If you’ve read my post about how much I LOVE pregnancy, it should make sense to you when I say I was counting down the days to deliver my first child, Savannah.
My bag was packed, the house was clean, everything was in perfect order. Then came the contractions. So I called my doctor and he said to time them if they were coming in under 10 minutes apart to head on over, so we did. I got checked in, and a nurse came in and started to ask questions.
One of the questions was “What is your pain level, from 1-10?” I quickly replied “8!” She smirked and said, “8 is like having your arm ripped off, let’s try again”. I saw my husband holding back his laughter, and at that moment I realized I was a bit dramatic. “Ok, let’s say it’s a 4,” I said, …within the hour I was sent on my way as a “false alarm”. I couldn’t believe it! Fast forward 2 days later… July 31st, 2012, I started to REALLY feel contractions. I waited for my husband to come home and convinced him it was real this time.
When we checked in, the nurse explained I wasn’t quite ready but to get things going I should walk the hospital floor for 2 hours, with no food or drink. Telling me not to eat, is like telling me to not breathe.
As I did this, my contractions grew stronger and stronger. My father and husband sat about a yard away from me watching TV and eating a glorious dinner my dad picked up for them. My dad kept saying “Here I got you a pop” and “Just eat a little they won’t know” I wanted to punch him! Lol. It had been hours since my last meal. He meant well!
So after two long hours of walking, contracting, and angry mood swings, we headed back up to see the nurse and got admitted!
I will spare you the gory details of childbirth because I can’t quite make it out to be as humorous as pregnancy. But, I can tell you that it is amazing what our bodies can do. Great things will happen, like the nurse asking your husband to hold up your legs, seeing it all. But you won’t care, You’ll just be waiting for it to all end! (My husband swears he loves me more after witnessing it all, but I don’t believe him 😂)
Savannah took 14 hours to arrive. In those 14 hours; I had 3 different Doctors, 4 different Nurses, and was pushing for 5 exhausting hours. Yes, you read that right.
Turns out my body frame was too small for her head to fit through, she basically couldn’t make it to the end of the birth canal. Doctors asked to perform a c-section and I denied them, knowing the baby was okay. It wasn’t until I got a fever from the stress of pushing that we asked about Forceps. I was on my second round of Epidural the fever was passed on to the baby and I began to Fret.
Forceps is an instrument the doctor uses to help pull the baby out if it’s stuck. They look like really big salad tongs.
The doctor let us know it was a 50/50 chance it would work, and that she’d prefer to perform a c-section because it was a guaranteed success. But we had faith and decided to take the chance.
Savannah Rose was born at 4pm, August 1st, 2012. She was 21″ long and 7lbs 12 Ounces.
After delivery, my body was so run down and drained that when I was assisted to walk to the restroom for the first time, my face turned yellow and I nearly passed out onto the ground. Luckily my nurse was nearby and called in for help. I had to stay in bed for an additional few hours.
In the end, Everything turned out fine. We were both in perfect health!
Nick was great the entire process. He supported all of the decisions we made, encouraged all of my constant questions and was a terrific partner. Before arriving at the hospital I had no intentions of letting him see below the hip, let alone help with anything. When we left the hospital, I remember him saying he got enough experience and exposure that he too was now a gynecologist and could deliver our next child at home.
I think he was serious.
“The next one will be so much easier” – that’s what everyone said to me for months after I repeatedly said I would never do it again.
Check out my post about the Birth of Scarlett, my second child, to see if they were right!
Xo
Jessica
You don’t age! so beautiful! 🙂