It's a Hodnick Life: September 2011

So here it is....the condensed version...and only 11 weeks late! :)

I know you all are on the edge of your seats (not really, but I like to flatter myself!). So without further ado......

Wednesday, June 29th
My 39 week appointment. After having my membranes swept at my 38 week appointment and walking 2-3 miles a night and still no action…I have membrane sweep #2 (OUCH!) and ask my doctor about inducing closer to my due date, rather than having to go 7 days beyond it before an induction. She scheduled me to come back Friday of that week, and if there wasn’t any further progress from the membrane sweep, we would schedule the induction for my 40th week.

Friday, July 1st
2 days and 5-6 more miles….anddddd nothing. Nada. Zippo. My OB takes pity on me and sends me to schedule my induction for the following week. The scheduler tells me when my doctor will be on call and I get the last open spot on July 4th to have the overnight Cervadil process and begin the Pitocin on the morning of July 5th. I finished out the day at work, bid everyone farewell and told them I hoped I wouldn’t see them again for at least 8 weeks!

Monday, July 4th

After a low-key weekend of eating, sleeping and walking, we packed our bags and dogs and headed to the Hodnicks’ house for a 4th of July dinner and hopefully a phone call with good news. As we were finishing up dinner, the phone rang and it was the hospital, the woman said “Let’s get you in here and have a baby!” WOO HOO! ☺ It was go time. We got to the hospital a little before 8:00, checked in at Labor & Delivery, and headed up to the 3rd floor to get started on the Cervadil.

Tuesday, July 5th
When I checked in the night before I was 2 cm dilated and 75% effaced. By 7:30 a.m. when my doctor arrived I was 3 cm, still about the same effacement and having some contractions. She felt confident enough to begin the Pitocin around 9:00/10:00 a.m., so I got up, put on some makeup (which in the end would prove to be wasted energy) and got ready to start the true labor process.

As they got me situated in my room in Labor & Delivery, they explained the Pitocin process and pain management. I had a really great nurse and since I was already having some contractions before the Pitocin, she suggested that we just go ahead and call down the anesthesiologist for my epidural before the pain got too bad and he got too busy. I was terrified for the epidural, I had heard all the “don’t move or you’ll be paralyzed for life” Old Wive’s Tales…so I was practically hyperventilating when the guy was swabbing my back – but he was actually really great! I just felt a prick, a small sting…and then nothing. The only thing I felt after that was a few rushes of cold….and that was it! Before I knew it I was laying back in the bed with my Pitocin drip and no real feeling in my lower half – life was good!

I remember I was 5 or 6 cms and almost 90% effaced around 12:30 pm and they decided to break my water. Then I heard my doctor say a word I did NOT want to hear. “Meconium.” Meconium is a term that is used when a baby has a bowel movement inside the womb and it can pose a serious threat during delivery if the baby aspirates the contaminated fluid into their lungs. I remember starting to cry, but my doctor was very positive. She explained it happens more often than you would think, and they would be monitoring everything closely, and I would for sure be having a baby that day. I called my sister and she offered some comforting words and promised to be there soon.

The Casey Anthony verdict came in around 2:00 p.m. and of COURSE I watched it…..I literally cursed out loud and was so upset I told Matt to change the channel. I couldn’t bear to watch Jose Baez’s smug ass gloat during the press conference.

My mom arrived around 3:00ish and I remember starting to feel more uncomfortable. Slightly nauseous, tired and wanting a lot of ice chips (my only sustenance). I had a small nap when Matt’s mom and sister arrived and then talked to them when I woke up. I remember getting checked around this time and being 7 or 8 cms, and still thinking we were on track for an early evening birth, but maybe more like 8:00 or 9:00. We told my dad to come by around 7:00ish.

My daytime nurse bid me farewell around 7:00. She introduced me to my night nurse and I remember I was feeling exhausted, uncomfortable and frustrated because I was starting to stall….only at 8 cm and still 90% effaced. I was ready to have this kid already! I was also starting to feel pressure in my lower back and in my tailbone. They told me if I could feel it, I should dial up my epidural, so I did….MISTAKE…..it didn’t alleviate the pressure….it just made my legs COMPLETELY dead….I couldn’t move myself in the bed and I for sure couldn’t do any pushing….ugh…..

