Pregnancy and motherhood has made me a sorry excuse for a blogger...BUT! nevertheless..
WE HAD A BOY! and he is the BEST!
Asher Gaulke weighed in at 7lb 9oz and 22 inches long!! On my favorite day of the year : March 3rd (3/3/11)...The number 3 truly is my favorite number so this was very special to me!..I mean he had no choice..we induced him..BUT! his due date was March 1st..so he did wait patiently for Mommy's favorite day!
Now for the delivery story:
I had been having some contractions in the days prior to the 3rd...but nothing regular and painful enough to be considered lets-book-it-to-the-hospital worthy. But actually the night before I was scheduled to be induced, I was contracting pretty regular and semi painful but we waited..because we were scheduled to be induced in the morning anways..
So we did wait until our scheduled time of 5:30 am to report to the hospital and we were in our hospital room by 5:35am...they were ready for us.
I got checked in, hooked up, and poked multiple times in the arm.. :( (that was not fun and I am not a baby when it comes to blood anymore after my time drawing blood for MD Anderson.)
What stunk actually the worst was that I had to have my blood pressure taken every 5 min (standard when in labor) and it was pressing on the same arm the nurse busted my vein putting in the IV the first time. Honestly, it was more painful than the contractions sometimes!
They told me I was 4 cm and 100% effaced and pretty much in labor already!
They still decided to start pitocin on me because my contractions were not strong, just consistent. After an hour or so, I could feel the contractions getting stronger and coming about 3 min apart consistently..and I definitely had to breathe through them..but I was making it...
At about 9:30, my OB came in and broke my water ..and at about 9:35 I could feel the contractions WAY more and they started to be way more painful. I lasted about half an hour of that and then asked the nurse for the epidural...I felt like such a wuss!
...of course...the anestheiologist was in another room with another patient..
..I literally was crying and telling Hunter I couldn't make it...the contractions were coming about a min apart at this point and they HURTTTTTTTTTTTTT. People say you won't remember the pain...um..I remember the pain like it was yesterday. It felt like someone was ramming a truck into my abdomen and back over and over and the same glorious truck was running over me and staying there for a minute at a time, reversing and coming back for more.
After 45 min, the anesthesiologist came in and I have never been so glad to see a man with a needle in my life.
They kicked Hunter out (apparently husbands have died watching epidurals being administered) and got down to business. I bear hugged my nurse Wai Wai (...pronounced Why Why) and thought I was going to be paralyzed for the rest of my life because I couldn't stay still during the contractions...I mean HELLO! how do they expect you to do that? ..but before I knew it, the pain was getting more dull..but still hurt. I told my Dr. that I could still feel the contractions pretty strongly ( I may have stretched the truth...but I didn't want to feel a thing!) and he gave me some more meds in my epidural line. After that, my legs were dead weight and I was in hog heaven!
I remember people coming in and out of our room and me just being so jovial! I was just happy to not be in pain anymore. I probably seemed a little drunk..but honestly I was just so relieved!
Then, at about 12:15pm, I felt the feeling that I needed to poo. Now I couldn't "feel" anything..but I could feel pressure...and there was definitely pressure in that area..
My nurse was on lunch, so I paged the other nurse and she came in and checked me...not really seeming to be in a hurry..and SURE ENOUGH.. I was a 10! That baby could have popped out of me and no one would have known!
My nurse came in...we practiced pushed..and she told her superior to get Dr. Z over here ASAP..this baby was coming!
I pushed 3 times when the Dr. got there and BAM! Asher arrived at 12:45! :) I remember his little pitiful cry...it was so adorable..I still think his cries are cute sometimes..and his little frowns..OMG that little boy has got me wrapped around his finger.
I will admit, I remember seeing him on the table as they were checking him out and it did not click to me that he was mine. There was just a baby on the other side of the room now. But yet, I teared up at the same time..and was very emotional..it was extremely strange. I also remember my love for Hunter exponentially increasing. I was so smitten with Hunter for the next month..I felt like all the love I was supposed to be having for the baby..was being directed towards Hunter..it was strange!
So all in all, my labor was 6 hours..and it flew by. I just remember being really hungry and the blood pressure cuff hurting..and the 45 min of pure torture of pitocin-induced-no-aniotic-fluid-to-soften-the contractions-labor...and then a baby boy!
It was worth it...but next time, if I am induced, I will have an anesthesiologist waiting in my room when my Dr. wants to break my water :)
