Here at Last

Shep's Story, Part II

It all started a year ago today. I really thought he was going to be born on May 6th, but that little boy took his time. The day of his birth has gotten a little foggy in my memory, so I'm writing this down mostly for myself!

Shep was born the last week of classes, so it was crazy to say the least. Early Wednesday morning I awoke from a dream in which I was having contractions. It was 4:30 am and I really was having contractions. It was different than with Conner. They were not very intense and not very regular. I wasn't sure what to think. I laid in bed awhile and then got up to take a shower. They then got less frequent for awhile, but never went away. I didn't call a nurse because I had an appointment at 9 am that morning. Zack couldn't usually go with me to appointments because of school, but he was going to go that day because it was my last scheduled appointment.

When we go to the appointment, I told the doctor what had been going on. When she checked me I was 4 cm and about 60%. She told me to head over to the hospital and that she would come over shortly to break my water. I was excited, thinking that the baby should be here by the afternoon and that my doctor would get to deliver him! I went next door to the hospital to check in and Zack drove Conner to a friend's house who was going to keep him until my Mom and brother arrived. I was all settled in my room around 10:30 am, which was the same time I arrived to my room with Conner. Conner was born a little before 5 pm, so I remember thinking, I should be holding my baby in just a few hours! It's supposed to go faster the second time, right?

I told the nurse I wanted to try to have my baby naturally and didn't want the doctor to break my water. The nurse told the doctor and I got permission to walk around etc. Zack and I walked the halls for about an hour. The nurse checked me...no progress. I was surprised. It was not going how I had thought. My contractions were very strange. The nurse said it was up to us, but advised me to just go home. They don't like you to eat at the hospital, so the nurse discreetly told me I should just go home and rest and eat a light lunch and see what would happen. I live five minutes from the hospital and since this wasn't my first child I felt pretty confident I would know when I needed to go back.

So, we left. Conner stayed with our friends and I spent a VERY uncomfortable afternoon. The contractions were strong enough and frequent enough to leave me pretty uncomfortable and exhausted, but not strong enough to really do anything. We headed over to UT so Zack could turn in his thesis. We had to park really far away, so I hoped the long walk, plus all the steps I would be climbing might help. It was weird walking around in labor. I remember thinking, I wonder what people would think if they knew I was in labor...haha! We went back to our house. I laid down awhile, had a light lunch and took another shower. By about 5 pm the contractions were definitely stronger and more frequent. I decided to go back over to the hospital and see if anything had happened.

Around 5:30, the nurse checked me again and I was the same- 4 cm and 80%. I started crying. I was so tired and so discouraged. It had already been 13 hrs! Soon I got a new nurse (since I was there twice and for so long, I had 3 different nurses). I really liked her. She was pregnant, too. Then things started to move quickly and get pretty intense. The rest is pretty much a blur. I remember the contractions started coming one on top of the other and lasting forever. The doctor on-call came in around 8 pm and I was crying. My contractions never got that painful with Conner. He checked me and I was 8 cm and almost completely effaced. My mind was in a whirl. Maybe I would get to 10 cm in 2 min, but what if I got stuck there awhile. I really didn't know how much more I could take. I remembered reading about that point of labor. If you can get over that hump, it usually means the baby is about to come, but I wimped out. I got an epidural. My night in shining armor arrived around 8:30 and I was texting people by 9 pm=) About that time I felt like I was ready to push. The nurse went to find the doctor. She came back and told me that the doctor was with a woman who had come in with pre-eclampsia. I was still waiting at 10 pm. I was a bit annoyed, but grateful that I was not there with complications. I tried to have a good attitude. The nurse told me to please tell her if I felt an overwhelming desire to push. The doctor ended up having to do an emergency c-section on that other patient. He came in around 11:50. Boy, was I ready to have my baby. I pushed 15 min and he was out! (That part was a whole lot faster!)

The chord was around his neck. The doctor was surprised. Nothing in his heart rate had ever indicated such. That explains why it took so long for him to come out. The chord would always pull him back in after each contraction. I remember thinking that he looked long as the doctor pulled him out. They set him on my chest for a brief moment, but then took him because he was a bit blue and not crying yet. None of the nurses seemed worried, so I was pretty calm. Soon we heard him cry and I relaxed. I tore a teeny little bit, nothing compared to last time. We finally moved to recovery around 3:30 am. I was exhausted from having been up for almost 24 hrs, but full of joy and peace.

Tomorrow I'll post more about Shep and some pictures, so check back!