Stories

I just read my sisters blog. Her due date is in a few days, and she shared her other two birthing experiences which were both early babies. It just made me think about my two experiences, and I thought I'd share them on here. Mainly for me so I don't forget them. But I thought you (or at least some of you) might enjoy reading them.

Bug was due April 6th three years ago. I'm shaking my head. I can't believe it has been that long since he was born. As all mothers, especially first mothers, I was anxious, wondering when the signs of pregnancy that I have only heard about would come. I was a student at the time. Being a music ed. major, I was in mostly all of the ensembles that one sane person could be in. Or maybe insane person. Wind Orchestra (a fancy name for Band), Jazz Band, Symphonic Orchestra (with strings and uh... two trumpets), ***** Quintet (name blotted out to protect the innocent), Symphonic Band, am I leaving anything out?? Probably.

Anyway, you can see that I was pretty much crazy. I chose this way of doing it though because then I was still a student, and getting credit for my major, but I wasn't a full time student. I remember there were a few concerts and things that were near my due date. One of which was a Jazz concert. I was lead. I had a really high note that I could hit on a good day. People in band joked about the fact that during the concert I would hit it and my water would break right there on stage. I thought it would be kinda neat. Embarrassing, but at the same time... kinda funny... It didn't happen. I think the sixth was a Friday or something. The concert was the Wednesday before.

I think that first weekend in April that year I also was in Symphony Orchestra and we were playing "in the pit" for a ballet. Sleeping Beauty if I remember correctly. If my memories serve me well, that means that I was playing for a ballet in a cramped orchestra pit on my due date. I remember the teacher commenting about me every once in a while. So yeah, my due date came and went. I was fine saying "today" whenever someone asked when I was due, but once the next day came I wasn't so happy about saying "yesterday". I just counted it out. The sixth was a Thursday. So the Jazz concert was the day before my due date.

Anyway, that weekend I was nothing close to depressed. "Overdue" ran through my head over and over. It was driving me crazy. Sunday Rocket Scientist and I went on a walk through the graveyard next to our apartment. We were looking for names. I remember that as I was walking I was feeling contractions and started to get excited. When we got home, if I sat down the contractions went away. They would start again when I was walking. I scowled at myself. False labor.

Monday the tenth came around. I had another appointment. I went in and was told my blood pressure was too high. Understandably, seeing as how my weekend went. My doctor insisted that we induce that day. I was upset. I was imagining feeling the labor pains at my home, calling Rocket Scientist on the cell phone we bought just for this purpose, him rushing home from school to take me to the hospital. I didn't envision coming home from my doctor appointment, getting my bag, waiting for Rocket Scientist to come home from school (his last class ended right when I was getting out of the appointment), and driving nice and calmly to the hospital with no labor pains.

Ah well. I can't remember the exact time of things, but it was in the afternoon when our planned induction was. I was strapped to a blood pressure checking machine that would go off every 5 minutes or so. Bug was born around ten or something. I have it written down but I don't want to go look for it right now. I had an epidural. In saying that the labor was easy. Really and truly it was. I couldn't feel a thing. As some of you ladies who are reading this probably know, for your first birth, the doctor isn't required to be there when you first start pushing. When I finally dilated to ten and started pushing I think Bug crowned on like... the second push? Maybe third? The nurse was freaking out. "DON'T PUSH ANYMORE! GET THAT DOCTOR IN HERE NOW! I DON'T WANT TO DELIVER THIS BABY!" Ok, she probably wasn't yelling all of that, only just some of it. :) But I thought they were funny phrases. Seeing as I couldn't feel anything, I was Ok with waiting. Only about two contractions happened before my doctor arrived and Bug was born soon after.

Oh, as far as missing concerts, I only missed one.

Sorry again for my ramblings. I tend to get into the stories I'm telling... Now for Little Angel's story. Uh..... but after I eat breakfast.

Ok, tummy is fed and everyone is happy.

Little Angel was due on Halloween. Of uh... 2007? Yeah. That's right. This story is bound to be shorter seeing as I wasn't in any band and no fun experiences happened in that respect. Wait... I was in Jazz Band. But I still can't remember any fun experiences. I wasn't really a student per-say seeing as I wasn't enrolled, they just needed another trumpet player and the teacher just didn't want to let me go. :)

Hmm... so lets see... my doctor was going to be out of town for my due date I think. Or at least a few days before it. Oh dear... it is bugging me too much, lemme check the days. Ok. So Halloween that year was a Wednesday. I had an appointment the week before (sounding familiar yet?). My doctor was going out of town that weekend up until my due date I think it was. I can't really remember that much. On the 24th (week before Halloween) at my appointment, my blood pressure was high, but not as high with Bug that he insisted that I get induced that day. All he really said was "So, do you want to have your baby today?"

The odds were against me. I still wanted that rush-to-the-hospital-with-labor-pains feeling but the odds really were against me. I wanted MY doctor to deliver my baby, not one of his fellow doctors. My blood pressure was a little high, but not high enough to raise alarm. Yet. I gave in with what I thought was good grace.

The labor itself wasn't much different than with Bug. A few things that stand out: they hooked me up to the machine and stuff, not having induced me yet, and contractions were reading on the machine. Before they even put the stuff in me to cause labor (can't remember what it is called...) the contractions were getting more and more frequent and more and more uh... fierce? Can't think of the right word. In other words, I was in labor. At least that was my deducement. I guess if I'm gonna go into labor by myself the best place is at the hospital all ready attached to the machine, right?

Also, I chose not to have an epidural. Crazy no? After such an easy labor with Bug, you'd think that would be my option of choice now and forever huh? Well, when I was pregnant, I was looking into meditation. Wondering if that would help with the pain or not. I had been meditating through most of the pregnancy, and tried a bit of it while in labor. I was able to withstand. That being said, my doctor is an epidural fan. So probably if he thought I really needed it, he might have just ordered it anyway. It was unnecessary. I think they gave me some sort of pain relief through the IV, but if they did, it had such little help that I don't remember at all if they did or not... :)

Just like with Bug, it was a fast labor. We went in the afternoon, Little Angel was born I think around 11 or so. Can't really remember... :) I think complication-wise it wasn't that bad. The cord was wrapped around his neck once... MAYBE twice, can't remember, but I think the only complication with that was something to do with sugar levels in his blood. I'm scrunching my forehead here... can't really remember the details.

With this baby though, I do plan on not having an epidural. Now that I know I can do it. After having both experiences, I liked recovery a whole lot more with Little Angel. Right after he was born, I was able to stand up and get in a wheelchair. With Bug, I rolled over onto a bed thing with wheels. That alone tells you just how much of a difference not having an epidural had for me. Plus, I look back at Little Angel's birth with more fondness than with Bug. Not because I love Little Angel more, not because Little Angel isn't with me anymore, I'm not really sure why I do. I just do. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that it makes me believe that maybe I really am amazing like Rocket Scientist says. Maybe it boosts my confidence in myself. Oh... that reminds me of something. When we came home from the doctor's appointment and were about to leave for the hospital (with Little Angel's birth) my playlist was playing on my computer. The last song I heard before I turned it off was "I Have Confidence" from Sound of Music. It was running through my head the WHOLE LABOR! I couldn't get it out. That might have helped me as well. I'm not really sure...

Anyway... I guess that is it. Once again, sorry for my blabbiness and the longness of this post. I think it is a subconscious thing that since I can type fast, I'm not taking much time in writing this, so it won't be a long time until you are done reading it, right?? Some mix up in my brain I guess.

Thanks for traveling down memory lane with me. I wonder what this one will be like...