The day that changed my life forever.

October 12th, 2o11. 12:04 am. I was 37 weeks pregnant and my baby boy came flying out and into my arms weighing 8lbs 3oz and was 21 inches long. This is the birth story of Bauer Ross Hammarback.

For the tens of you that read this blog you know that I failed at blogging after 33 weeks. This was due to pure laziness/uncomfortableness (my own made up word)/lack of time/energy...basically a huge fail. I didn't document my pregnancy as well as I had planned to. I had a rough pregnancy. Pretty much any symptom of pregnancy that exsists, I was blessed with. I think I may have even invented some symptoms that didn't exsist. It makes me sad that I didn't do a better job in keeping up with everything so I'm hoping that next time (if there is a next time) that I devote more time into that. Now that I'm feeling better/gaining sleep..I'm promise the blogger world that I'm going to work harder at updating.

On my 36 week visit, I went to the doctor for my first internal exam. I prayed on the way to the doctor that I would at least be somewhat dilated..maybe a centimeter or 2. Just a sign that I was making progress because the pressure and pain I'd been feeling for the last couple of weeks made it hard to even walk. I was dreading going to work or walking up the stairs to our apartment or grocery shopping or anything that involved actual movement. When Dr Vavrika checked me, her eyes were huge! She said "wow, you're 4-5! I'm suprised your not in the delivery room asking me for pain meds right now!" I just looked at her and said "Are you kidding me?" She said she wasn't kidding me and that she couldn' t believe it either. The bad news was that I could have the baby any second or 2 weeks from then. UGH! The thought of waiting 2 more weeks would be torture, but the thought of my water breaking at work and my labor going so fast I wouldn't make it to the hospital was just as unsettling! After the shock wore off, I decided to drive to work just to tell them that I would not be working. I was officially starting my maternity leave. I still had a ton to do at home and I was afraid the baby could fall out any minute! At this point, I hadn't even felt any contractions. I couldn't tell you what a contraction even felt like! I was amazed and felt very lucky to be this far along with no significant pain..except for the pain I felt when trying to walk in general. I guess I'd actually been laboring all along and just didn't realize it.

Over the next week, I cleaned and got things ready for the baby. Everyday I was praying I'd go into labor because I was so miserable. The worst thought possible was that I would go a full 40 weeks. I couldn't take anymore. My appointment had been on Monday and I wasn't scheduled for my next appointment until the following Tuesday, Oct 11th. On Friday, the 7th my dad and Tina came to visit for the weekend. They were only staying until Sunday but packed enough clothes for a week in case I went in to Labor. I prayed I would go into Labor while they were here so they would stay. Friday night we had a date night (a double date) and went to the melting pot. They had wanted to go for a long time and I thought we better do it together as a last hoorah before Baby was here. We had a good time! The next morning, Lee and I headed over to Seth and Julie's to celebrate Leira's 3rd birthday! ( I can't believe she's 3!) Anyway, that morning before we left for the party I told Lee to pack the car with all the stuff for the hospital. I was feeling absolutely miserable and I just KNEW that was going to be the day I went into labor. I could barely enjoy the party even though I loved seeing everyone. I felt so terrible! Later that day we met up with my dad and Tina at Babies R Us to do some last minute shopping and had dinner that night at Hot Tuna! Yum! By Sunday..there was still no sign of baby and dad and Tina headed home!

Finally Tuesday rolled around and I headed to my appointment with Lee. First we had an ultrasound to see if they could estimate how big the baby was. They told us 7.10! After my U/S the nurse practioner checked me and said I was almost 7! What?? Still no contractions! She said, you're having your baby today and I want to you go to the hospital immediately! The look on Lee's face was priceless. I couldn't believe this was the day we were going to be parents!! They wanted me to go to the hospital so they could break my "bulging" bag of water. Yup that's the term they used. First we stopped at CVS so Lee could grab a few items and some snacks...can you tell we were in a huge hurry? ha! We checked into the hospital at noon exactly and they didn't even have to triage me...just got me in a gown and hooked me up to the monitors. They still hadn't broken my water but wouldn't you know? As soon as I got hooked up to those machines I started to have contractions! Like magic! Like Bauer KNEW that I was at the hospital and the show could officially start! Everything just started naturally happening. The contractions were about 2 mins apart and didn't hurt so much. After the contractions started, they decided they wanted to put an internal fetal monitor on Bauer's head to moniter his heart rate. As the doctor was putting this in, my water broke! I'm not gonna lie. It felt so nice! It was so warm and I was freezing in that hospital gown! Never in my life have I been a happy camper after wetting myself but that sure did feel wonderful! Weird I know! After my water broke, my contractions got a little stronger but still not too bad yet. I'd say it was around 4 O'clock by this point. We had called Lee's mom, Julie and she was on her way from High Point. She was so excited! At this time, the nurse told me if I felt like getting an epidural just let her know when. I told her I would let her know but it would probably be a while because the contractions weren't too bad. She said, that's fine, you just want to give yourself enough time to where you can sit still during the contractions when they're putting it in. I told her I would let her know! Well..LITERALLY 5 mins later, those contractions became INTENSE! Lee and I had a code word, "Waffles." That meant "give me an epidural, no questions asked!"

