Monday, April 25, 2011
TurboFire!
I'm almost 10 weeks postpartum and I'm still 15 lbs from my prepregnancy weight. Yeah.. I've lost NOTHING since my 2 week checkup. I blame the month of March when we had family visiting us every week the entire month. I was so happy to see everyone and for them to meet Owen, but one month of good home cooking and favorite family meals kept me from dropping any weight; even while exclusively breast feeding! So yea... if I cursed, then it would be to YOU the month of March! So now after I've cried over it (quite a bit), stared at myself in the mirror for far too long, and complained to my hubby, he finally ordered me TurboFire as an early Mother's Day gift. I've been researching it and really felt I would enjoy it. So this is where I'm counting on you to hold me accountable. Will I post my weight and measurements? Yep! Will I post my before pic? Umm... I guess. Don't hold me to it though; it just might be THAT bad. I got it last Thursday and I've already tried a couple of the "new to class" workouts. I just wanted to make sure that the day I started I'd be ready because there's quite a bit of routines to learn. I don't own a scale, so I'll be counting on my measuring tape and the button on my pants for results.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Birth Story of Owen Tyler-- Long overdue!
February 17, 2011
Labor started at 12:45 am on the Thursday morning of February 17, 2011. The previous night we had RIM, which is our Wednesday night youth group gathering, so we usually get home late, eat late, and get to bed late. That night we got a snack on the way home from McDonald’s and deciding to watch a movie before bed. We finally got to bed a little after midnight (understand that we’d each been up since about 8 am that day too). Laying in bed I heard this ‘pop’. I just laid there wondering what it was. I finally asked Michael “did you hear that?” He replied “yeah, what was it”. In my mind I’m thinking Did my water just break? But there was no gush of water so I figured the baby just kicked or moved in a weird position. About 20 minutes go by and I’m drifting off to sleep but decide to get up to go to the bathroom because I wanted to completely empty my bladder to lessen my chance of waking up in a few hours. I stand up and water started gushing out. I ran to the bathroom and then started laughing and told yelled to Michael that I was leaking! He hadn’t fallen asleep yet. He asked if my water broke. I said I didn’t know (because at this time I had to pee too) then I told him that maybe I peed myself!! We were just laughing. I eventually got up and by the time I got to the bedroom I was leaking again! I knew at this moment that it HAD to be my water. Michael then got up and called the hospital. Through him they told me to try and rest as much as possible and since my water broke first there was a good change I was in for a hard labor. He then called his mom and she recommended I take a shower since it could be awhile till my next one. It sounded good to me and I wasn’t having contractions yet (or I wasn’t sure if I was). While in the shower I started to have mild contractions, nothing to bad though, and I was actually excited to finally be feeling something. I told Michael to go back to bed to rest and I’d be in there in a bit. After showering I went to lay down but was uncomfortable and even though I was completely relaxing my body, I couldn’t see any possible way of getting sleep. Contractions at this point were about 7 minutes apart. So I got up and went downstairs and walked around. I talked with my mom on the phone for a bit and leaned over the couch during contractions. There were getting a little stronger but still not too bad, just uncomfortable. It was now around 4 am and I decided to try and lay down again. I got in bed and was breathing through a contraction when Michael rolled over while asking me how I was doing. I jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom while quickly saying I was going to be sick. Yep, sure enough I started throwing up. I knew in my head this is good sign, but yelled to Mike to call the birthing center. The nurse told him that it was normal and to come in whenever we were ready. At this point I was crying and contractions were around 4 minutes apart. I told Michael I really wanted to just get there and get in the tub. We grabbed our bags, printed up a few more copies of our birth plan, let the dog out and made sure we had everything and then got in the car. Off we went.
