Labor was just awesome.

I hope you read the blog post title with a hint of sarcasm because that's how I intended it to be read. The end result was and is just awesome (no sarcasm needed!), but the process was anything but...and here it is. 

After several days of contractions, none of which stuck around long enough or came with enough consistency to warrant a call to the doctor, I finally realized it might be time during the early hours of Saturday, May 24th. I had anticipated this day for many weeks, so I was prepared with a trusty contraction timer app on my phone and put it to use starting at 3:45AM. At 5:30AM, I realized this was very likely the real deal and woke Ian to tell him it was time to call the doctor! (He may have requested that I wait so he could get a few more hours of sleep.) We got to the hospital about 6AM, the official start to a long day. I was admitted at 7AM and shortly thereafter requested an epidural...I'd like to think I'm pretty tough, but man, those contractions hurt!! I had no qualms about getting the needle, I figured I wouldn't get a root canal without Novocaine, why would I try this without an epidural!? 

 

After watching the minutes tick by on the clock as I waited for the drugs, I remember saying that I hoped the anesthesiologist drove a really fast car. Unfortunately, I didn't receive the magical shot until about 9AM, so I suffered in pain longer than I had hoped. But, once it set in, I was A-OK!

A few hours later, the doctor came and broke my water. From that point, it was time to hurry up and wait until I hit that magical number 10 and we could start working on bringing our little man into the world!

So, we spent the next several hours hanging out, listening to music, chatting...and me eating a ton of cherry slushies thanks to my AMAZING nurse, Kim. :) We even got little naps in.

It's a good thing, too, because I sure ended up needing every ounce of energy I could muster up. Here's why:

We hit go time at around 3PM and here we all thought we'd be bringing in dinner and enjoying our little man a short time later. Boy, were we wrong! The pushing commenced, and let me just say, it is flippin' HARD WORK. Holy smokes. And here I thought I was in pretty good shape and ready for the challenge! The afternoon then went something like this: pushing - vomiting - pushing - oxygen - pushing - brick wall - c-section. 

He ended up coming out the surgical way, but it was not for lack of effort! Baby's heart rate kept dropping during contractions, so I ended up having to sit about every other one out to give him a rest (and I needed it, too, but I didn't want to prolong an already lengthy labor...but I was obviously willing to do whatever was needed in the best interest of our little man). This also caused me to be on oxygen, I was quite the sight. 

After about 3 hours of pushing, the doctor realized that baby was not getting closer to the exit, but rather his head was swelling giving the appearance that he was making forward progress. Wonderful! (<--insert sarcasm here.) The word "vacuum" was mentioned at some point and I broke down in tears. I didn't have a birth plan at all, but I did know that I wanted to avoid the vacuum and forceps if I could help it. The amazing Kim calmed me down and kept me focused while we waited for the anesthesiologist to arrive and figure out the next step. Turns out, the tears were for nothing because they determined the vacuum likely wouldn't do any good, so a c-section it was. 

I was disappointed and frustrated that I couldn't get him out on my own, but anxious to meet him nonetheless. They wheeled me back to the OR and Ian waited for a nurse to come get him while they prepped me. Once back there, it was a bit chaotic and the anesthesiologist stated that he didn't understand where everyone was, then came the emphatic phrase, "We need to get him out NOW!" Not something I wanted to hear, especially since I didn't have my boo by my side. I also freaked out a bit because I didn't think I was numb yet--I could feel the OB and nurses pushing and prodding on my stomach and legs. Turns out, that is normal, you can feel pressure, but you can't feel anything sharp (like being cut open). Whew, crisis averted there. I then felt like I was suffocating to death because my mouth was SO DRY. Seriously, like worse than the Sahara desert on the hottest day of the year dry. I told the anesthesiologist that I couldn't breath and was sure I was choking to death, but he indicated that I was hooked up to machines and was, indeed, breathing. He offered a damp washcloth to wet my lips, and let me just say, his definition of "damp" varies greatly from mine. I think it just made my thirst worse and I now believe that dying of dehydration must be the worst way to go. 

My saving grace came in the form of my husband finally arriving in the OR! He walked over and prepared to watch them bring our little man out, but then heard crying in the corner of the room and realized he was already here. Yep, he missed it. The doctor apologized, but said they couldn't wait and needed to deliver the baby immediately. To this day, we still don't understand why they didn't bring him back sooner. He was suited up in his protective gear and ready to go well before they got him, so there was no need for the long delay. Bummer. :( Anyway, Ian could tell right away that I wasn't doing so hot, so he wrung the "damp" washcloth out into my mouth...and those were the best 3 drops of dirty water I've ever tasted. After doing his best to help me, he went over to check out his new son. He brought him over for me to see and that was the first time I laid eyes on my precious baby boy. I was exhausted, a bit dazed, dying of thirst and freezing cold, but I was totally and completely in love and it was all absolutely worth it. :) 

Our little conehead man, 

born at 6:25PM and coming in at 7lb 7oz and 19.5 inches long.

 

Ian says he was storing all his extra awesomeness up there in the extra dome space. :)

And after all was said and done, my OB said, "We even kept your sequin slippers on the whole time!" 

Sometimes it's the little things. :)

And that's how Tristan Maximus Belby came to be. It was not a fast nor easy delivery as many well-wishers hoped, but we survived, and we're all happy and healthy! And next time, if there is a next time, I'm going to forego the lengthy pushing session and just schedule the section!