Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Chronicles of Bennett's Birth: Part 3

Despite being pain free, Sunday morning was loooooonnnnnnnnggggggggg. Between the pressure of the contractions, the automatic blood pressure cuff pumping up every 30 minutes, the baby's audible heart beat, nurse checks every 2 hours, and horrible dry mouth I was slightly distracted or shall I say regularly awakened from any slumber I may have been experiencing. Then there was Sam who was trying to sleep on a chair that reclined into a bed, closely resembling the picture below.

Obviously, NOT TOO COMFORTABLE. Plus, I had the temperature set around 65 degrees, so he slept with his jacket on (Side note: I usually freeze, but the last few months I have been a little hot box.)

The nurse checked me at 2 a.m. and I was 6-7 cm dilated. At the 4 a.m. check I was 8-9 cm dilated and the nurse suspected I would be 10 cm by 5 a.m. and ready to begin pushing. She was right. At 5 a.m. the doctor had been notified and was on her way, so that I could begin the process that would allow us to finally meet our baby boy.

Dr. Iranni was the on call OB, whom I had never seen, but she was wonderful. I was so thankful that the epidural was strong enough to kill the pain, but still allowed me to lift my own legs. I began pushing about 5:20 a.m. Sam assisted on one side, the nurse on the other and like every other person I pushed three times during every contraction. Things were progressing very slowly. I was getting discouraged, because it was difficult to know if I was pushing correctly. After pushing for about 1 1/2 hours, Dr. Iranni came in and said we are delivering this baby in the next 10 minutes. I was glad to hear her say that because I was exhausted. However, her urgency made me nervous. Dr. Iranni then explained that she needed to do an episiotomy which caused a wave of emotion to wash over me. I held back the tears, but was totally bummed. The next several minutes were intense and exhausting, but with much encouragement and support little (well not so little) James Bennett made his way into the world at 10 lbs. 5 oz. and 22 1/2 inches long. They sat him on my stomach and I couldn't believe it. Finally our baby boy had arrived!!!!!!!!!!!!!






During our first visit to the pediatrician we were told Bennett was in the 98th percentile for height and 91st percentile for weight (that is after he lost down to 9 lbs. 9 oz.)


**For those of you wondering how I have time to write. I type one handed while I am breast feeding.

2 comments:

Mama Smors said...

oh my goodness amber!! you are awesome! you delivered a 10 lb baby~ wow :) hope all is well with bennett at home. he is so cute!!

katy said...

Holy cow! That is one BIG baby! Way to go pushing him out naturally, that would have been nearly impossible for a lot of women! I had an episiotomy too for little 6 lb 14 oz Kendra if it makes you feel better. :) Trust me, you would rather have that than a c-section! (At least that's what I hear!) I love the picture on the couch!
PS - I use both the iPhoto software on our Mac as well as the free software that Picasa allows you to download on my photos. :) I hope that helps!