Pregnancy

the birth story {or how this c-section advocate pushed out a 9 1/2 lb baby}

Filed Under: Baby, Pregnancy, Uncategorized

Jun122009

Todd and I drove to the hospital so I could be induced at 5:30 a.m. on June 4. I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I knew how the process would go and I had been wanting a c-section through the whole pregnancy. Because I felt like I owed it to myself and to my child to try to do things the conventional way, I chose to be induced instead of go through with the c-section.

We checked in to the hospital, I got changed, and the nurses started pumping fluids into me. Around 6:30 a.m. they started the pitocin drip to induce labor. I was at about 1 cm at 7:30, but was still about 75% effaced. Around 11:00 a.m. the anesthesiologist came in to give me the epidural. The contractions weren’t horrible at that point, but the nurses thought I should go ahead and get the epidural while I was comfortable.

The epidural itself didn’t hurt at all. About fifteen minutes later, when the anesthesiologist started the Bolus drip, I started to fade. I got tunnel vision, I felt really dizzy, and my heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest. The nurses took my blood pressure and it was down to 70/40. I didn’t faint, though. They started pumping more fluids into me to bring up my blood pressure and about an hour later I was feeling good again. I only got 20% of the usual amount of Bolus that is administered through an epidural.

Around 12:15, the doctor came in to break my water because it wasn’t breaking on its own. I had reached 3 cm and they told me that labor would start progressing more quickly if my water was broken. Holy cow. Breaking my water did not feel good at all, but even worse than the pain was having to lie around in my amniotic fluid all day long. The nurses were switching out my absorbent bed pads all day so I wasn’t really lying in it without relief, but it definitely felt like I was peeing on myself all day long. Who knew that there were 2 quarts of water in there?!

So, the rest of the day and night was just labor. The contractions weren’t terrible because I’d had the epidural. My blood pressure was kind of all over the place all day and I was starving. I started getting sick around 8:00 p.m. when my favorite nurse of the day started her shift. We seriously had the best nurse ever who did everything she could to make me feel better, encourage me, and relate to my experience. I was throwing up about once every hour, which is nothing for me if you remember what the majority of my pregnancy was like.

The doctor came in to check me around 3:00 a.m. and it was finally determined that I could push! The contractions weren’t horrible and I wasn’t going through any kind of torture, but I was so ready to be done with the process. It had been nearly 24 hours and I knew that the big stuff was still coming.

I started pushing at 3:15 a.m. and pushed for over an hour. The pushing wasn’t that bad because I was so determined to get the baby out! I was using muscles that I hadn’t used since I found out I was pregnant and I was working as hard as I could. The doctor and nurses knew that he was big and were encouraging me as best they could. Right at the end of the pushing, the doctor told me that she was going to give me some “help” with the vacuum. I didn’t feel any of that at all. I also had to have an episiotomy. I won’t go into the details of the episiotomy on my blog because I’m still a Southern lady, but if you do have any questions please feel free to email me and I’ll give you lots of straight answers. I know that pregnant women are often scared because they feel like they aren’t given many details about what could happen, but I think you know by now that I’m not into holding back. But… there are just some details that I don’t plan to put out here for everyone to see.

At 4:39 a.m. on June 5, John Matthew Hudson Carroll entered this world and the doctor and nurses were laughing immediately at his size and the size of his big cheeks! Todd took the sweet boy to meet his grandparents who were praying right outside the delivery room. I laid there for about twenty more minutes while they stitched me up. I had a 4th degree laceration.

The theme around our house since the delivery has been, “I’d rather have stiches where I can see them.”

They brought the baby back to me and I got to feed him for the first time. Then they took him to the nursery to be weighed and checked out by the pediatricians. The nurses got me to stand up so I could move to the room where we’d be staying for the next few days, and about ten seconds later I fainted. I knew I was feeling dizzy, but I had never fainted before in my life. They determined that it was because I’d had such an extreme loss of volume. Lots of blood, water, and baby.

About three hours later, I was well enough to move to the room where we’d stay for the next few days.

My delivery experience had its ups and downs, but I’m so thankful that we’re both healthy. I’m still going through a tough recovery and will be for a long while. Because I have such large babies, I’ll be going with the elective c-section next time around. And now I can tell anyone who tries to convince me otherwise that they’re crazy.

But, I’m sitting here right now while my little man is hanging out in his swing, and I know that this face is totally worth everything I’ve been through and will continue to go through.

the night before…

Filed Under: Baby, Faith, Featured Posts, Pregnancy

Jun32009

Our lives are going to change tomorrow. There’s no way around it. We’re checking into the hospital at 5:30 tomorrow morning and the induction begins at 6:30. I have no idea how quickly things will progress or how long they expect it to take. It could be a long day or a short day. I hope to be able to keep everyone informed via Twitter (if you don’t already follow me, just click on the Twitter button on the right sidebar) and do a couple of blog posts as the day moves along.

More than anything, we’re praying for a safe delivery for Baby Boy and for me. I’m praying that Todd will be calm and comfortable and that any anxiety he is experiencing will melt away. I’m praying for both sets of grandparents that they will be the rocks we need them to be and the perfect examples of unconditional love for our precious son. I’m praying that our son will arrive perfectly and healthy and that he will grow up to love Jesus. We pray that he will have great relationships with our parents and our friends and that he will constantly be surrounded by love.

