I really wasn't going to have a New Year's Resolution this year, but today I was thinking about how I couldn't believe Hudson is 1 month old. Which is really funny because during those first few weeks Todd and I would say to each other "has he really only been home for 2 weeks now? It feels like months!" You really lose your sense of time when your days and nights all blend together. Now that things have (somewhat) calmed down as we pass the 4 week mark, I have a few (very brief) moments of which I have two hands and can do a little something for myself. The other day I was looking through Facebook and saw that a friend had posted their New Year's Resolution was to take more pictures, I thought "that's a good one" and then remembered our long lost ghost child of a blog. So my 2014 resolution is going to be to document our lives better. I know that with a newborn the days can seem long (and let's not even talk about the nights) but in 11 months we are going to be putting up Christmas decorations and planning a first birthday party and I am going to say "what happened to my little baby?"
So without further adieu, the first blog post of 2014 is Hudson's birth story:
Hudson was born at 9:28 AM on December 4th, it was a Wednesday morning. To say that he surprised us with his arrival would be an understatement. I really had no idea that I was even close to going into labor. That Monday I had some Braxton Hicks contractions, but they didn't stay consistent, weren't painful and totally stopped Monday night. Tuesday, the day I went into labor I didn't even feel practice contractions.
Todd and I had driven separately to work that day, we usually carpool but since he had to go to court for work we decided to just drive our own cars. I got home at about 5 PM and decided I was too hungry to wait for Todd. Thanksgiving had just happened so I made myself a nice big plate of turkey, mashed potatoes and green been casserole. While waiting for my food to cook, I decided to take a belly photo to show off my lovely belly hanging over my pajama pants and sticking out of my shirt. Little did I know, this would be the last belly photo I would take.
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| Ready to pop |
I devoured my food and was just finishing up when Todd got home at about 6:30 He made a quick work phone call and was just sitting down to watch some TV when I stood up from the table to stretch out and POP...my water broke. At first I just kind of stood there dumbfounded before I called over to Todd "I think my water just broke." When the fluid didn't stop leaking I knew for sure it was time to go to the hospital. We ran around the house throwing a few more things into our bags and off to hospital we went.
The entire drive over there we both were just kind of in shock, we kept saying to each other "I can't believe this really happening." During this I finally started to feel some contractions, nothing too painful but I could tell this baby was for sure making his way out. We got to the hospital at about 8 pm. We were supposed to check in through then ER but Todd accidentally parked over by the outpatient services. We of course didn't realize until we were up to the doors, but I was not about to walk back to the car leaking the entire way and instead just waddled myself down to the ER entrance while Todd moved the car. When we walked in the lady at the registration desk said "is it time?" Then called out "we have a maternity down here!"
Our first stop on the maternity ward was the triage area. We actually were very lucky that my water broke that night because you automatically get admitted when your water breaks and it was a full house at the hospital that night. Every room was full but we got to jump to the front of the line. We hung out in triage for about 30 minutes and during that time my contractions started to get really strong and pretty close together.
I would also like to note that triage was the only time I moderately snapped at Todd. He was helping me breathe through some contractions and his breathes just happened to be really close to my face. I very nicely said he was breathing on me and to please stop...Todd remembers this a little differently. If you ask him, I yelled it.
I would also like to note that triage was the only time I moderately snapped at Todd. He was helping me breathe through some contractions and his breathes just happened to be really close to my face. I very nicely said he was breathing on me and to please stop...Todd remembers this a little differently. If you ask him, I yelled it.
By the time we were admitted into our room, the contractions started to come on really strong. My first labor and delivery nurse that had been working with us in triage said "the smile you had in triage is gone." This where I got my first lesson about motherhood: Nothing will go according to your plan. In the weeks before labor, Todd and I had tried to make everything perfect. We made checklists for our hospital bag and wrote up a labor and delivery plan. When we showed the plan to our first nurse (of course we had to do it on a cell phone because we thought had more time before birth and kept revising the plan and neither of us actually had printed out a copy) she had the unfortunate job of explaining to me that when you water breaks, your labor plan really goes out the window. This meant no walking around, no soaking in the hospital tubs (one of the main reasons we chose that hospital) and I probably would have to get Pitocin because we were on a little bit of a time crunch since I was more prone to infection.
