We had been so back and fourth as to how our little one would be brought into the world (and when). When I had Ryder, I had gone into the L&D for a completely different reason, my heart was racing like 180bpm and while I was there my water had just so happen to break and they kept me. My labor and deliver was easy-peasy. Even with no contractions at all when I went in, and having pitocin, I had him almost exactly 7 hours after we arrived at the hospital for my heart palpitations. I knew the 2nd time around had a good chance of being even quicker than that.
As I mentioned in past posts, My Doctor {who i LOVE}, was out of town my 36-37w, the weekend in between my 37 & 38 and was leaving again from Thursday-Monday of the end of my 39th week. Remind me not to have my next kid during Elk Hunting, please.
I was a wreck. As much as I had been told "the Dr. doesn't do much anyway", or "any Dr. can deliver your baby, it's not a big deal".. it was to me. I remember not being so sure if I had made the right choice having him as my Doctor the first time around, until I saw how fantastic he was in the delivery room. He cared, and I could feel it. He was in my hospital room at 6am. the next morning checking on me, sat down and had a conversation like he had nothing else on his agenda that day. I remember thinking, this is how it should be. When I got pregnant while we were still living in TX, my biggest anxiety was not being able to find someone to fill his shoes.
Tyler and I had decided, if baby hadn't come before Monday, we'd be induced Wednesday before he left. We kept everyone out of the loop, as induction is so controversial and after praying and talking about it together it's what we felt was right, and didn't need or want any outside opinions.
Monday came, and Dr. Torres called me... No available inductions on Wednesday. AND the hospital policy won't allow it a day before 39 weeks. I was devastated. For sure, I'd deliver, with a Dr. I've never met, sometime while he was gone the following weekend. He could tell I was frustrated, crying {at that point} and told me to come in before his c-section at 11:30. Luckily, I had showered but with no make-up on, my hair in a bun, and no one to watch Ryder, we headed out.
He checked my progress.. Now, walking around 5cm dilated and 80% effaced. What a joke, I was pretty sure my kid would just walk out, with no sign of contractions or labor at all. He told me He'd call the hospital everyday and see if anyone had their baby and we could take their spot. But if I started having contractions and they got 5-7min apart, to go in. They wouldn't send me home because of my progress already.
That whole day, I had contractions. 10 min apart for hours, then nothing, then they'd start to get closer. I called Tyler and had him come home. They stopped completely for a while, then they'd start up again. At one point, we went on a walk and they were consistently coming 2-3 min apart. We got home, and I wanted to get Ryder to sleep just in case we had to go, but laying down and relaxing stopped them completely.
Tyler had the next 2 days off, so it was kind of just a waiting game. On Wed, we got Ryder into the Doctor. He had been coughing and had a runny nose and we wanted to make sure he got the care he needed before baby. He ended up having an ear infection, which totally explained his grumpiness the last week.
We headed over to Target for some more Thank You cards and a few other things. We had just gotten in the car when I got a call from a Private caller. I answered, and it was Torres. He asked what I was doing today, to which I replied "having a baby??". He told me I was, and that he was able to bug them enough to get me in for an induction at 3pm. AH. I'm pretty sure I said something along the lines of, "I could kiss you right now". {and probably would have ;)}
We tried to keep the day as normal as possible, we went to Port of Subs for lunch, and headed over to the park to eat our lunch and for some time with Ryder. It was so surreal to know that it would be our last time on a lunch date, at the park, playing with Ryder, as a family of 3. It was very bitter-sweet.
We left Ryder with my mom, who was meeting up with my dad to take him. We left the house around 2:30 and got to the hospital right before 3. They were all ready for me. They handed me a gown and i got into bed. At this point I was having about one contraction an hour, but they were certainly more painful than the previous days. The nurse came in to get my blood drawn and monitor the baby for the mandatory half hour before they could start the pitocin. The nurse called my Dr. He gave her orders to get my epidural going before she even started the pit. (You have to be at a 4 to have an epidural, and I was already a 5). Music to my ears... He also told her he was headed over to break my water. It ended up that she started the pitocin right before the anesthesiologist came in. I was a little worried, usually you want the epidural because your pain is so unbearable that you can't take it. At this point, I was in no pain.
It actually went great. Not having to breathe through contractions and try to relax my back and belly as he was sticking a massive needle in my back was actually really nice. I swear this guy was magic, he was in and out of my room in a matter of minutes and I started to feel numb in no time. At one point I had to have my mom make sure I was even having contractions, I felt nothing but the guy did such a great job that I still had feeling in my legs and feet so I didn't feel so anxious.
