He's Finally Here!

I can not express to you the emotions & thoughts that have gone through my mind beginning 4 a.m. May 12th.

As this is my birth story, I'll start @ the very beginning, & make sure not to leave too much out.

It all started @ 4 a.m. on May 12th, our due date. I had been bleeding heavily, so I figured that I must be dilating. I started to get painful contractions & was able to time them @ 5 minutes apart. So, Phil & I woke up & showered and waited until 8 a.m. when our OB-Gyn office opens. By this time our contractions were closer to 4 minutes apart.

The day before, I was measured @ 1.5 cm, almost 2. When I got in there around 9 a.m. I was at 3!

Because I was unsure of any pain medication right away, we stayed at home & I labored there until about 2:30 p.m. By this time the pain was getting much worse, & they were 2 - 3 minutes apart. So we packed our bags & let our midwives know & headed over.

We checked into Triage room 2 where they monitored his heart & my contractions. After an hour, we had no progress. They offered to send me home with a large sleeping pill, & I refused. I asked if I could walk up & down the halls for awhile and then recheck me in an hour. They agreed. I was NOT going home.

1 hour later, and about 1/2 hour of walking... I was @ 4 cm. Relieved & happy, we were admitted.

After we were admitted to our Labor & Delivery room 5107, we labored there for a short while. They broke my water around 5:30/6 p.m. Shortly there after, the pain of the contractions got so intense that I wasn't sure how I was going to make it to 10 cm.

After a feud about a lidocain allergy (which I don't have) & almost needing a new I.V., not to mention my intense fears about the procedure, I got the epidural.

What was happening is that I was already so exhausted, it was getting hard to relax & breathe through the intense contractions. Not to mention with an almost 10lb baby (which we didn't know @ the time) turned the wrong direction inside of me, the back labor was so intense. I was only @ 5 cm dilated. But, my tense & unable to relax body was keeping me from getting any progress.

After we got the procedure done, which was absolutely nothing to be ashamed of or terrified of, things got MUCH better. I was able to laugh, talk, & be excited again! I was having VERY intense contractions, & couldn't feel a thing. Luckily for me, the contractions continued on their way, my body doing all the work without my mind there to interfere.

I slept most of the night & most of my dilation. I feel asleep at 6 cm. They woke me up about 5:30 a.m. on May 13th, and I was 9 cm dilated and 90% effaced. Hooray!

I wasn't completely dilated & thinned until about 7 a.m., so we started pushing close to 7:30 a.m. The epidural gave me no justice for this. I was one damn good pusher, though. We started to see head & crowning around 8:15 a.m. We didn't count on him having such a huge head (or body) so we weren't completely sure why it was taking this long. About about 9 a.m., with no episiotomy, I pushed out a 9lb 8oz, & 20.5 inch long baby boy. He was born right at 5 after 9! I suffered a pretty big tear inside, and my poor bum is quite bruised.

He was healthy right off the bat. But I had lost quite a bit of blood, & could barely keep my own head up let alone get any breakfast down. They checked my hemoglobin & hematicrit levels, & they were much lower than when we first got there. I didn't start to feel any relief until after we came to our Post-Partum room 5133. I didn't even get to shower for the fear of passing out. But soon, I felt great & the company started pouring in.

A few things to accompany the story for anyone interested in child birth options, etc. I did start out with feeling my labor & using the birthing ball & jet tub to aid in my relief. Both were good options. Especially since the bleeding was bad, being able to sit in the tub & not care felt good. Another thing that really help me while pushing & having an epidural at the same time was a mirror. Near the end I couldn't watch as I knew everything was that painful because of his HUGE head, but at first helping to know where & how to push, it was a life saver. Plus, being able to take a peek & know where you are & your progress was awesome.

That is MY baby & birthing story! I hope it helped anyone who's getting ready or preparing for the big day. I guess my only 2 cent is this: DO NOT BE ASHAMED when your birthing plan does not go accordingly. Just because you can't take the pain, does not mean you failed. Do what YOU can for YOURSELF to make sure that everything that needs to get done, will get done. I'm happy I made all the changes I did. Looking back on it all now, I know if I had done anything differently things may not have gone so smoothly!

P.S. Phil was the most amazing support person I could have asked for, & he's an even more wonderful daddy. I love him very, very much, and didn't have to get nasty with him one bit! Be jealous!

& now enough of the boring stuff, here's our baby boy!

Emmett Dawes Pracht born May 13th, 2010 @ 9:05 a.m. & checking in @ a whopping 9 pounds, 8 ounces, & 20.5 inches long!