Our sweet baby boy, Declan Thomas was born
at 36 weeks on Saturday, March 12, 2011 at 3:50 pm.
He weighed 7 lb 7 oz
He was 20.5 inches long
Because I love to read other people's birth stories, I decided to tell my own.
If you read my last post, you know that I started having contractions pretty early (at 32 weeks). I continued to have contractions through the next few weeks, but they were always alleviated by my medicine.
At 35 weeks, I had some signs that labor was probably going to happen pretty soon. These "events" were pretty gross, so I will spare you the details! When my doctor checked my cervix I was 1 cm dilated, and 50% effaced. While many people can be 1 cm, or even 4 cm dilated for weeks, I had a gut feeling that my body was not going to make it to 40 weeks. I made sure all of my bags were packed and I was ready for this baby that week!
On Friday (35.6 weeks), I was leaving work and started having contractions. This was something I had grown accustomed to, but they were definitely stronger than they had been before, and they just felt different. I went home and immediately took my medicine, hoping it would get rid of the contractions soon. Unfortunately, I was up all night, every hour, with contractions.
By 4 am, the contractions were 5-7 minutes apart and getting stronger. At this point, I got in the shower, and Patrick and I started preparing to go to the hospital. By 5:30, the contractions were 3-5 minutes apart and painful, so we called the doctor, and he told us to go to the hospital.
We arrived at the hospital at 6:30, and I was 2 cm dilated and 100% effaced. Unfortunately, we had to wait until 10 am (it was a Saturday) for the doctor to arrive at the hospital. Let me tell you, those 3.5 hours were MISERABLE! The contractions were so painful, and the only way I found relief was by walking the hallways and rocking during contractions.
Once the doctor arrived, I was 3 cm dilated, and they decided to admit me for labor!!!
By 11:00 Saturday morning, we were moved from triage to our own L&D room, they broke my water, gave me an epidural, and started me on pitocin.
Side note: Whoever invented the epidural is a hero in my books - I mean, it was life changing. Contractions are probably one of the most painful things I've ever experienced - they felt like severe menstrual cramps that had me doubled over in pain. The weird thing about them, though, is that you have complete relief in between and you feel like you are all better, until another one strikes!!
In the next couple of hours following my epidural, I was feeling great, couldn't feel any of the contractions, and we had lots of visitors in our room! We were so thankful to have close family, and my wonderful friend Courtney, there to share the experience. We asked Courtney to be in the room while we pushed and to be our photographer!
At 1:00, the doctor came in to check my cervix. We were shocked to hear that in only 2 hours I was 10 cm - I had progressed very quickly for a first timer!
Finding out we were about to start pushing, and that our little man would be in our arms in no more than a couple of hours, was a very emotional moment for Patrick and me.
After 2 hours of pushing, 1 vacuum, and a couple snip-snips later, our precious son was here!
Because he was 4 weeks early, my sweet baby had to be taken up to the nursery immediately for evaluation. Luckily, he received a clean bill of health, but those few hours he was away from me were the most difficult of the whole experience!!
I am not very good at expressing my feelings in writing, but I can say that my life changed the minute I saw "pregnant" on that little white and purple stick 8 months ago. I had so much love for the little nugget growing in my belly, and now I am so madly in love with this little boy, I could just stare at him all day. To create a little human being that is the perfect combination of me and the person I love most in this world is an amazing thing. I feel so unbelievably blessed!
He was 20.5 inches long
Because I love to read other people's birth stories, I decided to tell my own.
If you read my last post, you know that I started having contractions pretty early (at 32 weeks). I continued to have contractions through the next few weeks, but they were always alleviated by my medicine.
At 35 weeks, I had some signs that labor was probably going to happen pretty soon. These "events" were pretty gross, so I will spare you the details! When my doctor checked my cervix I was 1 cm dilated, and 50% effaced. While many people can be 1 cm, or even 4 cm dilated for weeks, I had a gut feeling that my body was not going to make it to 40 weeks. I made sure all of my bags were packed and I was ready for this baby that week!
On Friday (35.6 weeks), I was leaving work and started having contractions. This was something I had grown accustomed to, but they were definitely stronger than they had been before, and they just felt different. I went home and immediately took my medicine, hoping it would get rid of the contractions soon. Unfortunately, I was up all night, every hour, with contractions.
By 4 am, the contractions were 5-7 minutes apart and getting stronger. At this point, I got in the shower, and Patrick and I started preparing to go to the hospital. By 5:30, the contractions were 3-5 minutes apart and painful, so we called the doctor, and he told us to go to the hospital.
We arrived at the hospital at 6:30, and I was 2 cm dilated and 100% effaced. Unfortunately, we had to wait until 10 am (it was a Saturday) for the doctor to arrive at the hospital. Let me tell you, those 3.5 hours were MISERABLE! The contractions were so painful, and the only way I found relief was by walking the hallways and rocking during contractions.
Once the doctor arrived, I was 3 cm dilated, and they decided to admit me for labor!!!
By 11:00 Saturday morning, we were moved from triage to our own L&D room, they broke my water, gave me an epidural, and started me on pitocin.
Side note: Whoever invented the epidural is a hero in my books - I mean, it was life changing. Contractions are probably one of the most painful things I've ever experienced - they felt like severe menstrual cramps that had me doubled over in pain. The weird thing about them, though, is that you have complete relief in between and you feel like you are all better, until another one strikes!!
In the next couple of hours following my epidural, I was feeling great, couldn't feel any of the contractions, and we had lots of visitors in our room! We were so thankful to have close family, and my wonderful friend Courtney, there to share the experience. We asked Courtney to be in the room while we pushed and to be our photographer!
At 1:00, the doctor came in to check my cervix. We were shocked to hear that in only 2 hours I was 10 cm - I had progressed very quickly for a first timer!
Finding out we were about to start pushing, and that our little man would be in our arms in no more than a couple of hours, was a very emotional moment for Patrick and me.
After 2 hours of pushing, 1 vacuum, and a couple snip-snips later, our precious son was here!
Because he was 4 weeks early, my sweet baby had to be taken up to the nursery immediately for evaluation. Luckily, he received a clean bill of health, but those few hours he was away from me were the most difficult of the whole experience!!I am not very good at expressing my feelings in writing, but I can say that my life changed the minute I saw "pregnant" on that little white and purple stick 8 months ago. I had so much love for the little nugget growing in my belly, and now I am so madly in love with this little boy, I could just stare at him all day. To create a little human being that is the perfect combination of me and the person I love most in this world is an amazing thing. I feel so unbelievably blessed!
I just totally teared up :) What great pictures! We're so happy for you guys and can't wait to meet little Declan! Oh, and I pretty much hate you for how short your labor was, haha! Love y'all!
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