However, when June 19th rolled around, I was not feeling quite so confident. My appointment the week before had been a little disappointing; I was not dilated at all - "tight as a drum" was the phrase the nurse used. My OB tried to reassure me that everyone is different, and the fact that I wasn't dilating early didn't mean that I was going to go past my due date. I wasn't so sure. I had not had any contractions, back pain, etc., so I was sure that our baby boy was never coming out and I would just stay pregnant forever.
This picture was taken after a funeral we attended on June 19th. Note the "not quite so confident that I am going to have a baby soon" smile/grimace.
After the funeral, we borrowed a friend's truck and picked up our new couches in Sacramento. On the way home, I made Greg drive 30 minutes out of the way to get a "Prego" pizza from Skipolini's to try and help my chances of going into labor.
Salami, Pepperoni, Ham, Mushrooms, Olives, Bell Peppers, Extra Onions,
Sausage, Ground Beef, Linguisa, Extra Garlic, Parmesan and Oregano
I don't know if it was the pizza or sheer willpower, but at 1:30 am on June 20th, I woke up to contractions. I woke Greg up, told him I was having contractions so he needed to pack his bag (my bag and baby's bag were packed and waiting), and then started timing them. They were 5-7 minutes apart, so we tried to get some more sleep. Greg had no problem falling back asleep, but I was pretty uncomfortable, so I just lay in bed timing them until about 5:30 am. When the contractions were 3-5 minutes apart, I finally got out of bed, took a shower and started walking around the house. Greg got up and made breakfast while I called the number at the hospital to let them know I was coming in. I had to stop several times during the conversation to breathe through contractions, and the nurse said I was doing great and should stay at home and labor there. With pretty strong contractions 2-3 minutes apart, I told her I was coming in.
We arrived at the hospital at 7:00 am, and by the time the doctor examined me, I was having very painful contractions 2 minutes apart. I almost died/cried/threw up when he said I was only dilated to 2 cm! However, he was concerned because I was in active labor and baby boy's head was stationed very low (trying to descend from my uterus), but my cervix wasn't cooperating, so his head was pressing on my cervix with each contraction - hence the intense pain. He admitted me so that we could start trying to relax my cervix. The admitting nurse took FOREVER to get me settled into my room, and even messed up my blood draw/IV insertion and had me bleeding all over the room. It took until 9:20 am for her to give me Zofran for my nausea, then IM morphine (a super painful shot in my bum). They followed that up with IV morphine.
The morphine did nothing for the pain (not what I was expecting from watching medical TV dramas), and by 1:30 pm, I was still only dilated to 2 cm, despite still having consistent, strong, and incredibly painful contractions. They decided to give me a spinal block and an epidural to try and help my body relax. When the spinal block kicked in, I told my anesthesiologist (a woman) that I loved her. Pain free, I was able to sleep for about an hour. By 3:00 pm, I was dilated to 6 cm, but my spinal block was wearing off, and I was in a lot of pain. For reasons unknown, my epidural did not work and I could feel EVERYTHING. Because I had an epidural, oxygen, and an IV, I had to lay in bed to labor. My only relief was laying on alternating sides.
When they checked me at 6:00 pm, I was dilated to 9 cm, but my water had moved down below baby boy's head and was pushing him back up in my uterus. At 7:30 pm, they broke my water to encourage his head to drop back down, since I had stalled at 9 3/4 cm. Finally, at 10:15 pm, I started pushing, and it was without a doubt the hardest thing I have ever done. I kept telling everyone that he was stuck, but since I was in so much pain, no one believed any of the things I was yelling (just another lady in labor I guess). Since he was progressing, they just kept telling me to breathe and push. Our sweet baby Gavin was born at 12:20 am on June 21st - after 2 hours of pushing. When the midwife exclaimed, "Oh, he was stuck posterior!," I wanted to flick her right between the eyes. Thank goodness Greg was there to help me keep my negative comments and gestures to myself.
They handed Gavin to me and rushed to stop the massive blood loss I was experiencing. The long and strenuous labor, combined with his position, had caused several large internal tears. Still with no anesthesia, they spent an hour or so stitching me up. When they were through, my anesthesiologist returned and gave me another spinal block. I told her that I still loved her.
We spent 3 days in the hospital after he was born. Gavin's head was pretty bruised, and he had a large cephalohematoma from where he had been stuck and pushing against me for so long. Other than a tender head, he was a perfectly healthy boy! We had so many amazing family members come visit us and take care of us in the hospital, but I was so glad when it was time to come home.
There was a photographer at the hospital who did newborn photos, and a friend of mine had mentioned that she loved her hospital photos, so my mom purchased them for us. They are priceless!
Gavin Lee McClain
Born June 21, 2014 @ 12:20 am
8 lbs 7.4 oz, 22 inches long
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