The hospital is only a few minutes apart and I was pre-registered so I knew we wouldn’t have any issues. As we were driving my contractions were now about 2-3 minutes apart and they were coming stronger. By the time we got the hospital I was having a hard time standing. We got in the room and I got right in the tub. In my birth plan I stated that I didn’t want constant monitoring if it was going to affect my mobility. I was lucky, because the monitoring system they use is wireless and even wearable in the tub. The nurse had already gotten the okay from my doc to get a consistent base read on him and then she’s monitor intermitted. This is when things started to get hard. My contractions were now strong and 2 minutes apart. I was in the tub with the monitor but the nurse was having a hard time getting a good read because of the position the baby was in. At this point I had to get out of the tub (I was uncomfortable in there anyways, so it was okay) to try and get a better read. She was finally able to get a strong read and wanting me to wear the monitor for about 15 minutes. At this point I asked her to check me and she said I was at a 4. I was excited! So between laboring in the bed and the bathroom, his little heart wasn’t stable before and after contractions. It was kind of everywhere. So I had to keep the monitor on. Oh well. A couple hours later my doc got there to check on me and watch his heart rate along with some nurses. Meanwhile, my contractions were still 2 minutes apart and strong! I should mention that Michael was so good, reminding me to breathe and relax my body. He was running on only a couple hours of sleep and was trying so hard to not fall asleep (he did a few times, but I was too focused to care). At around 9 am (I think) my doc checked me and I was at a 7. So I knew that I was entering transition and labor was going to get really hard and serious now. I was hoping that it would be a quick transition too. So I labored sitting up in the bed in a slouched position (at one point Mike was behind me and I was slouched into him). I would roll my head forward during each contraction, open my mouth, relax my entire body, moan really low and relax my lips (usually blowing raspberries too). This is the point where I was having the urge to push. I was only at a 7 but my doc said to do what my body was telling me to do. This went on for the next few hours… contractions hard at 2 minutes apart, and the urge to push about every 15 minutes. This was also the point where they were trying to put me in different positions because they were still having a hard time with his heart rate. I tried to labor on my knees , it gave me the urge to push every contraction. I tried the birthing ball, it was very uncomfortable. I tried to lay on my side, again uncomfortable. At this point my doc ordered an IV to help with perking him up. I also had to wear the stupid oxygen mask.. ugh! I hated it. Another couple of things that I was trying to avoid. It worked!.... for awhile. My doc checked me again and I was at a 9. Woohoo! I labored a bit longer, but I could tell that they were still worried about his heart rate. I have this memory of the doctor and about 3 nurses standing in silence as they watched the monitor. Four hours later I was still at a 9. At this point my doctor was no happy with what his heart was doing, so she recommended I try to pee to let up some pressure around him and maybe get me to 10. I tired… I tried so hard but was not having any luck which I knew the reason why. By this point my husband notice how swollen my hands and feet were. It was due to all the fluids in me. I agreed to a temporary catheter to empty my bladder. It was painless but only emptied it a little. They again tried to get me to lay on my side for a better reading.. .they even moved me to the other side during a contraction!! I wanted to cry! His heart rate was better for a moment. I asked her if during my next contraction she could push my cervix that last cm? As she checked me again she said that it wasn’t just a lip of the cervix.. it was all the way around. This is the point where she said he had to be out within the next hour. She knew the whole reason I avoided any drugs was because I was trying to keep myself away from a csection. This is when she told me that if I didn’t deliver within in the hour we could be dealing with a still birth. Understand that my doc, the nurses, and the hospital is very NO DRUGS. They were in full support of my decision and the hospital has the lowest csection rate in the state. I know the scare tactics when it comes to labor and delivery and what was going on with my body… but I knew they were being honest given we’d been having issues with his heart since 4 am that morning.
It’s now around 2pm and I’m still at a 9. During the little minute I had between contractions I talked with Michael and we decided that we’d prep for the csection. The nurse then told us to not freak out because it was going to get crazy in the room. This is the part where it got really hard. Not only was I in active labor, I had NO pain meds and was still having the urge to push. People were running around, Michael was changing into scrubs, they were putting another IV in me, putting a catheter in, putting the leg supports on, shaving, removing my earrings, explaining things to me and I was signing papers. Again I mention… all of this while having contractions now 1 minute apart and very strong. I remember my doctor shouting out and prepping the incoming nurses that we would be in surgery in an hour. At this point I felt so defeated. Honestly I just wanted it over. I was so exhausted and I knew in my heart I wasn’t going to deliver vaginally so I was going through all this ( I don’t want to call is pain, but this is the point where it became just THAt!) for no reason. At some point my doctor told me I had reached a 10 and that I could push while they were prepping. Of course this is where my labor slowed down now. I was hoping my body wouldn’t do it, but I did. So now my contractions, still strong and still having the urge to push, were a couple minutes apart. If circumstances were different I would have been grateful for the little breaks, but I was trying to so hard to deliver him without surgery. Before I knew I was being rolled down to surgery. The room was bright and cold. There was another doctor there that would be performing the csection along with my doc, she introduced herself and told me she was asked to check me during my next contraction. During that time, prepping was still going on and I was pushing. She checked