The epidural was the worst part of my entire labor. Literally. The anesthesiologist came in less than 5 minutes after my request..that that was great! They had me sit on the side of the bed. I leaned over on my nurse..Anne (who was awesome by the way) and Lee sat nearby. The initial "sting" was not SO bad...kinda like a bee sting. Then you're numb, but you feel that needle/catheter thing moving around. ( I could feel the pressure and actually hear it in my ear) I'll tell you right now that I had a VERY traumatic epi experience. It took over an hour to get it in! The anesthesiologist kept hitting bone. He was terrible. He tried several different times to get it in. I have several holes in my back still! I had to feel that needle SEVERAL times. The worst part were my contractions. They started hurting SO bad and I had to sit completely still. My head was bent over the entire time so my neck was killing me and my hair was all down around my face and I was sweating. The contractions hurt so bad that I was crying..almost screaming..and my nose was running and I couldn' t wipe it! I kept telling Lee..he's never going to get it in...he's not going to get it in! I wanted to just give up but the pain was so bad I just sat an prayed he would get it in. Lee fetl so helpless at this point. It was terrible.After about 27 tries.. Finally..the epi was in!!! Hallelujah!

The doctor checked me again around 800pm and I was fully dilated!! The nurse told me that even though I was 10 cm, the baby's head was still up high and she said if I started pushing I would be exhausted. She told me to sit up in bed and let gravity do its thing for a while and let the baby's head come down so I could push. At around 930, I started to feel my contractions a litle..they must've been really strong..they were actually starting to hurt! She checked me again at 10 and we started pushing. Yes, I still had an epi, but I could feel my contractions pretty good, that's how I know those contractions must be super strong! Everytime I got one, I held my breath and pushed while Lee counted to 10. We got in 3-4 pushes every contraction. The hardest part about that for me was holding my breath. Also, if you CAN feel your contractions like I did, pushing helped with the pain. Whenever I felt pain it made me push harder and it eased it a little bit. I could feel my contractions start each time and I knew when I needed to push. FINALLY, I started to feel the crowning...it felt like a boulder..literally..but to me i didn't hurt too bad. ALthough, yes I COULD feel it! after the head was out, I pushed one more time and his whole body FLEW out! they put him on my chest and he cried and it was amazing! I can't describe the noise that Lee made...it was a cross between a cry/laugh/hypervenilation...wow! After 12 hours (literally to the minute!) of labor we had the sweetest, most perfect baby boy! Oh and Lee's mom made it in time for the birth and got to see everything! I know that made her really happy. She had C-Sections with both of her boys and had never seen a live birth before! :)

Afterwards, I did have a second degree tear..I was still a little numb when the doctor stitched me up so I didn't feel any of that. Plus I was so excited to meet Bauer I didn't care! I enjoyed my L and D. We had fun nurses and actually had a good time! The only bad part really was getting the epidural.
Ahem. Recovery. I didn't realize how bad this would suck. Maybe not for everyone..but I didn't realize how sore/swollen everything was down there. For me, going to the bathroom was a 30 minute process...walking/pain/all the pads/ice packs/ that sorta thing that you have to deal with. Its all worth it because of the sweet baby you have..but seriously..recovering from this has been no walk in the park. I just started to feel normal again within the last two days.

Well that is the birth story of my sweet son! October 12th, 2011. A day I'll never EVER forget! :)