My Turn

I have been a little busy the last few days and thus I have not been on the computer...but I know that there are a few people waiting for "the story," so here it is.

We will start with Tuesday, October 4th. That afternoon we had a doctor's appointment. At this appointment we were hoping to have my membranes stripped to get some contractions going. Unfortunately, this didn't happen because I was still not dilated at all and I was not at all effaced. So after the exam we went into talk with my doctor in more detail about our options. Richard's mom had been here since October 1st and was leaving on October 11th, she was quickly running out of days to spend with her grandson. We discussed our options for induction as both us and our doctor were starting to think that my chances of going into labor on my own were very low. She said we could wait and be induced until sometime early the next week, but we decided that we would rather do it sooner, so she said she would call the hospital and see what they had available and get back to us later that evening. So we went home from the doctor's appointment feeling very discouraged and pretty upset.

The doctor called us at about 7pm telling us that the hospital had an opening for us the next day! So we jumped on it, we were feeling good about the decision we had made and were just ready to meet our sweet boy.

Wednesday morning Richard went to work and I rested and took it easy for most of the day knowing that I was about to start losing sleep each night. In the afternoon I went on a walk with Richard's mom because I had been having some contractions so we wanted to try and see if we could get them stronger and closer together. The contractions continued for much of the day, but never got painful or regular. After calling the hospital 3 times to see if they were ready for us to come in they finally had a bed for us at 9pm. We left our place at about 8:00 so we could drop Richard's mom off at his brother's house and then Richard and his brother gave me a blessing and his brother gave Richard a blessing, then it was off to the hospital. We got there at 9, got settled into our room and the Cirvadil was started at about 9:50. At about 10:30 my contractions became more regular and noticeable. We went to sleep for a little while and then I had to wake Richard up at about 2:30 because I could no longer handle the contractions on my own. I was pretty uncomfortable and we were both very tired, but we were feeling very excited and optimistic that the contractions were coming so regularly.

At 7:00 on Thursday morning the nurse came in to take the Cirvadil out and check for any dilation. I was dilated to a 2!!!! We were EXTREMELY excited about this because my doctor was just hoping I'd start the day at a 1 considering nothing had happened until this point. So when the doctor came in she told us how excited she was with how well things were going and that she would be back around noon to check in on us. Then the nurse started the pitocin. I was on it for about 1 1/2 and was not coping very well with the contractions because I couldn't move from the bed and I was hurting pretty bad from being stuck in the uncomfortable hospital bed. It was also hard because I had so wanted to do this part of labor in the comfort of my own home, but because of the circumstances this obviously didn't happen. The morning continued with Richard helping me through the contractions, they were about 3 minutes apart, painful, but not incredibly intense. After being taken off the pitocin I was able to get up and move around, I got in the shower and felt really rejuvenated. My contractions continued on their own so I didn't have to get back on the pitocin. The doctor came in and checked me at noon and I was dilated to a 4!!!! WOO HOO again! We were making good progress and the doctor told us that dilating from 0 to 4 is the slowest part and that it should speed up from there and she asked if we wanted my water broken because it could cut a few hours off of the process so we decided to go for it as we had been discussing it before she came in. So break my water she did. After having my water broken at about 12:30 the contractions became extremely intense and I was really struggling. My goal had been to have an all natural birth with no epidural but as time went on I was beginning to wonder if I would be able to make it. So finally I decided it wasn't worth it and had the nurse call the anethesiologist in, but then when he got there I kind of freaked out and sent him away. So I had the nurse check my progress...still at a 4. Boo. For an hour after sending the anesthesiologist away we tried many different coping techniques and did everything that we could to make it through this naturally, Richard was wonderful in encouraging me and doing everything he could to help because he knew how badly I wanted to do this all natural, but in the end I decided it wasn't worth it and Richard was supportive every step of the way. So we had the nurse call the anesthesiologist back in and this time I didn't chicken out, I got the epidural at about 3:50. Getting the epidural was painful, but boy was it worth it. Labor from this point on was much more enjoyable and I was even able to take a nap. After I got the epidural they ramped up the pitocin because there was no reason not to.

Unfortunately dilating to a 4 is as far as I ever got. I was on pitocin for about 4 hours and getting checked about every hour or so. My nurse and doctor were determined to get this baby out vaginally, but unfortunately at 8:30 we all had to come to the realization that this was not going to happen. We tried everything we could, but in the end this baby would be coming via C-Section. Richard and I were both sad because this is the exact opposite of what we wanted our birth experience to be. But in the end we just reminded ourselves that the most important thing was that this baby came out happy and healthy. And that he did.

Soren Brett Christensen was born via C-Section on October 6th at 9:02pm. Weighing 7 lbs 15 oz and measuring 19 3/4 inches.

He came out as a stunned baby so he had to be taken straight to the nursery instead of to the recovery room with us, but we finally got our baby at about 12:30 am and he is the most beautiful baby we have ever seen.

Despite the fact that it seems nothing in our birth story went according to the plan, the most important thing did. We are now a family of three and we have a happy, healthy, beautiful baby boy.