me and nodded to my doc that he was still high up and not coming in the next minutes.. csection it is! My husband was waiting outside the room still. The anesthesiologist came over and I remember scribbling my name on some paper. I just wanted it to be over with. Everyone left the room so he could insert the spinal. I was sitting on the side of the table (ouch!!) holding a pillow and nurse and having contractions as he gave me the spinal. I remember him laying me down and instantly feeling relief. At this point I prayed to the Lord that I wouldn’t suffer from a spinal headache or morphine itches. Finally they let Michael in. This is the first time I was able to see clearly. The spinal had kicked in and by the time he got to my head I was crying and apologizing for not being able to do it. He cried with me telling me that I had done a great job and he was proud of me. It was the first time I was able to comprehend what was going on. I just cried. Next thing I know the nurses had my little boy over on the side and were cleaning in him. It was 3:27 pm and Owen Tyler Williams was here. They had to clear his lungs out and then he cried. Michael went over there to cut the cord. I just laid there and watched thanking the Lord that he was okay. The bundled him up and gave him to Mike, he brought him over to my head and sat there for about 20 minutes as our little boy just looked around taking in the new world. He was beautiful. Michael then left with Owen and we met them a few minutes later in recovery. At this point I begged them to remove the other IV because I couldn’t bend my arm and wanted to nurse ASAP. They did and then handed him to me to nurse him. He latched right on!
Recovery was pretty hard. Not only physically but emotionally. I couldn’t talk or even THINK about my birth experience without crying. My husband, mom, and father-in-law really helped me through that. My doctor reassured me that she and the other doctor were very confident with the decision for a csection. She later told me that the umbilical cord was bunched up by his face and chin that’s why his heart rate was everywhere and they both felt that we’d be dealing with a still birth or mental retardation if we had waited much longer. Then of course that upset me thinking that I could have caused that if I had not given in the csection and been stingy, selfish… I don’t know the word to insert there. It’s now almost 4 weeks post partum and I and Owen are great. He’s gaining weight like crazy and is still exclusively nursing. There were no problems after the csection (he did have low blood sugar, but nursing fixed it within a day) and my recovery has been okay. Yeah, there was some soreness, but healing has been quick and I was off pain meds with 10 days. Oh.. I also refused to take Percocet so I was only taking 1 vicodin every 6 hours. Sorry it took so long to type up. Not only have I been busy with a newborn, but as mentioned before it was hard to face at first. Even typing there are some tears, but only because it was the hardest thing I have ever been through. I’m very blessed and I praise the Lord that we are all okay.
On a side note… I remember thinking that I didn’t know if I’d ever want to go through that again… Even if that meant no more kids. But now I think back and labor wasn’t really that bad and I would go through it ( and a stupid csection if I had to) again. The doc told me there is no reason I can’t have a VBAC next time.
.
Labor started at 12:45 am on the Thursday morning of February 17, 2011. The previous night we had RIM, which is our Wednesday night youth group gathering, so we usually get home late, eat late, and get to bed late. That night we got a snack on the way home from McDonald’s and deciding to watch a movie before bed. We finally got to bed a little after midnight (understand that we’d each been up since about 8 am that day too). Laying in bed I heard this ‘pop’. I just laid there wondering what it was. I finally asked Michael “did you hear that?” He replied “yeah, what was it”. In my mind I’m thinking Did my water just break? But there was no gush of water so I figured the baby just kicked or moved in a weird position. About 20 minutes go by and I’m drifting off to sleep but decide to get up to go to the bathroom because I wanted to completely empty my bladder to lessen my chance of waking up in a few hours. I stand up and water started gushing out. I ran to the bathroom and then started laughing and told yelled to Michael that I was leaking! He hadn’t fallen asleep yet. He asked if my water broke. I said I didn’t know (because at this time I had to pee too) then I told him that maybe I peed myself!! We were just laughing. I eventually got up and by the time I got to the bedroom I was leaking again! I knew at this moment that it HAD to be my water. Michael then got up and called the hospital. Through him they told me to try and rest as much as possible and since my water broke first there was a good change I was in for a hard labor. He then called his mom and she recommended I take a shower since it could be awhile till my next one. It sounded good to me and I wasn’t having contractions yet (or I wasn’t sure if I was). While in the shower I started to have mild contractions, nothing to bad though, and I was actually excited to finally be feeling something. I told Michael to go back to bed to rest and I’d be in there in a bit. After showering I went to lay down but was uncomfortable and even though I was completely relaxing my body, I couldn’t see any possible way of getting sleep. Contractions at this point were about 7 minutes apart. So I got up and went downstairs and walked around. I talked with my mom on the phone for a bit and leaned over the couch during contractions. There were getting a little stronger but still not too bad, just uncomfortable. It was now around 4 am and I decided to try and lay down again. I got in bed and was breathing through a contraction when Michael rolled over while asking me how I was doing. I jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom while quickly saying I was going to be sick. Yep, sure enough I started throwing up. I knew in my head this is good sign, but yelled to Mike to call the birthing center. The nurse told him that it was normal and to come in whenever we were ready. At this point I was crying and contractions were around 4 minutes apart. I told Michael I really wanted to just get there and get in the tub. We grabbed our bags, printed up a few more copies of our birth plan, let the dog out and made sure we had everything and then got in the car. Off we went.
