The Sprouting of a Bean

Saturday January 22nd started out like every other Saturday. L went to the gym and came home around 10:30. I had been having contractions during the night and that morning, but not with any regularity so I wasn't too concerned at that point. But my womanly intuition told me that I needed to take a shower, needed to shave my legs, needed to put the nursing night gowns Dee gave me into my hospital bag.

We were all set to leave to go to Stew's and I went to go to the bathroom. Blood. Something wasn't right. "Change of plans" I said to L. I called the on-call doctor from my office who said she didn't think there was anything to worry about but why don't we meet her at the hospital to make sure. We rushed around to get the dogs settled and throw our hospital bags in the car, just in case.

At Labor and Delivery we went into a triage room where a midwife took my vitals and prepared for an internal exam. You are between 2 and 3 centimeter dilated, she said. And it looks like your water broke too. The nurse started to look for a vein for an IV. I said, are we doing this because we think we're staying? She looked at me and said, you're not going anywhere, dear, you're going to have a baby, probably in the next 24 hours. And at 12 noon we were admitted.

They moved us down to the birthing room and we got settled in. How long do you think, L said. Could be 12 hours, could be 24 hours, just got to wait it out, our new nurse Meredith said.

My contractions still weren't regular so at 3pm we started on Pitocin. The contractions came stronger and more regular, but I was dilating slowly. I stayed at 3 cm for quite a while. It seemed like forever. But the contractions were getting stronger and closer together. I could see how much it pained L to see me in so much pain. I could see how much it was hurting him to see me hurt. He said, do you want to think about the epidural? Do you want me to get the nurse? And ironically the nurse walked in. If you want the epidural, this is the time to do it. I wouldn't wait much longer than this, she said. So at 7pm the anesthesiologist and his little helpers came in.

Getting an epidural is not fun. Seriously, not fun.

Let's take a step back for a minute. I had gone to the doctor on Thursday. Wasn't dilated. Wasn't effaced. Beaner hadn't dropped. Friday afternoon I went and walked the mall because the doctor said it might help him make his decent. Friday night we went out for dinner and I had spaghetti with sausage because they said spicy might help. So there you have it.

Let's take another step back. We went to the hospital because I was bleeding. Normal, they told me. But it didn't stop. All through my contractions, all those hours, I bled. And bled. Normal, they told me. Now, I've never birthed a baby, but it seemed like a lot of blood. No one seemed concerned, so I tried to go with the flow. (haha).

So its 7pm and I got my epidural and things were better. L got comfy and we watched part of Good Will Hunting and part of Transformers and part of The Dark Knight. At 11pm they checked my progress and I was 8 cm. Yay.

At 1 am the contractions were worse. My mother keeps saying that she doesn't understand how you can push if you can't feel your legs or the contractions. Trust me, I could feel my legs and I could definitely feel the contractions. The nurse came in and checked and Ta-da!! 10cm and fully effaced! Let's get this party started she said. L was asleep and when he woke up the lights were on and people were there. What's happening? What's wrong? Is she in labor? Yes, she's in labor, we are going to start pushing.

The on-call doctor came in and the pushing began. Long story short, there was a lot of "You're not trying hard enough!" and "You need to do better!" and "Stop your crying!" She was lovely and we clicked right away.... grrr. But at 3:15am the Beaner arrived, no longer just a bean. He was a 6 pound, 20 and a half inch long little boy. Michael Benjamin was here. L cried and I cried and we were a family.

My blood pressure was low and I was feeling crappy. I held little Michael while L made calls to the new grandparents. We told them to stay home and come in the morning, and they actually listened.

Michael was all set to go to the nursery for his bath and some tests, and I still felt crappy. They took little Michael and wheeled us to our recovery room. L and slept until they brought Michael back to us around 7am.

Dizzy and light headed, I tentatively held my baby and watched L hold our baby. (It was the first time he ever held a baby!)

Long story short, everyone came and saw the new addition to the families. In the meantime, I couldn't keep any food down and I got up twice to go to the bathroom, and proceeded to pass out both times. Scary for me, probably scarier for everyone else. I was scared to get out of bed, scared to hold my baby. Finally someone wanted to do something and they suggested a blood transfusion. My blood levels were low and it could take over a week to bounce back on its own. (Humm, thought they didn't think I lost a lot of blood??) I wasn't going home light headed and afraid to hold my baby. Blood transfusion it was. And by the next morning I did feel better. And was able to hold my baby. And bond with my baby.

We left the hospital on Tuesday, and here we are. Saturday we woke up thinking we were going for samples at Stew Leonard's and ended up with a baby. Our baby. Our beaner. Michael Benjamin.