Clayton's Birth Story

I know that I've been horrible about updating everything via blog or facebook, and for that I am truly sorry! Both to myself and to my wonderful readers and friends! It has been a rough week, but things are finally getting better! I will talk about all of that later in my "Clayton's first week" post that I plan on writing! So, stay tuned!

As you know, Clayton decided that he was nice and comfy inside Mommy's tummy, and did not want to come out on his own. My doctor scheduled me for induction on Wednesday March 30th. We left our house for Big Spring around 5:30 to be at the hospital by 6. The whole afternoon my stomach was in knots! They told me to eat before we came in since I wouldn't be able to eat once I arrived at the hospital, but food was the last thing on my mind! I was going to meet my son.. and soon! It was a VERY strange feeling to know just when he'd be coming in to this world. I was sad that I did not get to experience "going in to labor" naturally, or the whole timing contractions at home with my husband and going through early labor in a comfortable environment. But, at 40 weeks and 4 days, I was mainly concerned with his health!

We arrived at the hospital and had to check in through the Emergency Room. From there we were taken up to Labor and Delivery. Upon arrival they asked me about a thousand questions, checked my vitals, and had me change into my lovely gown. After hooking me up to the fetal monitor, blood pressure machine, and IV, they then inserted the Cytotec, a drug administered vaginally to help soften the cervix. They told me that there was no guarantee that this would start contractions or even really progress things... but my body moved fast! Within minutes I began to have regular contractions. And THEY HURT. I wanted to go through labor naturally, but at the rate I was progressing I began to worry that I could not make it. The cytotec brought on fast and strong contractions almost immediately. They started out as lasting 30 seconds, then break for about 3 to 4 minutes. However, quickly after midnight, I had already dilated to a 4 and the contractions were now coming for 30 - 45 seconds and every 1 to 2 minutes. There was no break in between the contractions, and I tried to work as hard as I could to relax but it was not happening! I began to cry with contractions because they were hurting so bad and there was no break inbetween. Plus, having been administered the drug and on IV, I was not allowed to change positions or get out of bed to walk around and try to labor in different positions, as I had envisioned I'd be able to. My husband, Darren, and my Mom, Meg, both were great coaches. My amazingly sweet husband even fed me a popsicle and ice chips to help calm me. He would help me breathe through contractions and would rub on my arm or hand to help relax me. They were both such amazing coaches, and I feel so blessed that they were both there! Around 2am I broke down and asked for the epidural. I was not getting any rest and my body was starting to hate me, I swear! They gave me a small amount of IV painkiller to help until the anesthesiologist arrived. This barely even helped! The anesthesiologist arrived around 2:30 and started my epidural. My wonderful husband stayed by my side the entire time and help coach me through the epidural. It was painful... definitely not fun, but it really worked for me.

After the epidural I was able to relax and fall asleep. However, around 3:30am the nurse came in and told me that my blood pressure was dropping and it was affecting the baby, so she gave me an oxygen mask and had me lay more on my side. The oxygen mask was terrible and dried me out! Poor Darren was sleeping when they came in to put the mask on and woke up to find me in the mask! We had an ESP moment because he looked at me and I immediately said "It's for my blood pressure". He didn't even have to ask what was up! The mask helped and as the nurses came in to check me periodically they told me that I was making great progress. However, they were still pumping me full of fluids which caused me to shake horribly. I was so cold and uncomfortable from the oxygen and IV fluids. My doctor decided to let them give me the pitocin at 4am. I was dilated to a 6 at this point and baby had moved down a bunch. The pitocin worked immediately! Thank goodness I could not feel those contractions! I got sick to my stomach at one point before delivery, which was not fun. Then my epidural began to wear off and the contractions started to really hurt. They came back in to give me more and once they did I felt better. When the new nurses came in at 7am, Nurse Allison came and checked me. I was already an 7, almost 8! She then did a few more things around the room and came back at 7:30. When she checked me this time she said I was a 10!!! We were ready to have a baby! She called my doctor and told him to hurry up there! My mom could not believe that in the time she went to get coffee I had progressed from a 7 to a 10! Haha. My water broke around 7:40, and my nurse allowed me to start pushing around then. My doctor arrived shortly after, and I really began my pushing. I pushed through 7 contractions, about 20 minutes in total before my baby boy arrived! It was amazing. My epidural was perfect because I had complete sensation in my legs and was able to really push well. Everyone was really impressed that I pushed him out so fast, especially since Clayton is my first baby.

After he was finally completely out I felt such a rush of emotions. I cried when I heard his first cries. It was so amazing to know that he was finally here! They took him over to the weigh station and got him all cleaned up! He scored a 9 on his APGAR, which meant he was doing great! My doctor worked on delivering my placenta and getting me all stitched up while Clayton was getting cleaned. I had labial tearing on both sides, but no perineum tearing. Don't ask me how! After about 20 minutes they finally brought my beautiful baby boy over to me for me to see and hold! What a feeling. I cried again, of course. I remember just smiling at my baby then smiling at my husband. I kept telling Darren how much I loved him. It was just a great feeling! Darren's mom was able to come in shortly after that and see her new grandson! They then took him off to the nursery so that he could have his bath and have more checkups done. I was wiped out by this point! After laboring for 13 hours, 6 of which were without the epidural, I was one tired lady! I got sick again after delivery which was really not fun as my stomach muscles were so sore from pushing. Soon after all of that my nurse told me I could move into our recovery room, so I was wheeled down the hall!

Once in our recovery room we were able to have all kinds of visitors come to meet our little man! I was still feeling nauseous and was so exhausted, so my nurse gave me some femoral which immediately knocked me out. I was out of it for about 3 hours. People came and went and I had NO clue! I feel bad, but apparently my body really needed that rest. After waking I felt a million times better and was able to finally start nursing Clayton. He had trouble at first with the nursing but that's another story!

All in all I must say I had a relatively easy delivery. Although it was not what I had originally imagined in my mind, everything turned out great and we were blessed with a healthy baby boy. I thank God for all of the blessings that he has given us, especially the gift of life!