Abram's Arrival: Part Two

If you missed Part One you can find it here.

When I finally had enough, around 4:30-4:45 I went and woke Ryan up and let him know we needed to go in and see what the deal was and talk to Dr. H. He agreed and woke up and got ready. We left the house around 5-5:10, but not before Ryan could do a video of him with Olive Oil Pam saying we were in labor. In the background you could hear me asking 'Can we go to the hospital now?' Looking back, it is hilarious and the video will be funny to show Abram but at the time it was annoying. Anyway, Ryan said that we weren't leaving the hospital without a baby in our arms! I was hoping he was right but I wasn't hopeful at this point. We got to the hospital and got checked in rather quickly because they had a slow night. She checked me and told me I was 4cm dilated! I was shocked. Here we go- active labor. We are having an Abram today!! They got my IV in after 4 failed attempts- first the vein rolled, then another vein blew, then they couldn't get in in the vein, and finally they got it halfway up my arm. They started my IV and asked if I was getting an epidural. Most definitely so!! At this point I was uncomfortable but not in ridiculous amounts of pain.

Around 6:30 they called Dr. H and let him know that I was in active labor but he was on his way to Mississippi! I was heartbroken that he wasn't going to be able to deliver me. One of his other doctors in the practice actually delivered and I wasn't too fond of him, but what could I do? So they talked to the doctor who would be delivering and they decided that my contractions were too sporadic and not long enough so they were going to break my water and give me Pitocin. He came in and broke my water around 8-8:15. Immediately I started feeling the contractions way more. They were so much more painful and consistent. I was miserable! I was trying to be strong and not cry but sometimes the tears just came. All I could do was to pray and just try to focus. When they told me my epidural was on its way I was so excited! They couldn't get there fast enough. I finally got my epidural, without having a contraction, Praise God! This was about 8:30-8:35ish. I don't remember times very much because it all happened so quickly and I was busy concentrating. The nurse left me for 20 to let the epidural kick in and started the Pitocin right before she left. I was still feeling pain and my left leg was way more numb than my right- I could feel everything on my right side. They decided to give me some extra meds to put me at ease and outta pain. I was so thankful for that! She went to do my catheter and check to see my progress. She said she thought I would have made good progress just by looking at my contractions on the monitor. When she checked me I was 9 cm!!! I was absolutely amazed!! Then she left and called the delivering OB and came back and I was 10cm and his head was really really low. She wouldn't let me push even though I had the urge to. They got me all set up for delivery and the doctor finally showed up. A few pushes later and Abram was born at 9:35am! It was very, very quick! She said I went from a 4-5cm to a baby in less than an hour!

Some bullet points I want to remember:
*I always wanted to know what it would feel like to feel your water break. Creepy. At first when they broke it I couldn't feel anything except for pain- it really hurt me because his head was still pretty posterior. But after? Every time I would have a contraction I would feel the water gush out and it was disgusting and got old quick.
*Aimy was in the delivery room with us!
*They had a resident that actually did more than the doctor, in my opinion. She came in while I was getting all setup before my epidural and just checked me and asked a bunch of questions. She said we would have a baby around lunchtime. Yeah, she was wrong because it was definitely breakfast haha! She was very nice though kind of strange. Not going to lie she reminded me of Cristina Yang from Grey's Anatomy.
*I was extremely blessed with nurses. All the nurses I had were amazing but the one who actually was with me the most and delivered me? She was a God Send!! Amazing to say the least.
*All these moms that do natural labor? I give them mad props. I could NEVER do it! You go girls!
*Ryan and I think that if Dr, H would have been the doctor who delivered he would not have given me the Pitocin. I think that is what made me go so quickly. With Lexi after they broke my water I went from an 8-10cm in about 30 mins so I was expecting breaking my water to speed things up drastically.