Even though my delivery was going to be completely different from what I pumped myself up for, the most important thing was that Hudson would be born healthy. I didn't dwell or argue with the nurse, but decided to roll with the punches and stay positive.
I made it to about 5 cm dilated before I decided that I couldn't hang and asked the nurse for an epidural. In the past I had really wanted to be all natural with my birth but a few things changed my mind. The first was that the nurse had told me I would probably have to get Pitocin and that is extremely painful to go without an epidural. The second was that about 5cm dilated I started to get the shakes really badly. In our labor and delivery class, the nurses told us that you really can get an epidural as long as you are able to control yourself enough to sit still through contractions while the anesthesiologist did his thing. I could feel myself slipping over into the uncontrollable side of things and knew it was now or never.
Our nurse was fantastic and even was able to jump me ahead of another lady to get my epidural. I have to say, it was amazing. The anesthesiologist who did was so great, I only felt a small pinprick and then ahhhh heaven. Once you get the epidural you get something called a peanut ball, it's a Yoga ball but looks like a peanut, and you rotate from side to side.
The rotating was the only stressful part about labor. Hudson is a very particular baby, he would get comfortable on one side and when I switched sides he would freak out and I would have to take really long slow breathes until he would acclimate. The only time I had to take oxygen was right after the epidural when I tried to lay on my right side and Hudson was not having any of it. Even with the oxygen and breathing I had to switch sides because his heart rate would just not cooperate. Like I said, Hudson is a VERY particular baby.
After the epidural I would just nap and the rotate sides about every 2 hours. The nurse kept coming in to check me and at one point said they were going to start Pitocin if I didn't keep dilating, she came back about and hour later and luckily I kept trucking right along. I never had to get the Pitocin. I was very lucky that my body just kept on dilating and moving right along. I think it might have been because until we got closer to actually delivering Hudson, I didn't take any extra doses of the epidural. I just let the machine medicate me so I never was too numb.
At about 7:45 am my nurse came in to check on me and said that I was completely dilated and 100% effaced, however Hudson was not facing the right way and still needed to work his way down the birth canal. She said they were going to have me "labor down" for about an hour and to not take any more extra hits of the epidural so I would be able to feel when it came time to push. Let me tell you, this nurse was amazing. She seriously knew exactly what she was talking about. I would have her deliver all my babies.
Around 8:50 am my nurse came in and told me we were just going to practice doing some pushes. She seemed really nonchalant about the whole thing and just said she wanted Todd to practice bracing me and me practice pushing so we would be ready for the real deal. We did the practice pushes for about 15 minutes until I got the hang of it and I was able to feel my body telling me when it was time to push. I kept doing what I thought were practice pushes until my nurse told me the next time I pushed to reach down and feel. It was the most amazing moment to reach down and be able to feel my baby's head starting to work its way out. I don't know what it triggered in me, but it made the whole thing seem real and the prospect of finally meeting our son so close. It was like I had some kind of mommy super strength and after a few more pushes the nurse said "I am just going to get a few things ready."
Now I was prepared to push for at least one hour so I still didn't think we were doing anything other than practice pushes. A few more pushes later and the nurse is on her pager calling the doctor down. Before I knew it the doctor and two more nurses came into the room and we were delivering our baby. I don't remember feeling any pain as I was pushing, just sheer determination and some pressure. After a total of 35 minutes of pushing everyone told me to stop and our baby literally popped out.
At 9:28 am Hudson Owen Jaramillo made his entrance to the world. He came out screaming, latched right on the boob and them promptly pooped all over me. I look back at these photos and I still get teary eyed. I don't think there are any words that can describe how this moment felt. Hearing Hudson's cry for the first time and seeing his perfect face...I am at a loss of words. I don't know if there is any time in your life when you meet someone for the first time and automatically can't imagine life without them.
I have to say, I had a very easy labor and delivery, which I guess makes up for how hard our first month of parenting as been, but more on that in another post. We were in labor for only about 10 hours, most of which I slept for, and I only had to push for 35 minutes. I think a big part of it was because the hospital staff were so amazing. From my first nurse who had to break the bad news about ditching our birth plan to the nurse who helped me with our "practice pushes" everyone was so kind and made me feel empowered about childbirth. My experience was not what I had expected (honestly it was better) but at the end of it we have a beautiful healthy baby boy who we just adore.
