Cooper's birth story

I know many of you don't really care to read the story of Cooper birth; even when I was pregnant and would see birth stories on people's blogs, I would barely scan them. So don't feel obligated to read the following, because I'm doing it more for us, so that we have it all written down. For those of you who do choose to keep reading, I'll try not to go into too much detail in the gory parts.

I woke up on Saturday morning just feeling a little bit off. I stomach hurt a little bit, but it felt more like I had to go to the bathroom than anything that could be classified as contractions. I got up and drank some coffee and wrote my 41 week post while sitting in the nursery. My sister-in-law was spending the night at our apartment, and we had planned to go out to breakfast around 10. By that time I definitely was feeling more crampy, but nothing that made me lose my breath or have to stop my activity. I almost couldn't even pinpoint when the pains started and stopped, so timing them was still difficult at that point. When we got back home we sat on the couch and watched some TV, and the pains were pretty far apart, some as far apart as 45 minutes. I decided to lay down and try to take a nap, and all of the sudden they started coming 2 and 3 minutes apart! Sat back up and they spaced back out. They were getting a little more painful, but again not unmanageable. Fast forward to about 8 o'clock, and things were definitely moving in the right direction. Amber and her boyfriend had come back from their day out, and were hanging out with us. By this time it was getting really painful, and I was starting to unconsciously do the rhythmic breathing thing. We played some MadGab while timing the contractions, which varied from about 7 and 8 minutes apart to 4 and 5 minutes apart. About 10pm they had gotten so painful that we decided to head to the hospital. I had to go through three contractions in the waiting room (not fun, I was so self-conscious in front of the other people in there) before being called back to triage. I was nervous about being sent back home, because I was in so much pain by that point. But when they checked me in triage I was 4 cm and 90% effaced, so they said I was "a keeper". They hooked up the monitors so we could see the baby's heartrate as well as my contractions. I was not a fan of the monitors...they were pretty tight on my abdomen, right were all the pain was. Before long I started feeling nauseous, and ended up getting sick twice in triage. They kept saying that it was good, it would help bring the baby down., etc. Still not fun. Finally at 11 we got into our room and met my nurse, Gertrude. LOVED her. I wish I had taken a picture. The next several hours were not fun. I still hadn't made a decision about an epidural, so I just kind of hung in there. I was in too much pain to even do any of the things I had planned on, like get in the whirlpool tub or sit on the exercise ball. Gertrude made me get out of bed and sit in the rocking chair, but it didn't help. The doctor came in to check me about 1:30am, and I was only 5 cm. I was disappointed, and also quickly decided that I did want to get an epidural. That part wasn't fun...the anesthesiologist had some difficulty getting it in without hitting some random nerve bundle that sent searing pain down my right leg. Once it was in though, it was fantastic! I had one more contraction that I could feel, and after that I had no more pain. Thankfully I could still feel and move my legs, which was also a relief.

The next several hours went by fairly quickly. I tried to sleep some, but Gertrude kept coming in to move me all around. Cooper's heart rate kept doing funny things, so she would have me turn on one side, then the other, then reposition the monitor. This went on for hours. I honestly wasn't too worried, because she didn't seem panicked and didn't call in the doctor. Around 6:30 Gertrude checked me and said it was completely dilated. She said "Let's go ahead and try some pushing." I was totally taken by surprise...all of the sudden it seemed to be happening so fast! She had me push a couple times then gave me a rest. I asked her how long this part could take, and she said that for some people it could take an hour or two. So I kind of started preparing myself for somewhat of a long haul, but before long she was saying that she wanted to go ahead and get the doctor before I pushed any more. I thought it was because I was getting close to delivering, but it turns out she had some concerns about how things were going. Cooper's heart rate was still less than ideal, and apparently there was a lot of bleeding (of which I was completely oblivious.) The doctor came in and had me push one more time. Apparently he was not happy with what he saw, because he sat down on the bed and said we had to make some decisions quickly. He wasn't sure why, but the baby was not doing well and needed to come out as soon as possible. We didn't have time for me to just push through the contractions unassisted. He basically said that we could do a C-section, or that he could use a vacuum to help deliver him quickly. I quickly started heading toward panic mode, because this was the first time I even realized that we had any sort of a dangerous situation. We decided to go with the vacuum delivery because Cooper was already really really low, and the doctor was confident that it wouldn't take long at all to get him out. Once the doctor got the vacuum, I literally only had to push one time before he was out! They gave him to me right away, and Stewart and I both just cried and cried. It was such a roller coaster of emotions in those last fifteen minutes, from anticipation to fear to relief and joy. It turns out that my placenta had torn, and that was what was causing the drop in heart rate and all the bleeding. Apparently it's a pretty serious situation, and I'm thankful that the doctor and nurses handled it so quickly and efficiently. Because of the situation, it took quite a while before the doctor finished up everything he needed to do. Cooper got all cleaned up and attempted to nurse (although it took him a couple days to really catch on in that area.) Finally we were able to let our families come back, including my mom and brother, who had driven through the night to get there in time for Cooper's arrival. He was being weighed and footprinted and all that, and it was hysterical to watch everyone swarm around the little bassinet with their cameras and camera phones. I think he probably had 100 pictures taken of him within the first 10 minutes (and it hasn't slowed down since.)

So there you have it...how Cooper entered the world! It was exciting and scary and wonderful all at once. Stewart was wonderful, even understanding when I insisted that I wanted NO ONE to touch me whenever I was having a contraction. I still haven't forgotten about the pain, probably since I'm still experiencing some. Thinking about going through it all again when we have another child one day is kind of scary. But then I hold my sweet little boy, and I know without a doubt that it is all worth it.