Sunday, July 11, 2010.
After our crazy night we woke up at 8:45 AM and decided we would try to make the 9:30 summer Sunday worship service. I rolled out of bed, walked into the kitchen to make a quick breakfast and whoosh!!!! Okay this was definitely my water breaking. I paged my doctor again and the conversation went something like - "I'm sure you think I'm crazy, but I really think my water broke this time."
While I got dressed and took care of some last minute work emails, Brad took the dogs to Camp Bow Wow. I was so glad that I insisted we pick them up from the animal hospital - now they could go to our regular kennel. After Brad dropped off the dogs he called to say he had to get gas in his car. Goodness, we made it to the hospital faster the night before and that was a false alarm!
We finally got checked in to the hospital by about 10:30 AM, and the nurse performed that "fun" (aka really uncomfortable) test again to confirm if my water had broke. Positive - water broke! So exciting! The clock was ticking now - once my water broke I had about 18 hours to get Campbell out (longer than that the risk of infection goes up significantly and it's not good for baby or mom).
Problem - water broken, no contractions. My doctor arrived that morning to explain that we needed to start a "rapid induction." They would be giving me medicine to start contractions. He explained it as such, "it's like we're going to take a battering ram to your uterus." Wow, that sounds like fun. If a normal starting dose of the medicine is 2, I was started on 6 and then doubled to 12. And since the medicine can sometimes affect the baby, I was bound to the bed for monitoring purposes. All the coping techniques we learned during our birthing classes we weren't able to do. But Brad was there as supportive as possible holding my hand through each contraction as the medicine started to kick in.
After 6 hours I was dilated to about 2 cm (for those of you not as familiar with this process, the goal is 10 cm) and in a lot of pain. I finally asked for the epidural and was feeling great by 5 pm. By 6:00, I made it to 4 cm and was so excited to finally see some progress. Then all of a sudden at 7:00, my contractions started to decrease in intensity despite the increase in medicine. By 8:00 I was at 5 cm, and by 10:00 when the nurse checked me again she thought I was at 5.5 cm. She called my doctor to give him the update - it was time for him to come in and check. At 10:30 he said I was still at 5 cm and things were not looking good. With the clock ticking and my contractions decreasing my options were c-section now or c-section later.
We opted for c-section now. I had no idea how fast the process would go, but it was quick once we decided. I say "decided" because my doctor was great, and he did not want to rush us knowing how badly I wanted to deliver the normal way. But with no progress over a 2 hour period, the decision was made for us - statistically my chances of delivering vaginally were very slim. As Brad explained to me, "babe, would you rather have them operating on you at 3:30 AM when everyone is exhausted or now." Spoken like a true surgeon - I'll take now. I texted a friend at 10:56 that we had decided to move forward with the c-section and by 11:34 Campbell was born.
The whole process was surreal - Brad had to stay in the L&D room while I was prepped in the operating room. I hated being separated from him, and he wasn't thrilled with the idea either because he was concerned I might be too drugged up to know what was happening. Luckily since I got the epidural, they were able to just increase the medicine to numb the lower half of my body - no general anesthesia needed - I was wide awake for the surgery! After being prepped, Brad was allowed into the OR. I'm sure I would have freaked out if I was given the opportunity to watch, but still a little jealous of Brad that he was able to watch the birth of our son. He gave great play-by-play commentary though so I knew what was going on.
Finally, the greatest sound I have ever heard, Campbell using his lungs for the first time - screaming his announcement to the world!
Campbell is born - so happy to finally have him!
What a tiny little guy with such huge lips!
My first opportunity to hold and kiss him.
A whopping 5 lbs. 11 oz. We've got some growing to do!
