Isaac's Story

Tuesday, January 13, 2009
I had a doctors appointment and my grandparents decided to go with me that day. It was so nice of them to take me. Dr. Logan was surprised to see me and said, "You haven't had that baby yet?!" She examined me and i wasn't quite a confident 2cm...UGH! I thought, dilation is taking forever! After my appointment, we went to Long's Christian Bookstore b/c my Grandmommy wanted a new bible. In the store my tummy started feeling funny and I was getting a few cramps every now and then which i chalked up to the exam or an on-coming upset stomach. Later that night, we went to the Metzler's for dinner and my cramps were coming a little more steadily. I didn't tell anyone but I began to watch the clock for consistency...'I think I'm losing it' I thought, these are pretty consistent!

Before bed, Matt gave me some meds for my 'upset' tum.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

At 2am, I sat straight up in bed. OUCH!!!! The pain was strong and different than anything I've felt before. I got into many different positions, trying to find relief. Nothing. I got into a hot bath. Nothing. (although the water helped calm my nerves) Matt ran to Walmart and brought back some meds he thought would help my "upset stomach". My 'slow dancing', 'partner leans' and 'pelvic tilts' were proving worthless! OOOUCHH! Matt jumped on the computer and I was reviewing my childbirth class notes, even though I knew I was in labor, trying to decide if 'this was it'...

At 6am, I looked at him and said, we're going to the hospital. After throwing a few loose things into our already packed bags, I said bye and gave kisses to Lucy (she had been so sweet during the last couple of months during my pregnancy, always laying by me and seeming to know something was up) and we were off.

At 6:30am, I was checked into Triage at Winnie Palmer. They took my vitals and saw that I was not being dramatic, this pain was no picnic. They took me into a room by myself and asked me questions (which is what you want to do when you're in labor!) "Yes i feel safe at home...No I'm not afraid of my husband..." (but i just may give YOU something to be afraid of if you don't stop quizzing me and get me some pain medication...)

7:00am- I was taken to a triage room and put on monitors that measure baby's heartbeat & my contractions. Now, I'm rolling from one side to the other-Nothing is comfortable and the bed they put you on is small and narrow when all I wanted to do was curl up and cry, there just wasn't room to be totally on your side. They propped me somewhat b/c they don't want you flat on your back-not good for baby-but my tummy had no support and everything was hurting. This was the longest part of my day. Laying on this small, table, cold and in lots of pain. I was shivering violently all over, mostly from nerves. Matt called our parents to let them know what was going on but at this point, I hadn't been admitted and we were waiting to see if they were going to send me home (which Matt thought) or let us stay.

7:30am- Cherry (our nurse!) came in and said, "Well honey, you're gonna have this baby today!" Matt and I looked at each other...our baby was coming TODAY. wow. I even managed to smile and laugh at this...but not for long...next contraction. They hooked me up to an IV-- EWW (This was my first fear of the whole hospital experience, shortly followed by the epidural and pushing him out!) I took it like a champ and soon (but not soon enough) they brought in a wheelchair and took me to the 2nd floor--my labor and delivery room!

As soon as I was settled in, I took in everything. The room was huge, with tall ceilings and floor to ceiling windows (which made me feel so comfortable to be able to see so much outside--I kept saying, "Its a beautiful day!") It had all of the modern conveniences, marble tub and shower, granite sink, dark hardwood floors, huge paintings, flat screen and leather recliner. The incubator and area to weigh and measure the baby was in the room (so they didn't have to whisk him away after delivery) but covered by huge dark wooden armories. It was gorgeous in there! OOOOOUUUUCCCHH!! Another contraction. Then the Dr came in- We loved him! Dr. Wilstrup. He was so informative and sweet and calming. (Unfortunately, b/c Isaac took to long to come out, he isn't the one who actually delivered Isaac) He checked me and decided to break my water (which Isaac has a huge cut from on his head) and b/c Isaac was so low in the canal, my water never gushed until i sat up for my epidural! ANd at a good 2cm saw the amount of pain I was in and said I could have my epidural if i wanted it...BRING IT ON. The epidural lady had to come in and explain the risks and i had to sign something, yadda yadda yadda...and then the anesthesiologist came in. I had to sit, curled over a pillow and Matt sat in front of me and held my knees (I was scared about this part) They gave me a numbing shot which was the worst part. I flinched. She had to do it again. Then I flinched a second time...oops =) But it was tender and after that, the catheter was a breeze. It felt soooo weird!! They told me I would feel a cold breeze through my shoulder b/c the medication had been in the refrigerator--It was too weird. But ohhh, the epidural was wonderful and i settled in for a longgg day...

At first, it was wonderful. My family started to drop in to see us and i couldn't feel the pain of my contractions...just that they were happening. I couldn't eat or drink ANYTHING, not even chew gum but my ice chips were wonderful!!! (We want a ice maker that does ice like that--like Sonic's ice pellets) I watched Chronicles of Narnia, Prince Caspian and chatted with family and Jenny who stopped by to see me after work. Now it's 2pm and I'm feeling really tired. I couldn't keep my eyes open and tried to rest.

I progressed slowly. So slow in fact that they had to give me a pitosin drip in my IV to speed things along. Then the contractions were harder. They had a time getting a good reading on the monitors i was hooked up to. Things aren't so rosy now. I am hurting! A new Dr came in around 6pm and I started to feel desparate. My epidural wasn't as strong b/c the amount of pitosin and they had to up my meds. It was a game of back and fourth. People were in and out constantly and Dr.D'Heureux-Jones (yeah, thats her name) wasn't hopeful. She said I had been stuck at 6 cm for a long time and if I didn't progress in the next hour, we were talking C-Section. Ummm no. I didn't want a c-section! I wanted to see this labor thing through and now became sad b/c there is nothing I can do to make myself dilate any quicker! Well the good Lord heard my plea b/c in the next hour and a half (the hardest & most painful labor) I progressed from 6cm to a full 10cm!!! The nurse came in to check and she didn't say anything for a while and then was like, "sweetheart, your at 10! I'm going to get the doctor and we can start pushing!" We were overjoyed...but now was my last fear, pushing him out!

I pushed for 30 mins and all that was happening was i was out of breath and my mouth was so parched, i couldn't swallow. The nurse then took a bed sheet, tied a huge knot in one end, stood behind the doctor and threw it to me. She told me to hold on, bear down and pull. It worked. This 'tug-of-war' motion was what I needed to help me push. After that set of contractions, we had found what was going to work for me. An episiotomy and 15 mins later, at 11:01, our sweet Isaac was born. I was sooo happy and so proud of Matt. He is such a wonderful husband and although we don't like blood and 'medical stuff', he was perfect, coaching me through it the whole time! We texted our fam and friends, most of whom were still in the lobby downstairs and they were up an hour later to meet the newest member of our family. (Afterbirth, stitches and cleanup took a while!) Everyone was so excited! I couldn't believe I did it! (by the grace of God) It was just all so surreal! Matt & I are parents and we have a son of our own! At around 2am, Thursday, we were taken to our recovery suite on the 8th floor and ordered food...I was HUNGRY!! It was a whirwind of a day, but we wouldn't trade it for anything... We are so excited to be a family and look forward to watching God bless our lives and work through our sweet son.