the story so far

So after six odd months of trying to get Verge to post something, I guess it took Kai's birth to break him. :) It's all good.

So let's see... Where to begin? Well, I guess I should start by apologizing (again) to Eric. I only got one day to train him by the time all was said and done. Monday we had a good day of getting him familiar with stuff, Tuesday we had a snow day, of all things and then Wednesday, well, let me tell you about Wednesday.

5:00 am - Feeling kind of gross. Bad gas? Maybe. Braxton Hicks? Still haven't quite figured out what those are supposed to feel like, so I couldn't say. Thought I'd try to sleep it off.

6:30 am - Now I'm in pain but it's also intensifying every six minutes or so. What the heck is going on?

6:40 am - Vergil begs me not to go to work, just in case. I agree, thinking that would be the last thing Eric (or anybody for that matter) would need - me going into labour all the way out in Otterburne.

8:00 am - Email Eric instructions for the day.

9:00 am - Contractions (I was confident enough to call them that by this point) are coming 3-6 minutes apart and lasting 40 to 45 seconds apiece. Oh boy. Decide to call Dr's office. They say, maybe you should go to triage at the hospital and have yourself checked out. Call Vergil, he heads home.

9:00 - 10:00 am - Finish packing my bag, continue to count contractions.

10:30 am - Get to St. B, wander into Labour and Deliver instead of Triage while Vergil parked the car. Apparently, my brain was already turning to mush by that point. Make it to triage where they check me in and check me out. I was 2cms dialated, 40% effaced. They contact my Dr who says, well, you can hang out here and see how things progress or you can go home and see how things progress and we'll go from there. Vergil won't let me go home. My contractions were already getting worse.

10:30 am - 2:00 pm - Tried to eat, made me nauseous. Mostly laid across two chairs and breathed through the pain. I think I was blacking out between contractions, I don't remember much.

2:00 pm - Go back to get checked. Get a bit of an incredulous look from triage. They got slammed that day, but say they'll try to find me a bed.

2:30 pm - Triage calls me back and puts me in a bed. A nurse comes to check me, I'm now 4cms dilated and 100% effaced.

2:30 - 6:30 pm - There are absolutely no free beds in Labour, Delivery, Recovery and Postpartum (LDRP for future reference). I suffer it out in triage. Don't remember much. Poor Vergil did what he could to help me through contractions. I accepted a morphine injection at one point which did exactly nothing.

6:30 pm - I'm 6 cms, 100% effaced. My nurse, well, the only nurse working triage during that shift (poor lady), finally decides to send me to a room in Labour and Delivery, saying something about moving me after baby is born. I'm so incoherent at this point I kept asking Vergil what was going on. My ears weren't working, I couldn't retain information and everything hurt. I swear I asked what was happening 1000 times and was still confused. By this time I'm asking for something stronger to control the pain. The nurse suggests going right to epidural. Vergil says yes on my behalf and I again asked about 1000 times whether or not I was getting one.

6:45 pm - Off to L&D. We get to the room, I get on the bed only to be told that a room opened up in LDRP, and I get whisked back down the hall. The anesthetist is there waiting for me. They spend about a half hour getting the epidural in and working properly, pausing every time I have a contraction. You have to sit incredibly still in exactly the right posture so that they can get the catheter in exactly the right position. My neck and shoulders were so stiff after, but man, am I ever glad I didn't try to be a hero with the pain meds. I never would have made it through transition otherwise.

7:30 - 10:30 pm - Epidural's in, the OB/GYN intern checks me and my water breaks. Now I'm in full-blown transition, or dilating from 8 to 10 cms. Pain has changed from mind-numbing and just about impossible to manage to some of the most intense pressure I've ever felt in my life. My body would literally stiffen into a plank while I tried to prevent myself from pushing.

10:30 pm - My nurse says I'm good to start pushing. It takes a while to teach my body that it's okay to go with the feeling of the pressure instead of holding back, but once I get into it, we're rolling. My Dr (who happened to be on call that day) comes in and we start working on getting baby out. Vergil was an AWESOME coach. It was kind of surreal, really. I remember listening intently to Vergil counting me through each push. I remember focusing on the pressure and 'pushing like I meant it', as Anna Magyar advised me to do. I remember my Dr's encouragements and advice and telling me to relax my face when I was done pushing. Vergil said I looked mad. I remember just being incredibly focused and determined.

11:20 pm - Malakai makes his entrance, gives a good scream and I feel shocked and amazed. What a wild ride. My Dr compliments me on my push-control and I'm happy to hear I didn't tear or anything. Just swelling and some abrasions. Not too shabby, I think to myself.

11:30 pm to today - Getting used to life with Kai. He had swallowed so much amniotic fluid that a nurse lavaged him, or flushed his stomach on Thursday evening. He was just really gaggy and wouldn't feed properly, so I'm glad we had that done. There was also some concern about his blood sugar, but it turns out it was the hospital's machine and not baby.

Anyway, that's the story of my labour and delivery. All things considered, it was pretty textbook - well, apart from the whole 13 days early bit.

So yeah, thanks again for all your support, prayers and thoughts! We couldn't have made it through without you! Here are some more pictures for your enjoyment!