I had no symptoms of pending labor at all up until I lost my mucous plug around 6pm August 30. I had a feeling I'd go into labor soon after that, just because he was already so late. I was right! After having major crampiness all evening, I laid down in bed around 11:30pm, and immediately felt a pop! Got up to get on the toilet, and sure enough, my water had broken. Problem was, the fluid was green-tinged! I knew there was meconium in my water, and I immediately went to Colby and said, "we have to go to the hospital. Now."
We got there in about 30 minutes, and it's usually about a 45 minute drive. There's lots of construction going on, but since it was night, we didn't have to worry about it. We got to the hospital, and the nurse checked me in, and checked my dilation. I was only a one, but she confirmed I was definitely in labor.
On the way to the hospital, I'd started having contractions about 4 minutes apart, and they stayed that way until we got checked into a labor and delivery room, at which point, they went all over the place. I was having them 3 and 2 minutes apart, then I'd have one after 30 seconds, and they were all in various lengths. I labored until about 4:30AM with excruciating, untimeable pain, until finally, I couldn't take anymore, and got an epidural. I was terrified of an epidural, but after that amount of pain, and me starting to vomit everywhere, I just couldn't take it. I honestly think if my contractions had been regular, I would've been able to do it.
After getting the epi, and not really progressing past 2 centimeters, the doctor decided to give me some pitocin to speed things along. After that, I dilated to about 4 centimeters in 2 hours, and then everything stopped. They upped my pitocin dose to an 8, and then Emerson's heartrate went down every time I had a contraction. We were beyond worried about him. They took me off pitocin, and then I still wasn't progressing. Around 1PM, Dr. Jackson decided enough was enough. He told me it looked like I needed a C-section, and they could do it in about an hour.
I was completely devastated. I wanted to do what was best for the baby, but the vaginal birth I'd prepared for was gone. I would never, ever again get the feeling of going into labor on my own, I'd never get to push a baby out by myself with Colby coaching me. I knew that my future of giving birth naturally was totally ruined. I also know how selfish it sounds for me to even say that, but it doesn't make my feelings any less real.
Around 2:00PM, they prepped me for surgery, and we went into the operating room. Before we went, Dr. Jackson prayed with the nurses and Colby and me, and though extremely comforting, it was still very scary, and heartbreaking.
The C-section went perfectly. I will never forget when I first heard Emerson cry, and although I didn't get to feel him come out, it was the best moment of my life. I also got to see him get cleaned up, because they had a monitor on him. He was beautiful.
After I got cleaned up and sewn up, we went down to the recovery room for about an hour, and I was able to try breastfeeding, which went well at that point. He latched right on. Then for the next several days, we went into breastfeeding HELL.
My recovery was fine, I wasn't in a lot of pain, and I spent the next four days in the hospital trying to get Emerson fed, and I knew he wasn't getting ANYTHING. I had a little colostrum that would leak out occasionally, but I knew there was no milk. By day 4, he'd gone from 8 lbs 6 oz to 7 lbs 3 oz, which of course was way more than 10% of his birth weight. I was at an absolute loss as to what to do. I had nurses telling me to give him formula, and at the same time, a pediatrician and lactation consultant telling me to wait it out, and not give him formula. That night, we went home from the hospital, and I was in complete hysterics. I was terrified I wouldn't be able to feed my child. He wasn't crying non-stop or anything, in fact, he was very lethargic (probably due to my taking Percocet, and him being a little jaundiced) We called the pediatrician's night hotline, and the nurse told me how much to give him, and so we did. The next day we saw a lactation consultant, who developed a plan for us, which involved feeding, supplementing, and then me pumping at EVERY feeding session.
Luckily, we only had to follow the plan for one night, because the next morning, my milk was in!!! I woke up engorged and full, and he was DOWNING the milk! We had a pediatrician's appointment the next day, and his weight was already back up a few ounces. I was so glad! Of ALL the things I wanted, I wanted to breastfeed more than anything else. I knew it was the right thing for Emerson, and the best thing I could do for his health and well-being. The very thought of not being able to do it simply petrified me. Thank God it actually happened!
So since then, we've been a very happy little family of three. We have taken copious pictures, of course, and are just completely in love with this little boy. He eats about every 3 hours, day and night, and he's alert and happy for about 2 hours in the morning, and 2 hours at night. Waking up every 3 hours to breastfeed is the LEAST of my worries; I know these feedings will get farther apart the older he gets.
We are so blessed.
