This face...
Came out...
looking up...But I forgive him.
And now, for Colt's birth story, since "Merlin" (name has been changed to protect the innocent:) has been practically begging for it!
I will neither confirm NOR deny whether or not I made myself a Castor Oil cocktail on Sunday afternoon (July 17th). But if I did, it was around 1:30. And it may have been mixed it with Pepsi. And it was possibly just as disgusting as Castor Oil pudding (Lynn, Jeff, Trish and Amanda have fond memories of that event!) At least it went down easily. Despite a nasty aftertaste that only a bowl of Fruit Loops could cut. And two ice pops. And mouth wash. Oh, and I wont say whether or not I have video of downing said "Castor Oil Cocktail." I guess you'll just have to wait for it to show up on FB... :)
Fast forward a few hours. I figured a nice, long walk and soak in a hot tub (or "warm tub") couldn't hurt. I gave Gerrie a call and around 7:45, headed to her house. After about 45 minutes of walking, we jumped in the hot tub. 20 minutes and 20 million mosquitos later, I was headed home and was off to bed. Shortly after 2am, I woke up. I wasn't having contractions, just a few minor "cramps." I thought it was the Castor Oil. But it wasn't. Slowly but surely, the contractions started coming. Exactly like they did with Cash. I was on FB writing a message to my cousin ("Cougar";), saying how I wished it was light out so I could walk around, as opposed to still being dark and hanging out in bed. Just as I wrote that, my water broke. Or something. I'm not convinced it wasn't my water, though there's conflicting reports on whether or not my bag was still intact. But anyway. For the sake of the story, we'll say my water broke. It didn't gush, thank goodness. We don't have a waterproof pad on our bed. :) I got up, went into the bathroom and decided I should probably make myself look presentable. I woke Ryan up shortly before 5. He had visions of delivering a baby in the car, or me dropping a baby in the bathroom. However...that was not to be the case. We headed out at 6:20. We brought the boys with us to the hospital and my mom picked them up. At 7:00, I was settled in my room and the nurse had me stay in bed for "20 minutes" so that they could test the fluid to make sure my water had broke, and also get me/the baby on the monitor. AN HOUR AND FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER they came back into my room, and my contractions, which had been 3-3 1/2 minutes apart (with wonderful back labor, too) were now almost non existent. After being allowed to get up and walk around, the contractions started back up. Oh, and I can't forget to mention that I'm pretty sure they didn't think I was actually in labor. When the Dr. checked me at 8:15, I was "maybe a finger tip" dilated. Seriously?! (And the test of fluid they sent to the lab came back negative, tho the initial test in the room showed positive. Whatever. I know I didn't lose bladder control!) Anyway. So I paced the room for over an hour. My mom showed up around 9:30. Shortly thereafter, the nurse came back in and told me she wanted to get me back on the monitor and check my blood pressure. I got in bed, she got me set up, took my b/p, and walked out the door. I'm not sure the door was actually even closed when I looked at my mom and said, "I don't feel good....get a nurse." I laid the bed flat and within a few seconds, people were crowding my room. My mom and Ryan were each holding a leg elevated, oxygen mask was on my face, IV was being put in, my finger was being pricked, I was sweating, and my b/p was dropping (70/20). A dr. came in, introduced himself, then went to work trying to make sure the baby was okay. My mom got kicked out of the room...which was fine with me. I was worried about her getting a front row seat to a show I didn't want to put on! When the Dr. checked me, he said I was "6-7 and changing." So, things obviously progressed rapidly. - I got the shakes really bad. They kept me laying on my side because my b/p seemed to go down if I was on my back. At this point, I decided I wasn't going to get an epidural. I didn't want to risk another b/p issue, as my b/p dropped after my epi. with Cash. And, I wasn't having too terribly painful contractions. I really thought things were going to move fast and I was going to have this baby with relative ease. (...*wait for it...*...*wait for it...*) ... HAHAHAHA! Seriously? EASE? What was I smoking? I finally started getting regular contractions again around 11, and tried different positions in an attempt to get Colt to flip face down, but...he didn't. So the back labor continued. For what seemed like forever, I was 10 cm but did not have the urge push. Just lots of contractions. Lots of back pain. And lots of pain. (did I already say that?:) It wasn't until around 1:00 I finally started pushing. Or, at least trying to push. I was in so much pain, I almost couldn't. There was a constant pain and pressure that wasn't letting up, and I couldn't get a breath long enough to hold. At one point, I know I said, "I can't!"... and there was moaning and groaning. And lots of gripping and pulling at the bed! At 1:22, Baby C made his appearance. And he let us know here was here! The midwife let Colt stay on my chest until the umbilical cord stopped pulsing. I had asked her if she would, despite being afraid she might think I was some extremist. She just smiled and said, "I always do." (besides the baby getting the extra oxygenated blood that's still running through, it gives the mom more time to cuddle with her slimy new worm:) About 20 minutes later, Ryan cut the cord, and Colt was his own little person!
And there you have it. Well, mostly. There was still the placenta. And that thing hurt, too! Oh, the things you learn! I was glad when it was all finally over, but it did not take long before I started thinking ... ya know, maybe 4 wouldn't be so bad.
