-- Warning! Birth details are included below :) --
Some of you know that Eric and I were really hoping for a natural child birth. We'd taken 12 weeks of Bradley classes and read several books to help prepare us for this. We were concerned that if I was induced (Pitocin makes contractions a lot stronger and closer together and limits the different positions you can labor in) that I wouldn't be able to make it through labor without an epidural. I've had surgery when the lower three discs in my back ruptured - making the effectiveness or safety of an epidural no sure thing.
By last weekend it looked like Owen would not be coming into this world on his own. My parents arrived Saturday afternoon and we spent Sunday and Monday walking and trying various labor inducing remedies with no result. I was told to call the hospital at 5:45 am on Tuesday morning. When I called they told us they would be ready to admit us at 7 am.
They started the Pitocin IV around 7:30 and I was having mild contractions about 30 minutes later. I was only 2 cm dilated and 75% effaced, but our Dr. was willing to give us until noon to see how we progressed before breaking my water.
From 8 to 10:30 or so the contractions were regular and very manageable. I was sitting on my birthing ball and we were watching the Today Show. Eric had to come rub my back a few times, but I could easily relax through most of the contractions by myself.
At 10:30 the nurse bumped up my pitocin dosage and things started to change fast. I could no longer handle contractions on the ball and I moved to the bed. By 10:45 the contractions were much stronger and very close together. There were maybe 3 to 4 minutes at most between contractions and many of them were very strong. Eric did great coaching me to relax, but sometimes the sensations were very overwhelming.
At 12:30 they came to check me and I was fully effaced and 5 cm dilated. Since I was progressing so well my Dr. was ok with me continuing to labor with my bag of waters intact.
I spent the next hour or so either on the bed. Eric did great getting me water, a few slices of apple and crackers when I was hungry, counting down each contraction and we put on Enya to help me relax. I was very focused and was starting to moan through some of the contractions. When the stronger ones hit I was starting to wonder if I could make it through the rest of the labor. The hardest part was that I had so little break between contractions - around 2 minutes at most.
At 2:15 I was checked again and was 7 cm dilated. We decided I just couldn't relax laying down any more and moved a chair to the side of the bed. I would sit up during the breaks and lean forward on the bed during the contractions. At 3:30 I was checked again - I had progressed to 8 cm and my bag of waters broke while they were measuring me.
At this point it was impossible not to bear down during the peak of each contraction. We lowered the bed and I got down on my knees on a pillow beside the bed and leaned over on the mattress. I had less than a minute between each contraction and several of them double peaked. I just remember being very tired and wondering if I was going to be able to finish the labor. This last hour flew by and when I was checked at 4:15 I was 9 cm dilated and they called our Dr.
He arrived at 4:30 and gave me several numbing shots in my bottom. I started pushing at 4:35 and pushed through 10 contractions over the next 20 minutes. Each contraction I averaged about 4 pushes. Owen's heart beat started falling into the 90s and I had some scar tissue that was stopping his head from completely descending. The Dr. cut a small episiotomy and Owen was delivered 2 pushes later at 4:59 pm.
They handed him to me immediately and the first thing I thought was wow - what a big baby! They took his apgar measurements and he was a 9. While the Dr. was delivering the placenta and sewing up the episiotomy they took him to the warmer to start cleaning him. His color went gray pretty quickly and they were concerned about his oxygen levels. The neonatalogist came in and said he had really low blood sugar and needed to be given some pedialite quickly to keep him from being stressed out. Eric and I weren't excited about this (we really wanted to breast feed immediately), but agreed that his coloring was really bad and we should do what was suggested.
Eric went with the Dr. and Owen to the nursery where he was given pedialite through a small tube. His coloring improved within seconds and his blood sugar got a lot better. Eric came back about an hour later with the news that Owen was 21.5 inches and 9 pounds 1 oz! I couldn't believe I had just delivered such a big baby!
Eric went back to the nursery to help with the bath and then Owen was brought to our room at 8pm. We started breastfeeding immediately and he was a champ!
We got to go home Thursday afternoon. The first few days have been hard, but we're so excited about Owen Lars and our new family!
Here's Owen on Monday afternoon - I should have known he would be 9 pounds!
Owen Lars Oslund - Born 3/16/10 at 4:59 pm