This is probably the most sentimental pregnancy post I’ve written, right?

I’m sitting here trying to come up with an idea in my mind of what exactly is about to happen, but I honestly have no idea. I know a general rundown of tomorrow, but I don’t know what the pain will feel like. I don’t know how the epidural will feel. I don’t know much. I don’t know if this boy will be too big for me to push out and if I’ll end up with a c-section. But while I don’t know the answers, I don’t care. I can’t tell you what’s about to happen, but I can tell you what it feels like to look back.

When I got married a year ago I got really emotional because I felt like I really had to grow up. There was a huge mix of happiness and sadness that came with that. Today, as I sit and think about my life up to this point, a few things come to mind:

What did my parents feel like the day they drove to the hospital to have me? Were they scared? Excited?
Our little house in Baton Rouge. I spent so many great years there. My dad taught me to ride a bike there. Santa Claus brought us our dachshund puppy there. Singing songs with my mom.
The day my brother was born. I was a jealous older sister, but I can’t imagine my life without my perfect sibling– the person who will be there with me to the end.
The day I graduated from high school and moved back to Louisiana by myself. I was so excited, but still so sad to leave my family.
The day I graduated from college and the summer I spent backpacking through Europe with one of my besties. I can’t imagine what my parents felt like sending me over there by myself for so long with just a backpack and a train ticket.
The day I graduated from graduate school and started my first real job. I was supposed to be “grown up” then, but I totally wasn’t.
The day I met Todd. I knew immediately that I was meeting my husband the father of my future children and now here we are… (excuse me, I’m crying while I type this…)
I’m thinking now about our parents and how grateful I am to them for all they’ve given us and taught us about love. I hope with all of heart that we can make the impact on this child that they’ve made on us.
And finally, just as my Dad (Poppie) started praying on the day I was born for my future husband, I’m praying for another family. Another family somewhere who will raise a young woman and she will become Baby Boy’s wife and the mother of his children.

I’m sorry to have gotten so sentimental, but I know that I will have to really grow up tomorrow. I will be completely responsible for another life (with Todd’s amazing help, of course) and I don’t want these nostalgic feelings to disappear because of stress and busy-ness.

I appreciate all of you so much. My real life friends, my family, my fantastic blog friends (that I can’t even imagine not knowing now), and anyone who just stops by to check in. Thank you for cheering us on. I’ll keep you all posted!

the final countdown

Filed Under: Baby, Pregnancy

May292009

Cue the theme song by “Europe.” We’re in the final stretch. And because so many of you have asked, I am posting my last belly shot. I have a strong amount of shame right now, so I reduced the size significantly to protect myself. That is a BIG baby in there.

38.5 weeks pregnant

I visited my doctor’s office on Wednesday. At that time, I was 75% effaced and 1 centimeter dilated. She encouraged me to go ahead and schedule the delivery due to Baby Boy Carroll’s size. He weighed 8 pounds at my 37 week visit, so she guessed he was already 8.5 pounds at 38 weeks.

I called yesterday to schedule the induction for June 4. If I don’t go into labor before then, our baby will be born on June 4!

His brother and sister, Boudreaux and Fiona, are very excited– don’t they look excited?

My parents are leaving Dallas on Monday to drive out here. They’re picking up my brother on the way and everyone should be here for the scheduled delivery. My mom will help me put all of the finishing touches on the nursery when she arrives. She is an In-Home Consultant for Calico Corners on Inwood in Dallas and she coordinated everything for the draperies, table cloth, chair, bed skirt, and bumpers. I can’t even tell you how wonderful and happy everything looks!

We don’t have any nursery photos yet because I am still waiting on the crib and dresser to arrive. Nothing like waiting until the last minute. Ahem, delivery company! I’m not too concerned, though. Everything else is completely finished and ready to go. We have the pack ‘n play set up and it has a built in changing table, so he’ll have a place to sleep and be changed if the furniture doesn’t arrive before the big birthday. No worries, right? I’m letting go and going with the flow.

Here’s a sneak peak of an incredible gift we received, though. Our wonderful family friend, Janice Wood (in Birmingham), painted four 2×2 boards for the nursery. They’ll hang in a grid. The others are a surprise because one has his name on it, but here is one of the boards. How adorable is that frog and the little bugs? It’s so little boy! I absolutely love all four paintings and can’t wait to show y’all the finished nursery!

And because I think she’s silly, I scooped up Fiona and all of Baby Boy’s stuffed animals, and put Fiona in the middle of them. It resembles the E.T. in the closet scene when E.T. is hidden in the middle of all of Elliott’s stuffed animals.

I’ve enjoyed every moment of my first week of maternity leave. Being home has been so nice and I’ve gotten a lot done around the house. I’m in the process of making Paula Deen’s banana pudding (my favorite) to take to a birthday party tonight and this will be our last big outing with our friends. South Carolina temperatures have officially reached “hot” and I’m so glad that by this time next week (hopefully) I won’t be pregnant anymore!

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