Special Delivery
I have been a little busy over the past few days and have so many new things to share. I don't really know where to start - so I will just start with saying I am beyond blessed. At 3:34 in the afternoon on Thursday, January 3, I gave birth to a beautiful, healthy, precious baby boy. Colton Matthew Neal is finally with us.
It all started on Wednesday evening when Matt and I checked in at Laughlin Memorial Hospital around 7:00pm. Since Colton was past his due date (if only by a couple of days), we were admitted to the OB where we were schedule to induce. Once we were settled into the room, things moved quickly with nurses in and out and so much paperwork that I felt like I was buying a house instead of having a baby. I was only dilated to 2cm when the nurses checked me, so we started a hormone called Cytotec to jump start contractions and dilation. I was only allowed 1 pill every 2 hours and I could only have a total of 3 doses. So at 8:30pm, I took my first dose of Cytotec and the wait began. The nurses came in to check me 2 hours later and I was still only at 2cm so at 10:30pm, I was given round 2 of the Cytotec. Even though I had not dilated any more, my contractions were becoming very noticeable and pretty consistent (between 1 and 5 minutes apart) but they wanted the contractions at 2 minutes. When I was checked at 12:30am, I was still having consistent and stronger contractions but only dilated to 2cm (and the goal here is 10cm). At this point, we started Pitocin and this is where the real fun began...
Oxytocin is a natural hormone produced by a woman's body that causes uterine contractions. Pitocin is the synthetic form of Otxytocin. Pitocin is generally used in 2 ways. 1) to induce labor and 2) to speed up labor. The Pitocin started doing its job right away. My contractions became more frequent and much stronger, but 10 hours into labor my cervix was still only dilated to 3cm. At 7:30am on Thursday, Dr. Woods came to check in on my progress. Seeing that there wasn't much to talk about, she decided to "break my water" by making a hole in the amniotic sac. Not to get into too much information and gross detail, but my membranes were so thick, it took Dr. Woods 4 attempts to actually succeed in making a hole in the amniotic sac. This was one of the most painful things I had ever experienced...until the contractions "post water breaking".
Since my "water breaking" the nurses had gradually increased my Pitocin all the way up to the maximum dosage. We really thought that things would move along nicely since my water broke and my contractions were a consistent 1 to 2 minutes apart. I was in hard, active labor when Dr. Woods came back to check on me at 12:30 in the afternoon. When she checked me, my cervix was now dilated to 5cm (everyone in the room was expecting her to say 7 or 8 cm by this point). I was 16 hours into my labor and having 20-30 second long contractions coming less than a minute apart for almost 3 hours straight, I was in more pain than I ever thought possible and exhausted beyond belief. Dr. Woods gave me three options. 1) continue as I was, hoping that my body would stop fighting off the pain and let my cervix dilate on its own 2) a dose of Demoral (which is a narcotic pain relief) or 3) an epidural. There are a lot of details I could go into about this hard labor I endured, but let's just say I knew my body was done so I had to look at the other 2 choices. I was unsure which choice to make. I knew that Demoral could have a more negative impact on my baby and I knew that an epidural had risks for me and the baby. I could tell that Matt, my sister and my Mom all wanted me to have the epidural (I could see worry on all their faces) but they continued to support whatever I felt like I could/should handle. At about 1:00pm, I was still only dilated to 5cm and I decided to choose the epidural. For someone who was against getting an epidural, this was the best decision I could have made for this delivery.
