Graham Michael Ravenscroft born May 29, 2010 @ 2:05 pm. 8 lbs 1 oz 21 inches
So on Friday the 28th I went to the doctor's office so she could check me one last time before my due date and see if she could strip my membranes to help get things started. When we got there she did an exam and shook her head and said that I was still only about 1 cm dilated and she couldn't "get in". I was pretty bummed out as I was really hoping for another May baby. After her exam though...I noticed some brownish discharge a couple of times when going to the bathroom. I wondered if it was the start of my plug, but not being dilated, dismissed it. Jason and I had some friends that were in town from Michigan so we decided to go out Friday night and visit them at a little pub north of town. We laughed and joked about me still being pregnant and no one could believe that I was out this late in the pregnancy. We ended up getting home around midnight.
Somewhere around two Jack woke up calling for us and I went in and checked on him. When I went to lay back down I noticed that my back hurt and layed there for a minute. I felt my first contraction then, but didn't think much of it and went back to sleep...or tried to, because Jack kept calling for us. I asked Jason to check on him while I laid and wondered if what I was feeling at this point were contractions. (I never felt any contractions with Jack) Around 4 I started timing how far apart they were, but not the duration. They were consistantly 7 minutes apart but weren't really painful at all so I was thinking that it was probably false labor. At 5:00 I told Jason I was going to go in the living room for a bit. He asked if I was having trouble sleeping, I said sort of...I'm going to time my contractions. He sat up alarmed and I laughed telling him to go back to sleep and I'd keep him informed.
I got up and started timing the contractions on line and browsing facebook. They were pretty consistant at 35-45 seconds long and every 3-5 minutes...still not painful. They seemed to be more intense when I was laying in bed timing them. So I unloaded the dishwasher, packed Jack's lunch for the 500 Parade we were supposed to go to and kept timing them for an hour. At that point I went back to lay down in bed. I knew I'd want to rest some if this was the real thing so tried to go sleep, but Jason wanted to talk. I asked if he'd come out and time the contractions while I laid on the couch to see what they were doing like that, so we got up and did that...they were 45-60 sec long and coming every 4-5 minutes. After timing them for 1/2 hour like that I decided that I should call my mom and see if she'd come stay with Jack and take him to the parade. I also was going to call the doctor and see what she wanted me to do. I called mom and while waiting for her, got in the shower. Jason sat in the bathroom and continued to time my contractions. They were staying at 45-60 secs every 4-5 minutes. But they didn't feel like they were getting any stronger. I could talk through them and walk through them if I had to, so I figured they weren't really anything. As I was getting out of the shower my mom arrived and I called the doctor. She wanted to meet me at the hospital and get checked.
We arrived at the hospital and I wouldn't allow Jason to bring anything up with us. I figured that I was only at like 2 cm and we'd be sent home. As we were walking up to the doors I stopped walking during a contraction and a lady came running out with a wheel chair. I told her I was fine and didn't need one, but she insisted...I was so embarrassed! Anyways, we got to triage and I got in a bed. They hooked me up to the monitors and started asking admission questions. Finally they sent in the doctor, she checked me and I was a 5! They admitted me, I called my mom to tell her we were staying and sent Jason to get our things from the car. The nurse laughed at me because before getting checked I was a little depressed thinking we'd be sent home and after being checked I was all excited and happy!
We get to LDR room and they hook up my IV for the GBS and the nurse tells me that she doesn't think I'm going to get the second dose in before having the baby and says to make sure I hold off for the four hours needed for this one to be "effective". This nurse was so funny...we joked and laughed the entire time I was in the LDR. As soon as the IV was done she let me in the labor tub and I sat there and texted some friends and talked to DH for a couple of hours. Nurse Wendy came back and warned me about staying in the tub too long and not being able to get out and told me if I started feeling any pressure, I need to get out. I'd been having slight pressure, but just thought it was the contractions getting more intense...but after a couple more contractions decided I should go ahead and get out. I was sort of afraid to get out though...because that's the point where my labor transitioned with Jack and it was horrible. But I got out and dried off and went to the bathroom. A big piece of my plug came out and I asked to get checked.
Dr. Soper said I was at a 6-7 but baby was still high. She suggested breaking my water at this point to allow him to come down. I said okay and she did. As she did, my plug also came out and then she said that Graham had pooped. I started to get nervous that she might want to do a c section at that point, but she seemed calm and and let me continue laboring. She said that the contractions would probably pick up at this piont and I'd start feeling a lot of pressure. Oh man...she wasn't kidding. Up to this point with each contraction I just breathed slow and steady and focused on being calm and they were fine. Now I had to stand up and sway from one side to the other. They were uncomfortable, but mostly tolerable for a little bit. Then all of sudden they started coming on STRONG. I had to lean over the bed and squat or sway and take really deep breaths. About this time I also started feeling some pressure. All of a sudden there was a big gush of water that my body sort of involuntarily pushed out and I said, "UM! I really got to push!" They called the doctor back in and she checked me said I was 8-9 and she told me to get in bed and lean over the top if I prefered being in that position. So I did and each time I had a contraction she would check me to see what was going on...I guess she was also helping me finish dilating because she finally said when I was ready I could push. There was so much pressure and intensity I wasn't quite sure what I was doing or where I was at mentally. After a couple of pushes the doctor suggested I flip to my back to allow baby to slide because in the position I was Graham was hanging in my belly. So I flipped and Jason and the nurse helped pull up my legs. Four contractions later Graham was out. I later asked the nurse how long I was pushing for and she told me 9 minutes total from time I got into bed until I pushed him out. That totally shocked me because it felt like 4 hours. I remember after pushing during one contraction Dr. Soper said, "Oh! You've got a good quarter size of head showing!" That I thought "WTF?! A quarter?! You've got to be kidding me!"
Because of the meconium the pedi nurses where in the room and took him to the warmer and put a tube down his throat to make sure he was clear. His apgars were 7 and 9 though and other than him being hoarse, he's great. I was hoarse too after all that! After he was cleared they gave him to me and we nursed for an hour and just sat together as a family before they gave him his bath and checked him over. When Graham came out I looked at Jason and he had the most awe inspired look on his face. He told me how proud he was of me and said that he'd never have been able to do that and just kissed me and hugged me. We'd planned on going natural with Jack...but it didn't happen, so this was an achievement for us.
We got to the hospital at 10am and had Graham at 2pm...so we were there for four hours before having him. We were discharged 24 hours after having him...so we're there for a total of 28 hours. It was so nice to be able to go home and actually relax.
My sweet boys
Graham Michael
Jack wore this same outfit coming home as well
