I know this is a long time coming, and I’m not sure why. I’ve had this typed on out my computer for months --- I wrote it shortly after Sam’s birth because I didn’t want to forget anything. It is really long, and maybe has too much detail for some people, so if you have no interest, feel free to check back another day. :)
Sam's Birth Story
I had an appointment with my doctor on March 7th, and as of that day, I was not dilated or effaced at all. She said I was going to be one of her unpredictable patients --- we were just going to have to wait and see when Sam would finally make his appearance. Well…..when I woke up the next morning (March 8th), I was pretty uncomfortable. My stomach was feeling very cramped, but I assumed Sam had just worked his way into a strange position that was giving me the random sharp pains. Based on my appointment the afternoon before, it never even crossed my mind that I would be starting to have contractions.
I had lunch plans at a thai restaurant with my friends Amanda and Rachele at noon. Even though I wasn’t feeling great, I thought the distraction would be nice. Both girls have a child of their own, so it was immediately clear to them the minute we sat down that something was happening to me. My face would randomly turn red, and I stopped contributing to the conversation for about a minute or so. In a very calm voice, Amanda said, “hey, how about we time these? No big deal, but lets just see how far apart they are.” I agreed and by the end of the meal she told me the episodes were consistently about ten minutes apart, and I might want to keep an eye on things.
We parted ways and I texted Zach to let him know what was going on, but not to come home. I've heard that contractions sometimes disappear and end up not being an issue, but I wanted him to be in the know. To continue on with a distraction, I went to get a manicure and pedicure with a gift certificate my mom had given me. I was at the salon for about three hours, and the entire time I watched their clock and recorded my contractions on a chart I had printed. I didn't tell anyone in the salon what was happening, which was a strange idea looking back now. I was in some pretty serious pain by the end of my little spa experience, so I called the doctor. She suggested I wait until they were five minutes apart and about a minute long,
Skipping forward --- Zach made it home around 5:00 and did his final exam for his online graduate course --- it wasn’t due until the following evening, but we didn’t know where the current evening was going to go. By 9:15, we had talked with the doctor and the OB floor at the hospital, and we made the decision to go in to be checked.
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| Still chilly outside! |
It was dark and a little chilly outside. There were piles of snow from a previous storm in the parking lot, but no ice or snow on the ground otherwise. I had to lean up against the car to let a contraction go by, and then we started on our way. We almost got hit by a car as we crossed the street to the hospital entrance --- we had the "walk" signal, so the lady turning left into the intersection was completely in the wrong...and she was going way too fast!
I told the nurse station that I needed to be checked to see if I was dilated, but when they took me into a room, they basically checked me into the hospital. I got into a gown and was found to be dilated 3 centimeters. Sasha, the OB nurse, was at the hospital’s childbirth class we had taken earlier, so it was nice to have her there as a familiar face. She said my contractions were very intense and probably wouldn’t get much worse, so I thought I would try for no epidural. Zach walked the halls with me for a while to move things along. I had to snag a trashcan from beside the hallway water fountain to throw up in, and at that point I went back to my room. I had dilated a little bit more, and still thought I could do it without the epidural....but then Zach reminded me what the contractions were leading up to.
The experience of getting the epidural sure wasn’t pleasant. Those things hurt! I was nervous about having something put into my spine like that --- but Zach was face to face with me so I had something else to focus on. Once it was in I was able to relax a little bit, but not completely, because the epidural didn’t take on my right side. I felt every contraction, but I was okay with that. I had always said that if I ended up doing an epidural that I wanted a light dose --- I wanted to be able to tell when I needed to push…….so I suppose I got what I wished for! I definitely felt every contraction, but only at 50% intensity.
The evening moved along and all of a sudden the doctor was there and they were setting up the room. There was no big scene or anything, I just had the nurse, Zach, and the doctor, and the nurse just randomly told me to start pushing. I got sick a few times during the pushing process, but I knew exactly when I needed to make my next big effort…..and after a little over an hour, Sam was here. We took plenty of pictures and Zach was whisked away to the nursery for the bath, footprints, etc. with Sam. They transferred me to a recovery room and the role of parenthood began.
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| First family pic |
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| Off to the nursery |
My mom got to the hospital by about noon on March 9th. We had plenty of visitors that day --- a few friends and even the wife of Zach’s commander. My dad got to town the next day.
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| Pamma! |
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| Papa Mark! |
We stayed in the hospital until Sunday, March 11th and Zach’s family came the following weekend.
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| Headed home with our new baby boy |
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| Mia meets Sam |
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| Grandi! |
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| Grandpa Mark! |
It is just amazing to me that he is here. The pregnancy was so easy and the delivery couldn’t have been smoother. It was much calmer than I ever expected....probably because every mother I encountered during my pregnancy had some horrifying birth story that she just had to share with me…..and I am happy to say that I will not be one of those girls.
We are slowly learning what it takes to be parents, and we learn something new everyday (and will continue to for the rest of our days!). Sam is awesome and we are so excited about our happy little family.
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| A few days after being home with Sam with the "It's a Boy" banner that my mom made when she was having kids. |
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