11 November 2014

Chase Bingham: Birth Story

I'd been in false labor for 5 days when I felt the first little "gush" that lead to many more. I always thought your water breaking was a pop followed by lots of water, soaking your pants and no doubt that your water just broke. Well for me it wasn't like that at all. Baby's head was so far down it couldn't all come out at once, so small amounts would 'leak out' when I changed positions. I also thought water breaking meant painful and hard contractions were close behind, but I didn't experience those either. But when I called the hospital to let them know what was going on, the doctor on call laughed a little and said "if your water broke, we will keep you and you will have a baby". So to the hospital we went.

The nurse did three tests to ensure my water had indeed broke. I practically cheered when she said I passed all three tests. I was going to have this little baby within the next 24 hours. I was so ready. Chase and I were led to our room where our baby boy would enter the world. I looked around, taking it all in. Once I was situated in the bed, my nurse, a sweet lady named Bree, asked about my birth plan. I'd thought a lot about this after having to deliver Elsie by C-section. I was super nervous but felt confident in my choice to do a VBAC. I wanted an Epidural, skin to skin, and alone time. Those were my three big things. So I got the juice, some pitocin to get my contractions regular, and the waiting game began.

By the time I could actually rest it was 2am. Chase and I were both exhausted. So we tried to sleep until it was time to push. 5am my nurse came to check me and I was an 8! I was progressing much faster than they expected! We text my mom and told her to hurry down. An hour later I was a 10 and they were setting me up to push just as my mom was walking in the door. I went through two rounds of pushing when the doctor decided it would be best to let my body work baby down a little further so I wouldn't have to push as long. She told me to call her when I felt the urge to push. An hour later I was ready.

I started pushing at 8am. My epidural made it hard to know where to push so I decided to let it wear off a little and not push the button for more. After a while I could feel the contractions coming and I began telling the nurses and doctor when it was time to push instead of them telling me. I really really liked being able to listen to my body and allow it to do what it already knew how to do. I was scared it would start to really hurt as my contractions got harder and closer together, but as soon as I started pushing, the pain would subside. It was amazing, but I was getting soo exhausted. I felt like I had been pushing forever. Chase was amazing through it all. Telling me how great I was doing and getting excited when I made progress.

After what felt like an eternity they told me that if I really focus and push, he could be here in the next couple pushes. So I pushed with everything I had. "his head is out!" Chase was so excited. I could tell they were struggling a little. He was stuck. Someone pushed the alarm and 3 pediatric doctors rushed into the room. I kept pushing and suddenly he was here. I heard the doctor say "He's huge!" they laid him on my chest and I just laughed. He was finally here! Born at 10:07am after two hours of pushing. Because he didn't have oxygen for 10-15 seconds while his shoulder was stuck they had to take him away to be checked.

The next 10 minutes was a blur of doctors and nurses running round. When they finally brought him back to me I just stared at his little face. He was so perfect. He looked so much like his dad. I want to say the rest of the day was spent loving on my sweet boy and basking in the newborn smell... But I lost a lot of blood and could barely stay awake. My head felt fuzzy and my body so weak. The nurses were worried a piece of placenta was stuck to the lining of my uterus because I was hemorrhaging pretty bad. So they gave me a C-section dose of anesthesia in my epidural and prepped me for the OR so it could be removed. I also got three huge shots in my leg to try and stop the bleeding... Im so glad I was numb. Luckily when the nurse came back in to check me again, the bleeding had slowed and they decided surgery wouldn't be necessary.

Later that evening after we had settled into our recovery room, I was able to really hold and look at my little boy. BOY! It is still so surreal that I have a son! His little blonde eyebrows and eyelashes, his long arms and legs, his big hands, and his hair that we aren't quite sure if its red or blonde. Oh the perfection. Having Bingham naturally was an amazing experience. It was hard, tiring, invigorating and amazing. I look at him and cannot believe what my body went through to get him here, and I am so grateful for it.

The next day we wanted to get checked out as soon as possible. We couldn't wait to get home and get settled in as our family of four! I will write about Elsie and Bingham meeting a little later... but for now here are some pictures.
 

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