friday morning at the doctor's office i was dilated to 4 cm. we decided that if the baby didn't come that night, we'd go to the hospital the next day and get things rolling by breaking my water. matt and i both felt good with that decision and didn't feel like the baby would come that night. i laid awake most of the night nervous about the pain i knew i would experience the next day and praying everything would go smoothly and for a healthy baby. i could also feel every little thing going on with my body, whether it was a contraction or just an air bubble in there somewhere. thankfully none of the contractions hurt.
the next morning we got up, got ready, had a nice breakfast with our reesey boo and then our friend jared took matt and me to the hospital. we arrived at about 10:00, checked in and the doctor broke my water at 11:13 at which time i was dilated to 5 cm. around 12:15 i felt my first "hurt". i say "hurt" because it wasn't enough to call it painful. it was more pressure on the cervix than a contraction. during my labor matt and i distinguished the difference between something that hurts and something that's painful. we, mostly me, since i was feeling these hurts and pains, decided that hurt is something you can tolerate for a time and pain feels like a body part is coming off or you are going to die. would you agree? :)
for the next two hours i could feel a bit more pressure, but nothing unbearable. again, more hurts than pains. i walked around a bit, stopped by our recovery room, looked at all the pictures on the wall of babies that had been born at the hospital, talked about all the hungarian names, drank some water, ate peanut m&m's, enjoyed the country view out the windows, laid down a little and wondered when the action would really begin. at 1:00 i was dilated to 7 cm - again, happy i wasn't feeling pain! and around 2:00 is when the big action started! i had several big painful contractions and then felt the urge to push. we called the midwife in, she called the doctor from her cell phone, he came in along with the nurse, and i started pushing. i'd say about 10 minutes later, little (or big!) matson's head appeared! a few more pushes and at 2:34 p.m., there he was! our little son! the midwife immediately put him in my arms and we said, "it's a boy!" awe, such a beautiful moment! matt even got to cut the cord this time.
once the nurse cleaned matson up, the pediatrician checked him out (apgar score of 10!), and i was all stitched up, the nurse handed me my new son and he nursed for the first time. everyone left the room and it was just me, matt and matson. we were left alone for about an hour in there. it was a bit strange that literally thirty minutes after matson was born it was quiet again and felt like nothing major like a baby being born had just happened.
comparatively, this labor was longer yet shorter, but more intense. longer in that it was about three hours and twenty minutes when matson was born after the doctor broke my water, but shorter in that the painful part was only about thirty minutes. boy were those thirty minutes intense! maybe because he was much bigger, i don't know. the stitching up part was ridiculously painful! i did get a local anesthetic for two of the stitches, but not the second two. OUCH! talk about scream. my recovery was more painful this time too. after about 5-6 days, i could finally sit normal again. that's a nice feeling.
i said at the beginning of this post that i don't want to go through labor and delivery again for a long time. well, after being with matson for a week and experiencing the joy of caring for a new life, i would totally do it again!
where was reese during all this you ask? well, our friends jared + kelli got to experience life with two children that weekend. it's not enough to say they were helpful that weekend. they were beyond that. they took wonderful care of our reese, and we greatly appreciate everything they did for us!! see here for pics of reese's weekend while we were at the hospital. there are some pretty cute pictures of reese and her friend scarlett.
5 comments:
Congratulations to the all of you.
I'd say you're blogging very well for a new mom — it must be that you're getting up to attend the little one so often? 8)
Given the Scanndinavian blood ( ever-so evident in Reese's little cheeks :) ), it's cool to have a literal name like Matson; and, might I say Mrs. D, you look especially well in that last picture for someone who just brought another life to the world!
–Steven
What a great story! Sam's grandmother calls him and his brother every year on their birthday to tell the story of their day. It's a fun tradition for them to share with her. Your family is beautiful. Much love....
Lori
You are superwoman! :)
Yeah...stopped reading after the first paragraph, but still excited for you ;-)!
glad to see my warning was effective. :)
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