Tyler's Birth Story

Tyler was due on May 15th and it's funny I always thought that would be his Birthday but God had other plans. Everyday after May 15th past I would wake up after another restless nights sleep wondering will this be the day? Wednesday May 20th was the same. Stephen and I tried to keep busy. After exhausting all of our ideas of what we could do around the house for fun we decided to go to the mall and buy a play station game to help the time pass. We ended up buying a $5 golf game. We played that for hours between mild contractions. In the afternoon I tried to take a nap but was restless. Then all of a sudden I had a burst of energy and I decided that I had to stop sitting around waiting and get up and do something. I asked Stephen to do up the dishes while I did the vacuuming then decided that the cats needed their spring baths so Stephen helped me do that. By the time all of that was done it was time for dinner so we decided to go to Wegmans (a local grocery store) for some dinner and pick up groceries while we were at it. As we were walking around Wegmans my contractions were becoming worse and I told Stephen we needed to get going home because I wasn't feeling well. As we were walking out to the car I noticed that I was wet. Not very wet, but enough to wonder if my water was leaking. We went home and I called the Midwives and asked them what I should do since I tested positive for Strep B so I needed to be put on an IV as soon as my water broke or was leaking. They told me to come in to get tested to see if it was my water that was leaking. They took me right in as soon as we got there at 7:30pm and the test came back negative but the Baby’s Heart rate was very high so they wanted me to stay and drink 2 large glasses of something cold to see if they could get the heart rate to drop. They were just getting ready to discharge me when I was very wet again and I said to the nurse "either my water is leaking or their is something wrong with my bladder." They did another test and that one came back positive. They put me right in a room and put my IV in. Stephen then went home to get our bags. I really didn't believe that I was finally in Labor that is why we hadn't brought them with us. LOL.

By Midnight that night my contractions were 2-5 minutes apart and getting stronger. My Mom came in the morning around 8:30 to be with me while Stephen went to get breakfast and take a nap. Time just seemed to pass, not quickly but it just felt like I was standing still and time was going by around me. Contractions came and went. Stephen and Mom took turns coming and going. Nurses came and went and there I was still laboring. It really didn't hit me how long I was laboring until I started to see some of the same nurses back for another seven hour shift .I began to Hate the big clock with Bright Red numbers in front of me reminding me how long this was taking. Twenty four hours came and went and here I was still only 5cm dilated. Then all of a sudden my contractions began to slow down to every seven minutes after them being every 2 minutes for hours. They started to give me petocine a little at a time to make them come more regular and make them a little stronger. It worked but I was still not dilating. After 36 hours of this I was exhausted and was falling asleep at the end of my contractions making them less effective. The Midwife came in and said it would probably be best if they cranked the petocine up more but before they did that they should put a epidural in to let me rest for a while. I was ready for a break and agreed to that. The epidural was GREAT! It made the pain go away and let me sleep for about 4 hours to regain some of my strength. When I woke up it was around 12pm on May 22 and the midwife checked me out and I was 10cm dilated and was ready to start pushing. I pushed for an hour with the epidural still on but it wasn't being effective so they turned the epidural off. The petocine by this time was up to 9.I pushed for 3 more hours but nothing was changing. The midwife then had a surgeon come in and check the baby out. He was starting to have swelling on the outside of the head developing a hematoma so they said it would be wise to do a c-section so that he wouldn't have brain damage. I was ready to have this done and agreed to the c-section. They told me it would be best to stop pushing. The hard thing was my body was already into pushing and the petocine was already up so the contractions were 1 minute apart. They were working as fast as they could to get me to the c-section but it still took a while. When the Dr came in to turn my epidural back on I was so grateful!! The c-section was painful because Tyler was wedged in me like a cork, but I was glad to have it done. When Tyler was out and was cleaned up Stephen brought him over so I could see him, I saw him blinked and they were gone. I then asked the nurse where they were and they were already at the nursery. I must have fallen asleep for a few minutes. Come to find out Tyler would never have come out without a c-section. He was upside down and his head was too big for my pelvis. I am thankful that everything is done with and we are all healthy.He is a beautiful little boy and we are so grateful for him. It amazes me how you can already tell a little about his personality, he is a calm, content little boy who likes to sleep, is hard to wake up like his daddy, has a temper when he is starving, and loves to snuggle. He is growing well and seems like he is changing daily. Today is his one month Birthday and he is now 9 pounds 4 ounces, 23 1/2 inches long.