Max was due to be her on August 2nd. That day came and went and no Max. Luckily I had an appointment with Dr. Juarez on the 5th. At the appointment he told us that there were two options: 1). Wait another week, wait and see if he comes on his own or 2.) induce labor.
I said, "Do I get to choose? If it's my choice I'd like to induce." I didn't want to wait for Max to decide he was ready. I WAS READY. School was over so I didn't have to worry about my class or substitute plans. I wanted to meet my son! I wanted him to be here while my mom was in town. I didn't want to run the risk of him coming really late and my mom being gone by the time he got here. So Dr. Juarez called the hospital and set up an appointment for me to go in and be induced.
We went out on a date that night because we figured it would be the last time we would have alone time together for a long time.
On Friday morning at 8:00 we went to St. Rose Dominica Hospital -Sienna Campus. We were taken to the room where we would spend the rest of the day. I changed into my gown and they put an IV in my hand which administered Pitocin (a hormone used to induce labor) and fluids to keep me hydrated. I laid in bed and waited. They had monitors hooked up to me to monitor the baby's heart and my heart. As well as monitors detecting contractions length and frequency. Taney seemed to enjoy watching the monitors that showed when I was having contractions.
We spent the day reading together, napping, watching TV...and waiting. We were both anxious and excited to meet our son.
At about noon our nurse came in and told me she was going to break my water. I was excited at the though, in my mind water breaking was the real beginning of the process. She broke my water at 12:15. It was one of the weirdest feelings ever. I had no idea that it would be that much liquid. She told me that anesthesiologist would be right in. He ended up having to go into an emergency C-section so he didn't come to give me the epidural until about 12:45. It was the longest half hour of my life.
Before she broke my water I was having contractions, but the weren't really painful, they weren't even really uncomfortable. But that half hour between when she broke my water and when the epidural came was pretty uncomfortable. I was pretty happy to see The Epidural Man.
Within a few minutes I was beginning to feel less and less of my lower body. It wasn't long before I couldn't feel my legs at all. The nurse came back in about an hour later to have me roll over on one side. I was shocked that I couldn't even roll over on my own. My legs were so heavy.
I napped and watched TV for another few hours. I watched the contractions getting closer and closer on the machine, but I couldn't really feel them. They watched me closely and we all waited for the little man to make his entrance.
At about 6:35 the nurse came back in and told me we wee going to practice pushing. She explained to Taney what she needed him to do and she explained to us what was going to happen. We practiced pushing and during the next few contractions we started to push. They called Dr. Juarez and he got there about five minutes to seven. I started pushing right away and pushed through every contraction.
I couldn't see anything that was happening, so I gauged what was going on by the look on Taney's face. Earlier in the day the nurse had told me they would probably have to do an episiotomy, so I was prepared for that, but apparently Taney missed that conversation. So he was not prepared for what he saw when Dr. Juarez made the incision. Seeing the look on his face freaked me out a little bit. When Max started crowning his face looked a little pale. He was not expecting his head to be so soft.
When Taney's face turned from pale and scared to pink and smiling I knew it was almost over. He saw the face, and head. He had me stop pushing while the doctor was cleaning him out when he decided that he had enough and he was ready to be out. He stuck his arm out and wiggled until he was free.
They took him out and placed him right on my chest. I stared at him and rubbed his little legs as I thought. "That's my baby."
I was grateful I only had to push for 25-30 minutes. The doctor went to hand the scissors to Taney so that he cold cut the umbilical cord. He wasn't really interested. The he offered the scissors to me. I didn't want to do it either, so he cut it and they took the baby over to the other table to be cleaned up and checked out.
Taney went over to be with the baby while the doctor and I finished with everything else. I am sad I didn't get to see it, but Taney tells me that as the nurse was checking him out he showed her that all his boy parts worked by peeing all over.
I knew it wold be more after the baby came out, I just wasn't prepared for hat much more, and I wasn't prepared for how gross it would be. Dr. Juarez was taking care of the afterbirth and such when all of the sudden the placenta squirted all over. He was covered, from neck to knees in blood and grossness.
Once he was all cleaned, checked out and dressed they brought him back to me. I just couldn't stop looking at him and thinking about how beautiful he was.
After the nurses had everything cleaned up they all left the room and let us have some time alone as a new family.
I loved to watch Taney hold him. He's going to be such a great dad.
After Taney got a chance to hold and bond with his son I took back and tried to breastfeed him. I really had no idea what I was doing, but got the hang of it later.
After about an hour our nurse came back and told us that they would be moving us into a room upstairs.
I had to stand up to change my gown, go to the restroom and move to a wheelchair. But there was a problem. I still couldn't feel my legs. I had most of the feeling back in my right leg, but when I tried to stand on my left leg I almost ended up on the floor. So she brought in this "thing" to transport me to the bathroom. It wrapped around me and had these arms that held me butt while I eld on to bicycle type handles in the front. It was all on wheels so I stood on it and she wheeled me into the bathroom. As it turned out my butt was still kind of numb because I couldn't tell if I was sitting on the toilet or not. It was so awkward to have someone standing there, basically teaching me how to pee with the stitches.
We packed up all our stuff, and the baby and we wheeled to the elevators and upstairs. There we met our new nurse and settled into the room where we would spend the remainder of our stay. By this time it was about 10 o'clock and I was exhausted, but wanted to stay awake to see my mom when she got there. Her plane was landing at about 11 o'clock. Taney had planned on going to go get her, but Kari called and offered to pick her up so he cold stay and bond with me and the baby.
He started his bonding time by changing the first diaper. He did it without prompting and without complaint. He's such a good daddy and husband.
After what felt like forever Mom, Kari and Jessica came in. I was so excited to see my mom, and she was so excited to see her grandson.
She held him and had a hard time letting go.
But eventually she let Kari and Jess hold him. After they all three had their fill of Maxwell they went home. I gave mom the keys to my car and my apartment. Kari and Jess took mom back to our apartment and then they went home. I'm glad we have such good friends who act as our family when we're away from family.
It was about 11 o'clock and I finally got some sleep. But shortly after mom left the nurse came back in and had to check my vitals. Then she took Max out to give him a bath. By midnight I was finally asleep. When I woke up Max was asleep next to me in the plastic crib thing. He was beautiful. I went back to sleep until about 4 o'clock when a lab tech came in to take my blood. I tried to go back to sleep after that, but every time Max whimpered I woke up. So I sat and cuddled with him for a long while. I didn't realize it, but I I had been holding him, just looking at him, for several hours. I got up and changed a diaper and got back in bed with him.
We hung out all day. Dr. Juarez came in and gave me the OK to go home 24 hours after delivery. Mom came back and brought me deli sliced ham and crackers. I'd been craving ham because I couldn't have lunch meat while I was pregnant unless it was heated throughly. So I was delighted to eat the ham and crackers. Mom and I just hung out and cuddled with Max. We saw the pediatrician, Dr. Fernandez, in the afternoon and she gave us clearance to go home at 24 hours if we wanted to. Part of me wanted to stay, but the other part of me had cabin fever and needed to get out of that sterile environment.
So at about 7:30 the nurse came in with discharge instructions and papers. She explained everything to me. She took Max out to get his first shot and then we were able to go home.
The first night at home was scary. Mas was cranky because of the shot and he wasn't sleeping AT ALL. He wanted to be held all the time. Taney and I were a little stressed and really tired because we were silly and didn't really sleep in the hospital. We were up almost all night. I knew we'd be tired but I didn't realize how tired. Being up every 2 hours to feed him was overwhelming. I was really glad my mom was there to give us a break. Thanks Mom!
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