Christopher Jeffrey Spaulding: Birth Story

 *WARNING: Very LONG and DETAILED for my records. Read at your own risk :)

Monday April 2, 2012 started off the same as they usually had been the past few months. My whole body hurt and I was soooo ready to not be pregnant! I had lots of things to get done and I kept putting them off because I was always too tired or in pain. As the day went on I actually started to get some energy and got quite a few things done. I actually thought at one point during the day that it was a little odd that I had so much energy and the thought crossed my mind that maybe this could mean I would go into labor soon. I had two more weeks to go though, so I didn't think much more about it. In the afternoon I started to have cramps, with an unusual burning sensation, here and there that were different than the pains I had been having the past few weeks. Jeff got home around 7:00pm from work which was actually earlier than usual. I mentioned to him my cramps and from then on they started to come more frequently. Jeff started timing them and they were about 10 minutes apart at 9:00pm. At the time we were watching the TV show Bones. This particular episode the main character went into labor and had her baby. We both thought it would be funny if I ended up having the baby that day. Jeff continued to time the contractions and by 12:30am they were consistently 5 minutes apart and getting very painful. I called the midwife and she said to call back in an hour if they continued and I couldn't talk through them anymore. By 1:30am I definitely couldn't talk through them anymore. I had to really concentrate hard on a focal point and breath through them to be able to get through them. The midwife said to go to the hospital then. We gathered the remainder of our things and drove the 40 minutes to the hospital. I was initially worried about the long drive being that the contractions were already 5 minutes apart but the midwife said I would be fine since this was my first baby. Jeff was very calm this whole time and was helping me get through each contractions. By the time we got to the hospital it was 2:30am. By the time we signed a few papers at the front desk, with the two most confused front desk ladies ever, and got settled in the room that they would first check me in it was 3:30. The midwife checked me and I was dilated 4cm. She wanted me to wait an hour before admitted me to see if I continued to progress. They wouldn't let me get up and walk around because my blood pressure was very high. (my blood pressure had been fine throughout my pregnancy). So I laid there for an hour as they tried to get my blood pressure down and drew some blood to see if everything was okay. During this hour the contractions were getting really bad and it got harder to relax and breath through them. Jeff was still so calm and was being an excellent coach. At 4:30 the midwife checked me again and I was 6cm dilated. She said we will definitely be admitting you, let's get you into a room. We got into the labor and delivery room and they started to get me settled. There were so many people in the room and that surprised me. It was kind of annoying that they all kept asking me questions as they were getting me settled because at the same time I was trying to get through some really rough contractions that were 3-4 minutes apart. By then I was ready for an epidural. I was very nervous about getting an epidural. I was scared of being numb and not being able to feel my legs and all that weird stuff that goes with an epidural. Regardless, I told them I was ready for the epidural. I had to wait for the fluid from the IV bag to completely drain into me before they would give me an epidural because my blood pressure was still so high. This took a good hour. It was 5:45am by the time the gave me the epidural and I was losing it by then. I didn't not enjoy any part of trying to hold perfectly still, while having contractions, as they put the epidural in. The nurses were great though!! I was grateful for the epidural about 10 minutes later when I no longer felt such strong contractions. They nurses then left and told me that I could hopefully get some rest now considering both Jeff and I had been awake for 24 hours at this point and I was completely worn out by labor already. 5 minutes after they left I suddenly felt very nauseated and flushed. I told Jeff, "I don't feel good" and I pushed the nurses button. I remember thinking that it was taking them too long to come in. Jeff finally went out into the hall and got someone. They came in and saw that my blood pressure had gone from 179/88 to 102/65 suddenly and this would cause the baby's heart rate to go down if they didn't fix it. 4 nurses surrounded me and moved me from side to side and then onto my knees to get the baby's heart rate up. During this time I was so utterly exhausted and in a fog. Finally the anaesthesiologist gave me something, again I was in a fog, that helped slowly raise my blood pressure. Jeff doesn't remember what she did either because he was concentrating on me and asking me if I was okay. Again he remained calm, which helped me remain calm. It was 6:30am by the time that was all over and the midwife came and broke my water to help speed