Last time I posted I was still pregnant and had a few more weeks to go. Well, it's so so many months later and here we are! I wrote up a birth story for Zoey and I wanted to be sure to have one for Sebastian too, so here it goes:
Jump ahead to Thursday, July 31st at 3:00am. I am woken up with some unusual cramping, almost period like. (Now with Zoey, my water broke. That was the no brainer answer that I was headed to labor in delivery. So with this pregnancy, every cramp or ache I questioned.) I get up to use the restroom, like I had done every two hours for the last few months, and when I go to clean up, there is a tinge of blood - again, not normal, but nothing I should be too alarmed by. At this point, my brain is telling me to GO BACK TO BED and enjoy these next few hours of sleep.
My alarm goes off at 4:30am and I tell Zack that I think regardless of the induction, Sebastian was going to be greeting us real soon. The cramps were still consistent and I was thankful I had the induction scheduled so I can just go to the hospital and get checked to prove it wasn't mental. I send out a quick text to my mom, sister and bestie and let them know what's going on and we head out the door.
As we are driving to the hospital I begin to think how crazy life is about to get. We are going from one kid to two. From having a girl, to a boy. A boy! I don't know a thing about boys. Zack and I chat about everything we had been prepping for. How to make this an easy transition for Zoey. How to handle two babies. What our schedules will be like. The mommy guilt had been hitting me hard and I was terrified of making any child feel less special than the other. I swear, my emotions were on over drive during that drive in.
Once we get to the hospital, I let the labor and delivery nurses know what was going on with my cramps. After about 30 minutes of getting settled in the room and any last minute paper work taken care of, the nurse checks me. I am 4cm and 70% effaced. I KNEW IT! I wasn't crazy. I knew shit was happening! They tell me it sounds like my body was ready and strap me to the monitor. And there is it. That beautiful heart beat. Such a sweet sound. Just thinking about the fast paced gallop makes my heart melt.
I am monitored for a few minutes and while my contractions were there, they were only about 6 minutes apart. They gave me a small dose of pitocin to get things moving and more consistent, which was fine by me. Then Melanie, my sweet nurse, explains to me that she, the doctor, and the anesthesiologist would be unavailable until 8:30am because they would be in a scheduled c-section. She asked me if I felt that I would be able to hold out until then to receive my epidural. 8:30am? Sure! That is not a problem at all. At this point, we were thinking I would be delivering most likely some time that afternoon.
Now let me back pedal a little and give you a run down on where everyone else was at this time. My best friend, Corinne, was planning on coming to the hospital around 10:00am or 11:00am to snap some pictures. My sister, Theresa, she was planning on swinging by on her way to work. Most likely around 9:00am or 10:00am. My mom and dad were leaving Reno (they were at Hot August Nights) and planning on being in San Ramon around 10:00am, and my mother-in-law was planning on arriving around that time, too. See we had everything planned out. This would go smoothly, everyone would make it in time to welcome Bash in to the world.
Fast-forward 30 minutes later. Contractions this time around proved to be a lot stronger than I remembered with Zoey, and I felt like they were coming on pretty fast. I never attended any birthing classes, but have seen enough movies to know to "breathe," I gave a few breaths a-go, but that shit still hurt. Melody told me before going in to her C-Section that as long as I didn't have the urge to "go to the bathroom" then we were in the clear. Whelp, I did. I felt like I had to go to the bathroom bad.
Zack was being so patient with me. Holding my hand and encouraging me through every contraction and every minute that went by. Per usual he was trying to break my emotions by cracking jokes - only thing was, I wasn't having it this go around. Everything was so much more painful than it was when we had Zoey. I was clearly experiencing labor pains and I needed drugs. Our only problem... there was no one available to give me the drugs I so desperately wanted. Around 8:45am Melanie came back in and we got caught her up to speed on what was going on. She gave me a quick check and told me I was 6cm and that we could have this baby in the next hour. At that point my doctor walked in and decided to give me a check as well. To his findings, I was 8cm. EIGHT! I went 8cm WITHOUT an epidural. Are you friggin' kidding me?!
At this point, I was in too deep to get the drugs, but I am a wuss and needed something to help ease the discomfort. The anesthesiologist was kind enough to provide me with a Saddle Block. Basically, they were able to numb my ass, inner thighs and hips and take the "edge" off. It did.
At 9:05 am, I was rechecked and fully dilated. Melanie looked at me and said "I can break your water and have him out within 30 minutes." 30 minutes? NO ONE WAS HERE YET! We were supposed to have time. We had this all planned out. Without being able to get an answer out, my water breaks... it's go time.
Next thing I know, the room is swarming with people. Nurses, pediatricians, anesthesiologist. Everything around me seemed to be moving so quickly. People asking for things, rolling things out, moving me around. It all feels like a blur. I was asked to roll on to my side, then they moved me on to all fours and lifted my stomach. I had no idea what was happening. Finally they had me on my back and were strapping oxygen to my face. I think I even heard someone ask for a vacuum. I finally got out "what is happening to my baby?" One of the nurses informed me that they were trying to get oxygen to my baby since his heart rate was dropping. Right then it felt like everything stopped. What the hell was going on? How was this simple birth going all wonky? Then, in walked Doctor Lollar. Cool and calm. He pretty much told the whole room to relax and we were going to get this baby out.
I don't know why, but hearing him in that calm tone calmed me. I felt like everything was going to be okay. One push later I was pulling Sebastian on to my chest. My beautiful baby boy was here and in my arms. All 7lbs 14oz and 21 inches. He was born at 9:15am - 10 minutes after my water broke. Once I had a chance to look around the room I saw that everyone but my mom had made it! I was so distracted by what was going on I had no clue people were there.
Pure joy. Seeing this adorable baby in my arms is an amazing feeling. Something I cannot explain, but something I am so glad I can cherish.
Thank you Corinne for, once again, capturing this amazing moment. I am so lucky to have these photos.
