He's Here!
Well this blog is being written after my little man decided to come early. I was hoping that I could write a recap of the end of my pregnancy the week before he was supposed to be here, but I did not get the opportunity. So I will give a short recap of the end of the pregnancy and then my birth story.
Week 35-38.
During the last 3 weeks I have actually felt pregnant. My belly was feeling bigger and my walking gait was starting to change. I was getting up to go to the bathroom every two hours at night. When I would get up one of my hips would feel like it was somewhat dislocated and have to pop before I could start making my way to the bathroom. When going to the bathroom, I discovered that if you lean forward it helps empty the bladder a little bit better and took some of the added pressure off my pelvis from his lowering head.
I have to say, I am pretty lucky that the last couple weeks were my most uncomfortable. I had a pretty comfortable, manageable pregnancy and I am not complaining about that.
I started to make freezer meals for Matthew and me to prepare for our busy life ahead. I made 5 or 6 casseroles, spaghetti sauce, and chicken noodle soup. I had at least 2 more casseroles I wanted to make but hadn’t gotten to. My plan was to use the week before the due date to finish it up.
Week 37 I had to start wearing Matt’s clothes. I was able to wear my own pants up until he arrived, but my shirts were super tight and uncomfortable. They still fit, I just didn’t feel good in them. I would wear his tshirts and sweatshirts and felt so much better.
I continued to exercise, but again, it was all super light and 3-4 times a week because I was tired from teaching and coaching. I am so sad that I put off swimming because I kept telling myself I would swim the last week before his due date and really get in some good quality swimming. That plan backfired, so my last swim was April 9.
Here is how the Nursery finished up until the point he arrived.
I registered for drawer organizers for his little clothes and they are working out super well! I love them:
I was happy that I started my maternity leave the week before my due date because I was feeling more uncomfortable and more unmotivated. So I was saying my goodbyes to my students and my peers Thursday before Easter weekend, and I was looking forward to a week to finish things up and have some “me time” before the little man changes our lives forever… Apparently the little man was laughing at me and had plans of his own.
My birth story.
Saturday, April 15 was a regular day for me. I woke up and got my workout in before going to our last Pepsi Tournament game with my girls soccer team. I biked for 45 minutes and then I did an easy 1 mile jog on the treadmill.
When I got to school to get on the bus, the bus driver looked at me and said excitedly, “Oh, how far along are you?” And my response was, “He is coming in a week”. The bus driver’s facial expression changed from happy excited to concerned and apprehensive. I told Matt about it and laughed (little did I know her concern was valid as he ended up coming the next day).
The day went on and I felt fine.
Sunday, April 16 I woke up and found something weird when I went to the bathroom (I believe it was the mucous plug). I had a funny feeling when I saw it. Between 9 and 10am I started to have contractions. I didn’t think I had Braxton hicks throughout the pregnancy so I didn’t know what was going on in my body. I was having this annoying tightening in my back that felt like cramping.
Matt and I were planning on going to my parent’s house for Easter and I was responsible for the dessert, so I continued to make the dessert that morning. While I was baking, there were many times I needed to sit down, which is pretty unusual for me. In between baking, I started to get my hospital bag ready just in case. I knew I needed it prepared anyway, but I still felt like I was jumping the gun a little. Matt had to make a pit stop to work so while he was gone, things started to get more intense in my back and I was more uncomfortable. I kept thinking: this can’t be happening… I’m not ready… but what if this is actually happening?! So while Matt was gone, I decided to get in the shower and enjoy the warmth to keep some of my discomfort under control.
I continued to get ready to head to Easter dinner, so I put on my nicer clothes, and some make up. In between getting ready I would kneel at the end of my bed with my upper body resting on the bed. This helped alleviate some of those back cramps. Once Matt got home, he looked at me like, uh… what’s going on? He suggested we should start to time the contractions so we did and they were every 3-5 minutes and very consistent. I was in serious denial and I was fearful of going to the hospital too prematurely. I kept going back and forth thinking, this isn’t happening, let’s just go to Park Ridge and enjoy Easter. But then I would second guess myself and say, well if this is happening, I don’t want to be too far from our Hospital (I was having night mares that I was going to be too far and not be in the hospital I wanted to be in).
I kept delaying my decision and finally when it was time that we were already supposed to be at my parents, I told my mom we weren’t coming. I told her I didn’t know what was going on, but I was too uncomfortable and wanted to be safe than sorry. Matt went to get us sandwiches for lunch before we decided to head to the hospital to get checked.
