Ode to Pregnancy and Childbirth

Warning: This is a long post and most likely will not interest most of you. Don't worry. I won't be sad if you don't want to read it. I'm just doing it so I have an official record of my experiences.

Since Owen has officially been outside of my womb for as long as he was inside of it, I thought I should do a kick back to pregnancy and childbirth. Also, I figure it would be good to have it written down so I don't forget. I was talking with my friend, Bridget, the other day and saying how much I loved pregnancy and childbirth. She said, "Yeah, it's gets a bit romanticized as time passes." I think she's right, but I'll try to remain true to my experience.

Pregnancy:
First of all pregnancy wasn't a reality for me for a while. It was hard for me to feel like everything could fall out from under me since it took so long and so much effort to get pregnant in the first place. I was so worried about having a miscarriage and losing the baby or something going wrong. It was also kind of hard for me because during the IVF process, you are involved in every little detail from your blood draw results to egg development and embryo stages. When I went in for my early ultrasound and there was a heartbeat, I was ecstatic! But then they say, "Ok...now you just follow up with your doctor/OB like any normal pregnancy." That was hard to swallow. Waiting weeks between appointments felt like a lifetime. And it wasn't until I was past three months and had my 20 week ultrasound that I was really starting to feel secure.
First Trimester: Mine honestly wasn't too bad. I was definitely tired and had to pee a lot, but not overly nauseous or sick. I generally felt blah and just wanted to lay around most of the time. And I did have five very hideous days of nausea where I felt on the verge of vomiting all day. I really didn't want to go to or stay at work during those days, but I had no idea how long it would last and I figured there was no way I could take off my whole first trimester from work if it continued. So I stuck with it and gratefully it went away. So really, I can't complain. And I feel so badly for those who have it much, much worse.

Cravings: In my first trimester I had some pretty hardcore cravings for homestyle, comfort food. One time I had a strong desire for KFC. I know, sick, right? Miles was kind enough to comply with my craving and we went and got some greasy chicken, watery coleslaw, fake mashed potatoes and gravy, and buttery biscuits. What a mistake that was. I swear my childhood memories of KFC are 1000 times better than it is in reality. I felt super sick afterward and have since sworn off ever eating there again. Miles makes fun of me too because I tended to eat a large quantity of pickles during the first few months. I know...so cliche. I think I must have been lacking in sodium or something, cause man, were they yummy! I don't remember having any strong aversions to anything.

Side effects: I definitely experienced some side effects from all the hormonal changes in pregnancy. The first trimester I had some serious headaches. I was so so happy when the doctor told me I could take Tylenol. I was so afraid to take medication, but once I got the green light, it helped tremendously. My body was super itchy. Not just my belly (like is typical), but my body in general. My back especially. I love to get a back scratch before bed each night if I can convince Miles, but suddenly it was upped to a NEED. I could have had him scratch all night long.
My hair was awesome! It was long, healthy and I didn't hardly shed at all. Then there was the fact that in my third trimester I didn't have to shave my legs more than once every two weeks. I don't know what the deal was, but it was heaven.
As is normal, I had a lot of muscle/bone/joint aches and pains. Your body goes through so much as it helps create this life inside of you and makes room for a baby, placenta and amniotic fluid that everything inside of you gets moved and pushed around. As a result, you're bound to have aches and pains. One of the worst times for me was when I was about 28 to 30 weeks and my stomach muscles started to separate and tear. I was in excruciating pain and could hardly stand, sit or move without it hurting. Even laying down was painful. I ended up wearing a brace around my belly for added support the majority of the remainder of my pregnancy. Gratefully the intense pain only lasted a week or so thanks to the added support from the brace. Mostly after that, my hips and lower back would hurt me. All of this came back in full force after Owen was born, as I suddenly had to readjust and get used to not having a baby inside me. I felt like I couldn't walk and had backaches for at least a week following delivery.

