George's Birth Story (no I didnt have the baby! This is our first childs story)

The other day I was thinking what a shame it is that I wasnt a blogger when I gave birth to my three kiddos. This baby will have a birth story on this here blog, my other kiddos wont. So I decided, why dont I blog about what I DO remember about the birth of George, Blondie, and Tiny. I have a terrible memory and its just getting worse so I should get what I remember written down.

I'll start with George since hes the oldest and every few weeks I'll write the next child's story.

* This is a birthing story* If your someone who would feel uncomfortable reading about it just skip this post*

My pregnancy with George was kind of a scary time for me. We lived far away from my parents, more specifically my mom. Everything about the pregnancy was new and I was nervous about D-Day and being a mom. We had just moved away from my family when I found out that I was expecting... I had homesickness for most of the pregnancy and really wished that my mom was there.
I was working as a hotel housekeeper but had to quit about 5 months in, I ended up getting terrible sciatica pain. I didnt know a chiropractor would help immensely with that. My pregnancy was going great aside from my siatica's. I walked three miles a day (I know right? Dedication, wish I did that with the other pregnancies), stayed away from caffeine and all the things your supposed to not eat. When I had my first appointment the doctor told me that I might have to have a C-Section because my pelvic bone was small. He said if the baby isnt real big I should be ok. About a month before George was to be born the doctor grew concerned about my rising blood pressure and severe swelling. I had no idea what pre eclampsia was and followed his orders to the letter. Bed rest started out being just stay down for a couple of hours each day, then it turned into longer, and finally complete bed rest. He had me come in every day to check my blood pressure and he also had me drinking tonnes of water. He decided that the night before my due date he was going to strip my membranes, then the next morning I was supposed to check in at the hospital at 5:30 am to be induced. Did I sleep at all that night? No. Anyway, my hubby and I, being the first time soon to be parents that we were, packed the most luggage recorded in history to take to the hospital. Two suitcases, over night bags, our video camera that didnt fit in our bags, the babies suitcase, etc... Really pretty humorous. The one thing that I did forget was shampoo and conditioner. Let me tell ya, my hair was WAY super cute the few days that I was in the hospital. Our luggage took up most of the free space in our tiny room. Anyway, we checked in, went to the delivery room and got into my gown. One thing I had decided was I was determined not to do an epi. I was nervously excited which quickly drained to terror when the nurses couldnt get an IV in me. Three nurses tried three times each. My chin was shaking because I was trying so hard not to cry. My vein was blown by one nurse and the others just couldnt get it in. My husband was about to blow a gasket by the time they called someone else. Finally they brought an anastegeologist down and he got it on the first try. After that the doc came in and broke my water, I had been warned that sometimes with your first breaking the water doesnt always start labor. I had been feeling cramps that morning but didnt realize that those were contractions. So as soon as they broke my water I started labor almost immediately. Oh, tips to my Christian wonderful doctor, the nurses were saying that the doctors never come when they say that they would. She said ours wouldnt be there till probably 7 or 7:30. He got there almost at 6 on the dot! He was great, he also stopped by 3 or four times though the process and when I was almost dialated he stayed until I had the baby. The hours started ticking off and I grew more and more uncomfortable. I tried the shower, it didnt seem to do a whole lot. R kept worrying about the water I was getting on the floor from the shower and I remember getting so annoyed and saying to him "Hun quit majoring on the minors!" The pain was making me not very patient. I got throw ups soon after and R held the weird shaped bowl for me while I got sick. My puke bounced out of it and hit him in the face and got all over his glasses. I was apologetic but he didnt seem to mind and kept holding it for me. I tried the ice chips but those only made me more nauseous. So I just curled up in a ball. It felt good not to use the pillow. R kept trying to get me to put it under my head because he didnt want my neck to hurt. Again I made some kind of statement like "This feels good how it is I dont want the pillow!" Haha! Anyway, after several hours of laboring I decided to try some drug that was supposed to take the edge off the pain. All it did to me was make