So there you go, first (hopefully on many) post of 2014. I am very excited to journal this first year of motherhood. Hudson is already a month old and I feel like I already have a million things to blog about.
Cheers to a new year!
-Mrs.J
Even though my delivery was going to be completely different from what I pumped myself up for, the most important thing was that Hudson would be born healthy. I didn't dwell or argue with the nurse, but decided to roll with the punches and stay positive.
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| Before the epidural |
I made it to about 5 cm dilated before I decided that I couldn't hang and asked the nurse for an epidural. In the past I had really wanted to be all natural with my birth but a few things changed my mind. The first was that the nurse had told me I would probably have to get Pitocin and that is extremely painful to go without an epidural. The second was that about 5cm dilated I started to get the shakes really badly. In our labor and delivery class, the nurses told us that you really can get an epidural as long as you are able to control yourself enough to sit still through contractions while the anesthesiologist did his thing. I could feel myself slipping over into the uncontrollable side of things and knew it was now or never.
Our nurse was fantastic and even was able to jump me ahead of another lady to get my epidural. I have to say, it was amazing. The anesthesiologist who did was so great, I only felt a small pinprick and then ahhhh heaven. Once you get the epidural you get something called a peanut ball, it's a Yoga ball but looks like a peanut, and you rotate from side to side.
The rotating was the only stressful part about labor. Hudson is a very particular baby, he would get comfortable on one side and when I switched sides he would freak out and I would have to take really long slow breathes until he would acclimate. The only time I had to take oxygen was right after the epidural when I tried to lay on my right side and Hudson was not having any of it. Even with the oxygen and breathing I had to switch sides because his heart rate would just not cooperate. Like I said, Hudson is a VERY particular baby.
 |
| After the epidural, zonked out! |
After the epidural I would just nap and the rotate sides about every 2 hours. The nurse kept coming in to check me and at one point said they were going to start Pitocin if I didn't keep dilating, she came back about and hour later and luckily I kept trucking right along. I never had to get the Pitocin. I was very lucky that my body just kept on dilating and moving right along. I think it might have been because until we got closer to actually delivering Hudson, I didn't take any extra doses of the epidural. I just let the machine medicate me so I never was too numb.
At about 7:45 am my nurse came in to check on me and said that I was completely dilated and 100% effaced, however Hudson was not facing the right way and still needed to work his way down the birth canal. She said they were going to have me "labor down" for about an hour and to not take any more extra hits of the epidural so I would be able to feel when it came time to push. Let me tell you, this nurse was amazing. She seriously knew exactly what she was talking about. I would have her deliver all my babies.
Around 8:50 am my nurse came in and told me we were just going to practice doing some pushes. She seemed really nonchalant about the whole thing and just said she wanted Todd to practice bracing me and me practice pushing so we would be ready for the real deal. We did the practice pushes for about 15 minutes until I got the hang of it and I was able to feel my body telling me when it was time to push. I kept doing what I thought were practice pushes until my nurse told me the next time I pushed to reach down and feel. It was the most amazing moment to reach down and be able to feel my baby's head starting to work its way out. I don't know what it triggered in me, but it made the whole thing seem real and the prospect of finally meeting our son so close. It was like I had some kind of mommy super strength and after a few more pushes the nurse said "I am just going to get a few things ready."
Now I was prepared to push for at least one hour so I still didn't think we were doing anything other than practice pushes. A few more pushes later and the nurse is on her pager calling the doctor down. Before I knew it the doctor and two more nurses came into the room and we were delivering our baby. I don't remember feeling any pain as I was pushing, just sheer determination and some pressure. After a total of 35 minutes of pushing everyone told me to stop and our baby literally popped out.
I have to say, I had a very easy labor and delivery, which I guess makes up for how hard our first month of parenting as been, but more on that in another post. We were in labor for only about 10 hours, most of which I slept for, and I only had to push for 35 minutes. I think a big part of it was because the hospital staff were so amazing. From my first nurse who had to break the bad news about ditching our birth plan to the nurse who helped me with our "practice pushes" everyone was so kind and made me feel empowered about childbirth. My experience was not what I had expected (honestly it was better) but at the end of it we have a beautiful healthy baby boy who we just adore.
Cheers to a new year!
-Mrs.J
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