Jack's birth day

This is really long, but here's the story of Jack's birth.

Ok, here’s our story. Sorry it’s so long. I tried to remember everything here so I can go back and fill out his baby book. We were scheduled for an induction at 6am on Wednesday, the 23rd. We got to the hospital 20 minutes early and waited for the admissions office to open. They were short staffed and the lady working with us had no problem telling us all about it as well as the light bulb that had been out over her station for quite a while, etc. LOL! We finally got all the paperwork done and made our way up to L&D. They had me change into a gown and hop into bed. The nurse got me hooked up to the monitors and put a bp cuff on me that kicked in every 15 minutes. My bp was still pretty high and my feet and legs were very swollen. One nurse worked on my IV while another took several vials of blood. They got the pitocin started around 7:00. I was only 1-2 cm at this point and about 40% effaced. He head was low though. The first nurse’s shift ended and our next nurse was interesting. She was telling us all about how her dad had a heart attack at an early age and treated her mom badly until she and her siblings sat him down and told him if he didn’t shape up they’d put him in a nursing home! She ended up going home early because we were the only ones on the floor. Our final nurse was great! No crazy stories, but her son is named Jack too. Anyhoo, my MD was in surgery so they let the pitocin do its thing until she could get there and break my water. I really wasn’t feeling the contractions. At 10:00 my MD came in and checked me. I was still at 2cm. She went ahead and broke my water. There was meconium in the water, so I’d have to deliver just Jack’s head then breath through the urge to push so they could get him sucked out really good before he took his first breath. Boy was I able to feel the contractions then! My parents got there a little before noon. I got up to use the bathroom and decided to just stay standing. It felt much better to rock through the contractions. Tim would rock with me during each contraction and I remember thinking his shirt smelled nice LOL! Tim’s dad and Nancy got there a little later. We all just hung out in the room. The contractions were getting pretty intense. It seemed like I’d have a fairly easy one then almost as soon as it would end I’d get another stronger one. The nurse said they were coming about every 2 minutes. The nurse said I could have pain meds at anytime. I really wanted to hold out until I was at least 4-5 cm before getting the epi. I decided to wait until 3pm before getting the epi. I was 4cm by then. By the time the anesthetist got there and got everything done, it was a little after 4pm. I was MUCH more comfortable then, although I got the shakes really bad. If I’d been smart I would have tried to get some sleep before the pain came back. Around 6pm I started feeling pain again with each contraction and couldn’t get out of bed to do the rocking that had helped earlier. I was 7-8 cm by then. The nurse predicted that I’d have Jack by 10pm at the rate I was going. The nurse had the anesthetist come back and give me a “booster” which helped. The pressure was horrible though and I was really having the urge to push as I breathed through the contractions. The next time they checked me, around 8:00, I had just a lip left and the nurse called my MD. They had me do a few pushes before my MD arrived. The nurse said I should have him out in just a few pushes since he was so low. The doc got there and they got the bed set up for pushing. Tim was at my left side holding my hand the whole time. My contractions slowed quite a bit as soon as I started pushing, so there were long breaks between pushes. We never took the time to turn off the tv, so Deadliest Catch was playing in the background  The nurses were chatting about how their husbands all watched it and Dirty Jobs and Ice Road Truckers. I remember thinking, “Hey, I’m having a baby here. Pay attention to me!!” I got so hot while pushing. One of the poor nurses had to fan me the entire time. I pushed until probably 9:15 or so and was having trouble calming down after each push. Even though everyone said I was doing good, I didn’t feel like I was making any progress. I just wanted to cry after each push. Finally, my doctor asked if I wanted help getting him out and I said YES!!! It felt like he was caught under my pelvic bone and just was not going to come out. They used a less aggressive form of suction and after two more pushes, at 9:37 pm, Jack’s head was out. They had me stop pushing so they could get him all suctioned out. I just clenched onto Tim and the shirt of the nurse on my right while they got Jack taken care of. Finally I was able to push him the rest of the way out and he let out a nice cry. The nurses took Jack and got him cleaned up while the doc finished with me. I thought I was done with the pain when Jack was out, but then the doc started working on me! Yowza! I had a bleed and she was having trouble finding where it was coming from. Once they had Jack cleaned up they laid him on my chest and I tried to concentrate on him and not the pain. Eventually she got me all stitched up and we were able to fully enjoy our baby boy!