Grant's Birth Story

I had no inkling that I was going to start labor when I did. I felt absolutely fine when I woke that day. It was around 9am when I felt the first contraction. I wasn't absolutely sure if it was indeed a contraction, as most of the pain was in my bladder, and I had had too much Dr Pepper the night before :)

As the morning progressed, I noticed that this cramping was coming in regular intervals of 15 or so minutes. I decided to just wait and see what would happen before calling anyone. I waited until about 11am before calling my mother, who immediately thought it was another false alarm, as I had had many.I waited a bit longer and found them coming closer and closer. I had them more often when standing, and could no longer talk through them. The pain and pressure was all in my pelvis and lower back

I decided it was time to give my mom another call, as well as try to get ahold of Chris. I also called my dad and asked him to come over and watch the kids.

We left for the hospital around 12pm. I was still second guessing labor the whole way there. It seemed that, in between contractions, I wasn't sure if I had imagined the contraction that came before that rest period. Later on, I certainly wasn't forgetting any bit of the contractions.

We arrived at the hospital, and I was fighting the urge to cry hysterically, both at the thought of the pain ahead, and the idea that I would be holding my baby later that day, should I be so lucky.

I was not even there 5 minutes , when my amniotic sac was under attack with that evil hook. I knew it would get things going, but why do the sacs around my babies always have to be downright difficult. Heck, I wouldn't mind having my water break in public, if it meant I didn't have to have an amnio hook digging around all the way up to my throat. *sigh* Well, eventually, my membranes were ruptured, and I was on my way to delivery.

After I hit 4-5 cms, I was still pretty comfortable, but decided to have an epidural early, so that I wouldn't have to feel the intense pain later on. BIG mistake. The epidural itself was uncomfortable (actually, more creepy. Needles going into the spinal column is never "fun"), and the anethesiologist couldn't get the catheter in, which turned out to be just fine. After a trouble free epidural with my second child, I was surprised by my sudden blood pressure drop. It dropped somewhere around 80/50. I was immediately shakey and nauseated. A shot of ephedra in my IV did help a bit, but it remained low for a while. Grant was not happy about my low blood pressure, and his heartrate dropped. He ended up with an electrode in his scalp to properly monitor his heartrate.I was also on oxygen.Oh, and I felt as though I had an entire colony of ants crawling over my body. It's quite interesting to itch, then scratch and not feel the scratching.

I started panicking and worrying about my baby. I was mentally preparing myself for a c section. I was put in several different positions, in an attempt to raise his heart rate. He even had his scalp stimulated by a nurse. Had I not been entirely numb, I'm sure I would have been quite bothered by that......but I was just trying to focus on Grant, and what needed to be done for him.

The epidural wore off, and my labor had basically stalled completely. It was given a boost with pitocin. So, I got to labor without pain meds anyway. Looking back, I really wish I had done that from the beginning. It wasn't bad until I hit 9cms. It was about that point that I lost control during the contractions. I do believe I recreated a scene from the exorcist, minus the pea soup. I knew I had hit 10cms without being checked. My body just started pushing uncontrollably. I was begging Dr. Boschi to give me a local, so that I wouldn't feel crowning. I knew, logically, that it was too late, but the irrational, in severe pain, part of me was screaming to have it done. Grant was born quickly, in one "pop". I'm quite surprised I didn't tear. I have to say,though, that after the scene I'm sure I made, it must take a lot to deal with laboring women day in and day out lol

Grant was placed on my stomach, and other than the overwhelming sense of relief, I just thought of one word,"wow". My slime covered little baby was on me and screaming. It's so hard to imagine that he was the one inside ,kicking and pushing all those months.

Click here for my pregnancy with Grant

Click here for the Watch me grow comparison pictures!!!

0 to 1 month pictures. Click picture to view.

1-2 month pictures. Click picture