Funky Adventures: Baby Boy Funk

Well what do ya know, my predictions were right - we bought a house and had a baby the next day! Even though I had been predicting for awhile that I would have the baby on Mother's Day, I didn't actually think it would happen! Baby boy Funk (still no name), was born on May 11th at 11:42pm weighing 8lbs 8oz.

Are you ready for the labour details :) Skip this part if it's TMI (to much information).

On Saturday night I crawled into bed around 9:30pm, looking for a good nights rest seeing how I had been up since 4:30am that morning (pregnancy insomnia). I had been having a few contractions for the past day or so that seemed to be getting a bit more frequent and a bit more painful but they were still hit and miss and only coming maybe twice an hour. As I was lying in bed, I was praying for the baby and that the delivery would go smoothly and then I started having another contraction except this time, I felt a pop and a massive gush of water! I sort of expected it to stop but when it didn’t, I called for Carl. My dilemma was, do I stay put and soak the mattress or make a run for it and soak the carpet?! Luckily, due to our quick action (after a moment of shock for Carl), we salvaged both the mattress and the carpet…But Carl’s pillow that was in-between my legs for support went in the garbage J

When my water broke, my initial reaction was disappointment. I was so looking forward to at least one more sleep before the baby came! As well, with my water breaking, it meant we needed to go to the hospital right away so I could be monitored. Apparently only 10-15% of women’s water breaks and when it does happen, they are at a higher risk of fever and infection. Even though my water broke with Hannah, I was hoping that it wouldn’t happen this time round. I feared that I would go through what I went through with Hannah again and would end up in a C-section again. Our initial plan was to try a natural birth, mostly so that my recovery period would easier (especially when caring for 2 kids!).

I called my mom who came over to look after Hannah, and we were off to the hospital! Even though it had only been an hour since my water broke, I had soaked through a towel and several pads, as the water just kept coming! I stuck a hand towel in my pants for the car ride to the hospital and on a last impulse, grabbed another full size towel to sit on. And good thing I did, because by the time we reached the hospital, I was soaking through that. I imagine it was somewhat funny seeing me waddle into the hospital holding a towel in-between my legs!

Sometimes, after your water breaks, if contractions haven’t started you get sent home for up to 24 hours. In my case, because contractions had started and because I was attempting a natural birth 19months after a C-section, they admitted us. From about midnight Saturday night until late Sunday night, is kind of a blur. I managed for as long I could without pain medication but then opted for some morphine. I think with the morphine we were able to get a bit of sleep but I remember drifting in and out, off and on throughout most of it. When the morphine wasn’t enough, I opted for the laughing gas, which was a fun ride! Apparently I kept asking Carl about food – maybe I was hungry since I hadn’t eaten in over 24hours. I would say “Would you like half a grape fruit?” and a few minutes later say, “oh, never mind, I know, we aren’t at home”. Then later I said “we only have 3 whole wheat buns!...Oh but that’s ok, we aren’t at home.” And again, “would you like an orange?”. These are all things we had at home that I knew needed to be used up soon before they went bad. I think Carl’s favorite was when I said with a somewhat accusing tone “did you put your dishes in the dishwasher?”.

It must have been around 10pm when I was finally dilated to 10cm! I think I was in denial that I actually did it! I remember at one point, thinking the doctor was actually lying to me about my progression because I was convinced that I would end up with a C-section. With Hannah, I only got to 4cm within about the same length of time. Now that I was at 10cm, it was time to wait for the urge to push! I wasn’t sure if I was actually feeling this urge or not but the doctor said, if I wanted to start pushing I could…so what the heck, we went for it!

After an hour and a half of pushing, the doctor suggested we use a “Kiwi” or a vacuum type suction cup to assist the baby with his appearance. This is when things really got moving. Up until this point, I felt I was laboring really well, I was breathing through contractions, the drugs were doing their things, I was calm and in control! And then the baby started really coming! I thought I was prepared for labor, I thought the drugs would take away the pain, I didn’t think I would scream, I didn’t think I would swear or grab at Carl’s shirt to hold on for dear life…I was wrong! I was appalled at the pain I felt and after birth I actually felt quite deceived and (excuse my language), pissed off that I just went through what I did. Luckily after some time, this feeling has subsided.

Carl was amazed by the whole experience. Baby came out looking a little still and blue but soon enough he let out his first cry. I was still a little in shock at what just happened to have any more emotion than that. Baby was born at 11:42pm on Mothers Day (and Hannah was born at 11:52pm on Thanksgiving!). We stayed one extra night at the hospital and came home on Tuesday afternoon. We are adjusting well and Hannah is loving her little brother! Even though labor wasn’t what I thought it would be, I’m glad we did it because recovery has been so much quicker!