I decided to go ahead and relay the birth story for those who haven't heard it. If you've heard it, just ignore this post!
Last Monday, I started really having contractions, but they weren't very strong, or at least they didn't feel like I thought they would. They got worse as I walked, but weren't as strong when I was sitting.
On Tuesday, I went to school-I was still having contractions, but they weren't as noticeable. So....I decided to call my sister who is a nurse for an OBGYN in Texarkana. I didn't really want to bother my dr. about it, because I still thought nothing was going on. I talked to Courtney, and she said she'd ask her dr. about my symptoms (there were also some other small symptoms going on). About 10 min. after I got off the phone with her, I get an email that says, "GO TO THE HOSPITAL NOW." So...I called her back; her doctor told her it sounded like I was in labor, and I really needed to go on. I let everyone at school know, except my kids. I told them I had to leave to go to a dr.'s appt. and that I'd be back later!
I drove home to pick up Phillip. By this time, my sister had already called my mother who had already left school and was headed home to get her bag! I had to beg her not to leave yet, because I still really felt like it wasn't the real thing. I got home, and Phillip asked if he needed to grab our bags. I said, "No, they're just going to send us home."
Anyway, we got to the hospital around 2:30pm..they hooked me up to the machines and said my contractions were 3-4 minutes apart! I felt really silly at this point! I was only dilated to about a 3, but I was 80% effaced. They called Dr. Wiedower who told them to keep me because there was no sense in me going home to be miserable and just have to come back that night. We called all the family, and they hit the road. Dr. W came in around 4:30 and broke my water, and they started the Pitocin around 4:40. At this point, I sent Phillip home to grab our stuff, and Brandi showed up to sit with me while he left. Poor Brandi, she had to sit through the strong contractions w/ the Pitocin!
Anyway, our parents showed up around 6 or so (I can't remember exactly) and my sisters got there around 9pm. I think I got my epidural around 8 or so, but again, I can't really remember. I do remember that it really didn't work! It would work for about 30 minutes and then they'd have to pump more into me. I felt like a druggie by complaining, but I was in ALOT of pain!!!
So, I labored all night, was dilated to 10, and finally felt the need to push around 12:45 am-I'm really fuzzy on my times. I pushed for a while, and knew it wasn't a good sign when one of the nurses came in and said Dr. Hubach (dr. on call) said to call back when I was getting closer. Not a good thing considering I felt like I'd been pushing for a long time!!! She got there later, and I pushed for an hour! I stopped after an hour and said, "Let's talk about this. I need you to tell me what's going on." (Ok, maybe I wasn't really that calm) Her response, "Well, he's not moving down." At this point, I insisted we figure out another course of action because I couldn't do it anymore! She listened to me ramble for a while, and then agreed that we should do a c-section. I was so relieved!!!!!!!! They got me back there a while later (it once again took a while to get me fully numbed b/c of my epidural). Anyway, we got back there, and he was here by 2:41 am!
My dr. came in the next morning and said that Dr. Hubach told her he was absolutely not coming out. I feel so blessed to have dr.s who didn't make me keep pushing when it obviously wasn't working!
Fast forward to today-we're doing great. I really feel good; I'm a little sore, but I'm actually feeling good considering I had major surgery a week ago! Parker is perfect, of course. He's doing really well-he's eating like a champ and sleeping pretty well, too. He doesn't cry just a whole lot (not since we've been home-he was pretty fussy in the hospital)..and he's pretty easy to soothe when he does cry. He doesn't like his diaper changed, and the jury's still out on the baths. We go back for his one week appointment tomorrow, so we're just praying everything is good.
We really appreciate everyone's love, support, well wishes, and food! Keep the prayers going; we certainly feel God's calming affect on us. Yesterday Phillip said, "I really thought it was going to be alot worse than this. I thought we wouldn't even be able to talk to each other." I'm just praying that it continues to go this well!
I'll post more pics later this week!
