The Baby Story...Mostly For the Ladies

The Before Picture... this is about a week before I delivered... I was so ready!

My story actually begins with an explanation: Belle was born at 39 weeks and weighed 8 lbs 13 oz; apparently she had wide shoulders because she experienced something called shoulder dystocia which means her shoulders got stuck on the way out- I know...ouch right?
Thankfully it was an uncomplicated dystocia meaning she had no injuries or resulting problems (apparently it often causes permanent nerve damage in the neck/shoulder). She was only stuck for about 52 seconds before she was officially born- it was a scary but short experience.

So, my doctors didn't want me to carry this baby past 39 weeks, fearing another risky dystocia.
7:30AM on April 1st (sorry about the ridiculous birth date Parker) Quinn, my mom, Lanie, and I arrived at the hospital.

Fun side note: my nurse was an old friend of mine from high school, Melanie Rice. She was wonderful as a nurse and BONUS she's also an amazing photographer! She photographed the whole labor and delivery for me! I wasn't expecting to like the pictures very much just because births are messy...I definitely felt like a mess and I was oblivious to most of her picture taking. However, of course the pictures are lovely and perfect and now I want her to do that for any future children I may have! You can check them all out in the web album (featured on the blog side bar...don't worry they don't show any of my lady parts;-).

Moving On

By 9:30am they had me checked in and the pitocin was started. I was at a 2 and 70% effaced. Honestly the contractions were pretty weak until 12:30pm when the doctor came in and broke my water; I was dilated 3 cm and 80% effaced.

Interesting side note: this was an interesting experience. The tool the doctor used looked like a crochet hook and it felt like he had hooked a loop of my intestine at first. For a split second I was terrified that he was going to give a good tug and all of my insides were going to come spilling out! Thankfully there was no tug- just a puncture that I couldn't feel and my insides remained intact. Then it just felt like I wet the bed- I have some experience here since I probably wet my bed until I was ten years old (sorry Mom;-).

Moving On

With my water broken my contractions quickly sped up and became intensely painful. I worked through them for an hour, but when the nurse checked me at the end of that hour and I hadn't progressed AT ALL, I requested an epidural.
The drugs took the edge off but I kept them as low as they could go because I wanted to be able to feel as I was pushing (they tell you that's important when your baby might get stuck). With my body no longer fighting the contractions I was ready to push less than an hour and a half later!
It took a few minutes to get the doctor in the room (they hadn't expected the baby to drop to quickly), but then they quickly prepared and I started pushing. After 4 or 5 pushes, and some great coaching from my doctor, his perfect little head popped out and...his shoulders got stuck...so defeating. Thankfully he was only stuck for about 20 seconds. The doctors wiggled him a little while the nurse pushed down on my pubic bone, and I pushed as hard as humanly possibly! Out he came yelling and peeing all over the place in true manly fashion. There were no complications from the dystocia, and his head was perfect (not cone-shaped at all) since he came down the birth canal so quickly. Unfortunately, dropping that quickly caused his face to bruise so his face looked slightly bluish for the first day of his life. When I first saw him I thought the blue face meant he wasn't breathing...it terrified me until I realized he was screaming his head off...not a very funny April Fool's joke.

He was big and beautiful and perfect, and I didn't even have to have stitches!
This little fellow latched on and started nursing right there in the delivery room.
Welcome Parker Lawrence...I love holding you in my arms much more than in my tummy.

The After Picture: the first of at least a million hugs