waking randomly throughout the morning feeling so sick. Finally, at 6:30 Tay had gotten up with Scout and I woke up and threw up. It was terrible, but I felt so much better. in the midst of going to the bathroom right before that, I thought I felt my water break. I wasn't sure but was nervous because my Group B test was positive and I needed to be on antibiotics for 4 hours before I delivered to make sure Hawk was safe. That being the case, Tay and I talked about going to the hospital. He convinced me to go even though I was super skeptical. As I was downstairs giving my mom instructions for Scout just in case they kept me I had my first hard contraction. Like brought me to tears and I had to stop talking to her. I went upstairs to finish getting my stuff together, and the hard contractions didn't stop. I told Tay what was happening and hurried him out the door so we could get to the hospital that was a 20 minute drive. In the car I was timing my contractions and they were consistently 4-5 minutes a part and crippling pain. We parked and went inside, and the nurses put us in a triage room to monitor my contractions and to see if I was making any progress. After an hour I had dilated another cm (now at 5cm) and was fully effaced so they admitted me. Shortly after they moved me to the labor and delivery room I got my epidural and Tay and I enjoyed the morning together. Our goal was to keep me pregnant until 1:45 pm (4 hours from when they started my antibiotic) to make sure Hawk was safe during delivery. The nurses didn't come check my cervix again until then because checking can stimulate dilation. So at 1:45 Lesley (my most amazing delivery nurse) came and checked me and I had only progressed to a 6. I was a little disheartened and asked her about breaking my water (which was still intact). She said she would call and ask my Dr. A few minutes later my Dr came in and broke my water. Such a different experience than it breaking with Scout. Instead of the gush it was a slow trickle which was still awkward. Things started moving along quicker after that. It took another hour to get to 7cm, and then from 7-10 was pretty much a blur. Lesley came in and set up the room for delivery and we did some practice pushes to see where Hawk was at. His head was low but still required some work to get under my pubic bone. Curse that thing! Anyway, we pushed for about 10 minutes to get Hawk under the pubic bone (but it felt like eternity!) and then Lesley called the Dr. She was there super quick and coached me through the next 5 minutes of pushing. Hawkins Scott Roderick was born at 4:36pm weighing in at 8lbs. 4oz. and 20 inches long!
He has been such a good baby so far. But a hungry guy! He's two weeks old tomorrow and handles 3 oz. every three hours, and sometimes 4! Blows my mind and I don't know how I'll keep up, but I'm so glad he's here!
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