Labor & Delivery

James Anthony Beard!

James was born a healthy little boy at 8:31PM on Monday May 20, 2013. He was 7lbs 13oz and scored an apgar of 9 on the second round. Continue to read if you're interested in the labor story. If not, I'd advise to STOP and NOW, for your own sake ;)

The Friday prior to delivering James, I had an appointment to see my OB, now back from maternity leave. She had a little boy 3 weeks prior and came back to work part time. Seeing as how I'm writing this 6 weeks out, I don't see how she did this! Anyway So, at the appointment, she told us I was dilated to 3.5 cm and if I progressed another .5 cm by Monday, I'd be considered active labor and could get admitted to deliver. Wehew but I wasnt sure if I wanted to be induced because I didn't want to take pitocin (can make contractions stronger and possibly stress out the baby) and I know breastfeeding and baby demeanor is much better when it' s natural. So, in otherwords, wasn't too sure how I felt about this proposition despite wanting to see him and yet get him out ASAP. Why did I want him out, well, hello, being 39 weeks pregnant isnt alll that comfortable. Regardless, I still ok'd stripping my membranes and was prepared for my water to break any minute after that.

The following Saturday and Sunday, Jarrod and I went on some long walks. One was over an hour and others were just fast and furious. I'm sure it looked hysterical to see me waddling around the neighborhood. I think I may have over done it prior to this time as well :/ I really shouldn't be sharing this but I was desperate and mowed the lawn thinking that would get things started. Wow, was that dumb. What if I did go into labor while walking or mowing, um OUCH! I don't advise doing this so close in. Regardless, Jarrod and I had a great and active weekend. If you ask him though, he may not think so because I finally had a pregnant moment and made us order tuna pizza. Yes, that's right, tuna fish on a pizza with mozzarella and no tomato sauce. It was a disguisting as it sounds. My reasoning for this though was that I didn't want heavy or fatty protein in my system during delivery as it's harder to digest and you're more likely to get sick or go to the bathroom while delivering. YUCKo all around!

And finally, Monday morning rolls around. I had a wonderful nights sleep and woke up to find Jarrod cuddling me. I'm stating the obvious but it was a great morning to start the day. It wasn't long before I found what I thought was a trickle of water, aka my water leaking. Something was telling me this was supposed to be the day all along. May 20th was the day that Jame's grandfather, James Robert Brown, was born. Regardless of what I thought, though, I had an appointment to meet the OB and knew I had to make a decision if I wasn't in natural labor. Sure enough, the Lord was good to us and the OB confirmed I had a high water leak which explained the slow leak! We then told her about this being Jame's grandfather's birthday :) It was a happy little moment.

Jarrod and I arrived at the hospital around 10 am and waited for my doctor to come and break the rest of my water. The first 2 hours at the hospital were probably the two most relaxing hours, despite the mild contractions. My OB arrived around 12:45 and found us watching tv, laughed, and asked if I was in pain. It was obvious I wasn't so she warned me that painful contractions would start soon after she broke the rest of my water. Wow, she was right. At 1:30 PM I asked Jarrod for my computer so I could update work about my status. Not more than 5 minutes later, I handed him the computer without saying a word. He knew exactly what was up and immediately turned on Friends, the show I told him I wanted to watch to get my mind off the pain. My goal was to make it to 7cm before getting an epidural and thankfully I got close, 6 1/2 before the nurse anesthetist came. They were sweet to rush him in because after the nurse monitored my contractions, she found they were a minute a part and 60-90 seconds long. Ouch and ouch! Honestly, the pain was constant and much worse than I could have imagined so thank GOD for my epidural. Props to the ladies who do this naturally but thank goodness I didn't because I was about to get really snappy and mean and I didn't want this to be a bad experience for Jarrod or really, every one around me. I already know what I'm like in pain, thanks to track, and I'm not nice.

After about 30 minutes, the anesthesiologist finished with his questions and got to work. This experience wasn't bad other than having to sit Indian style on a bed with pretty painful contractions. The nurses, I might add, made this experience better too by asking me if I wanted to try this natural because I was breathing so well. They were smart for saying this because it made me focus on my breathing even more. Jarrod was a great support too as he was my balance support during the time that I was standing. (I had my nurse set me up to be mobile so I could walk around during the time I was still trying to dilate to 7cm. 

Once my epidural was in, it wasn't more than 15 minutes before I couldn't feel the pain from the contractions. I was soooo relaxed and man was that nice in comparison to the hour before. From about 3 to 7:00, life was good. I felt absolutely great. I took a nap, watched a little friends and visited with visitors that came by. 

At 7:00, he was effacing so my nurse called in my OB. The pushing was a little awkward as they had me sit not fully  back or upright. They said it helps with pushing so although feeling awkwardly positioned, I went ahead and started to push on their command. I must have not been completely numbed because I could feel a little contraction pain at this point and lifted my legs for the stirrups. The OB was a little shocked at that too. Within the first hour of pushing, my O2 stats went below 90 so they had to put me on oxygen. The baby was doing fine, thank goodness, so no emergencies ensued. Also During this time, my OB tried to play tug o war to help pushing progress. Games during labor, why not? After the first hour, we were all getting impatient as Jame's head kept digressing back in thanks to my contractions now being 4 minutes a part. Once a contraction came, however, they had me push for 10 seconds, with 6-7 sessions being the average. The duration of my contractions was long enough for this to happen and fortunately I had long enough to recover before the next push. At one point, the OB brought over the mirror and Asked if I wanted use. I considered it but then saw the reflection and just about gagged. They saw my reaction and turned the mirror around, thankfully. After another 5 minutes of not getting anywhere, they suggested the mirror again and once I got past the reflection, it helped a ton. I was able to lead and self directed my pushing. I got much further and finally got his head past my pubic bone! At one point, i spotted a cross in the ceiling lights which I thought was cool since I told Jarrod I wanted a sign to know God was in the room with us when James is born. I also wanted to pray snd thank God once he was born but as terrible as this sounds, I was in so much shock that it slipped my mind :( The rest is a blur as he pretty much shot out soon after he finally got past the public bone and turned. When Jarrod saw him, he exclaimed "Oh my God". He claims he was shocked at how big James was because Jarrod was expecting him to be the size of a hand! Not quite my dear so now he still tries to figure out how James fit in my belly, haha. Anyway, James didnt start crying right away so because I couldn't see what was going on, that was my only scare during the entire process. Once he started to cry, my heart melted as it was the first little sound he made. Ironically, it was music to my ears and still is to this day. Obviously, I don't like when babies cry but its not annoying to hear. It is sweet and a reminder of the impressionable little guy and miracle he is. 

The next hour was so special. It took the doc a while to prep me back to 'normal' so I didnt get to hold him right sway. Once I did get to hold him, everything about him made sense. It was almost like I knew him but now the picture of him was complete and matched what I thought all a long. One surprise, however, was the fact James opened his eyes once our visitors came in. He was so alert and calm for having just been born. 

The entire labor process was so much more relaxed than I could have ever imagined. I'm so thankful God let me have a great first delivery!