me way super loopy. I remember saying "Woahhhhho Im dizzy!" While my head was swinging around, and it made me smile a lot and fall asleep in between contractions (which was like 10 seconds at a time). I didnt notice any edge taken off so after six hours I finally pleaded with the doctor to call the person who gives the epis. Once I decided to go for it, it seemed like it took for-ever for the guy to get down there. Finally he did then he had a hard time getting it in my back properly so it only worked on half my body. Something about my back having a weird curve. I cant remember if he finally got it to work or if he had to come back and fix it. Once it was all in order... Well, heavenly sweet relief! The doctor actually told me he was glad that I had decided to do the epi. My pain tolerance is not high and I hate to be in pain. So I pat myself on the back that I made it 6 hours without. It also gave me a much needed rest for the pushing. A few hours later the doctor was called down because I was almost ready to push. He liked to turn the epi's off for pushing because he thought that the pushing was stronger without. I was told it would wear off in about 45 minutes. Well, I thought to myself, this baby will be out by then! A fellow mom in the church only pushed 2 or three times with her babies so thats how it was going to be for me. So. not. the case. Only I wasnt quite dilated enough so the doc had me get on my hands and knees(with my legs still numb), in my hospital gown, on the bed to help me finish dialating. Umm, yeah, still one of my most embarrassing moments, that still makes my wonderful hubby chuckle. The everyone in the room is standing around awkwardly, trying not to stare at my you know what... The time had come, I was allowed to finally lay back down on the bed. Ok self this will all be over soon. I kept pushing and pushing and pushing. I didnt want to rest because it hurt to much to rest through the contractions. I remember one nurse was SUPER loud and started getting on my nerves because she kept saying "I dont think your pushing as hard as you can! Come on PUSH!" My rock solid husband was a quiet encourager beside me so I would look over at him and kept on pushing. I honestly dont know how women get through it who dont have hubbys there to encourage and hold their hands. Everyone started to get excited because they could see the head. So I thought the baby was almost out. I kept pushing and my hubby said the baby had hair! It seemed like I pushed forever and finally I asked, "How much of the head can you see?" and was told it was way far up still. Oh mercy me. I started begging the doctor to do forceps or the suction on the head thing, and he wouldnt do it (so glad he didnt). When George was crowning one of the nurses asked if I wanted a mirror and in my tired near delirious state I said "Nope I dont need one, I can see it in the docs glasses" At 5:45 pm, after an hour and a half of pushing our beautiful baby boy was finally born! The doc caught him and put him on my stomach right away. Where George promptly peed on me! He felt rubbery and I remember thinking, hes really ours! Hes our child! Such a new, strange, wonderful thought. They took him and cleaned him off. He weighed in at 6 lbs 9 oz. My sister in law came with Arby's since it was supper time and we hadnt eaten since 5 that morning. Did that ever taste good. The doc told me if I hadnt been pushing as hard as I was they may have had to take other measures (because of my pelvic bone). Im glad that George wasnt any bigger than he was. Our adventure of parenting had started. My hubby had to be at work at 6 am, so while I was in the hospital he would stop by at about 5 every morning and spend a bit of time with us. I thought that was so sweet.
This isnt part of the "birth story" but I think we were such funny first time parents that I have to share a couple of stories.
The first- I clearly remember the first diaper we changed at home. It took both of us, trying to hold Georges skinny not bending legs, him peeing all over the place, and one of us trying wipe his bum, and the other to get the diaper on. It was quite the scene and its really a shame we didnt get it on camera.
The next story- Our first trip to church- We didnt want George being handled and getting germs all over him so we brought him strapped into the car seat, in his huge stroller, all wrapped in blankets. No germs. No one could see him. Haha!
I was terribly awkward with George for about two months, he cried a lot, wouldnt nurse, and cried, and cried. Finally after trying to nurse him for three months, I pumped and put it in a bottle and he settled down and I grew more comfortable. I think my milk let down to fast for him (I had SO MUCH milk) and he couldnt swallow fast enough which gave him lots of gas. Anyway, I carried a pump everywhere I went for about a year. I weaned him at 14 months.

Thats birth story for child number one.