- Shamus and I went out to lunch on Thursday and ate at Gunther Toody's, a diner. I wanted good fries and a milk shake. So I stuffed myself with a grilled cheese, french fries, and a chocolate milk shake. I was so full that I didn't eat dinner but had a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch around 9pm so that I wouldn't be starving in the morning when I woke up. Ha!
- On our "date" we also stopped at Goodwill to drop some stuff off. We sure know how to have a good date. Shamus installed the car seat in my car that afternoon, too, thankfully.
- Shamus had been really nervous about me going into labor on my own and not making it to the hospital. When I woke him up, he said "it's go time."
- When my water broke, I jumped out of bed faster than is humanly possible from a deep sleep and getting out from around the pregnancy pillow. I absolutely did not want to soak the bed! Turns out, I did not get a drop on the bed. Yay me!
- Shamus fed the dogs and then we had Jenny and the kids go over in the morning to let them out before my dad could come. She fed them again, so they were happy! Although when she went to leave, Chase ran into the kennel with Jack and didn't want to come out.
- I was planning to finish cooking my meals and clean the house on Saturday. Obviously didn't happen, but my dad did go over and clean the house on Friday.
- When we checked into the hospital, they put me into a triage room because they wanted to check me out. I told them I was dripping fluid onto their floor, and they moved me into a delivery room instead.
- Turns out, I was starving.
- The first nurse tried to put an IV into my left hand, and it blew. I was a bruised disaster.
- In the middle of my excruciating contractions, a nursing student came in and asked if she could observe/help. I know she needed my permission, but I really just wanted her to go away because they hurt so bad.
- I said the F word only once.
- The first time I asked for the epidural, the nurse talked me out of it because I couldn't eat or drink or get out of bed after that. I should have told her to give it anyway. Instead I talked her into allowing me to eat a granola bar instead of clear broth or whatever nonsense she wanted me to eat. Turns out that I could only eat a few bites of the bar before I thought I was going to die and made Shamus go tell her I wanted it now.
- The anesthesiologist had gone through IVF unsuccessfully. I felt really bad for her, and I still can't believe that she spends all day giving women epidurals. She's a better person than I am.
- It seems that everyone knew that I had done IVF. Maybe I was high risk due to that?
- My doctor didn't show up until probably noon or so. Thank God every single nurse that we saw was incredible.
- There was another lady in labor who was progressing about the same as me, and we were "competing" to see who would deliver first. I never saw/talked to her. It was all through my nurse. I won, and she had a 10 pound baby. So I really won.
- When I started pushing, they had me on oxygen between my contractions. Shamus fed me ice chips, and they were so good!
- My doctor sat at the end of my bed to help me push and deliver Hunter instead of how it looks on tv when they're in a chair. It was really interesting to me...very casual.
- The epidural truly took my pain away so I could catch my breath. After going through so much pain and heartache to get and stay pregnant, I had no desire to do it naturally. Loved that epidural. Shamus would see my contractions on the screen behind me and ask if I could feel it. Nope!
- He had a cheeseburger for lunch. I had no lunch. But he asked, and I said it was ok. He gets so hangry!
- I think Hunter's heart rate was dropping during some of my later contractions. I remember my nurse wanting the nursing student to get my doctor in the hall. She never let me see her worry, although she did say very firmly to get her in here now.
- My doctor was very calm and collected the whole time. Hunter was gray when he came out, and the nurses immediately took him to get him to breathe. She kept telling me it was ok and that the baby would be fine (as she was stitching me up). I really wasn't worried because I knew he was in good hands.
- I teared up when I saw him, and it was pretty shocking to see how gray he was.
- The nurses and doctor wanted Shamus to cut the cord, but he never wanted to. Turns out that he never had a chance because she cut it really quick--since it was around his neck.
- She kept saying that she was going to immediately hand the baby to me after it came out. Skyridge is very big on skin to skin contact immediately after birth. Instead she immediately handed him to the NICU nurses.