It took about 15 minutes for the anesthesiologist to get to my room and about 15 minutes to complete the epidural procedure. I was so exhausted and in so much pain from the 16 hours of labor, my face was numb and I could hardly keep my eyes open long enough to answer questions in the middle of contractions. I was ready for relief. After vomiting up nothing (because I wasn't allowed to eat anything since 7pm on Wednesday night), it only took about 10 minutes to feel the effects of the epidural and my body instantly relaxed. I thought I was going to have a couple of hours to relax and rest before having to "push" but I think everybody in the room was surprised when (within 30 minutes of receiving the epidural) the nurse checked me and my cervix had dilated from 5 to 10cm and we were ready for a baby. When I said the epidural was the best decision I could have made for this delivery, I wasn't kidding. It took me 16 hours for my cervix to dilate to 5 and after the epidural, it took only 30 minutes to get from 5 to 10cm. The moment I had been waiting for was finally here and as Matt so simply put it, "it's go time".
Dr. Woods rushed down from her office to my room and barely had time to change into her scrubs for delivery. At around 2:15pm, I started "pushing" and I pushed for about an hour and a half. I felt tension from Dr. Woods as Colton made his exit and I opened my eyes to see her quickly removing the umbilical cord from around his neck. Thankfully I was too tired to panic and it happened so fast that I didn't have time to process the potential danger until later. Once I laid eyes on him and saw that he was okay and watched Dr. Woods clean his nose and mouth and heard that first cry, I cried right along with him. I was so overcome with joy at seeing my baby for the first time and the moment she laid him on my chest, I felt so much love for him and knew that my life had changed forever. I will never be able to put into words the feeling of seeing my baby for the first time, it's truly a miracle.
I never would have made it through almost 19 hours of labor without my husband. He was my rock and he never once left my side. I can't explain the amount of love and respect I have for him and being able to share this experience with him is something I would never take back. Having my Mom and my sister with me gave me so much extra support and I'm so thankful that they were able to witness the birth of a grandson and a nephew.
Needless to say, I have plenty more stories coming and I'm looking forward to sharing my thoughts and experiences of this continued journey that I once called pregnancy and now call my life. Mr. Colton has already changed my life for the better and given it a whole new purpose. On Thursday, January 3rd, I became a Mom and that my friends is an awesome feeling.
It all started on Wednesday evening when Matt and I checked in at Laughlin Memorial Hospital around 7:00pm. Since Colton was past his due date (if only by a couple of days), we were admitted to the OB where we were schedule to induce. Once we were settled into the room, things moved quickly with nurses in and out and so much paperwork that I felt like I was buying a house instead of having a baby. I was only dilated to 2cm when the nurses checked me, so we started a hormone called Cytotec to jump start contractions and dilation. I was only allowed 1 pill every 2 hours and I could only have a total of 3 doses. So at 8:30pm, I took my first dose of Cytotec and the wait began. The nurses came in to check me 2 hours later and I was still only at 2cm so at 10:30pm, I was given round 2 of the Cytotec. Even though I had not dilated any more, my contractions were becoming very noticeable and pretty consistent (between 1 and 5 minutes apart) but they wanted the contractions at 2 minutes. When I was checked at 12:30am, I was still having consistent and stronger contractions but only dilated to 2cm (and the goal here is 10cm). At this point, we started Pitocin and this is where the real fun began...
Oxytocin is a natural hormone produced by a woman's body that causes uterine contractions. Pitocin is the synthetic form of Otxytocin. Pitocin is generally used in 2 ways. 1) to induce labor and 2) to speed up labor. The Pitocin started doing its job right away. My contractions became more frequent and much stronger, but 10 hours into labor my cervix was still only dilated to 3cm. At 7:30am on Thursday, Dr. Woods came to check in on my progress. Seeing that there wasn't much to talk about, she decided to "break my water" by making a hole in the amniotic sac. Not to get into too much information and gross detail, but my membranes were so thick, it took Dr. Woods 4 attempts to actually succeed in making a hole in the amniotic sac. This was one of the most painful things I had ever experienced...until the contractions "post water breaking".
