My actual due date was May 4th. I had set up an induction date of May 6th a week prior. My first, Elli was born 5 days early so I thought for sure Briggs would come before his due date. We tried everything to try and start labor. Nothing worked. I was determined this kid was never coming out.
May 6th: I was supposed to check in to the hospital at 6:00am.
5:30am - I received a phone call from the L&D nurse stating they had to cancel my induction because they were short staffed. They informed me that my OB would call me that day during normal business hours to discuss options. I was devastated. I was already 2 days over due, I wanted this kid out a month prior to my due date (I didn't love my 2nd pregnancy the way I did my 1st for some reason), my mom had gotten up super early and was on her way over to our house to stay with Elli. I'm a HUGE planner and I had everything organized. I called my mom (she was parked outside my house) and told her the hospital called and she could go back home.
6:30am - My phone rings and it's my OB. He was NOT a happy camper. I love this man by the way. He said it was bulls#%$ that they called and cancelled my induction. He said they do this all the time and they have enough staff. He said, "I have a hysterectomy to do in about 5 minutes, I'll be back in my office at 8:00am, be there at 8:05, I'll break your water and you can head over to the hospital and tell them your water broke". I was really excited because I was mentally ready. Then I hung up the phone and felt guilty. I couldn't lie to the nurses at the hospital. I turned to my husband and said, maybe we shouldn't do this. He said, well it's to late now. You can't call him back, he's in surgery and the office is closed. So, I came to the conclusion that I was ready and this was going to happen.
7:30am - Nick and I dropped Elli off at daycare and I bawled like a baby when hugging her and saying goodbye. I had done this the night before thinking I wouldn't see her in the morning. I knew our lives were going to change and this was the last time it would be just Elli. You always wonder how you can love this new baby as much as you love the one you already have.
8:00am - Arrived at my OB's office, nervous, nervous, nervous!
8:05am - The nurse calls me back to the exam room. My OB is fully scrubbed (he had just gotten done with a surgery and had to go right back to the hospital to do a c-section). He made a special trip to his office just to break my water. He checked me, broke my water, gave me a huge pad to wear and sent me on my way.
8:45 - We arrived at the hospital. I was noticing nothing! No contractions what so ever. I got all checked in and they hooked me up to the monitors, and nothing. Nothing, nothing, nothing.
10:45 - The nurse came in and said go ahead and walk around and if see if that triggers something. Be back here at 12:30 and if nothing is happening we'll have to start pitocin. I figured we'd have to go that route since we did with my daughter too. So I got up and walked around for a couple hours and still nothing. Not one contraction.
12:30pm - The nurse comes in and I deliver the news. She orders pitocin and it was started right about 1:00pm. I'm only dilated to 1.
1:00pm - The contractions started and they were HARD, LONG and HARD with little break in between. I hate pitocin!!!
2:00pm - I asked for the epidural... I know BIG wimp but I knew how my body worked (I'll get to that in a minute) and the epidural is what I needed. She checked me and I was dilated to 2. The anesthesiologist came in at 2:15, my epidural was working by 2:30pm.
2:55pm - I felt ALOT of pressure and I told my nurse. She checked me and I was dilated to 10! Yes, you read that correctly. It took 25 minutes for me to go from 2 to 10 (with my daughter I labored FOREVER, they finally gave me my epidural and I went from 3 to 10 in 45 minutes). Unreal!! The nurse could not believe it, even though I had warned her how fast I went the first time. The epidural is all it takes for me. She called my OB. He apparently didn't seem to have much urgency. The nurse had to call him 2 more times. In the meantime she had stopped my pitocin in fear that this kid was going to fly right out of there.
3:30pm - My OB finally arrived. The monitors were beeping like crazy, because Briggs heart rate was dropping and wouldn't come back up (that was part of the reason my nurse was calling my OB 3 times in 20 minutes). Of course you know none of this at the time. Remember me saying that the nurse stopped my pitocin? Well that apparently stopped my contractions and I you can't push without a contraction. My doctor was not so happy with the nurses at this point. All of a sudden all these people start flooding in. The monitors are beeping and the charge nurse is just standing there staring at it. They're moving me around. My pitocin kicks in right away again, my contractions start and I start pushing. My doctor, is telling me, we have to get this baby out. I'm pushing with everything I have. Nick is holding my right leg and I looked at him and asked him what was going on. I seriously thought at that moment that my baby was going to come out stillborn. Nick said, when you push the head comes out and as soon as you stop, it sucks back in.
3:45 to 3:50pm - My OB grabs the vacuum. He hasn't used one in years. It slips off and falls on the floor. He grabs the forceps and I push as hard as I can.
3:55pm - Out comes my beautiful baby boy!! He was purple! I mean purple. They rushed him over for oxygen. From 3:30 to 3:55 felt like 4 hours and it was only 25 minutes!!! From start of my actual labor to birth was only 2 hours and 55 minutes.
Briggs Allen Zimmerman born at 3:55pm on Tuesday, May 6th!
7lbs. 12 ozs.
21 1/4 inches long
These past 2 years have been surreal! I took a video of Briggs last year on his 1st birthday. He was 1 month post activation with only 1 c.i. In the video I am hitting my leg and he is responding to that sound but not his name.
Now, one year later he is talking up a storm. Saying 2 and 3 combos. I can't even count how many words he's saying. He is doing AMAZING!!! What a miracle!! Do I ever want to go through it again? I'm not sure and we have a 25% chance of having deaf children. Am I glad I get to experience this? More than you know! We never take his words for granted.
Happy 2nd Birthday to my sweet Boy Briggs! You are in inspiration and I thank God every day for you!!!
1 comment:
Wow. What a story! They had to use the vacuum on my first born and he came out with not only a cone head, but a big suction bump on top of that! So beautiful, but not! haha
Happy 2nd Birthday Briggs!
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