Thursday, July 4, 2013

Winston Parley Bainbridge

On Saturday June 8, 2013 at 1:15pm, after 14 hours of labor, Winston Parley Bainbridge joined our cute little family. Here is his story.

For weeks before  I would have very painful contractions that were long, hard, and right on top of each other. Until I would lay down. Then they would go away. Same with Friday the 7th. I was having lots of contractions, but I knew that as soon as I was able to go to bed, they would go away. And they sure enough, when I crawled into bed at 9:00, they went away. But then I woke up at 10:30 with a super painful contraction. I tried rolling over and going back to sleep, but before I could doze back off, another one hit. After about an hour of trying to sleep. I finally decided to get up and move around. I went and started unloading the dishwasher. This is when Philip came upstairs. Getting up and moving around helped with the intensity of the contractions, but they were still there. After the dishes were done, Philip and I sat on the couch and talked. The contractions started getting worse. So I got up and paced. And paced. And paced. Finally at about 1:30, I decided that I would go take a shower and see how I felt after that. At about 2:15, I told Phil that we should probably go to the hospital. He asked if he had time to shower. I said yes. I still wasn't sure that I was in labor. By the time Philip was out and our babysitter had arrived it was about 2:30. And contractions were under 2 minutes apart, and I was unable to talk through them.

We got to the hospital, and I was only dilated to a 3!!! (Really?? only a 3!!) Lucky for me, my OB was already at the hospital and she said to admit me. I had to have some blood work done before I was aloud to have an epidural. My blood platelets have been low, and if they are too low, they won't let you have an epidural. Well, mine came back at 92. The lowest they have been. Luck #2. The anesthesiologist was still willing to give me an epidural despite my low numbers. I got my epidural and was finally able to get a little rest. Sadly though, like with my other babies, with the start of the epidural, my labor stops. So after a couple of hours they started the petosin. Even after a couple of hours, I was still progressing really slowly. At 12:15, I was still only a 5 and Winston was too high up for them to break my water. About that time, they had me roll over to my other side.

And that is when the real pain began. The contractions were almost instantly super painful. The nurse got me a wet wash cloth to bite on instead of my hand. I can't remember the last time I wanted to cry because of physical pain, but I was close. At some point the nurse asked if she could check me again. She did, and then went to get the doctor. He checked me, broke my water and announced that it was time to push. By this point I was feeling EVERYTHING. I needed to roll to my back, and the doctor trying to re-position the baby so I could had me crying out. At that point my doctor paused and seriously asked me if I was going to be able to push the baby out, or if the pain would be too much. I assured him that I would do it. And I did, Despite feeling like my body was being ripped in half. Again, because we were concerned about size  I had to only push out 1/2 his head, and then wait until the next contraction to push out the rest of his head and a shoulder.

He finally came out. With a perfectly round little head. He weighed 10 pounds 11 ounces, and was 21 1/2 inches tall. He was perfect. (Still is.)

Winston hasn't been an easy baby. He's pretty fussy.  A lot. But I think it is getting better. And he took a while to get the hang of nursing. Truth be told, I'm not sure he has it down 100% yet. It is still toe curling painful to nurse him. BUT, I love him. I love to snuggle him. I love that his brothers love him. Oliver asks about him anytime he is quiet and always wants to help with him and hold him. Orion was thrilled to show him off to all his friends at church. And William is fascinated with how tiny all his parts are. (Look at how little his ears are mom. Look at how little his nose is mom.) I am so glad that he is here, and that he is healthy. We love him!

2 comments:

Chaney said...

We're glad he's here too! Congratulations!

Tess said...

You are amazing...that sounds so intense! Congrats on your new baby boy! I hope the little kinks work out soon. Love hearing the siblings' reaction.