The hospital is only a few minutes apart and I was pre-registered so I knew we wouldn’t have any issues. As we were driving my contractions were now about 2-3 minutes apart and they were coming stronger. By the time we got the hospital I was having a hard time standing. We got in the room and I got right in the tub. In my birth plan I stated that I didn’t want constant monitoring if it was going to affect my mobility. I was lucky, because the monitoring system they use is wireless and even wearable in the tub. The nurse had already gotten the okay from my doc to get a consistent base read on him and then she’s monitor intermitted. This is when things started to get hard. My contractions were now strong and 2 minutes apart. I was in the tub with the monitor but the nurse was having a hard time getting a good read because of the position the baby was in. At this point I had to get out of the tub (I was uncomfortable in there anyways, so it was okay) to try and get a better read. She was finally able to get a strong read and wanting me to wear the monitor for about 15 minutes. At this point I asked her to check me and she said I was at a 4. I was excited! So between laboring in the bed and the bathroom, his little heart wasn’t stable before and after contractions. It was kind of everywhere. So I had to keep the monitor on. Oh well. A couple hours later my doc got there to check on me and watch his heart rate along with some nurses. Meanwhile, my contractions were still 2 minutes apart and strong! I should mention that Michael was so good, reminding me to breathe and relax my body. He was running on only a couple hours of sleep and was trying so hard to not fall asleep (he did a few times, but I was too focused to care). At around 9 am (I think) my doc checked me and I was at a 7. So I knew that I was entering transition and labor was going to get really hard and serious now. I was hoping that it would be a quick transition too. So I labored sitting up in the bed in a slouched position (at one point Mike was behind me and I was slouched into him). I would roll my head forward during each contraction, open my mouth, relax my entire body, moan really low and relax my lips (usually blowing raspberries too). This is the point where I was having the urge to push. I was only at a 7 but my doc said to do what my body was telling me to do. This went on for the next few hours… contractions hard at 2 minutes apart, and the urge to push about every 15 minutes. This was also the point where they were trying to put me in different positions because they were still having a hard time with his heart rate. I tried to labor on my knees , it gave me the urge to push every contraction. I tried the birthing ball, it was very uncomfortable. I tried to lay on my side, again uncomfortable. At this point my doc ordered an IV to help with perking him up. I also had to wear the stupid oxygen mask.. ugh! I hated it. Another couple of things that I was trying to avoid. It worked!.... for awhile. My doc checked me again and I was at a 9. Woohoo! I labored a bit longer, but I could tell that they were still worried about his heart rate. I have this memory of the doctor and about 3 nurses standing in silence as they watched the monitor. Four hours later I was still at a 9. At this point my doctor was no happy with what his heart was doing, so she recommended I try to pee to let up some pressure around him and maybe get me to 10. I tired… I tried so hard but was not having any luck which I knew the reason why. By this point my husband notice how swollen my hands and feet were. It was due to all the fluids in me. I agreed to a temporary catheter to empty my bladder. It was painless but only emptied it a little. They again tried to get me to lay on my side for a better reading.. .they even moved me to the other side during a contraction!! I wanted to cry! His heart rate was better for a moment. I asked her if during my next contraction she could push my cervix that last cm? As she checked me again she said that it wasn’t just a lip of the cervix.. it was all the way around. This is the point where she said he had to be out within the next hour. She knew the whole reason I avoided any drugs was because I was trying to keep myself away from a csection. This is when she told me that if I didn’t deliver within in the hour we could be dealing with a still birth. Understand that my doc, the nurses, and the hospital is very NO DRUGS. They were in full support of my decision and the hospital has the lowest csection rate in the state. I know the scare tactics when it comes to labor and delivery and what was going on with my body… but I knew they were being honest given we’d been having issues with his heart since 4 am that morning.
