Birth Story of Judah David

It was Sunday, October 28th, almost a week past my due date, and yes, I was discouraged. Chris suggested we get out of the house that evening, and so we went over to visit at his parent's house. We were watching some tv, and baby was going wild inside. I jokingly asked Crystal if this was what happened the night she went into labor with any of her kids. A little after 9 we headed home. Crystal came out to the car and asked if we wanted to come inside to pray with the family. Many prayers were said that baby girl would come SOON.

11 pm I was sitting up in bed as usual, having painless contractions. Timing them, as usual. What was UNusual was that they were 5-1-1!! Almost on the dot. Finally. Woke Chris up, we both calmly finished packing the hospital bag with some snacks and toiletries. I did my hair and some makeup in the bathroom ;) Left the house at about 1 am. At check in at the hospital, I was a 3. We walked the halls for 45 minutes, and BAM! Contractions became painful. And this was when I found out I would be having back labor. I am still working on an adequate way for me to articulate back labor. Like a jackhammer, set on fire, drilling into your lower back... that's what I've got so far.

After walking I was checked and only at a 3 1/2. The nurse consulted the on-call doctor and came back with a sorrowful face and told me the doctor didn't think I was progressing enough, and that I was going to be sent home. I was devastated. They were going to send me home with something to help me sleep, but I was so nervous about the already horrendous pain with each contraction. I thought I'd pass out for sure ;) We then had to call Chris' mom and retract the statement that we were being admitted. The nurse offered to check me one last time. I was a 4. She consulted with the doctor again, and got the go-ahead to admit me. She started the jacuzzi. I think it was about 3 or 3:30 at this point.

I lasted not even 10 minutes in the tub, I felt confined and couldn't sit still with the contractions. My best bet was the yoga ball and leaning over the hospital bed. I not only was squeezing Chris' hand, but pulling very hard on his thumb/wringing his neck/chest, etc. The jump from a 4 to a 6 took between one and two hours. I asked for the epidural. The nurse said "ok, sure, and the anesthesiologist lives here in town so he'll be here in no time." I thought: he's not here at the hospital now?!?

He was pretty quick to arrive, and he started his spiel. I said yes, and ok  to everything :) He put it in, and asked how I felt. I still had feeling on my left side. They had me lay on that side to let gravity pull it over. Meanwhile, I was concerned that I was still feeling contractions. He told me it generally took about 3 or 4 contractions to fully take effect. Gahhh I thought I was home free.

When it did take full effect it was amazing. I had a perfect epidural. The only side effect was that I was shaking pretty violently for a couple hours. During this time my mother in law and two sister in laws came in and visited. I was doing great, just really annoyed by the shaking. I was at a 9 by about 11 in the morning. My OB came and checked me at about 12:30, and I was complete. I started pushing at 1:05.

Then came three long hours of pushing. The first half hour or so was figuring out how I was supposed to push. I was scared to turn the epidural down - they left it alone - so pushing was tricky. About an hour into it I made the first little bit of progress. Second hour I was frustrated, and getting desperate. I remember asking the nurse for help... thinking I couldn't do this. I developed a fever. Boy oh boy they could not get that delivery room cool enough for my liking. I requested a fan, and had cool wash cloths on my forehead and neck. They made me wear an oxygen mask. I think I asked about every 5 minutes if I could take it off. I'm sure I thought it was completely unnecessary.

Finally, Chris started telling me he could see her head. He got giddy. Waaayy excited. He didn't think he was going to watch but he found he couldn't NOT watch. Pressure got very intense. Many, many more pushes. My doctor was called. He came in about 3 or 4 minutes before the baby crowned. He had me stop pushing to slip off the umbilical cord from the head. Then it went fast, and very painfully. Baby slipped out, noiselessly, and doctor headed toward the warmer. Chris looked at me, wide eyed, and said "Sarah, that is NOT a little girl." I said "what?" and then totally and joyfully accepted it. We had a son! Was tearing up, but Chris and I sat motionless for about 8 minutes, holding hands, as the doctor and two nurses worked on the baby. The hardest part was not hearing anything from the baby, or seeing him move at all. Finally we heard little gurgles, no cries. When they brought him to me I was just overwhelmed that I now had a child, no surprise at the gender at all. Then I really started crying. They asked if we had a name. We actually had settled on a boy's name first: Judah David. The banter between us, the nurses and the doctor on the gender surprise was pretty fun :)

Chris then made some proud papa phone calls to the waiting room. Everyone he told replied with "you're kidding," or "you're lying." So fun!!!

We left the hospital at about 7:30  Halloween night. With an apgar score of 2, then 8 and 9, Judah had to be on antibiotics for a bit. Recovery for mom has been pretty great, and Judah has gained a pound since hospital discharge two weeks ago.

Judah David
Born: October 29th, 4:24 pm.
7 lbs. 10 oz, 20 in. long