How Wade Got Here

I promised myself I would record the details of Wade's birthday more for myself than anyone else. This is going to be long and boring so beware! Here goes...

We checked into the hospital on Sunday Feb 20th and at around 8pm the nurse put a tablet in that worked to ripen my cervix. It felt like a firecracker for about 20 minutes! Justin pulled out a weird little recliner and we settled in to try and sleep around 10pm. No sleep for me! I just laid there and soaked it all in--so many emotions. Around midnight, the nurse came back and put another tablet in. The night was full of potty runs--felt so bad because Justin had to get up and unhook my sensors and monitors and help me walk to the bathroom about every 30 minutes it felt like. At 6:00am, the nurse came in and checked me...nothing. No dialation yet. She started the pitocin in my iv to get the show on the road. Fingers crossed!

At about 6:10am I decided that I wanted to try to sleep but the contractions were starting and they were kind of painful. I heard/felt a pop sound right then and thought the baby must have just done a powerful kick! Nope! Water broke! The nurse said a small percentage of women actually feel/hear the water break. Lucky me! I was so thrilled to be making SOME progress! PLUS! Our favorite nurse, Alyssa, came on duty! She is so sweet and is the one who also delivered Ryan Elizabeth! Dr. Tran came in to check me around 7am and when I stood up to use the bathroom it was like someone turned on the bathtub focet. I just stood there in shock while I made a HUGE puddle on the floor. Dr. Tran threw a quilted bed pad at my feet to start to soak it up. One of the weirdest moments of my life! Ruied my house shoes and I will never forget the flood of 2011! Dr. Tran checked me and I was about a 2 in dilation! (If I remember right) Alyssa explained to me then that the fluid had been colored which meant that it had meconium in it. Wade had a bowel movement in utero which is somewhat common (usually in over due babies) and they would need to wisk him away as soon as he was born to clear his lungs. No biggie she assured me.

For the next several hours I labored! At about 9am the contractions started to get intense. I was breathing through them and closing my eyes to help focus. I tried to visualize myself flying like a bird over Ireland or Oregon like I had practiced but every time I did, I imagined myself falling. Scary! Alyssa offered me a Stadol shot to help take the edge off the pain. I knew I would be getting an epidural but I wanted to make more progress before I did just in case it slowed me down. The Stadol (both doses) did nothing but make me totally loopy! Still felt all the contractions. BTW, I had heard friends try to describe what a contraction felt like and most had said they were like a strong menstral cramp. True! At first I was just breathing through the contractions but towards the end (before epidural) Justin said I was saying "Shoe" with every breath. Who knows! It hurt!

At 11am, the anesthesiologist came in to give me my epidural. I don't remember anything about it. I was so focused on the pain that I forgot to be scared about getting the epidural put in! Yay! Jenn asked me later if I thought the doctor was good looking and I had to admit that I had never looked at him! He tried to talk to me and I completely ignored him. Not here for chit chat buddy!

Ahhhh, epidural! Felt much better almost instantly and for the next several hours I just hung out and made progress! Jenn and Sherri were there to keep the converrsation going. Alyssa had me get into some pretty crazy pretzel position to try to help Wade drop. There was a time when Wade's heartrate dropped and so Alyssa had me start an oxygen mask. Annoying!

My progress was awesome! Every hour or so Alyssa would come in and check me and I had always changed! We were all so surprised. With no progress up until that day it was a miracle that my body was doing it's thing so fast!

Somewhere around 4-5pm I was fully dialated and ready to push. I started to feel a whole bunch of pressure with each contraction. It was not sharp pain but definitely very uncomfortable. Alyssa explained that it was a good thing and it meant that when it was time to push I would be able to be more accurate. Alyssa had me sit up in bed to see if that would help Wade drop because there was no sense in me working to push him all the way through the birth canal---he was too high to start pushing. Not too long after, Alyssa gave us the green light to push! I pushed for about 90 minutes with no progress! Justin was by my side the whole time and was an amazing partner and coach. At one point, the emotion caught up with him and we shared a sweet moment of overwhelming joy and anticipation. Alyssa explained that Wade's head was about a fingers length away from crowning and with each push he would move forward and then slip back once I stopped. Arg! I pushed with everything I had but at 7pm when Alyssa's shift was over and my strength was gone, the nurses came in to tell me that they felt sure we had come as far as we were going to and it looked like I needed a c-section to get Wade out. They told me that he was not able to get through my pelvic opening because it was small and had a tilt to it. I was so sad and so relieved all at once. I wanted the pain to be gone (it had really intensified as they had turned up the pitocin) and I was physically exhasted from pushing for so long.

At that moment I closed my eyes and did not open them until after Wade was born. I can't explain why, but I had to shut it out and focus on keeping it together! I barely made it! Dr. Tran came in and talked to me and through my tears I told her I was fine with the c-section and to please please hurry to get him out and me out of pain! Alyssa had promised that she would be there to help me have the baby but of course that is before we knew that our progress would come to a hault! The new nurse, Jamie, and Dr. Tran worked fast and furiously to get me ready for the OR. I was surprised that Dr. Tran was doing the nurse's duties but later found out that labor and delivery had been slammed all evening and they were short handed. They wheeled me into the bright OR and as soon as I met the anesthesiologist I begged for more meds! He gave me all he had and we got started soon after. Justin was rushed into the room just seconds after the first incision was made. He sat beside me holding my hand and come to find out, watched the whole thing! I must say, I don't have anything positive to say about the surgery except that it was quick! I felt everything but none of it hurt. Justin backed me up and told me I was right that they were flinging my organs around! I also felt some jerking tugs which I think Dr. Tran had to do in order to dislodge Wade's head from the pelvis. Ouch! We heard cries a short time later---Wade was here at 8:06pm! Then we heard, "Oh my word, he is huge!" "Giant baby" "Enormous!" Dr. Tran held him up for us to see him but I couldn't see over the screen. They took Justin back to the nursery with Wade so that he could be there for the footprints, bath, etc... While Dr. Tran was sewing me up Justin brought Wade back in all swaddled up for me to see him. Justin wasn't able to tip him forward far enough for me to see more than his forehead and eyes. I wanted to hold him so bad! They wheeled me back into the labor and delivery room where I stayed for the next 45 minutes. They were the worst 45 minutes of the day! I knew that everyone else was getting see Wade and I hadn't even officially met or touched him yet! Not fair! Finally, Justin brought him in and it was the sweetest moment of my life. My boy! He was perfect and so alert. We finished making calls and letting everyone know that he was here and all was well.

That is the story in as much detail as I can remember! It's amazing. Everyone tells you that as soon as you see your baby, all the bad memories of pain go away. It's true. You don't understand until you experience it but the feeling of instand love is so strong!