THE LABOUR STORY:
On Wednesday morning, my waters spontaneously broke at 8:45am.
Fortunately Jake had not yet left for work. We called the doctor and were told to head to the hospital. After a shower and some last minute hospital bag packing, we headed to the hospital.
My contractions started at about 10:00am... they were immediately 2-3 minutes apart, and quiet intense.
When we arrived at the hospital, I was sent to labour and delivery triage, where they checked me. I was 4cm dilated and experiencing frequent contractions.
Finally, I was admitted the the labour and delivery ward... here they hooked me up to IV fluids etc. I received an epidural, which was great, as my contractions were close together, and as we later discovered, little Luke was sunny side up, which was the cause of the excruciating pressure pain in my bum. The first 90 minutes on the epidural, I didn't feel a single contraction, however after that, the epidural only kept the contractions in my belly at bay, and I was still left with the painful pressure in my bottom, so my labour was by no means painless, and I had to breath through each contraction.
When I reached 9cm dilation, the doctor came in and did the very painful procedure of rotating Luke, so that I would still be able to deliver him vaginally. This entailed me having to push through contractions as though I were ready to deliver, while the doctor rotated him through my now opened cervix. OUCH!!!!
Then came the final stretch... Pushing... pushing, and MORE pushing. I had to give 3 pushes, each to the count of 10 for each contraction. By this time, the epidural was pretty much worn off, and I had full feeling to push.
I pushed for just a little under 1 hour 30 minutes. About 45 minutes into pushing, I was EXHAUSTED, and I was struggling to catch a breath for the 3rd push of the contraction...but, I some how managed to deliver my precious little boy.
Then we heard the first cry... Luke was born.
Unfortunately, during labour, I developed a fever of 102'F (39'C)
Because of this, Luke also developed a fever and therefore had to be taken to the NICU just minutes after birth where he was hooked up to IV antibiotics in case the fever was the result of an infection. Because of this, I wasn't able to breast feed or properly hold him until 2.5 hours after his birth. He had to be given periodic doses of the antibiotics for the next 48 hours. Fortunately his blood cultures came back negative for any infections and our little man was deemed healthy.
The hospital stay was CHAOTIC... no rest with nurses constantly in and out of your room, checking vitals and giving antibiotics and doing whatever else they do.
The day after he was born, I felt like a building had fallen on me. Every part of my body ached. Who knew that you used so many muscles during labour and delivery. Even my arms ached, and I felt like my body was made of concrete, every time I tried to move.
We are home now, and loving every minute with our little angel boy. It's hard work, and it's tiring, but just looking at his little face makes it so worth it.
