The contractions weren't that bad. Seriously. I have a pretty high tolerance for pain, so maybe that's why I didn't think it was that bad... but after it was all said & done I looked at Joe and proudly said "I could do this again. Maybe you will get that football team you were after!"
*note - the Pitocin contractions hurt like a motherf*cker. Thankfully they only lasted a short time. But they were still bearable... no epi for this girl!
The"ring of fire", on the other hand - holy hell! The urge to push came on so strong & quick I thought my ass was going to explode. For real! And then, when the nurse told me I couldn't push because I was only 9cm. Eff her! I pushed anyway. And apparently I was a pretty great pusher... I didn't have anyone yelling at me to do it any different (unlike my girlfriend who delivered 2 days later - Hitler's offspring was her labor nurse. The woman actually yelled at Nicole all through her 2 hours of pushing. Bless her heart -- she just kept quiet. I, on the other hand, would have kicked the b*tch in the face!)
Once the Pitocin was administered I went into a zone. I closed my eyes and just moaned through the pain. I told Joe later on that Big Bird could have been at the end of the bed with his beak near my business and I would have never known.
But my ears.. they were still working. As proven by the vulgar language I spewed at a doctor who came in asking if she & some of her students could come in to watch the delivery. F*CK NO!
I tore. As if delivering a nine-pounder wasn't enough for my lady bits, my kid decided to come out with his hand by his face. Nice, right? So yeah, 1st degree tear. 2 stitches. And I swear to the heavens above the stitching-up hurt way more than any pain I experienced during the prior 12 hours. Make sure to kindly ask the 'sewer-upper' to wait for the numbing shot to kick in before stitching! Ow. Ow. Ow.
I chose the placenta over my kid. Yes, that's right. The nurses took my boy to the little incubator thingy to clean him, suck his boogies & grade him (Apgars were 9 & 10 - a little perfectionist already!). And instead of keeping my eye on him, I asked the dr if I could check out the placenta. I don't really remember much about it... other than being fasinated that my little guy lived in there for the past nine months. I did, however, decline touching it. Grossness.
The bleeding - not so bad. My first trip to the bathroom was uneventful. The nurse helped me into some giant mesh undies and shoved a maxi pad the size of a twin mattress in there. She then topped that with an ice pack and then a layer of witch hazel pads. The giant pad was unnecessary. I was bleeding like a heavy period day. Not like a stuck pig. At this point I didn't care so much. But after about 5 hours I had had enough. I stuck into the bathroom during a shift change and put on my own undies and an overnight pad (I packed a few in my hospital bag). Ahh, much better. I had my mom pick up some more on her way to the hospital, and to tell you the truth... even the overnight ones were a little much. By day two I was down to light period flow. I stopped bleeding compeletly by day 6.
In other bathroom news... I did not expect to have ZERO control over my bladder for two days. I would get the urge to pee, stand up out of the hospital bed and just pee all over the floor. Hmmmm, now that I think about it maybe that's what those giant pads were for!
It only happened twice. After the second time I learned to just get up to pee, before the urge set in. And kegels... do your kegels!
And while were still on potty talk - pooping on the table. I'm pretty sure I did, even though the nurse & Joe both assured me I did not. I think they were just being nice.
I give the saying "all baby" a whole new meaning. At my last doctor's appointment I had gained 20 pounds. That's 20 pounds over my pre-preg weight. During the 1st & 2nd trimesters I had lost 13 pounds, so I was really up 33 pounds. Anyway.... I asked the nurse to weigh me right before we left the hospital. I was down 40 pounds. FORTY. I lost everything I had gained, and then some. Sweet. And I've kept it off. My now-thinner tush & thighs are great. My smooshy stretched out belly.. not so much. My first day home from the hospital I slipped into my pre-preg jeans...and they were baggy. I'm waiting for the okay to start working out so I can get rid of this mush-tastic jiggly belly, but all in all I'm pretty happy with how things turned out with my weight.
Okay, that's all for now. The babe is fussing... much like this picture I took of him to mark his first month in the world.
Just like his mama...hates getting older!
3 comments:
Thanks for sharing your labour story -- I am 3.5 months pregnant with my first, so I found it very useful! Glad to hear everything went well, and that things were not as bad as one would suspect!
Great post!! I'm more scared of stitches than anything else regarding labor. Ouchie!!
And 40 pounds?? Damn, girl...I seriously dream of leaving the hospital weighing less than I did pre-pregnancy, since I haven't gained much so far. Maybe I'll get as lucky as you!
Great birth story! I like honesty. And holy hell, I'm glad I'm not the only one who lost total control of their bladder after birth. It was awful. Unfortunately, my problem lasted a lot longer than 2 days and no amount of kegels before or after helped. I can only imagine what baby #2 is going to do to my bladder this time. But hey, it's all worth it right! The things that nobody ever tells you!
Pretty sure I screamed a lot of profanity at numerous doctors/nurses. I apologized to my doctor at my 6 week pp appointment and she laughed at me. Said it happens all the time!
Congrats again!
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