Announcing the arrival of our most sweetest bundle of joy...
Jett Lucas
Friday, September 13th
at 7:35 a.m.
9 lbs. 12 oz. 21 in.
Birth story:
On Thursday, September 12th, Jake and I went to my 8:30 a.m. doctor appointment at Riverton Hospital to have my blood pressure checked. I had been having high blood pressure readings over the course of a week and my doctor said if it read high again during my scheduled weekly appointment, then he would send me over to labor and delivery to be induced. I was due on the 14th anyway and had already dilated to a 3. We packed up our hospital bags and prepared to not return home until this baby came. Sure enough, my blood pressure was at it's highest reading yet so my doctor told me to head on down the hall to get things started for labor. Butterflies instantly set in!...and relief, what an uncomfortable last few weeks of pregnancy.
We got all settled into our hospital room, and my doctor broke my water around 10 a.m. Whew, am I glad that didn't happen at work or home! Talk about a flood. The nurses then started me on pitocin to speed up my labor. Over the next few hours, we just waited for me to dilate more and more. At first, my contractions were pretty light and felt like normal menstrual cramps. Nothing I couldn't handle. When they started getting more intense, I finally requested to get an epidural as I had planned on all along. Unfortunately, I was told that the anesthesiologist had just got called to a c-section and wouldn't be available for an hour or so. Bad news for me! I had to deal with some pretty intense contractions for over an hour. I was crying...they hurt...I was squeezing Jake's hand to death. Thank heavens when the anesthesiologist finally arrived! The epidural was pure joy and made me relax.
Around 11 p.m., I still hadn't progressed as quickly as the doctor was hoping for. It was about this time he decided to give me and Jake the heads up about the possibility of a c-section delivery if for some reason I got to the point of not dilating any further. But, the baby's heart rate had been fine the entire time and wasn't stressed, so the doctor felt it was ok to just keep monitoring me for a few more hours knowing that first-time pregnancies tend to have longer labors. Jake and I got some sleep, kept our fingers crossed and said some prayers that I would keep dilating and progressing. Sure enough, around 5 a.m. on Friday the 13th the nurse and doctor checked me to find that I had finally fully dilated and was ready to start pushing! Oh boy. Jake grabbed one of my legs and the nurse grabbed the other, and we got to work. Umm, oww! Whoever said an epidural blocks all pain was wrong...apparently it does not block pressure. Not so fun. Not to mention the upper half of my body wasn't numb so my shoulders and back killed because they have you hunch over every time you push.
I eventually ended up in tears and was exhausted after an hour and a half of pushing with no results. The doctor told me the baby's head had not progressed far enough down the birth canal. I had two options: I could keep pushing since the baby was still doing alright though the doctor estimated I still had another 2-3 hours to go before there could be any sign of improvement; or, a c-section. With pushing, there was just no way of telling if it would be successful--the baby may not me moving further down because of his size or maybe it was cord issue. The doctor said I would most likely tear and continuing would eventually stress the baby. His recommendation was to do a c-section. I was so exhausted that I knew I couldn't go another few hours, especially knowing it wouldn't promise any results. I reluctantly agreed to the c-section and was a bawling mess, just from fear of having surgery and not knowing what would happen. I was whisked away to the OR and Jake got dressed in his surgical outfit to accompany me.
A short few minutes later, out came baby Jett at 7:35 a.m.! I was so drugged up that everything was in dream mode for me. I missed him being weighed and bathed, and even when they handed him to me all wrapped up in a bundle as I was being wheeled into my recovery room it seems like a groggy dream. It was so surreal. He was instantly precious and the doctors and nurses couldn't believe his size...a hefty 9 lbs. 12 oz. No wonder he wasn't going down the birth canal! I knew I had made the right decision by opting for the c-section. The rest of the day was resting, visiting with family and friends, and just staring at Jett.
By the next day when I was feeling like me again, I was completely smitten with my little bundle of joy and had a few emotional moments watching him yawn and make his little noises. He's so adorable and absolutely perfect! I couldn't dream him up in a million years. Four days later after a nice, relaxing stay in the hospital, we got to take our baby home. It's been an adventure, to say the least. He is more and more adorable, even though it has definitely been work and stressful. Recovering from a c-section has made things more difficult, so I've been so thankful for Jake. Bestest hubby ever! I love our little family and look forward to seeing little Jett grow stronger and bigger every day. It's official, I'm a mommy.