I remember at 9:00/10:00, we would try to start pushing a little. I was 10 cm but my effacement wasn’t totally complete. They thought the pushing would get me there. My legs were still pretty numb so I felt like not much was happening. Not to mention my nurse seemed totally unimpressed, and just said I wasn’t pushing hard enough. It was frustrating. After pushing for about an hour or so, I was really feeling awful with really strong pressure and pain in my tailbone. They were guessing that the baby was facing “sunny side up” and they wanted to see if they could get him to turn more before delivering. They had me lay propped up awkwardly on my side and they even tried having me push on my side. It was awful, I hated it, I remember just being upset and feeling like this kid was never going to move down and come out.

My doctor came in around 11:30 or 12:00 to assess. She said I was complete and she watched me do a few pushes. She said I was a strong pusher (FINALLY some positivity) and that if I could push for 2 more hours, she could help me get him out. I sucked it up and said OK lets do this, but I want to start RIGHT NOW.

Matt and my sister were enlisted to help hold my legs, the nurse gave us some instructions and it was go time. I was serious about pushing every contraction, I wanted to get this done. But after 2 or 3 pushes, she got up and left the room for 20 minutes or so. Meanwhile we just sat there….I was irritated. Once we started pushing again, she left the room and I said screw it, we’re going to keep pushing. So my sister waited for a contraction and then we would count it out and push.

Wednesday, July 6th
Around midnight I think I spiked a 101 fever and they gave me antibiotics and some Tylenol. I actually got to drink some water to swallow the Tylenol! I had pushed with everything I had for nearly 2 hours but I felt like I was fading fast, I had ZERO energy, I was mentally exhausted and my nurse made me feel like there was no end in sight. I begged her to bring my doctor in.

She finally showed up around 1:00/1:30, took a look, said we were close, and we had 2 options:

1. Natural delivery with forceps
2. C-section

I asked her what she thought would be best for the baby and she said honestly they were both good options. She said that the natural delivery would be best in terms of my recovery, and if she couldn’t get him with the forceps then we would go with a C-section. I told her that was fine, but I wasn’t going to mess around with forceps for another 2 hours. If she couldn’t get him in a few pushes, I was DONE.

Because the NICU team had to be in the room for the meconium issue, they kicked everyone out of the room except for Matt. They brought in the anesthesiologist, and he was a GODSEND. He was such a sweet man, very encouraging and nice. He literally put his hand on my shoulder and gave me encouraging words in my ear.

Everyone was in position, and I was terrified. I did one practice push and then on the next one, she went in with the forceps and pulled. I screamed the loudest I think I ever have as I felt his head coming under my pelvic bone and I literally felt a “pop” as I passed him. I thought I was done, bawling my eyes out in pain and in exhaustion when they told me to “look down,” and I couldn’t even pull myself together…especially when they said “his head is out!” And my response was, “ONLY his HEAD?!”

I told them I couldn’t look, we had to keep going, I had to be done. So we did one more big push, I screamed again as I felt the pain of passing of the shoulders, and then...there he was. I managed to open my eyes and see my beautiful baby boy as he made his debut at 2:02 a.m.

The NICU team rushed him over to the bed to suction his lungs and check his vitals. I knew that he wouldn’t cry right away, but when I finally did hear him cry it was the best sound I had ever heard. I remember still bawling and asking my doctor if he was OK, and she reassured me that they were checking him out but that he was doing fine.

Matt had a hard time during the birth, and almost had to leave the room during my screams. But he quickly recovered and went over to take pictures as they cleaned him up and checked everything. I remember them saying the weight “7 11” and “Wow you are a big healthy boy!” – and then I heard them say that everything looked great and they wouldn’t have to take him to the NICU. I have never been so relieved and so thankful in my life.

Finally they were done and we got to have our “skin to skin” contact time and it was the sweetest thing ever. I remember being in awe and so in love as I held that beautiful (redhead!) boy on my chest and listened to him breathe. After a while, the family came in to meet him and snap a few pictures before finally calling it a night at 4:00 am!

Ronan went to the nursery for his bath and other tests, and we finally got up to our room at almost 5:00 a.m. I felt like I had been hit by a truck, but after being deprived of all sustenance for over 24 hours, I did manage to shove some cold hospital food down my throat and drink some diet coke and water before finally passing out from it all. We woke up a few hours later and got to start our new life with our beautifully baby son on his birthday!