It's actually happening...kinda!
Oh man was Clark's delivery a rough one. Thankfully it had a very happy ending with Mommy and baby happy and healthy, but very very tired!
Clark's anticipated date of arrival was March 4, 2013...which came and went.
I went to the midwife on my due date and cried when we heard I was not dilated or thinned out at all.
I was ready to meet my guy and was so disappointed to hear we had to wait longer.
There was not much this control freak could do to get her guy...so we waited and waited and waited.
My labor pains began 5 days later on Saturday March 9th.
I tried to speed things along by cleaning the house and staying active all day.
Saturday evening my contractions were consistent and coming 3 minutes apart so we called the midwife and headed to the hospital.
To my total dismay we were sent home. I had only dilated to 1 and the contractions became inconsistent.
I was advised to wait till Monday to see my midwife again since I was planning to have a natural birth.
So for 2 sleepless days and nights I waited and labored at home.
I took lots of warm baths, massages from Aaron, and TRIED to stay comfortable.
Monday came and I was counting the minutes until the appointment.
I had a stress test and ultrasound to make sure baby was OK and he was just fine...just stubborn I guess.
I was still only dilated to 1 so the midwife stripped my membrane...ummm...ouchhhhhh!
I was in so much pain and hyper sensitive, and feeling so discouraged.
The midwife said I was having prodromal labor. Basically having irregular contractions that were not getting my body to open up much.
The midwife advised we go to the hospital to get a morphine induced rest to give my body a chance to relax and open up.
That was nice :)
... but only lasted 4 hours then the contractions were back and I was miserable again.
By Tuesday morning I felt like I could not handle the pain anymore.
We went back to the hospital and basically told them to throw away my birth plan and NOT send us home!
I had dilated to only 2, so we were admitted and we gave the OK for an epidural and pitocin.
We had a fabulous midwife, student, and nurse helping us during the day.
I was finally able to get some much needed rest!
They broke my water in hopes I would deliver before the shift change at 7 pm...but i didn't :(
Then the shift change happened and everything went to crap!
We were basically ignored and very rarely checked on.
I started feeling a lot of pressure and contractions again and was told I could try to push for a long time or get a "bump" in my epidural and let my body work the baby down more.
I chose the bump and was told the nurse would be back in an hour for me to start pushing.
We didn't see the nurse again for almost 2 hours and I was starting to panic and feel like i needed to push!!!
When we finally got the nurse back the baby was coming fast and the midwife was no where to be found...seriously?!?!?
While the nurse basically held the baby inside me, the midwife finally rushed threw the doors, threw on scrubs and my son was born about 10 minutes later!
We welcomed Clark Michael Brayer at 11:15 pm on Tuesday March 12th, 2013.
He was 8 pounds and 21 inches.
He had blue eyes and blondish hair (don't know where that came from!)
The midwife laid my sweet baby on my belly to wait for the cord to stop pulsating.
Then Daddy cut the cord about 10 minutes later
and he started nursing immediately.
We had skin to skin contact for about an hour while I was being stitched up.
I had 3rd degree tears, so needed several layers of stitches.
Once baby and I were cleaned up,
we introduced Clark to both sets of his grandparents and his Aunt Mohria.
We had to stay in the hospital for 2 nights and the second night we decided to send him to the nursery to get a few hours of sleep.
So after 4 days ( 93 hours) of labor and 8 days past my due date, we had our healthy baby boy :)
Sometimes our bodies and babies just have a plan of their own and we just have to go along for the ride. While I was disappointed I didn't get the natural birth I wanted for my baby, I knew what my body and mind needed instead.
LOVE this BOY!!!!!
I went to the midwife on my due date and cried when we heard I was not dilated or thinned out at all.
I was ready to meet my guy and was so disappointed to hear we had to wait longer.
There was not much this control freak could do to get her guy...so we waited and waited and waited.
My labor pains began 5 days later on Saturday March 9th.
I tried to speed things along by cleaning the house and staying active all day.
Saturday evening my contractions were consistent and coming 3 minutes apart so we called the midwife and headed to the hospital.
To my total dismay we were sent home. I had only dilated to 1 and the contractions became inconsistent.
I was advised to wait till Monday to see my midwife again since I was planning to have a natural birth.
So for 2 sleepless days and nights I waited and labored at home.
I took lots of warm baths, massages from Aaron, and TRIED to stay comfortable.
Monday came and I was counting the minutes until the appointment.
I had a stress test and ultrasound to make sure baby was OK and he was just fine...just stubborn I guess.
I was still only dilated to 1 so the midwife stripped my membrane...ummm...ouchhhhhh!
I was in so much pain and hyper sensitive, and feeling so discouraged.
The midwife said I was having prodromal labor. Basically having irregular contractions that were not getting my body to open up much.
The midwife advised we go to the hospital to get a morphine induced rest to give my body a chance to relax and open up.
That was nice :)
... but only lasted 4 hours then the contractions were back and I was miserable again.
By Tuesday morning I felt like I could not handle the pain anymore.
We went back to the hospital and basically told them to throw away my birth plan and NOT send us home!
I had dilated to only 2, so we were admitted and we gave the OK for an epidural and pitocin.
We had a fabulous midwife, student, and nurse helping us during the day.
I was finally able to get some much needed rest!
They broke my water in hopes I would deliver before the shift change at 7 pm...but i didn't :(
Then the shift change happened and everything went to crap!
We were basically ignored and very rarely checked on.
I started feeling a lot of pressure and contractions again and was told I could try to push for a long time or get a "bump" in my epidural and let my body work the baby down more.
I chose the bump and was told the nurse would be back in an hour for me to start pushing.
We didn't see the nurse again for almost 2 hours and I was starting to panic and feel like i needed to push!!!
When we finally got the nurse back the baby was coming fast and the midwife was no where to be found...seriously?!?!?
While the nurse basically held the baby inside me, the midwife finally rushed threw the doors, threw on scrubs and my son was born about 10 minutes later!
We welcomed Clark Michael Brayer at 11:15 pm on Tuesday March 12th, 2013.
He was 8 pounds and 21 inches.
He had blue eyes and blondish hair (don't know where that came from!)
The midwife laid my sweet baby on my belly to wait for the cord to stop pulsating.
Then Daddy cut the cord about 10 minutes later
and he started nursing immediately.
I had 3rd degree tears, so needed several layers of stitches.
we introduced Clark to both sets of his grandparents and his Aunt Mohria.
Sometimes our bodies and babies just have a plan of their own and we just have to go along for the ride. While I was disappointed I didn't get the natural birth I wanted for my baby, I knew what my body and mind needed instead.
LOVE this BOY!!!!!
XOXOXOX