It’s now around 2pm and I’m still at a 9. During the little minute I had between contractions I talked with Michael and we decided that we’d prep for the csection. The nurse then told us to not freak out because it was going to get crazy in the room. This is the part where it got really hard. Not only was I in active labor, I had NO pain meds and was still having the urge to push. People were running around, Michael was changing into scrubs, they were putting another IV in me, putting a catheter in, putting the leg supports on, shaving, removing my earrings, explaining things to me and I was signing papers. Again I mention… all of this while having contractions now 1 minute apart and very strong. I remember my doctor shouting out and prepping the incoming nurses that we would be in surgery in an hour. At this point I felt so defeated. Honestly I just wanted it over. I was so exhausted and I knew in my heart I wasn’t going to deliver vaginally so I was going through all this ( I don’t want to call is pain, but this is the point where it became just THAt!) for no reason. At some point my doctor told me I had reached a 10 and that I could push while they were prepping. Of course this is where my labor slowed down now. I was hoping my body wouldn’t do it, but I did. So now my contractions, still strong and still having the urge to push, were a couple minutes apart. If circumstances were different I would have been grateful for the little breaks, but I was trying to so hard to deliver him without surgery. Before I knew I was being rolled down to surgery. The room was bright and cold. There was another doctor there that would be performing the csection along with my doc, she introduced herself and told me she was asked to check me during my next contraction. During that time, prepping was still going on and I was pushing. She checked me and nodded to my doc that he was still high up and not coming in the next minutes.. csection it is! My husband was waiting outside the room still. The anesthesiologist came over and I remember scribbling my name on some paper. I just wanted it to be over with. Everyone left the room so he could insert the spinal. I was sitting on the side of the table (ouch!!) holding a pillow and nurse and having contractions as he gave me the spinal. I remember him laying me down and instantly feeling relief. At this point I prayed to the Lord that I wouldn’t suffer from a spinal headache or morphine itches. Finally they let Michael in. This is the first time I was able to see clearly. The spinal had kicked in and by the time he got to my head I was crying and apologizing for not being able to do it. He cried with me telling me that I had done a great job and he was proud of me. It was the first time I was able to comprehend what was going on. I just cried. Next thing I know the nurses had my little boy over on the side and were cleaning in him. It was 3:27 pm and Owen Tyler Williams was here. They had to clear his lungs out and then he cried. Michael went over there to cut the cord. I just laid there and watched thanking the Lord that he was okay. The bundled him up and gave him to Mike, he brought him over to my head and sat there for about 20 minutes as our little boy just looked around taking in the new world. He was beautiful. Michael then left with Owen and we met them a few minutes later in recovery. At this point I begged them to remove the other IV because I couldn’t bend my arm and wanted to nurse ASAP. They did and then handed him to me to nurse him. He latched right on!
Recovery was pretty hard. Not only physically but emotionally. I couldn’t talk or even THINK about my birth experience without crying. My husband, mom, and father-in-law really helped me through that. My doctor reassured me that she and the other doctor were very confident with the decision for a csection. She later told me that the umbilical cord was bunched up by his face and chin that’s why his heart rate was everywhere and they both felt that we’d be dealing with a still birth or mental retardation if we had waited much longer. Then of course that upset me thinking that I could have caused that if I had not given in the csection and been stingy, selfish… I don’t know the word to insert there. It’s now almost 4 weeks post partum and I and Owen are great. He’s gaining weight like crazy and is still exclusively nursing. There were no problems after the csection (he did have low blood sugar, but nursing fixed it within a day) and my recovery has been okay. Yeah, there was some soreness, but healing has been quick and I was off pain meds with 10 days. Oh.. I also refused to take Percocet so I was only taking 1 vicodin every 6 hours. Sorry it took so long to type up. Not only have I been busy with a newborn, but as mentioned before it was hard to face at first. Even typing there are some tears, but only because it was the hardest thing I have ever been through. I’m very blessed and I praise the Lord that we are all okay.
On a side note… I remember thinking that I didn’t know if I’d ever want to go through that again… Even if that meant no more kids. But now I think back and labor wasn’t really that bad and I would go through it ( and a stupid csection if I had to) again. The doc told me there is no reason I can’t have a VBAC next time.
.
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