Abram's Arrival into Our Lives

Tuesday, October 15 I had an appointment with Dr. H. Everything was great! I was down 3 pounds for some crazy reason and while I hadn't made much progress, I made some (I was 50% thinned and 1cm dilated). I was actually pretty bummed because I was expecting more since I had been having tons of contractions/BH and was hurting sometimes. I asked about induction because we were worried about his kidney and his cord but Dr. H said I needed to be dilated to a 3 and at least 39 weeks pregnant. (According to his due date, I would be 39 weeks exactly that Friday, October 18). He told me he wouldn't induce me and that if he did I would end up with a C-section and pretty much to be patient. I asked him what if our due date/conception date were right, then I would be 40 weeks on October 19. He said, "If it is, you will have the baby before the 19th'.  I was feeling very defeated and actually spent the evening pouting like my 2 year old! Sad, but true. And I kept seeing everyone else due after me or right at the same time having their babies, so that didn't help at all. After I really looked and thought about the situation I got over it and just told myself it was time to enjoy the rest of the pregnancy and the last of my time with just Lexi.

Wednesday morning I felt fine but by Wednesday night I was having some contractions. They started out irregular but they quickly got consistent. They were about 10 mins apart. This lasted for 3 hours and then they completely disappeared. They were gone for 3 hours when they came back with a vengeance- about  5-7 minutes apart for three hours. Then they went away for three more hours and came back again 2-3 minutes apart. Well by 5am they were inconsistent again I decided it was time to call the doctor. At this point they were anywhere from 2 minutes to 5 minutes apart. When I talked to the nurse she said that I needed to get to the hospital in 30 minutes or less. I got Lexi ready and brought her to her nanny's house and Ryan met me at the hospital. Once we got checked in they checked me and I was still 50% thinned, 1-2 cm dilated, and his head was at a 3 station. I was in early labor. They watched my contractions for a few hours and then released me. The nurse said 'Well we can't give you Pitocin because you aren't 39 weeks until tomorrow. But you are in early labor- it could be hours or days.' I was so mad when she said that! We were talking less than 24 hours. But I just sucked it up and went home. No more contractions for the rest of the day.

That evening when Ryan came home we decided to take Lexi for a walk down to her nanny's house. By the time we got to her nanny's I was having contractions and they were different. I just had a feeling they were the real deal. We headed home to eat dinner and relax and Lexi's nanny wanted to take her to get a special toy and test run her spending the night with her. We got her all ready and she headed out. As we were getting her ready I was having steady contractions that I could really start to feel. They were about 6-7 minutes apart. I had my bloody show at 7 and from then on the pain just got worse. I kept having contractions that were steady but not too steady. Then the contractions were every 2 minutes lasting a minute steadily for 3 hours! Then guess what happened? They spaced out. I was still having contractions every 5-7 minutes but they were so sporadic there was no pattern to them. We stayed up late this night because we were convinced I was in active labor but when the contractions spaced out again I sent Ryan to bed. This was about 11pm. By 1am I was having an emotional breakdown. I couldn't sleep because the contractions kept coming and they were getting painful. I called my mom crying because I was hurting and these contractions weren't doing anything (or so I thought). My mom basically told me to just wait it out and see what happens and call Dr. H first thing in the morning. I decided that was a good plan- I could make it until 5am and wake Ryan up to go to Labor and delivery, then I could see Helman when he did his rounds before he went into the office. 1am-5am were ROUGH. I watched my shows, tried to eat a protein bar, and just stay as comfortable as I could. I tried to sleep again but it just wasn't working for me.

To Be Continued..

Introducing: Abram Ryan!

On October 18, 2013 at 9:35am Abram Ryan entered our world! He weighed in at 6lbs 11oz and 20 inches long. He is absolutely perfect in every way! We are absolutely thrilled he is finally here. We are feeling so blessed! I will let the pics do the talking. Big sister is adjusting very well and loves 'my baby brudda'! Up next- the birth story, which was so much different than Lexi's!