Movements: I first felt Owen move when I was about 16 or 17 weeks. They were tiny little flutters that I had to concentrate on in order to feel them. For the first while, it was a surprise and I'd almost question whether or not I had felt him move. Miles first felt him on Christmas Eve when I was about 22 weeks. I think he could have felt him sooner, but we just didn't try a lot. But on Christmas Eve we laid real still and quiet and then he felt him move. It was awesome.
Owen was definitely a wiggly baby. He moved a lot in the morning, afternoon, and evening. Wait a minute...maybe he just liked to move after meals. ;) I loved when he got bigger and I would be sitting there in a therapy session with someone and he would do a big movement where it looked like my whole belly was moving. Sometimes my clients would notice and other times they didn't and I would just smile to myself. Toward the last trimester, he started sticking his butt up into my ribs. That was pretty uncomfortable. One time I was complaining about it, and I said to Miles, "Do you still wish you had a baby inside you, pushing against your hip and getting all up in your grill?" He looked at me, nodded yes and said, "It's special...even if sometimes it's painful." It was a good reminder to be ever grateful for the experience and miracle of life that was growing inside of me.

Labor and delivery:
This is the timeline of the labor and delivery.
April 30th
12:00 AM - Went to bed.
2:30 - 4:00 AM - Kept feeling like I had cramps and wasn't aware they were contractions.
4:10 - 4:50 AM - Decided they were contractions that were happening every 20 min or so
4:50 AM - Noticed some spotting and thought I should get some paperwork done from work. Woke up Miles to tell him I was likely in labor. He said, "Do you need anything?" I told him no and to go back to sleep. He told me to wake him up when I needed him.
5:50 AM - Stood up to get more comfortable and my water broke...at least I think so. I let Miles know.
6:30 AM - I decide my water has definitely broken.
7:45 AM - I go to take a shower and Miles starts timing my contractions. They are about 2-4 minutes apart. He urges me to get ready and go to the hospital. But of course I wanted to take my time and blow dry my hair. He was quite annoyed with me that I wasn't rushing since some contractions were only a minute apart.
9:35 AM - On our way to the hospital.
10:00 AM - A test is done to confirm whether or not my water broke. The nurse said it definitely did. However, I'm only dilated to 1 cm.
11:00 AM - Still only dilated to 1 cm, so they start me on Pitocin.
12:00 PM - I get my epidural. Yay!
12:30 PM - About 2.5 cm dilated.
2:15 PM - My doctor, Dr. Savage, visits and tells me that being a first-time Mom and my water breaking when I am only at 1 cm means I could be in for a LONG labor. She said it could go up to 36 hours and said to get my rest and if we start approaching 24 hours from the time of my water breaking without much progress, they will consider a C-section.
2:40 PM - I'm 8 cm dilated! (Bet that was a surprise for our doctor!) Our nurse, Cynthia, guesses that I will be complete within an hour. I call the family to let them know and tell them to hurry their tooshies to the hospital.
3:45 PM - 10 cm, 100% effaced! Cynthia calls Dr. Savage to get the ok to start pushing.
4:00 PM - I do three rounds of three practice pushes each. The baby starts crowning so Cynthia tells me to wait for the doctor and my family to arrive. They all arrive over the next 20 minutes or so.
4:39 PM - With only one push, he is out and my beautiful baby boy is born. :D

One thing I loved was that (per my request) they put Owen directly on my tummy for immediate skin to skin contact. I thought I'd be kind of grossed out with the blood and all, but I wasn't at all! I was too overwhelmed by this beautiful creation and my immediate love for him to even care. It was really great. I should also mention that Owen got a 10 out of 10 on his appy (Apgar scoring). One nurse was so amazed she came into our room to see this baby who scored a 10. They said most babies will at least miss a point or two on their color. Miles was so proud of his son for doing so well. ;)

My sister, Kerry, once told me that she is always jealous when she sees pregnant women because they get to experience giving birth. I've been to three live births (besides giving birth myself) and always found it to be a beautiful experience. So I thought I understood what she meant...until I experienced it for myself. Giving birth is incredible and I'm so grateful for the experience and hope to be able to do it again one day.

Here are some pictures from the special day. I didn't have these before, so I'm excited to finally have pictures from Owen's birth-day.