Introducing Gavin Robert!

Introducing Gavin Robert!

On Monday 4/21/08 I was just pretty much hanging out at home doing the same ole same ole........I coughed and then realized oh wonderful I didn't prepare for the cough and now I wet myself. So I go get changed didn't think another thing of it. Well then a few minutes later as I was walking up the stairs I noticed more wetness and started to wonder if maybe it was my water. So I call up my friend and told her I thought my water might be leaking then we just talked about other every day stuff as I walked around outside. Well during our conversation the leaking continued to increase so it was at that time I knew for sure it was my water. I called the midwife just before 3 pm and she had me come into the office to verify. So get there and sure enough the little strip turned blue immediately. She checked me and I was a loosed 2 cm's dilated. After All those contrax I had for the full week beforehand........yeah they disappeared. Figures!!! So we talked and decided I would go home, pack my bags (yeah i still hadnt done that lol), eat dinner then head in to the hospital to be induced. I hate pitocin and really wanted to avoid it this time but I also knew that walking and using the breastpump never got my labor going with the last 2 kids so I decided that instead of killing my nipples and wearing myself out we'd just start right up with the pitocin.

Arrived at the hospital at around 7 p.m. and pitocin was started at 8. The contrax started up within about 10 minutes - nothing heavy, just light ones every 3 mins or so. We did alot of walking the halls and my midwife arrived around 9:30. The contrax started picking up in intensity around 10:30 pm but nothing I couldn't manage. Midwife asked if I minded if she go lay down for a bit - of course i didnt mind :) - and told me to call if I need her. I think it was around 12:30 that things started getting intense. I put a pillow on the floor and spent quite some time on my hands and knee's as that was the most comfortable I could get, things were getting pretty painful by then. I remember feeling a soft touch on my back rubbing my lower back and shoulders and after a few contrax I finally looked up to see who was there cuz I knew it wasn't Rich rubbing my back lol, it was my midwife :) It's like she knew I needed her without me even having to send someone for her. From that moment on she never left my side. I couldn't have asked for a better support person, she was awesome! Around 1 a.m. she asked if I wanted her to check me, due to the pressure and pain of the contrax I was Sure i was progressing.......when she told me I was 3 cm's dilated and 90% effaced I lost it. I was Pisssed! All that pain and that's all it's done!! She calmed me down and filled the tub up for me. I got into the tub and omg that was heaven. The contrax went from a pain level of 10 on a scale of 1-10 to about a 3. We thought the water was stalling labor since I was so calm and comfy in there but she checked me again at around 2 a.m. and i was 6cm's!!! I needed to use the bathroom so she told me to get through a couple contrax on the toilet to help bring him down a bit more. Yeah that wasn't fun lol. If I thought things were intense before I was wrong because this was just excruciating!! I got through about 5 contractions on the toilet then got back into the tub. The water wasn't helping anymore though and I was losing all focus and focusing on the pain. My midwife just kept talking to me and rubbing my back and pulling me back in to focus. Shortly after 3 a.m. I told her I wanted to get out of the tub. My legs were very stiff and I need to stretch them out. She told me 'If you get out now you probably won't get to get back in, you are THAT close'. I tod her I didn't care at this point I just needed to move. So she asked me if I was sure (she knows how badly I wanted a waterbirth) and asked me if I would have any regrets if I got out of tub and I told her I wanted out. So she helped me back out to the bed. The minute I got in the bed things really got bad. She checked me again and I was fully dilated! After all that time of me wanting this over, I froze when she said I could push whenever I felt ready. So I spent a few minutes telling her I changed my mind and begging her to make the burning stop lol, then yelling at dh that I am NOT doing this again lol. And then I decided ok we're getting this over with. So I started pushing, I was laying on my left side which I thought would have been comfortable but it wasn't so I flipped to my back. The minute I did that I hear the m/w saying "Jessica reach down and catch your baby" I was holding the bed rail and rich's hand so tight that I couldn't let go! I kept telling her I can't and she grabbed my hands and Made me! I reached down just as his head was being delivered. I gave another push and felt him 'fall' right into my hands and I brought him up to my belly. *I* caught him! It's something that I always wanted to do and I am SO so glad she MADE me do it :)

The cord was pretty short so i was unable to bring him up closer to my but I just stared in awe at the hair he had!! None of my kids had that much hair lol. Daddy cut the cord and I was able to then move him up on my chest. I started bleeding pretty heavily and saw the worried look on the midwife's face. I was feeling ok but was nervous thinking back to how badly I hemorraged with my 1st. She gave me a shot of something in my leg then kept massaging the uterus. This went on for quite some time before things got under control. But important thing is that it was under control :) I tried to nurse but he wasn't interested at the time.

Here is Gavin Robert
born 4/22/08 @ 3:29 a.m.
6 lbs 4 oz 19.5"