4pm came around and we were in the hospital. We got admitted and once I had gotten checked for the first time, they said I was 3cm and my bag of water was getting ready. So I looked at them and said, so what does that mean? Are we staying, are we going, is this actually happening? And their response was, “Oh, you’re staying and you aren’t leaving here until you have a 3rd person with you”. OH. MY. GOODNESS. This is really happening… But what about my week of freedom before he was supposed to come?! I have things to get done still and I was beginning to panic about the reality of the situation.
The contractions had been manageable up until they broke my bag of water. Apparently, I had a slow leak in my bag of water so they decided to break it. Once it broke it was the weirdest sensation… just a rush of super warm water all over. And it just kept coming. With each contraction more of the fluid would rush out. It was such a disgusting feeling. I was most comfortable sitting during the contractions and moving my legs. As the contractions got more and more intense I was questioning myself in how long I could do this for. I knew I was early in the labor, so I feared how much worse it would be and for how long I would have to endure it. My goal was to go as long as I could without an epidural. I knew I wasn’t going to be stubborn about it, but I just wanted to see how much I could take. Around 6:00pm the contractions were so intense and I had no breaks in between them. It was kind of excruciating. It was described to me as period cramps that are super intense and overwhelming. I would say that is a good way to describe it, but you can also feel the baby getting lower to the pelvic floor and that pressure added to the pain. I could barely breath because I was getting no breaks, so I finally said, I think I need the epidural. Matt told me just before that that he wasn’t going to ask me about it because he knew I wanted to go as long as I could. And he told me that from that point on, I would have to be the one to request it. Once I did, I think he had more relief then I did because he hated seeing me in pain and not being able to do anything about it.
6:30pm the epidural was in and I was feeling so much better.
One thing they don’t tell you about the epidural is that it makes you SUPER ITCHY. It was unbearable at the beginning. I think it was because they gave me pain meds for the area. I also hated the “Dead leg” feeling I had in my left leg. The right leg I still had some control over. Once they were done they checked me again and the nurse said, “You are going to be so happy you got that because you are only 5cm”. I was happy and disappointed all at once. With how intense and close they were I was sure I was further along, but then I thought well, if I have another 5cm to go it could be a while.
I wasn’t able to eat anything and Matt wanted to get some dinner, as he should, so he got food from the cafeteria. He felt bad eating while I couldn’t, but I really wasn’t that hungry so it didn’t bother me at all. The hospital had movie options to watch so we watched a funny movie. Ironically, as soon as the movie ended around 10pm, the doctor and nurses came in and said we were going to get ready to start pushing. I looked at them and said, “Ok, you’re running the show here, I have no idea what I’m doing, so whatever you say”.
Pushing:
We started at about 10:15pm. When you push, they tell you that you have to take a big deep breath in and then while you push you aren’t supposed to breath. That was a weird sensation for me. After you push for the 10 seconds they count out, then you breathe in quick and do it again for 10 seconds, then you have to do it one more time for the length of the contraction. So you are essentially pushing 3 times in one contraction. It wasn’t easy. I was trying so hard to focus on pushing correctly, but it wasn’t easy to know. They said I was doing well, but that is all I had to go off of. Then you get a little break waiting for the next contraction.
After about 4 contractions of pushing the doctor says, “How do you feel about episiotomies?” I had a bit of panic and said, “No, I don’t want one”. Her response was, “Well his heart rate is starting to drop and he is right here, we can see the head, so he might just need that little bit of extra space to get out”. I told her that I will do whatever is best for him if needed. As she reached for the scissors, she looked up at the monitor and said, “Well it looks like his heart rate is going up so I will give you one more push before we do it”. I thought, oh this is going to be it then. And it was. 10:38pm, Cade Parker Schuck made his way in to the world at 6 pounds, 8 ounces and 19 inches long.
They quickly put him on my chest and I was in awe and couldn’t believe he was actually here.
The whole day had gone really fast. They say that your first labor can be like 16-20 hours or something. From the beginning of the contractions, it took about 13 hours for him to be here. I asked her if I had to push for the placenta and she said, “oh no, your job is done, we will get that”. I had heard that sometimes pushing for the placenta is no fun, especially once you have your baby, so I was glad I didn’t have to worry about that. I was so happy the nurses and doctors gave us so much time for skin to skin and to meet our baby before taking him to do different things. It was a surreal feeling to have that little boy in my arms after 9 months.
We are in love
I would say the overall labor experience wasn't too bad for me. The aftermath however, not so fun... Those details will come in the next blog. Once we got home from the hospital it was strange not to have my big belly and I was already 6 pounds away from my pre pregnancy weight. I did decide to encapsulate my placenta as well. The next blog will be about the placenta encapsulation, the first 2 weeks of having a newborn and how breastfeeding doesn't start out as "magical" as everyone claims...