- The nurses and doctor kept telling Shamus to go over and see if the baby was a boy or girl. He couldn't do it. He was really shook up at how Hunter looked when he first came out.
- He was gray because the cord was wrapped around his neck. Right after he crowned, my contractions stalled and we were waiting around for another one so I could push him out. It was a few minutes.
- During that time, my doctor tried to get me to feel his head of hair (no thanks), wanted me to look at him in the ceiling light (no thanks), and gave his hair a little mohawk (ok whatever makes you happy). It was a strange time.
- Every contraction had three pushes. The last one she asked if I could do one more push to get him out. I happily obliged.
- Start to finish, I was in labor for a tiny bit over 12 hours. I pushed for 1.5 hours. Not too shabby. I remember after my first set of pushes, I asked if we were almost there--if they could see the head. They just laughed at me and said most women push for three hours their first time. Wha??!! Seriously...no one told me this fact.
- It was amazing to finally hold Hunter, although it took us about an hour to settle on Hunter for his name.
- I got to order food finally after everything was done. Since I'd been wanting a cold meat sandwich the whole pregnancy, that's what I ordered. It was served hot.
- The hospital food was actually pretty good. Every meal you got an entree plus three sides, an appetizer or salad, dessert and a drink. It was a ridiculous amount of food. Shamus and I would split the breakfasts. He would get the entree plus a side of meat and I would get oatmeal and fruit. It was plenty. I also ordered a lot of chocolate ice cream. I miss that part of it.
- Shamus went home in the evening after Hunter was born and I was in the recovery room to pack up clothes and other items that we definitely did not have ready to go. I told him to grab my library book. Hahaha. Like I ever had time for that. I also never really found time to be on my phone. I was getting so many text messages from family and friends, but I just could not find the energy to reply back. I never realized how exhausted I would be. I also never really wanted the TV to be on. I think I had just had enough stimulation with the birth.
- We had no hot water in our room. Well, we did but it took about 20 minutes before it was hot.
- I had zero interest in taking a shower on Friday or Saturday because everything was so sore but boy did I want one so bad on Sunday. I definitely did that as soon as I could on Sunday.
- Friday night I was delirious with exhaustion. Skyridge wants you to keep the babies with you, so we did the first night. He didn't really sleep much, and I didn't really sleep much. He was crying in the middle of the night, and I seriously could not remember his name. True life there. I really had been awake for about 24 hours at that point and had undergone a significant strenuous activity and was completely exhausted. So I feel kind of bad for not remembering but also not really.
- I was so hot after giving birth that I wanted the room really cold. Shamus was freezing the whole time, but I was so hot. Hunter had a problem keeping his temperature up and had to go to the nursery (or maybe the NICU) twice to warm up. Finally a nurse kindly suggested we turn the thermostat up so that Hunter could keep his temperature up.
- Seriously--every nurse that we had was phenomenal. Our night nurse the second night was really fantastic. I asked if it was going to make us horrible parents if we sent Hunter to the nursery the second night so we could sleep. She said of course not. So we sent him off around 10pm and told them that he could have donor milk for his middle night feeding. I certainly didn't sleep through the night, but it was pretty phenomenal to get some rest.
I was thinking about delivering Hunter last night, and there are some things that happened that I want to remember. So in no particular order:
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Me and Him
We have been trying to conceive (TTC) since July 2012, and it's been a long road. After 4 unsuccessful IUIs (artificial inseminations) and countless heartache, we have decided to move forward with in vitro fertilization (IVF). Even though it's insanely expensive, it has the highest chance for success (75%) and it's our best hope. One of the most frustrating things about our infertility is that there is absolutely nothing wrong with either of us (that they can test). Oftentimes IVF also is diagnostic, so along with hoping for a happy, healthy baby, we are hoping for some answers. This is our journey, and we appreciate any prayers along they way. Archives
June 2017
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