Holden's Birth-Day

Monday couldn't of come any faster. I was anxious to see how I progressed in a week since my last appointment. I wanted my baby out! Luckily I had a Bishop Score of 6 and was told that I could be admitted that night!

7pm: I'm admitted and in my room and the first thing I do is put that sexy gown on so we could get started immediately. I was ready! But as things would have it another patient was also being induced but wasn't being admitted until 8:30. So of course I had to wait.

Talking to my doctor at the last appointment we had discussed different methods of induction. Since this was my first time the only type I heard of was the use of pitocin. The doctor had explained the balloon method to me, which he had found to be very successful. The idea was that he would insert a catheter type tube into my cervix (which was only 1 1/2cm dialated) which had 2 balloons attached to it. One on the inside of my cervix and one on the outside and they both would be filled with fluid. By doing this was supposed to get me to dialate more before the start of pitocin.

8:30pm: The doc comes in and without wasting any more time he's inserting the balloons. And HOLY HELL it freakin hurts! Not only do they have me laying practically upside down but I'm inches away from falling off the bed. And...sweating my ass off...literally! Just when I thought the worse of it was over they start filling the balloons. 80CC's on the inside and 70 on the outside. It was the worst cramping pain I have ever felt. Not to mention the pressure in my ass. I thought for sure I was going to fart right in my doctors face.

After it was all said and done I got a dose of my good friend Mr. Morphine and fell asleep.

It was 6:30 in the morning and the nurse came in with great news...she was taking the balloons out and I was going to start the pitocin. I'm not sure how well the balloons worked cause I wasn't checked but by 10:30 I was dialated to a 4 and at that my doctor broke my water. Up until this point I wasn't really feeling the contractions. A half hour after my water had been broken could I feel them. Apparently I wanted to feel the pain cause I waited until noon to get the epidural. A few minutes later I was lovin life.

I forgot what it was like to have an epidural. Before I knew it I couldn't feel my legs or my butt or my tummy. Everything was numb and heavy. I felt like a 500 pound whale flopped on the bed. I couldn't move an inch. But I still needed to make a fashion statement...

At 2:30 about 3 nurses come jamming into my room. Bringing more fluid, checking the monitor, shoving an oxygen mask over my face and whatever else. 'What is going on'? Just then my parents and sister roll in to be there for the birth. We have them wait outside so that someone can explain WTF is going on! Apparently Holden's heartbeat was taking a big drop every time I would have a contraction. Naturally I start to panic. Thinking 'that's it I'm having a c-section'. I started to shake uncontrollably and needed more blankets. But just as fate would have it I start to feel pressure. And by 3pm I was dialated to an 8! Hallelujah!

3:45 rolls around and I'm ready to push. But where's the doctor? Oh yeah, he's down the street performing emergency surgery. Just my luck. The nurse informed me that he's on his way. Since I love my doctor I waited for him. 45 minutes go by and where the heck is he? 'Any minute he'll be here' says the nurse. And just then the doctor arrives ready to do business.

Instead of kicking my dad out of the room I thought it would be nice for him to be there. Witnessing one of his grandchildren's births. Of course he had to be off to the farthest side of the room. And the rules were that no one could make any weird noises. So everyone takes their positions...Steve on my left side, Mom on my right, Dad in the corner and Des right down where the action was camera in hand.

4:35 I start pushing. And in the middle of my second push I could hear my dad. He was also pushing. I guess he thought he was helping things along. Instead of saying anything I kept going. Then in my second set of pushing I could feel my mom shaking and as I look up at her I see that she's trying to contain her laughter. She was watching my dad 'push' and found it to be hilarious. So of course I loose my concentration and start laughing too. In order for her to focus on her job her and Steve had to switch sides.

It wasn't long before I was hearing 'oh my gosh he's has tons of hair' and 'push harder he's almost here'. The doctor told me to stop pushing once his head was out. Holden had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck twice. Which explains his heart rate dropping. Poor little guy.

And in 17 minutes Holden had arrived! At 4:52pm my perfect, healthy baby boy was crying. And I was too. My first thought was how much I loved him and how tiny and fragile he was. I couldn't of asked for a perfect, easy delivery. And a perfect baby boy!