Austin's Birth Story

I already wrote a very detailed description of this in a journal of letters I am keeping for my son to give him when he is grown so I will keep this post about his birth (relatively) brief.

I went to work on Friday, April 13 feeling sad and depressed. It was my last day of work. I cried my eyes out with my students when I told them I wouldn't be coming back next year. I drove home feeling somber and thoughtful.

Mark and I decided to go on a garden themed date that night. We planted the starter seeds for our garden and went to Olive Garden to eat. It was so much fun. At Olive Garden our young waitress took some extra time with us. She asked me when I was due and said she was 10 weeks along and so excited. I think she just wanted someone to talk to :) It was sweet. After dinner we went to the mall to just walk around and then we went home. We talked about how we were going to sleep in on Saturday and go grocery shopping and clean the house and get everything all ready for our moms to get there and just enjoy the day. Just before I went to bed my sister called. I asked her how she knew she was going into labor. She said simply "My water broke." Well three hours later at 1:45 AM mine did too.

I was laying in bed and I woke up feeling like I needed to go to the restroom. I didn't want to get up so I just laid there determining if I really needed to go or if I could hold it and go back to sleep. I decided I was just going to hold it when I felt a trickle. I jumped out of bed thinking I must REALLY need to go. So I went to the bathroom. In the bathroom I looked down and realized my pjs were wet. Then I felt another trickle from.... well... you know. I thought to myself "Did my water just break?" I waited to see if I was feeling any contractions. I wasn't. So I grabbed a towel and went downstairs to google water breaking but no contractions. Then I felt a HUGE gush and there was no question in my mind what had happened. But I wasn't having contractions.

So I went and woke up Mark and called the doctor. They said to go right to the hospital. We didn't have our bags packed or anything. So we looked up online what to pack in a hospital bag and packed one really quickly. Then we stopped at Walgreens to get Mark some snacks. Then we headed over to the hospital. They checked us in and hooked me up to all the monitors and and IV. They started me on Pitocin within 30 minutes. Unfortunately Austin and the pitocin did not get along. I did start having contractions. They were uncomfortable and pretty close together but they were not very strong and every time I did have one Austin's heart rate would go down into the 60s. The doctor was never able to turn the pitocin up high enough to get me to go into active labor. After 9 hours of trying to get me to go into labor they turned off the pitocin and said the doctor would be in shortly. I knew Dr. V would be advising us to have a c-section. Mark and I had a good long talk about it before the doctor arrived and we decided we would go ahead with it if that was advised. It was and we did.

It was a whirlwind after that. Between the time the doctor came in to talk to us and the time Austin was born was about 45 minutes or maybe even less. They unhooked the pitocin, put me into a wheelchair, wheeled me into the operating room, gave me a spinal tap, laid me down on the table, did the surgery, and Austin was here.

He was so loud! I was so relieved to hear his little cry. I just laid on that table in tears. There was this WONDERFUL nurse anesthetist who stayed with me the whole time. She held my other hand (that Mark wasn't holding) and told me everything that was going on. She told me when the incision had been made and took pictures for Mark and I. She was wonderful.

Mark got to cut the umbilical cord while I watched. It was really hard for me to watch everyone else handling my baby while I laid on the table just waiting. Mark brought him over so I could touch his little face. I couldn't hold him until they finished the surgery. After they sewed me up and moved me into a recovery bed they finally let me hold my new son.

The whole thing was relatively painless and very peaceful. I never went into true labor so I was relaxed and comfortable the entire time. The hospital stay was really nice. The nurses were fantastic. Unfortunately recovery has been difficult. It has been almost two weeks and I can still hardly walk without sharp abdominal pain at the incision site. Hopefully that will go away in a few more weeks.

Austin eats and sleeps like a little champ. He is becoming more alert each day and opens his eyes more and more. We love him more than we ever believed possible. Parenting is such a gift and blessing. It is hard and I have already had hard moments, but the sweetness more than makes up for it

He is the most beautiful baby. I love him so much. I love being a mother. I love being his mother. I just can't get enough of that sweet little face.