Since my "water breaking" the nurses had gradually increased my Pitocin all the way up to the maximum dosage. We really thought that things would move along nicely since my water broke and my contractions were a consistent 1 to 2 minutes apart. I was in hard, active labor when Dr. Woods came back to check on me at 12:30 in the afternoon. When she checked me, my cervix was now dilated to 5cm (everyone in the room was expecting her to say 7 or 8 cm by this point). I was 16 hours into my labor and having 20-30 second long contractions coming less than a minute apart for almost 3 hours straight, I was in more pain than I ever thought possible and exhausted beyond belief. Dr. Woods gave me three options. 1) continue as I was, hoping that my body would stop fighting off the pain and let my cervix dilate on its own 2) a dose of Demoral (which is a narcotic pain relief) or 3) an epidural. There are a lot of details I could go into about this hard labor I endured, but let's just say I knew my body was done so I had to look at the other 2 choices. I was unsure which choice to make. I knew that Demoral could have a more negative impact on my baby and I knew that an epidural had risks for me and the baby. I could tell that Matt, my sister and my Mom all wanted me to have the epidural (I could see worry on all their faces) but they continued to support whatever I felt like I could/should handle. At about 1:00pm, I was still only dilated to 5cm and I decided to choose the epidural. For someone who was against getting an epidural, this was the best decision I could have made for this delivery.
It took about 15 minutes for the anesthesiologist to get to my room and about 15 minutes to complete the epidural procedure. I was so exhausted and in so much pain from the 16 hours of labor, my face was numb and I could hardly keep my eyes open long enough to answer questions in the middle of contractions. I was ready for relief. After vomiting up nothing (because I wasn't allowed to eat anything since 7pm on Wednesday night), it only took about 10 minutes to feel the effects of the epidural and my body instantly relaxed. I thought I was going to have a couple of hours to relax and rest before having to "push" but I think everybody in the room was surprised when (within 30 minutes of receiving the epidural) the nurse checked me and my cervix had dilated from 5 to 10cm and we were ready for a baby. When I said the epidural was the best decision I could have made for this delivery, I wasn't kidding. It took me 16 hours for my cervix to dilate to 5 and after the epidural, it took only 30 minutes to get from 5 to 10cm. The moment I had been waiting for was finally here and as Matt so simply put it, "it's go time".
Dr. Woods rushed down from her office to my room and barely had time to change into her scrubs for delivery. At around 2:15pm, I started "pushing" and I pushed for about an hour and a half. I felt tension from Dr. Woods as Colton made his exit and I opened my eyes to see her quickly removing the umbilical cord from around his neck. Thankfully I was too tired to panic and it happened so fast that I didn't have time to process the potential danger until later. Once I laid eyes on him and saw that he was okay and watched Dr. Woods clean his nose and mouth and heard that first cry, I cried right along with him. I was so overcome with joy at seeing my baby for the first time and the moment she laid him on my chest, I felt so much love for him and knew that my life had changed forever. I will never be able to put into words the feeling of seeing my baby for the first time, it's truly a miracle.
I never would have made it through almost 19 hours of labor without my husband. He was my rock and he never once left my side. I can't explain the amount of love and respect I have for him and being able to share this experience with him is something I would never take back. Having my Mom and my sister with me gave me so much extra support and I'm so thankful that they were able to witness the birth of a grandson and a nephew.
Needless to say, I have plenty more stories coming and I'm looking forward to sharing my thoughts and experiences of this continued journey that I once called pregnancy and now call my life. Mr. Colton has already changed my life for the better and given it a whole new purpose. On Thursday, January 3rd, I became a Mom and that my friends is an awesome feeling.
This made me cry Renee, reading this was like going back in time when I had Kaitlyn. I'm so thankful you and your precious gift from god are doing great, you and Matt are going to be awesome parents! I can't wait to see Colton he is absolutely beautiful congrats love you all! Thank you so much for sharing your journey with us it only gets better from here on! Keep posting those pics!!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Janet, we are loving our precious baby! He's just amazing. We can't wait for you all to meet the little guy. I wouldn't be able to stop taking/sharing pictures even if I was trying to. :-) We love you all.
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