Our sweet little Perrin is finally here!! He's cute and healthy and a lot of fun (except when he's screaming in the middle of the night, of course). And I am REALLY happy to not be pregnant anymore.
Unfortunately, I had a really long and tough labor. In a nutshell: contractions HURT! If my labor had progressed quickly, I wouldn't have had to experience much pain before getting my epidural. But that wasn't the case... I had painful contractions for about 50 hours before I finally went into active labor. The contractions weren't causing me to dilate any further, so I had no choice but to suffer through them and pray that I would finally start making progress soon.
When I finally got my epidural around 1:00 AM Saturday morning (Feb 20th), I wanted to jump up and down with joy. (Of course, I couldn't do any jumping since I wasn't able to feel anything from the waist down). It was just such a relief to not feel pain anymore! Trey and I fell asleep and stayed that way for most of the night. The nurse came in and checked me every so often to let me know how far along I was. Then, around 6:30 AM, it was time to start pushing. I'll spare the gory details... but lets just say that poor Trey wasn't quite prepared for what he saw. (I told him not to watch. Did he listen to me? No. So it's not my fault that he nearly passed out).
Anyway, we survived. And Perrin is well worth the 9 months of pregnancy and a long, tough labor. He's snuggled up on Trey's chest right now, sleeping. So cute!
Showing posts with label labor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label labor. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
Feeling the pressure
I'm only about 3 weeks away from my due date. Crazy, huh? I'm close enough that I actually could go into labor at any moment now. It's partly exciting and partly terrifying.
In the last couple of weeks, it's gotten a lot more uncomfortable to walk. I'm feeling a lot of pressure--it's like Perrin is pushing down, ready to escape. It's making me wonder if I'm really going to make it another three weeks. I wouldn't be too surprised if he came early. (Watch, just because I said that I bet he'll come two weeks late.)
I'm a little paranoid about going into labor somewhere or sometime really inconvenient. I heard a story not too long ago of a woman whose water broke while she was in Wal-Mart. She smashed a glass jar of pickles on the ground to cover it up, then headed off to the hospital. I really don't know what I would do if that happened to me. Maybe I should keep a jar of pickles handy at all times... just in case.
In the last couple of weeks, it's gotten a lot more uncomfortable to walk. I'm feeling a lot of pressure--it's like Perrin is pushing down, ready to escape. It's making me wonder if I'm really going to make it another three weeks. I wouldn't be too surprised if he came early. (Watch, just because I said that I bet he'll come two weeks late.)
I'm a little paranoid about going into labor somewhere or sometime really inconvenient. I heard a story not too long ago of a woman whose water broke while she was in Wal-Mart. She smashed a glass jar of pickles on the ground to cover it up, then headed off to the hospital. I really don't know what I would do if that happened to me. Maybe I should keep a jar of pickles handy at all times... just in case.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Child birthing 101
Over the weekend, Trey and I went to a child birthing class at the hospital where I'll be delivering. Aside from a rather graphic video that showed an actual c-section procedure (which I certainly could have done without), the class was pretty helpful.
All along, I've been thinking that because I'm having an epidural, I don't need to know any of those silly breathing exercises. But the nurse informed me that I won't get an epidural until I'm about 4-5 cm dilated and well into active labor... meaning I'll get to experience plenty of those painful contractions that I assumed I would get to avoid. So while I'm not jumping up and down at the news, I guess it's good that I know what to expect.
So we spent a good half hour or so learning relaxation and breathing techniques. But I kept getting confused... I never seemed to be able to remember if we were supposed to be breathing like "ha-hee" or "ha-hoo." And Trey, of course, had his own opinions of how I should be breathing, which were slightly comical but not very helpful. But I got back at him later when I decided to use his nose as my focal point. Okay, so we probably did more laughing than breathing, but that's good pain management too, right?
All along, I've been thinking that because I'm having an epidural, I don't need to know any of those silly breathing exercises. But the nurse informed me that I won't get an epidural until I'm about 4-5 cm dilated and well into active labor... meaning I'll get to experience plenty of those painful contractions that I assumed I would get to avoid. So while I'm not jumping up and down at the news, I guess it's good that I know what to expect.
So we spent a good half hour or so learning relaxation and breathing techniques. But I kept getting confused... I never seemed to be able to remember if we were supposed to be breathing like "ha-hee" or "ha-hoo." And Trey, of course, had his own opinions of how I should be breathing, which were slightly comical but not very helpful. But I got back at him later when I decided to use his nose as my focal point. Okay, so we probably did more laughing than breathing, but that's good pain management too, right?
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