Calvin's Birth

[MommyDumDum]

This might be short and sweet, considering it's dinner time and I'm juggling two kiddos. Not used to this whole process just yet!

On Tuesday the 28th, I had alot of contractions. Not unusual. For the past few weeks, I'd had them rather constantly. Nothing transpired. I was annoyed to the point of wanting to wait until my water broke in order to go to the hospital. But since I had just gotten off of work and was close to my mom's house, I had her watch Alice so I could get monitored at the hospital. I atleast wanted to know how dilated my cervix was.

During the elevator ride up to Labor & Delivery, a lady asked if I was having twins. Ha! I wanted to say something like "Nope, I'm just fat!"

Ruth Ann was the midwife on call for the night. She came to check me pretty soon after I was admitted. 4 centimeters. So they kept me there, rather than sending me home (like the last two times.) Things advanced reeeaally slowly. I explained to my nurse - who was very nice and accomodating - that I didn't want an epidural. I ended up changing my mind after having been there for a few hours with no real progress. My contractions were sporadic, but picked up in pace after a while. Despite that fact, my cervix refused to dilate beyond 5 centimeters. We opted to break my water and see how things went. I waited until Clint arrived (he was scheduled to work until 11:00, but got off at 10:30 instead.) Once he got there, Ruth Ann broke my water. The contractions picked up...and nothing else happened. I was in quite a but of pain and would grip the bed rails with every contraction. Then they asked about induction.

I truly wanted to have a natural birth, but was just so tired and frustrated that I gave in. I let them give me an epidural to numb the pain from the pitocin. I was afraid to have the edpidural administered because it was horrible when I'd had it with Alice's birth. It was less torturous this time. Funny, the anesthesiologists from both Alice's and Calvin's births described me the same way: stoic. I cried when they gave me the epidural with Alice. Not so this time, thankfully.

After all of that, the process is quite a blur. I kept my eyes closed from this point on. I had such intense heartburn that I thought I was going to throw up. But instead, I focused on pushing. It was hard not to, because the urge to do so wouldn't go away. I don't think that it took more than 45 minutes of pushing before Calvin arrived. The cord was wrapped very tightly around his neck. Clint joked afterward about a onesie they gave to Calvin that reads "Delivered By The Gentle Hands Of A Midwife." He said Ruth Ann had to be rough to get the cord undone. I was very relieved once Calvin was finally born. I only yelped a couple of times - no screaming obscentities like the first time 'round! All I could say was "Thank God!"

Now I'm adjusting to doing all of the extra mom work on top of the usual stuff. Not to mention how engorged I've been, with back and abdominal back, & a rash (reaction to the betadine we didn't anticipate.) Calvin is a beautiful baby and just a joy to be around. Alice is a great big sister. She's been a tantrum thrower as of late, but I don't think it's because of Calvin's arrival (she's been doing it far before he came into the world.) She really likes to hold him, stroke his hair and give him kisses. When I change his diaper, she'll say "It's OK, dude."

I'm pretty exhausted, but so happy not to be pregnant anymore! Once Clint and I dig up the cord to our camera, I'll download some pictures of the little guy. In the mean time, sorry if I'm not around on the net as much as everyone is used to. I've got more important stuff to tend to now. :)

[goatmom4]

Aug. 1, 2009 at 11:24 PM

yayayayayayayayayaaycongrats

[rjacob2008]

Aug. 2, 2009 at 10:23 AM

Glad your birth was safe and happy!   That's so cute about your daughter saying its ok dude!  :)   Hope you are healing well and are able to get some rest.

[soyforbreakfast]

Aug. 2, 2009 at 12:23 PM

awe! congratulations! I guess its ok that he was a couple of days early to share Quen's birthday :)

two kids.. craziness!! I can't wait to be there with you in that department!

[SlightlyPerfect]

Aug. 7, 2009 at 10:22 PM

I just asked Thom if we should have another one. He said no. Your story makes me want another one, But I've been drinking. I blame the booze.

Congrats! I'm so happy for you! You're more than welcome for the gc. Save it until you need it. They always run specials, like 10% off plus $5. When you see that, grab it! :)

[feministmama]

Aug. 8, 2009 at 1:07 AM

OMG!  I'm just seeing this now, but congratulations!  I need to check CM more....I can't wait to see pics!