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š My Matteo, November 14, 2017 š
(Sorry for the low quality of these pics, these were me taking pics of pics on the computer before I got yelled at for copyright infringement)
A little back story before the
action…I was blessed with an easy and hassle-free pregnancy. When I hit the 8th
month mark, I felt like a waddling bowling ball and was over it! Well
around the 9th month I got the worst swollen feet and my blood
pressure was super high for me (I’m normally vampire level) so my doctor put me
on bed rest on Friday, November 10th saying if my blood work came back
funky they would induce that weekend and treat it as a pre-eclampsia risk. My
due date was the 21st, but I didn’t mind one bit. The weekend came
and went without a problem in my blood work, then Monday the 13th my
girlfriend who recently moved here from Hawaii for medical school came to my
house and brought me lunch, DiBella’s subs, which I could only eat a half of
and no chips or cookie (so unlike me) because there was literally no more room
left in my stomach. She got up to leave around 2 and started talking to my dad
and while I was standing there watching them, I started to feel some minor
cramping but didn’t think anything of it because a.) I was in some sort of
physical pain all the time at that point, and b.) it wasn’t normal period-like
cramping but more like my stomach didn’t agree with my food. She ended up
leaving at 2:30 and I told my dad I was going to try and lay down upstairs.
Well, jokes on me because I kid you not within 10 minutes I started having
full-on contractions! I started timing
them on my phone, and then I got on the floor, I leaned over the bed, I did
fetal position, anything to ease the pain. Surprisingly I didn’t freak out, but
I texted my mom who at that time worked about 40 minutes away “I think I’m
having contractions” and she said “on my way!” Now, I already had my bag packed
for about a month and already in my car with the car seat because I’m such a
planner, so while waiting for my mom (who made it home in 25 freaking minutes!)
I got in the shower because I heard that while you labor at home for the early
stages warm water helped ease the pain. Well it did help and I never wanted to
get out. I called the hospital to tell them my contractions were about 4-5
minutes apart and lasted around a minute to two and they gave me the green
light to come on in. It was about 4:30 by the time we got there.
Let me also inform you that up
until this point in my life I was the BIGGEST baby you would ever meet. Like
the most anxious, hypochondriac, squeamish baby. Being pregnant was my dream
but also my greatest fear, and let me tell you, now I don’t even blink an eye
at a needle! It’s amazing how much stronger I am than I ever gave myself credit
for. So we get to the hospital and by this point I can no longer physically
walk, so my mom helps me in a wheelchair and we are trying to find the elevator
that goes directly to the maternity floor and we forgot which one it was so
here was my mom (bless her heart for dealing with me because I lose patience
real fast and I was a’ snappin!) wheeling me back and forth and here’s me
yelling at this group of guys loitering in the hall and not caring a
very-pregnant biotch in a wheelchair is coming through. We eventually get up
there, get checked in, and put in triage (which is like a holding room when you
first get there in the early stages of labor before you get your labor room)
and then an hour later we got into my labor room. The doctor said I was only 2
centimeters dilated at this point and we could be in for a long night, so they
wanted to start me on the Pitocin. During the whole time I was very nervous,
but also surprisingly calm through the contractions. I can’t even begin to
explain what they feel like, it was unlike I ever imagined but I will be
totally honest here, they weren’t completely dreadful! They came and went so
quickly and I got my epidural before the really painful ones started so it
wasn’t that bad. The one thing I was the most nervous about overall was the
epidural because it’s such a serious thing and I have heard so many different
tales about the pain they cause, its weird sensations after, the side-affects,
etc. While they were prepping my back area, I asked my nurse (I had the best
nurses ever during my stay) if I was the biggest baby they have ever seen and
she said, “well no, but you are the most nervous I’ve seen” Yay! The epidural
was over before I knew it, and I never felt a thing! By this time it was
getting late and my doctor checked on me once more and said I still hadn’t
progressed but no worries, get some sleep and they will keep monitoring me. Sleep?
Yeah right, too nervous for that!! My mom stayed in my room with me every
second since we got there so she slept on the couch and I pulled up the
hypno-birthing audio recordings I found on YouTube, put my headphones in and
laid there in a twilight sleep listening to that all night. I did a lot of
studying about hypno-birthing while pregnant because I wanted to try a
therapeutic way to relax myself and I wasn’t having any of the Lamaze crap. I
was skeptical, but I needed to relax, so I will be forever thankful to YouTube
for recommending those for pregnant women in labor. At this point too I was so
paranoid that I would have a long labor and end up getting a C-section because
I heard that was so common with women who were put on Pitocin and then don’t get
anywhere. Well the next morning about 9 am the doctor came in to check me and
he goes “oh my gosh”. Ummmm?! What’s going on doc? He said I must have really
relaxed and let my body work because I was almost 9 centimeters dilated and
that we would have a baby within a couple hours!! I couldn’t believe it.
At 11 am on the nose, I started
pushing with the help of my amazing nurse, 2 doctors and my mom by my side. Let
me tell you, they call it labor for a reason! Not that I felt anything, the
doctors said I must have gotten a really good epidural because I felt NOTHING,
not one freaking thing! But, the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life was
hold my breath for ten long seconds, three times in a row without stopping.
More times than I can count I kept saying “I can’t do this, I can’t do this”
and my team of ladies was so relaxed and encouraging. We were cracking jokes in
between pushes and only 1 hour and 50 minutes later I hear “he’s here! Look
down! Amanda, look at your baby!!” I looked down and touched this quiet, slimy
babe with a head full of brown hair and I absolutely couldn’t believe it. Most
surreal moment of my life. I was exhausted and so thankful that everything
turned out ok that I now wish I could turn back to that moment and live it over
again just to fully appreciate it! As I type this, I have tears in my eyes, my
heart feels like its bursting and I’m watching a sleeping baby boy on the
monitor and I know it’s so typical and clichĆ©, but there really is no love like
this. This connection is something I have wondered if it true my whole life and
was eager to see one day. Well its true people! Everything they say about the
love between a mother and her child is so true!! I could type novels about how
blessed and thankful I feel for a healthy baby. It’s also true what they say
about moms forgetting labor that’s why they go on to have more kids. Here’s a
story, while I was in triage, one of my best friends Nicole texted me and asked
“how’s your vagina? Are you alive still?” and I texted her back “I feel like an
f-ing watermelon is about to drop out. Never, ever, do this!!” Now? Hell yeah I
would do it all over again!
So my labor and delivery was a
breeze thank God. What came next was something that I could’ve never imagined
in my lifetime, and something that haunted me for a while after giving birth. I
will write that novel next post, so stay tuned!
Xo,
Amanda
