Disclaimer:
this is a birth story!! ... 'nuf said!
On March 25th 2013 my husband and I welcomed our 3rd (and last!) child into the world.
Ryan Craig Musser
March 25th 2013
4:28pm
8lbs 2oz (yikes!) 20 inches
Cuddly.Chubby.Perfection!
I went into the hospital on Monday (25th) morning at 8:00 am for induction at 39 weeks. My Midwife, whom i love dearly and would recomend to anyone!! met me there to get me checked into a room and break my water. She does not mess around with her inductions, and likes to get things moving right away! (just the way i like it!) At 8:30 Sheri broke my water and said she expected a baby sometime around 5:00 pm. I insisted it would be before that! (self confessed least patient person ever over here!) Once the flood of fluid had subsided a litte, my nurse started an IV and fluids, and the all dreaded Pitocin to get contractions going.
My dear sister in law (who is really my husbands cousins wife) Heather was with me through the whole experience, for which i am SO greatful and was glad she was there to cheer me on and keep me sane!
Contractions started about 20 min after Pit was started, and were very managable for about 2 hours. During that time I ate some jello, and sucked on some ice pops and did a self photo shoot in between contractions! My thinking is to make a painful process as enjoyable as possible!
By 11:00 or so i was in a pretty good amount of pain and contractions were 3-5 min apart. I was starting to get annoyed and not wanting to talk as much (im sure to the great relief of all in the room!) I was going back and forth in my head about getting an epidural. I really wanted to go without, not becuase i was too proud, but because i fear the side effects and had visions of being paralized for life from the damn thing all because i couldnt deal with the pain of contractions/labor.. I decided I would wait for Sheri to come back in at noon to check and see if i had made any progress with dialation before i made a decision.
At about 12:30 I was not a happy camper anymore, and was having a hard time dealing with the pain from the contractions... Finally Sheri arrives to check me...drumroll please....
3-4 cm... (progressed from 1 when she broke my water) Now that is actually decent progress, but to me, it was NOT good news.. that ment i still had 6 cm to go and there was no way in hell i could do it without threatening the lives of everyone within a 2 mile radius! So, without hesitation I asked for an Epidural STAT!
Within 30 min i was curled over a pillow being stuck with a rediculously large needle in between my spinal colomn praying the man with no bedside manor doing it wouldnt slip and paralize me for life! Anyone who has had an epidural can relate to the pain.. its no fun!! however, once it was over i had almost immediate relief from the contractions, and was back to laughing and chatting withing 10 min!
I decided to try and take a nap once i was comfortable, as it was going to be a while before i was ready to push. It was about 2:30 and I sent Heather off to get somthing to eat, and settled into my cardboard pillows as best i could to get some shut eye. That lasted all of 20 min before my Epidural quit working and i was feeling ever.single.contraction......... I rang the nurse call button and begged for the Drug man to come back and relieve my pain! Contracitons were right on top of each other at that point, and my nurse actually backed the pitocin off a little, worried i would progress too quickly. Once the Epidural was working again I told the nurse I really needed to pee and felt a ton of pressure. She assured me it was just because my bladder was full and got ready to cath me. Well, much to her and my surprise she couldnt even do that as babys head was right there and I was ready to go!!
Thankfully other than pressure and Some mild pain from the contractions I was fine waiting until Sheri could rush back to the hospital, and I could call Hubby in ( yes,I allowed him to just wait at his moms with the older kids until it was push time!) 4:00 and everyone was In the room, and the party was at its peak! I was joking and laughing, all while shaking uncontrollably and my teeth were chattering like I was freezing! Within 20 min of pushing, I had my sweet, rolly little man in my arms. He was warm, cuddly, and wonderfully perfect!!
All my fears and worries of him not being able to breath properly (due to a CCAM on his left lung) were eased once i had him in my arms and could feel his warmth. All the emotions and worries i had been through during the pregnancy washed over me in waves and I sobbed! The love you feel for this little life you just welcomed into the world is undescribable. Greg and I both were able to just let the fears we had go and enjoy the first moments of his life together and gush over how cute and perfect he was.
And, I also remember saying and thinking repeatedly how our family was prefectly complete now, and I would NEVER have to go through labor or pregnancy again! (bittersweet, but mostly sweet!)
