I had the same ol contractions that I'd been having for weeks. I feel like I was more anxious this time because I knew what I was getting myself into. But we loaded up the car and made the drive, arriving a few minutes before midnight. We went into ER to check in and Dana the OB tech came to escort us up. It was actually someone I knew. Our nurse Danielle (it turns out our kids went to tumbling class together too!) introduced herself, along with our good friend Katie who was also on shift that night. By the time we got settled and going, the pitocin started at 1am at 3-4 cm dilated.
I didn't really sleep at all and was pretty comfortable most of the night. This time I could really read my body and could always tell how far I was dilated without being checked, just based on how I felt. I kept telling everyone that when I want to die I know I will be at 7.
We progressed at an average pace I'd say, maybe a little slower to start. We didn't take any notes so this is purely from memory and I don't have specific time frames to document. I never walked the halls but pretty sure I sat on the birthing ball, otherwise was in bed since it was nighttime. I knew I wouldn't sleep and if birth was going to run into daytime I didn't want to be too wiped.
I started to feel uncomfortable with contractions and knew I was 5-6 (I was right). I was still going back and forth about if I wanted an epidural and was totally playing by ear. They had mentioned to me that the anesthesiologist gets busy between 6:30-7:30 am, so if I might want it during that time to be proactive. Sure enough, I could tell around 6 am that I was at 7, because things started to get real hard. I was managing fine, but nothing about labor is easy. Around 6:15, I told them to call for the Epi.
At that time I had already advanced to 8, so things were moving quickly. The anesthesiologist arrived fairly quickly and he set up around 6:45. He said I was easy because I had "good anatomy." The meds kicked in quickly and I had no weird side effects (I had been dreading the needle feeling Allyson had). I was blissful and telling everyone how stupid I was to not get medicine last time. During this time Dr. Emm had stopped by. She had a patient next door that was just a little behind me in labor so she made some rounds while I progressed.
Around 7:45ish, I started pushing. Since I had an epidural, I legitimately could not feel if I was doing anything. They told me I was doing well so I just kept going. Eventually it got really exhausting though and I was feeling frustrated. I will never forget the image of Dr. Emm pouring gallons of mineral oil on me (okay, not really) and working me. When I felt like I couldn't do it anymore, baby's head emerged! I remember thinking that his head was really small, but little did I know that was just the cone. He came out very quickly and everyone gasped at how large he was. Where in the world do I keep these babies inside of me??
Leo Robert Bauman was born on August 1, 2017 at 8:33 am, weighing 9 pounds even and measuring 20 inches long.
The cord is super thick and short. Dr. Emm noted that I had a second degree tear and that I was leaving this labor better than I did last time (hallelujah I thought!). She ran to deliver the chick next door then came back for another checkup. I hold Leo and nurse him, do the usual post birth stuff. My parents visited at lunch and brought Avanti's.
Shortly after he was born, I was getting tired of the epidural feeling. By noon I was real annoyed and honestly telling myself the 2 extra hours of labor would've been a better alternative to this numb feeling. I was also swelling major and bleeding a little more than my nurse wanted. She had Dr. Emm come over her lunch and they decided she would come back after office hours with her partner Dr. Ogunleye to do another patch job.
The whole day my nurse had pitocin going on and off to make sure my extra bleeding wasn't uterine related or from leftover placenta. My uterine contractions were off the charts, I basically felt like I was in transition labor on an off that day.
Maybe around 4-4:30, I sat up in my bed to nurse Leo and felt a major gush of blood. I got immediately light headed. Dr. Emm came in just as this was going on and she looked at me and immediately knew something was wrong. She was kind of annoyed at my nurse and called for Labs right away, then started examining me. Dr. Ogunleye followed shortly after and they set up shop in the room. I had swollen so much that my stitches were breaking apart and I was creating new tears. I was fine during this time, not really in any pain and keeping my sense of humor.
After a little bit of them patching, I got very light headed and knew I was about to pass out. They told me that was okay, but I seriously felt like I was going to die. They then decided it was time to move to the OR, and the chaos began. I had to consent to anesthesia, a breathing tube, and knew I was going to get a blood transfusion. My room was full of people. I was scared but honestly so exhausted that I couldn't freak out like I normally would. Andy was pretty calm. A sweet OB tech named Paula told me she would pray for me. That's when I knew this wasn't good.
I went to the OR and shortly after fell asleep. Honestly, I felt pretty good when I woke up and didn't have any weird effects. I think I was out for about 45 minutes. They said they patched up as thorough as they could and made sure that my bleeding wasn't uterine-related.
Andy's parents visited Wednesday morning with Elliott. She was all about the baby but we didn't have her hold him. My sisters came that night and brought Potbelly.
The next two days, I was pretty much chained to the bed. I had a catheter in and basically had a cantaloupe sitting on my crotch. I finally got the cath out and could walk the halls once late afternoon on Thursday. I rinsed in the shower, too, but was still in bed 99.9% of the day. Thankfully I peed on my own within a few hours, so that hurdle was over. I've never felt so physically helpless in my life.
Dr. Ogunleye gave me the OK to leave on Friday (he had been checking on me once or twice a day). Andy went to Elliott's tumbling class and Allyson stayed with me during that time. We packed up around noon and went home to big sister. I missed her so much! Thankfully she was basically on vacation all week and I don't think she missed us a bit. The next solid week was really hard for me physically. It was until about 12 days postpartum that I started to feel like I could do things again. It's amazing how frustrated not being able to do your own laundry is. Or sit up to nurse your baby. Or get in and out of bed without wincing. The list goes on.
I'm still not myself but I can function just fine. I'm sure it will be a while still, and I don't think I will be having any more vaginal deliveries, but I'm hopeful this whole thing is behind me. Childbirth isn't easy! Thankfully Leo is making up for all of this by being adorable and pretty easy to handle! I'll never let him forget what I went through to bring him here though;)
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