Labor Story

First off, I appologize for taking so long to post anything since the "Water..?" post. Things have been hectic haha! Below are two versions of my labor story.. a short version and a long version..

Short version:
On  2/21:
10:40pm - Water broke
11:45pm - Arrived at the hospital

On 2/22:
12:00ish am - Got checked and was 2-3cm and contractions were 1-2minutes apart.
12:15ish am - Got epidural (happy Kari here!)

2:30am - Got checked again and was at 4cm
8:00am - Got checked again and was at 10cm and the nurse could feel his head!
8:30am - Started practice pushing that turned into real pushing
9:16am - After 45 minutes of pushing, Isaac Thomas Black was born!
End of Short version

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Long version:
So on Sunday 2/21, everything seemed pretty normal throughout the day. Matt and I went grocery shopping and on the way out of the store, I got what felt like a big cramp on the left side (almost felt like I was running and got a stitch on the side). Since then, I had what felt one cramp that was lasting all day. Nothing time-able because it was always there.

That night, the Lings came over to hang out and then we walked back to their house and back. I lost my mucus plug when I used the restroom (sorry if thats too much info haha) so I told Matt on the way back home but also told him that that really doesn't mean much, as it could mean labor anywhere from a day to another week or so.

When we got back from walking, that one constant cramp turned into cramping off and on... if I timed them, they were probably about 10 minutes a part or so. We went to bed around 9 and I was still cramping a lot. I wasn't quite sure what to think about it, so we put on the vinyl cover on the mattress, just incase.

I was tossing and turning all night from the cramping. At around 10:40 I turned from my side to my back and felt/heard a pop. I really wasn't sure what that was, because my hips always popped, but this felt like it was in my gut. I didn't feel wet or anything so I thought maybe it was a fluke or something. I shifted in bed and THEN felt the wetness coming. I ran to the bathroom before anything got on the bed or floor. From there I called for Matt to wake up because my water broke. He, being mostly asleep, thought I was talking about water pipes and asked if the living room was flooded (we were hearing a knocking noise in the wall earlier and thought it was pipes). Once he realized what was I was talking about, we went on "packing up for the hospital mode" for all the last minute stuff. I called the hospital and told them my water broke so they knew to expect me.

We got there around 11:45pm.. by then, those "cramps" were definitely contractions and hurting like crazy and coming about 2-3 minutes a part. I got my room, got checked and was only 2-3cm. I got my epidural and boy was that the best thing in the WORLD. I highly recommended them.

Matt and I dozed on and off for the night. Around 2:30am they checked me at and I was 4cm. At 7:30am I asked the nurse when they were going to check me again and she said not for a while because most likely I would progress slowly due to this being my first. At 8am, I got a new nurse (shift change) and she noticed that I was shaking/shivering a  lot. I wasn't cold, but I couldn't stop shaking. She said that sometimes the shaking is a sign that your body is ready to push. So she checked me and sure enough, I was 10cm and she could feel the baby's head already!

She called my doctor and in the meantime prepared the room for delivery. I did a practice push at 8:30 and immediately vomited afterwards (I was hungry and shaking and the two combined with pushing really effected me). After that, I was fine. I pushed for 45 minutes and at 9:16am, Isaac Thomas Black was born! I felt NOTHING when he was coming out. Well, I felt pressure but no burning or pain or anything.

He was grunting a lot when he was born, so they cleaned him up and then took him  to the nursery. Matt followed with his video camera while the doctor stitched me up (I had two small tears).

Apparently the grunting stopped as he got the nursery and was doing really good. They weighed him and he was 6lbs 4.8oz and 18.5 inches long. And he has TONS of blond hair.
End of long version.

I got to stay at the hospital until Wednesday morning. By then, we were more then ready to head home!!


Pictures will be posted soon!