Birth Story:
Ash was due to come on April 30th. With that day soon approaching, I was doing EVERYTHING to try and get him out. I ate tons of pineapple, drank lots of raspberry tea, ate the hottest wings I could stand every other day, jumped on the tramp, went on long walks, jogged, took Evening Primrose oil, and of course had a little fun with the hubby. Nothing worked! He was good and stuck in there. We went to the doctor on May 1st, one day overdue, and still hadn't dilated at all. I have a family history of not dilating, and really didn't want to end up in a C-section. The doctor said that we'd have to wait another week to be induced, since my condition wasn't very favorable. He told us to call on Sunday the 6th to come in to the hospital and get the ball rolling.
The week went by and still there were NO signs of labor. Not even one. Sunday, my family came down and we hung out with them for a couple of hours before heading to the hospital. Ike and I got there at 6:30 and were finally ready to go at 8 PM. I was having a Cytotek induction. This means, they give you a pill every 3 hours that will hopefully dilate you. Most people say that it doesn't work, but can perhaps get you to a 1 or 2 after the 9 or so hours of it. I had the first pill at 8 PM. At 8:30 our nurse, Jessica, came in and said "Are you feeling these?!?". Apparently the contractons were pretty intense...and 4 minutes apart. In 15 MINUTES! I really couldn't feel them badly at all. I'd been having contractions 8 minutes or so apart for the previous week or so, and it didn't feel any different than before.
Isaac went to sleep, and I continued to read my pop culture magazines to pass the time. Every now and then I'd wince with some of the contractions, but they were really short-lived and not too bad. At 3 AM, I woke up in some serious pain. I sat up in bed, shaking violently. I seriously felt sick. It felt like an elephant stepping on my stomach. I asked Ike to help me to the bathroom and he followed me with my IV stand. I started throwing up and kept shaking..I felt like I was going to lose it. Jessica came back in at this point and checked me. I was already at a 5 and progressing quickly. It was looking like I'd have him sometime in the early morning. I never thought I would, but I requested an epidural. With the Cytotek induction, the labor was progressing much too quickly for my totally unready body. I was writhing in pain; it had to be done. The epidural felt like someone just lightly scratched my back; I seriously didn't feel a thing! Within 10 minutes, I felt incredible; what a relief! The contractions were intense and I couldn't feel a thing.
At 6 Monday morning, Jessica came in again and checked me. My water broke everywhere. That was definitely one of the weirdest feelings of my life. It seemed like it wasn't going to let up. **Weird detail**- After all of the fluid leaked out, you could see the outline of Asher in my stomach. I instantly had no belly, and just bulges where his head, back, legs and arms were. She said I was a 9! I coudn't believe it. She brought in all of the necessary delivery equipment. Lot of rags, forceps, and other equipment that I couldn't really tell what it would be used for, and didn't really care. By 7, we had a new nurse, Laurie. She came in and checked me and had really bad news. I was actually only a 5.5 in reality. I'm not sure how we had such a mix-up, but it was definitely a morale killer. My mom arrived at 8 AM, and I was at a stand-still for the next 4 hours. I was still having really intense contractions, but wasn't dilating. Laurie said that she had talked to the doctor, and they were preparing for a C-section. At about 9 AM, I started to feel really, really painful again. REALLY painful. My lower back, pelvis, and stomach were killing me. Laurie had us push the epidural booster button a couple of times, and still there was no relief. My legs were completely numb and I couldn't even move them. However, everything else was in an intense pain. We don't know if the epidural somehow became blocked, kinked, or if Ash's head could have been blocking it as well. Every time I'd have a contraction I would writhe in pain. This continued for the next few hours. I just laid in my bed, sobbing.
My dad and Ike gave me a blessing that things would get better. The pain never subsided, but I did start dilating again. At noon I was checked again and this time, I really was a 9! I felt delirious and Ike said that I kept asking everyone if I really was a 9, or if I had just misheard her. Bill and Stacy, Ike's parents, had just flown in from Israel( a day early...thanks so much you guys!), and arrived at the hospital. I'm sure I looked like a wreck. I was in so much pain, and just a mess. Both of my moms were coaching me through the labor, and making sure that I was breathing with the pain/contractions. At 1 PM, Laurie came back in and asked who I'd like to be there for the delivery. We had just planned on it being Ike and me, and that was still how I wanted it.
Laurie and Ike started coaching me through the pushing. This was worse than anything. There was a mirror, so I could see how the pushing was progressing. For about 20 minutes it felt like there was no change. I could still feel baby Ash up really high in my stomach. During the entire labor process I had been on oxygen about 6 or 7 times, because his heart was dropping and he was beginning to be stressed. After about 30 minutes, I could finally see the top of his head. I had had it. I was in so much pain, so thirsy and kept pushing my epidural boost. Nothing would happen. I told Ike that I couldn't push anymore and that I was going to give up. He talked me through it and told me that I could do it. He told me I had already made it so far, and that this was the last and final part. I started pushing like I had never pushed before. Laurie had me stop and went to get Dr. Dayton. He came in and I had about 4 more pushes. I started to rip and tear, and so I had an episiotomy so the damage would be less severe. I could feel the cutting, but at that point, I knew it would almost be over. I gave one last push and then Dr. Dayton pulled him out. They set him on top of my stomach and he was still all bloody and attached. Ike and I looked at eachother and were shocked.He was OUT! We were seriously parents at this point; there was no way out of it ;). There was meconium, so they had the NICU team right there to check on him and make sure he was ok. Isaac stayed with him while they cleaned and weighed him. Meanwhile, I was getting stitched up. 20 stitches and I was good to go.
They brought in Asher and laid him on my chest. I was so emotional. It was the most incredible feeling that I've ever felt in my life. I had this rush of love just flood my body. I didn't feel any pain anymore, and was on such a high. Ash calmed right down and just laid there with his eyes open. Ike and I just cried and sat there. We couldn't believe he had actually made it ok.
Isaac took him to the nursery and I was wisked off to the mother/baby room. My nurses gave me plenty of water, some medicine, and then I waited for my boys to get back. When they walked in, the first thing Ike said was "Dani....he is SO cute". Seeing that love that Ike had for him right from the get-go still make me want to cry like a baby. It seriously is the most precious thing. He is his dad's little buddy, and they are perfect for eachother.
Now we are all back home and settled in. He is afraid of the dark and sleeps in our bed in his Boppy. It's probably not the best for him, but he's happy and is starting to sleep a little more than an hour or two at a time. Either way, I don't mind getting up with him. He is a dream, and such a little miracle. We were told we wouldn't be able to get pregnant without drugs or treatment, and he came right along. We are so in love! How could we not be, looking at this face every day?
