Owen's Birth Story

Preface:  In 2009 I went off the pill in March.  I did not seek medical assistance to conceive.  I was not in a hurry and figured it would happen when it happens.  However, there was one problem, I was not having my period.  Unrelated to ttc I went to Pennsylvania for my nephew's birthday at the beginning of October.  While there Aunt Flo came to visit.  YAY!  ( I know, who gets excited about that?  Someone TTC that's who)  Anyway, I came back home and on October 24th DH and I did the baby dance.  However, I did not think too much of it.  I really was not expecting it to work.  Well, on Thanksgiving that year I was really sick.  I could not eat.  The smell of all the food just made me vomit.  After reviewing and googling all my symptoms we went to buy pregnancy tests.  After taking all three tests in the box, we were convinced I was pregnant.  At first I was in shock.  I could not believe it was really happening.  I was so excited.  I called my Dad right away to tell him the great news.  So, that is how it all started.  

Now on to my birthing experience...

*Side note As most people do when someone is pregnant, we were all trying to predict the date of birth.  My husband said as long as it doesn't happen on the day he does his big event on his game, I said, as long as I do not miss Hell's Kitchen (I know, how selfish.) Guess which day it happened on?* 

Around 10am on the 20th I started having contractions. They were very mild and about 45 minutes apart. I honestly didn’t think they were real contractions I thought it was Braxton hicks. As the day went on the contractions got stronger and closer. Around 6 I was cringing every time I got them and so I was thinking ok maybe this is really happening. When my contractions were about 6 minutes apart I told Martin "I think we need to go to the hospital" All the stuff was already by the door and ready to go so it made leaving very easy and quick. They drive to the hospital sucked!!! I had about 6 contractions on the way to the hospital. Sitting in a car buckled while having contractions SUCKS! We got to the hospital and they put me in the outpatient room to check my progress and see how fast I was progressing. (During which time I watched Hell's Kitchen.  :) )

 After two hours they finally put me in a regular room. I continued to labor through the contractions without an epidural, but it was very painful. I would start to cry every time I had a contraction and my breathing was not very good. Owens Heart rate dropped pretty low because I wasn’t breathing well. After a struggle of trying to get my breathing regulated and his heart beat back to normal I decided it would be better for the baby to get the epidural. So as soon as I was able they gave it to me. They told me to try to get some sleep after the epidural kicked in but I was like a kid before Christmas and was too excited to sleep. I was so excited that every time they took my blood pressure the alarm would go off because I was so excited it was affecting my blood pressure. At about 3am I felt a small dribble and I called the nurse in and told her I thought my water broke. She went to check and as she was getting ready there was a huge gush and without even checking she was like yup your water broke. I had a bulging bag of water and so Owen immediately dropped two positions and the pressure started getting worse. At around 4 I called the nurse in again and told her I felt like I needed to push. She checked me and was like yup let’s start this. I was having a hard time pushing hard enough so it was taking a while. Then Martin asked the nurse if she had a mirror so when the baby started crowning I could see. As soon as I saw his head Owen was out within minutes. Seeing him helped give me the drive I needed to push harder. The doctor almost didn’t make it in the room in time. They told me to stop pushing until he could get there. Once he was in the room I pushed once and out came Owen. I had a small tear but only required one stitch. As Owen came out though he had a bowl movement and swallowed some of it so they had to suction him out. But luckily it wasn’t bad since it happened after he was born.

As far as breastfeeding goes my milk is coming in very well however I have what they call flat nipples so there isn’t anything for Owen to grab onto to suck. I am using a nipple shield as well as pumping to feed him. At first it was a struggle because Owen didn’t want to suck on the silicone. However after I was home he began eating VERY well. So much so that I didn’t have to pump after the feeding he was able to eat all I had to offer. I finally was able to sleep for a little over 2 hours! I was so excited and woke up feeling so refreshed as If I slept for 8 hours. 

I was able to nurse Owen for a little over 4 months.  I wanted to continue but my milk was upsetting Owen.  I tried cutting out Dairy, different veggies, it got to the point I was only eating meat and grains.  I could not do it any longer and asked his pediatrician if we could try formula.  Up until this point Owen would cry daily from around 4pm to midnight.  After we switched to formula Owen became a wonderful happy baby.  I wish I knew that my milk was what was causing so much trouble for Owen, I would have switched to formula so much sooner.  However I was very set on nursing and thought formula was evil.  Now, I know different.  Some times breast is not always best, like I always assumed.