Little Benjamin and His Birth Story

I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend. I decided it was time to write up our little Benjamin's birth story and share pictures with you all. He was born on July 10th, 2014. 11 days after his due date. We could not be more thrilled to be parents to this sweet little boy!

On Wednesday the 9th, I had a doctor appointment scheduled for 11am. This was my 41 week checkup. I hadn't dilated at ALL the previous 3 weeks, so I was hoping I was farther along this time. I ended up being only 1 centimeter dilated about 80% thinned out. I was a bit disappointed as I'd been having contractions all morning! The doctor basically said we could go home and wait it out and come back later in the day, or be sent over to the hospital to get all set up. We opted for going to the hospital right away as we already had our things packed and were right next door. We ended up having to wait 3 hours for a room anyway, so I was able to eat a nice big lunch before we got all checked in.

We were all hooked up about 3pm. I was already having contractions on my own, but I was given pitocin to speed things along. And man did that work! I was having very painful contractions about 1 to 1.5 minutes apart. It was horrible. Around this time the doctor also broke my water. I was still only 1 centimeter dilated so it was too early to get the epidural even though it felt like I was in very active labor. I can't remember when I made it to 2 centimeters but I believe it was around around 4 am on Thursday. Then about 6am, I was told I was a 6-7! We we're thrilled! Oh, by the way, I decided to get the epidural while I was a 2. I was thankful I did because the contractions were so horrible because of the pitocin. In the end, it didn't end up taking on my right side. I also had problems with my catheter being painful. I had the epidural done a second time, but it still did not take well on the right side. I also had my catheter replaced 3 times! By 9am, I was dilated to 9 centimeters and we were hoping that baby Benjamin would make an appearance very soon!

During this time I had to keep getting what they were calling "boosters" in my epidural to stop the pain on my right side. It would only last for an hour or so, though. Then it was around 1pm, I was still at a 9, and they told me they could not boost the epidural any more. I was so scared I would have to deliver the baby completely feeling it on my right side. Anyway, that didn't end up happening because around 2:30pm, the doctor told me that since I was still at a 9 and it had been 5 and a half hours, they would have to do a C-section. They said I could wait another hour or so and see if anything happened, but the doctor seemed certain that wouldn't do anything and we would need the c-section anyway. So we decided to just go along with it. I had been in labor for 24 hours, and I was relieved/nervous/scared all at the same time.

They rolled me to surgery and they decided to give me a spinal tap because my epidurals had not been working. What a weird feeling. I literally could not move anything below my chest. Then they got me all ready for surgery and our baby boy was delivered at 3:15pm! His first cry was the most beautiful thing. I cried instantly, and one of the techs in the surgery room patted my eyes dry. During this time, I was reacting to the pain medication with violent shakes, as well. Not fun. Adam was able to cut the cord and hold Benjamin by my head while they sewed me all up.

After surgery, we were taken to a recovery room for about an hour. They weighed and measured Benjamin. He was 8 pound 9.4 ounces! Big baby! That's why he couldn't make it out. He was 21 inches long. They then brought him over for skin to skin, and he began to nurse immediately. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. 

Once back in our labor and delivery room, I started my recovery from surgery. I was unable to change Benjamin's diaper or do any of those mommy things the first couple of days- except for feeding. My husband and Mom were such an amazing help. 

The next day I was encouraged to get up and start moving. Man, that was difficult. We ended up staying in the hospital until Sunday. But I'm happy to say that just over a week later, I am feeling much better and can get up and move around pretty easily.

Whew, it feels like I just wrote a novel. It was nice to get it all written down, though. I've found that I've mentally blocked most of labor, so it was good to sit down and think about it. It wasn't an ideal situation, and I'll admit that I am a bit traumatized. I tried to face it with as much peace as possible, and now I have a beautiful baby boy.

Thank you all for being so supportive. We really have such an amazing group of readers. Please have patience with us as we're adapting to new mommy hood (in my case). I've been working on this post the last few days, mostly around midnight while the baby is finally sleeping. :)

Have a great weekend, everyone!