Birth Days...

I have put this off way too long. Here is his birth story. It all began Friday, August 3rd at 1:45am, I guess that would technically be August 4th.

When I got home from work that day I was feeling very tired and just wanted to rest. I was having some pretty hard braxton hicks at work, at one point I even thought about laying on the floor in my office to have my belly relax a bit. When I got home from work around 4pm I kept going pee like every half hour that night and even told my husband I think I keep peeing my pants because I changed my under 3 times, they were wet. That night around 1:30pm I woke up with the urge to go #2 so I walked downstairs to the bathroom as I didn't want to wake my husband. I was peeing and heard a pop sound. I thought that seemed like a weird bone to pop. Anyways, my urge for #2 went away after I sat down. I just peed again and went to bed. As soon as I laid down, a big gush came out and I knew my water had broken. I woke up my husband at around 1:45am and let him know what had happened. We couldn't believe this was it and this is how it was happening. He was 2 weeks early! Once I stood up from bed a lot of fluid came out, just like in the movies, thank god I wasn't in public. We finished packing our bags, thankfully I didn't have much to pack, my husband on the other hand had nothing pack except for the things I had packed for him. Nothing happened after my water broke until about 3pm, then the contractions started. They started out as menstrual cramps, easy to breathe through, at that time headed to the hospital.

Triage: We arrived at 3:30am, I was hooked up to monitor me and baby. Contractions were getting stronger and closer. The sad thing was I was still only measuring 1cm, that was too be expected though because of the scar tissue. The nurse tested my fluid to make sure my water did break. The nurse also had to do an ultrasound to figure out what position he was in. That was extremely uncomfortable, laying on your back, during a contraction. She couldn't find his position so I had to wait for another nurse to come in and figure it out. He was head down, slightly crooked and sunny side up. I hated triage, they kept wanting me to lay down and I just wanted to stand up and walk around through the contractions. I finally just told them I needed to stand up and move around. I couldn't wait to move to our own room, I was sharing a bathroom with another woman and she was screaming bloody murder, I am not trying to be mean but when you are in labor and someone is screaming at the top of their lungs it was very irritating. I remember telling my husband he needed to ask to change rooms but that was about the time we were switched to L & D.

L&D: We were moved to labor and delivery after about 1 hour after triage. They hooked me up, asked me tons of questions and prepped me for an epidural. I asked about being dilated further along before the epidural but they said it was fine to have it now. Little did I know I would be in labor for 28 hours and getting that epidural so early turned out to be a mistake. Once I got the epidural it was basically hurry up and wait. Not much happened, we waited until 5am to call family and friends to let them know what happened. I was able to rest and watch some Olympics. I finally started progressing around 12pm on Saturday, August 4th. I was 4cm dilated and then 2 hours later I was 5cm. Since my water broke they only checked me every 2 hours. At that point we were thinking we would meet this little guy that evening. I think it was around 10pm that night I was finally 9 but I remained that way until 3:30am. At that point they were giving me the highest dose of pitocin to increase the contractions and the pain was so bad I had my husband get the nurse to turn off the pitocin.  The nurse turned down the pitocin, but not off. The epidural was not strong enough at this point and I am not a big fan of pain. I dealt with the pain for the next 3 hours, my doctor came into to check me again and said she just doesn't think the baby can fit through the canal. At that point we decided a c-section would be the best option. I agreed, I was so exhausted and didn't even know how I would have the energy to hold him once he arrived.

C-Section: Logan Drew was finally born on August 5th at 7:37am. I was so scared to have a c-section, because of the break through pain with the epidural. I also didn't trust that they were going to numb me completely. When people say having a c-section is the easy way out, they are truly wrong. Laying in an operating room, while someone cuts you open to deliver your baby was not easy. You can hear and see everyone in the room. I couldn't even see what was happening in the lights above me. I looked a few times but turned my head and closed my eyes while my husband held my hand. When they were ready to pull him out my Dr. let me know, there was a lot of pressure and then all of a sudden a very loud screaming baby boy. It was amazing finally seeing him, my husband was still able to cut the cord and went with him to get cleaned up. I laid there until they fixed me up and I was ready for recovery. We declined the eye ointment and Hep B shot. We did get the Vitamin K shot.

Logan Drew weighed 8lbs 4oz and was 21 1/2 inches long. I am grateful he came 2 weeks early otherwise he would have been 9.5 lbs. He was so smashed in the birth canal, he came out with the biggest cone head and his nose was bruised from being pushed up against the birth canal. He also had bruises on his chest, arms, back and legs. Poor guy, wish I would have gotten the c-section sooner.

Recovery Room: Once wheeled into recovery, I was shaking like crazy, they gave me a shot of Demerol and the shakes went away. Logan was laying under a warmer with his eyes wide open. We started breastfeeding and he caught on pretty quick.

Hospital Stay: The staff was amazing, I appreciated the stay and glad they were there to help us. I was in so much pain from the surgery. Getting up to go to the restroom for the first time was pretty intense. I really never knew how much recovery there is with a c-section.  We were able to spend some quality time with the lactation consultants during our stay, which helped a lot, Logan would latch on, latch off and get frustrated but they came in to help him with that and we are doing great now. Logan had jaundice so he was constantly checked and we did have to feed him some formula to help get rid of the jaundice and because his birth rate fell to 7.9lbs. After that first day of breastfeeding he would not eat for about 10 hours. I felt so bad for him. He is doing great now on his own.

We are home and I am so thankful for my husband, without him I don't know what I would have done. He has changed 99% of the diapers and even helped me change a few times. I can finally move around a lot more but try to take it easy because I want to heal quickly from this surgery. We are so grateful for this little man. He is truly amazing! Today is the day he was created in CO one year ago. I remember all the tears on that day and now I can't get over holding our little one.

Here we are in recovery.