things along because I was still at 6cm. The next two hours were much calmer as Jeff finally got to sleep and I "rested", as I was unable to really fall asleep. Around 8:30 I was starting to feel A LOT of pressure. I called in the nurse and the midwife checked me and said I was ready to go. I was feeling pretty good by then having the epidural in full effect. Side note on the epidural, It wasn't as weird or scary as I thought it would be. I could actually still feel my legs enough to barely move them and my right leg I could move and feel a lot. I wasn't feeling any pain, but was still able to feel pressure from the contractions enough to know when they came and went which I was happy about to I could know when to push. I started to push around 8:45am. After an hour of pushing and the wonderful nurses telling me how great I was doing I started to get tired. They gave me some pitocin to help my contractions become closer together because they were still only 3-5 minutes apart which was not helping the process. After another hour of pushing, half of me was grateful for wonderful nurses would kept telling me I was doing great, the other half of me wanted to yell at them and say, "If I am doing so great, how come the baby is not out yet!!" The last hour and a half was the worst. I would push and make some progress and then in between contractions the baby would sink back. At this point the epidural was wearing off and I had started to really lose it. I was emotionally so out of it that I wasn't pushing my button for more epidural meds. so I was starting to really feel the pain. I said (almost screamed) the lines that I didn't think I would say, "I can't do it anymore!" Jeff who was right next to me, holding my leg, was being absolutely perfect! He kept me going when I really thought I couldn't do it anymore. After a little over 3 hours they set up a squatting bar on the bed and had me squat. I thought they were nuts that they thought I was going to be able to sit up and get into that position considering I had a baby between my hips and it was extremely painful. I did it though, and after 2 pushes on the squatting bar they had be sit back and I gave two more pushes and he "shot" (as Jeff says) right out at 12:14pm. They immediately put him on my stomach and I felt extremely overwhelmed as I was so exhausted and knew that it was finally over and he was here! I was so overwhelmed and exhausted I didn't even look up to see Jeff's reaction, which I wish I had. He said he was glad I missed it because he was crying. Jeff cut the cord, which he wasn't sure he wanted to do before he came, but then was all about it. Jeff didn't think he wanted to be much apart of the whole pushing part, he just want to be my by face encouraging me. He ended up being apart of the whole thing, holding my leg and everything. He didn't want to miss a thing about his first child being born. The first thing I thought when CJ was laying on my chest was how surprised I was to see so much dark hair. I was sure he would come out blond. I love his hair! I remember thinking while in the hospital holding him how much I loved every little thing about him. He is absolutely perfect in every way and everyday I love him more. Within the first hour my mom called and said she would be on a plane the next day! What a wonderful surprise! It was perfect timing as I was feeling so overwhelmed with exhaustion when she called. I held CJ for the first hour or so and then they weighed him and measured him. He was 8 lbs 1 oz and 20 in. long. Jeff then gave him his first bottle. I was starving by now but my stomach was still feeling sick since it had been empty so long and my stomach gets really acidic when that happens. I tried to sit up to eat but my blood pressure dropped again and so I had to stay laying down. They rolled me to the mother baby room while I stayed laying in my bed because my blood pressure was still really low and I would faint if I got up. The next 24 hours I remember being exhausted but had a hard time getting to sleep because of how many different people kept coming in the room to do vitals on me or the baby or to check CJ's hearing or take his blood or give him a bath or whatever else they thought they had to bug us about. My mom arrived Wednesday evening and the next 24 hours were a lot better. I was able to get some sleep and we got home Thursday evening. It has been a week now and we are doing great. I am feeling a lot better. Better because I am not pregnant anymore!! Wow, does that make a difference or what?! I also am recovering just fine from delivery. Christopher is eating and sleeping great and we are learning lots! Jeff has been Super Dad. He is the proudest Papa ever! He will hold CJ whenever, change any diaper, remains perfectly calm if CJ is crying and needs to be rocked, is patient with me and my roller coaster of emotions and the list goes on. I love seeing Jeff hold him and see how much he loves him already. We both feel more joy than we have ever felt in our lives. I wish Christopher would stay this small and perfect forever and at the same time and I am excited to see him grow!

1 minute old

After first feeding, Jeff learning how to burp him

Meeting Grandma

Looking up at Daddy

Sad Face

Finally going home