I was in charge of planning our anniversary celebrations (we switch off each year) and had decided to schedule a couple's massage. This turned out to be a GREAT thing seeing as how it was the day before I had a baby. It was wonderful. I also saw my midwife one last time this day for monitoring, the next time I saw her I would be having a baby!!
March 29, 2016 was a beautiful day. After Allan got off work I decided I really didn't want to cook dinner. I also REALLY wanted chips and salsa from Chile's. So we drove down to the Chile's by the hospital where I would be delivering. I think I mostly ate chips and salsa, and they were divine. We then drove over to the hospital to get all checked in and our amazing doula, Bonnie, met us there.
Bonnie was amazing. I loved having her as my doula. We met her through our hypnobabies course that we took to prepare for the birth of our little man and I knew shortly after we started that class that I wanted Bonnie as my doula. She visited with us for a little bit as I got prepped and then they inserted a drug called Cervidil inserted up by my cervix. This drug was to start softening my cervix and (fingers crossed!) get labor going. Stacie said I was a "soft one" when she inserted the Cervidil which was better than the week before when I was barely a one. Bonnie warned that we could be in for a long night and that we should just go to bed and reminded us to call her when we were ready for her to come back. We didn't listen and instead played a few card games and watched Jimmy Fallon and tried to go to bed around 11 pm.
I say tried because about 11 pm the contractions started. These contractions weren't that hard, they were just very uncomfortable. The nurse brought me a ball after I requested it. Allan kept trying to catch some sleep and every hour or two I would wake him up for some support. These contractions were coming every 3-5 minutes and were so uncomfortable it was hard to sleep. At 2 am I called my nurse and asked her to check me. I had put into my birth plan that I wanted to be left alone and I'd ask for checks - but I wanted them to be limited. I was declared to be a "two." I continued to labor through the night, tried to find a good birthing position but nothing was jiving. I am not sure when Allan called Bonnie, but he called her and she came. At this time it was shift change for the nurses and I was told the Cervidil would be removed soon.
Bonnie arrived and they took out the Cervidil. I was still a "two" which kind of deflated me. Bonnie was an angel. She helped talk me through some options and it was decided I would have a short break before they put me on Pitocin (which was part of the induction plan from the beginning). I was able to take a bath and sitting in that deep tub was the best part of my labor. Allan went to get breakfast and Bonnie stayed with me and helped provide counter pressure and read some of they hypnobaby scripts.
Allan returned and the Pitocin drip started. I was on a VERY small dose and the contractions started to get harder. Bonnie was applying counter pressure on my hips during a contraction at one point and she and I both felt and heard a "pop." I then though I had to pee...come to find out my water had broken as it kept trickling out. I got up on the bed and found my side to be the most comfortable but I was SO tired. I hurt all over and was thinking I couldn't do this anymore. It was about 9:45 or so at this point (I think, times are all a blur to me) and Bonnie and I started talking pain management. I knew I didn't want an epidural, but I needed something because I thought I had many, many more hours of laboring. I believe we settled on a dose of something (Demerol maybe?) but in order to get it I had to be checked first. My laboring noises had changed (I guess) and Bonnie thought that I might be starting to push. So the nurse checked me and said something along the lines of "oh! Your baby is right there you can do this!" So no pain management for me, baby was on his way! This was about 10 am I believe.
I followed my body and pushed when it told me. I don't remember everything Bonnie said, but I remember Allan repeating what she said and that bringing me a lot of comfort. There started to be a lot of action in the room with other nurses coming in and such and then Stacie arrived. At one point the nurse was worried that Stacie wouldn't make it! Stacie let me do my thing and said reassuring things. At one point she told me to reach down and I'd feel baby's head and that was a crazy experience! Moments later my sweet little boy was out and on my chest. He had SO MUCH HAIR!!!
Michael Allan Ambrose III was here and our little Trey (his new nickname based off being the "third") had made it safely in just 2.5 hours from the time I started to progress. He was a speed demon!
Soon after he was born though it became apparent that Trey was having a hard time breathing so he was whisked off to the NICU. I wasn't allowed to go anywhere as I had some significant tearing and was losing a lot of blood. Things get really hazy here, but I remember Allan going off with Trey and Bonnie staying with me. They put me under because the pain was getting to be unbearable. Come to find out I lost one liter of blood. The next few days would be an adventure....stay tuned for Part Three....
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