Each year we celebrate the birth of a child with a grand birthday party. Perhaps a family gathering or a small group of friends. And as that child gets older, we forget what that Mother went through to bring this child into the world. It's no small feat. Pretty damn amazing if you ask me. So today, on the day of my child's birth- I want to share with you my birth story.
Pregnancy was not easy for me.
I was horribly sick throughout most of those 10 months. Oh yeah- have you heard? Women are actually pregnant for 40 weeks, that equals 10 months, NOT the 9 months we've all been fooled into believing! But I digress.....So my pregnancy sucked. I was hospitalized due to dehydration, prescribed meds to help me keep food and water down and put on moderate bed rest towards the end. I lost close to 50 pounds because I was unable to eat and I worked hard to gain back about 30 of those pounds. The smallest I have ever weighed was when I was in my second trimester of pregnancy- yeah, that's not good.
I also have a heart condition and my doctor's were concerned that my child would be born with the same congenital heart defect that I was born with. Nothing like the stress of worrying about your unborn baby's health to make pregnancy a breeze. So in addition to my regular doctor appointments with my OBGYN, I also visited Cardiologists and endured several months of additional testing. Not fun but necessary.
Delivery wasn't any better.
I had a doctor's appointment the day prior. The kiddo was always a mover and a shaker and suddenly, he had stopped all movement. After a few tests at the doctor's office, they sent me to the hospital to check for amniotic fluid. Things came back fine and I was sent home with instructions to continue resting as much as possible. Difficult to do when you are still working full time- but we made do.
That night, about midnight- contractions started. Since I had never experienced childbirth before, I truly had no clue that this was it. I was still a couple weeks from my due date and I figured it was just gas or braxton hicks. I went back to bed, tried to sleep and not wake my husband. At about 5AM, I did wake him up to get ready for work and let him know that I had been having "pains" since early morning. I sent him off to work which was over an hour away from our house. Yeah- clearly I didn't realize exactly what was happening.
By 8AM- I finally got it. Oh- yeah, I'm having a baby now. So I called my doctor's office and they instructed me to take a shower and head in to the hospital. No need to rush since this was my first baby. As we've all been told- the first one can take awhile. Now since I had sent my husband in to work, I called my parents to drive me to the hospital and had my husband begin his long commute back towards me and the hospital.
I arrived having eaten nothing. Figuring I could have someone grab me something later. Ha! What NO ONE tells you is that once you are admitted, you are not allowed to eat. Boo. By the time I arrived, my contractions were still pretty slow. I was instructed to walk the halls while attached to an IV in an effort to speed things up. Otherwise, I would be sent home. Thank goodness the husband arrived shortly thereafter and he and I started our trek around the hospital. Contractions did indeed increase and I was admitted.
From there, I experienced high fever, soaring blood pressure, nausea and chills. My water was manually broken, I had an internal baby monitor applied, petocin was started, I bounced on a ball, I squatted, I got down on my hands and knees, I pushed and finally- after 23 hours of labor, it was decided that I needed an emergency c-section. My baby's heartbeat was dropping. Something was wrong.
On February 22nd at 1:01AM- William was born.
I was in no pain. I did not feel any discomfort during the surgery and as they pulled this child from my body- I saw all his gorgeous brown hair and heard his little screams. He was perfect and it was love at first sight. He was healthy and he was all mine.
Moments after I was stitched up and moved to another gurney, the IV was pulled from my body. Folks- I could literally feel it sliding its way up my back. The moment it was out, I was in instant pain. INSTANT PAIN. I blacked out and when I woke up, I had been moved to recovery room. My first memory from that moment is of my poor husband standing at the foot of my bed. The look on his face said it all. His child had just been born and then his wife had passed out. He had witnessed the entire surgery, refusing to sit down behind the curtain and instead watch as his child was pulled from his wife's body. I'm pretty sure he was equally ecstatic at the birth of his son and traumatized at the birth of his son. It was an unforgettable moment.
From there, it was a difficult few hours. The pain meds were not helping. I watched through tears of pain as my husband washed our son, giving him his very first bath, and family members came in to meet him. Finally, I was given a heavy dose of morphine and passed out. Thank God for morphine.
Several hours later, I woke up back in my regular room. The morphine seemed to help and the day passed with lots of baby cuddles and happy visitors. By nightfall, I was again in excruciating pain. Only this time, it was my shoulders. Your what? Yeah....didn't make any sense to me either. What I later found out was that when you are literally cut open, air can become trapped inside your body. This causes EXTREME pain. I swear to you, in that moment- I would have had the c-section all over again instead of experiencing this pain in my shoulders. NO ONE ever tells you this.
And while I am discussing things that no one tells you- here goes. Before they will let you leave the hospital you must first be able to poop and pee all on your own. Sounds easy enough, right? WRONG. You've just been sliced open. You have NO abdominal muscles. Without those, no amount of laxatives is going to make pooping any easier. So I lied. I had been trapped in the hospital for 4 days and I desperately wanted to go home. So you bet your ass I told all those nurses that I had pooped in the potty like a good little girl.
Ok gross- let's move on.
My son was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around his body. His heart rate plummeted during labor and we later found out, that this was the reason why. The cord was so tightly wound around one of his legs that to this day, there are still marks from it. He was also jaundiced and just a little tongue tied. But to me- he was perfect.
My birth story is not unique. There are many Mother's who struggle to bring a child into this world. And every year that my baby celebrates another birthday- I celebrate too. I did something truly amazing. This moment, the birth of my son, will forever be my greatest accomplishment in life.
Today William turns 9. Happy Birthday Baby Boy.
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| William with his Skylanders Birthday Cake on his 9th Birthday. |
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