Sullivan's Birth Story

I'll set up the scene for you:
Saturday night I went to work as usual, at 38 weeks and 4 days pregnant. I had not planned on still being pregnant, because Fisher was born at 37 weeks exactly, but here I was, still pregnant and so ready to meet our new baby!

Work was going as usual, when I started contracting around 0230. My contractions were immediately noticeable and strong, and were about 5-7 minutes apart. I still continued working, but I was monitoring my timing. My contractions started getting stronger and sometimes were closer together. I would have to stop my work and sit down or take some deep breaths to get through them. Finally, I decided that maybe I should leave work and go home to get my boys and head to the hospital.
I left work around 0515, despite the many protests from my coworkers about me either driving myself 45 minutes home, or the fact that I should go straight to the hospital. After taking care of a flu positive kid all night, there was no way I was having a new baby without taking a shower!

I left work, called my mom to give her a heads up, and called Hubby (4 times until he called me back). I managed to make it all the way home even though my contractions were continuing to get stronger and closer together.
After getting home, I quickly got in the shower while Nellie got Fisher up and ready to go. Fishy was not a happy camper about getting up so early!! I managed to get a shower and get ready while struggling through the increasingly painful contractions. I picked up Fisher's toys in the living room (because who wants to come home to a mess?!) with Nellie's help, and off we went to the hospital at 0645.

The drive to the hospital was hard! We got there in 30 minutes (normally it takes 45). I was hurting very badly the entire way there. I couldn't even talk. I don't know that moving around would have made me feel any better, but not being able to change positions makes things that much worse!

We got to the hospital a little after 0715, and made our way inside ( I could barely walk). Thankfully, I had pre registered for delivery, so the paperwork I had to fill out was minimal. Our nurse came and got us and took us back to our room. Mom and Dad had made it to the hospital by then, so Fishy went out in the waiting room with them.

I got my hospital gown on and was hooked up to the monitors while answering my admission questions and constantly contracting. The nurse did a cervical check and I was 8-9 cm, 100% effaced, and had a bulging bag of water. We were having a baby soon! I had planned the whole time to have a natural delivery, but was seriously reconsidering when my contractions felt unmanageable. My cervical check confirmed that I was having a natural delivery-I didn't have time to make a choice! I had also planned on getting antibiotics for possible GBS ( paranoid PICU nurse) but there was no time for that either!

I alternated standing up and rocking back and forth and staying hunched over in an attempt to relieve some of my pain. Then-nausea hit. I vomited my 3am lunch of a grilled chicken sandwich and clementines while still contracting-not fun. Dr. Pilgrim came in and broke my water. My contractions immediately got worse and the pressure increased. Not five minutes later, I felt the urge to push.

So much pressure!! Pushing was excruciating! I kept my eyes closed through the entire process ( maybe it helped me focus?). I did squeeze Nellie's hand some-he only said "ouch" once! I managed to remind Nellie to get the camera ready! While pushing, they ended up having to put me on oxygen, and Dr. Pilgrim had to do an episiotomy (2nd degree). After six pushes, the baby's head and shoulders were out! I did open my eyes in time to see the baby being born. :) I stopped pushing while they suctioned his mouth and nose, and then pushed the rest of the baby out. Dr. Pilgrim held him up and we saw that it was a boy!! We were both really surprised that it was a boy since everyone thought girl through the entire pregnancy. I held him for a little while until it was time for him to get cleaned up and examined. Baby boy arrived at 0816-less than one hour after arriving at the hospital.

I felt so much better after delivery-no more pressure and pain! I did get the shakes really bad, and had them for about an hour. They were very annoying. Sullivan John weighed 6 lbs 4.5 oz-I thought he was going to be bigger! He had a head full of dark hair. While I was being stitched up, Nellie went out to get big brother. Fisher just stared at Sullivan, but wasn't really interested in him. Fishy put on his blue shirt and went out to the waiting room to announce that we had another boy! Then, all of our family members were able to come back and meet our new baby. Mom and Dad came back first.

This labor and delivery was a whirlwind! I'm so thankful I didn't have time or energy to worry about having a natural delivery! I feel so much better than I did after Fisher's birth. We are so incredibly thankful for the opportunity to parent this precious new baby boy! I can't wait to see what our future holds!




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