We waited, and waited and my Dr. didn't show. They called him quite a few times with no answer. They finally came in to tell me that he had to stop by his son's orchestra concert first. I'm assuming because he remembered last time. Once my water was broken I went from a 6-10 in 40 minutes. I was frustrated, because I knew by this time my baby would've been here if he had come when he said but since I wasn't in pain and we were watching Grown Ups, I couldn't really complain.
He finally showed up at about 7:45. I had some words with him, to which he replied, "my wife would've beat me if I didn't make an appearance. My response "well I'm going to beat you.. but I guess you have to live with her". He then continued: "you know Whitney, you're lucky I've learned to block you out". {yeah, we have that kind of relationship. I laughed, and probably called him something along the lines of an ass.. I'm not positive}.
He broke my water, and I started feeling pressure immediately. He stayed and talked for a bit, checked me again (now at a 7 just minutes after he broke my water), and told us he was headed home to pack and load up his ATVs for his hunting trip the next day. We all warned him that he'd get home and have to turn right around. I think he saw the fear in my eyes.. I was sure he'd miss it if he left, all of this work to make sure he delivered my baby, would be flushed down the toilet. He came over to my bed and said "they'll call me, I promise I'll make it back."
The pressure got worse and worse. I was having to breathe and "he he who" during my contractions that were now back-to-back. Now at a 10 (45min on the nose), my nurse was prepping the room for delivery and knew that she may have to deliver. She had even called up front to warn them that if she pressed the call button it was because she needed assistance. She called Torres and told him he was cordially invited to a birthday party. "already?!" yep.. we warned you!
My body was telling me to push, and as much as I was told not to, I blocked everyone out. I couldn't just lay there. Even when I didn't push, my body did for me. I remember thinking.. Woman's body's are seriously incredible. Torres walked in the door and I can't even express the relief I felt. He suited up (he didn't have time to do that with Ryder.. but he was wearing cowboy boots both time. Which made me super happy). I started pushing and told him at any cost to avoid an epesiotomy. I had one with Ryder and the healing process was miserable.
He respected my wishes and did everything he possibly could to stretch me and try to make it possible. Oakley was coming down quick. I only pushed through about 5 contractions. Throughout the whole thing my Doctor kept looking straight at me, telling me "you're doing great, Whitney", "perfect", and reassuring me that I could do it.
At 9:01pm on October 24th, 2012, our perfect son was born. Weighing in at 7lbs. 15oz and 20 1/2in.
He had quite a bit of fluid in his lungs so they kept him over, sucking stuff out for what seemed like forever. Dr. Torres stayed with me to assess the damage. Which was pretty severe. I chose tearing over cutting and it seemed that I made a huge mistake. It took nearly an hour for him to stitch up, down and all around. He asked for more soutchers at least 5 times. (seriously, ouch.) About half way through my epidural was nearly worn off and I could feel everything. He gave me a shot of local anesthetic and got back to work. He had made the comment "I think a c-section would've been easier on you.. and required half the stitches, seriously."
I'm more than grateful that he cared. I told him that more than once. That he took the time to do what needed to be done and make things as normal as he could. He assured me that everything would be perfect once healed. That you wouldn't even know it happened. I thought to myself, 'what if another Doctor would've delivered my baby. Someone who I knew didn't care about me like I know my Doctor does. What if I had to suffer life-long problems from this, just because he was out of town.' I was so relieved, and thankful that the Lord knew and answered our prayers. That my Dr. was here and took care of me like I knew he would.
About the same time that my business was done, Oakley's lungs were cleared out enough that the nurse was comfortable to let me have some skin-on-skin time. She thought nursing would help him clear out and help his heavy-fast breathing calm down. He latched on first try, and she was exactly right. Within a minute or so, all of his symptoms had cleared up. He was so peaceful and perfect.
I had my mom headed over to McDonald's for my 2 cheeseburger meal that I had been craving all day while I couldn't eat and called my Dad to have him bring Ryder out to meet his brother. The family reunion didn't exactly go as I had imagined it would. Ryder had just fallen to sleep in the car after a trip to the park, playing at McDonald's and not napping all day. He was grouchy and crying, and was overwhelmed by everything in the room. They only stayed for about 10 minutes, long enough to get the most epic first family photo, and to steal the "pink gum" out of my purse. :)
Despite all that had happened, things that did or didn't go the way I had planned, I felt so complete. More than I ever have in my life. I have two gorgeous sons who are perfectly healthy. A husband who I love more than anything in this world, and goes above and beyond to provide for his family; who makes sure we have everything we need and makes it possible for me to stay home and raise our children.
Pregnancy, and the birth of your own child is nothing short of a miracle. Experiencing labor and delivery is the most surreal and amazing experience I've ever had. I'm so fortunate to be able to do all of those things and with my very best friend. Don't be surprised if we have a few more. :)
