Nate, Sagan, and Wake: March 2015

So I was 40 weeks and five days when I went in to be induced with Wake. I had been dilated to a one since 38 weeks and hadn't progressed any further since that time so an induction was definitely needed. I got to the hospital at 7 pm on February 26th. The first thing they did was start my IV which I was SO afraid of (just because I put them in people doesn't mean they don't scare the crap out of me to get them). Anyway, I have awesome veins but it took them three tries to get it in and since it was an 18 gauge it almost killed me. After that they started me on Cervidil and said that the next step was just to wait until I started contracting and dilating. I didn't feel anything until about 3 am and the contractions started hurting me enough that I requested Statol (a narcotic) which was the only pain medication they said I could have (I am anti pain meds so I was hurting pretty bad at this point). She gave me 1mg and I was finally able to fall asleep but when my contractions came around again they were waking me up from my sleep so I requested the second milligram she originally offered me. That was a big mistake/best thing I ever did. The first milligram just made me super drowsy which was good but the second milligram pushed me over the edge and I had an adverse reaction. I could still feel the pain of the contraction but the Statol made me feel like what I can only imagine being drunk feels like but I was still in pain. So I was completely out of it, but still in pain and feeling so impaired that it scared me. Nate videoed me when I was out of it and I have to admit that it was pretty hilarious. I apparently get a British accent when I'm drugged but even though it was funny to watch I hated the feeling and, like I said, I remember being legitimately scared when I was out of it. Anyway, once the Statol finally wore off I was still in pain and since they weren't going to give me anymore narcotics because of how I reacted to it they decided to start my epidural even though they usually wait until people are dilated to a 5 to get it and I was a 2. That's why I say that getting Statol was the best/worst thing I ever did because even though it sucked it made me get my epidural sooner. The epidural really didn't hurt at all and after the eventful night I didn't even have the energy to be scared about it. The ONLY thing that sucked about the epidural was that they made me bend over to get it (obviously) and it's already hard enough to bend over when you're pregnant but add the pain of contractions while you're uncomfortably bending over and it makes for a rough time but it was quick and WELL worth it. I immediately went numb on both sides and I stayed numb without having to be re-dosed until after I had delivered which was awesome. I LOVED being numb. I was finally able to sleep and I didn't have to feel the catheter being put in or getting checked which, I might add, was the absolute worst pain I ad ever felt (worse than contractions). The doctor actually made me cry when she checked me before I had the epidural in so she promised I wouldn't get checked again until after I had, had it in (thank goodness). So it was smooth sailing after that other than the fact that I couldn't eat or drink anything. I, shockingly, did really good with the whole fasting thing for 24 hours and after that 24 hour mark hit I literally thought I would die of thirst and hunger. I had eaten tons of popcicles and even cheated by drinking a little water but seriously, I was done. At that point I didn't think labor would kill me but the starvation. Anyway, I got through it and was FINALLY dilated to a 10 at 1 am on Saturday, March 7th. It took me so long to dilate the doctor said that I almost had to have a c-section (I think everyone ALMOST had to have a c-section haha) but she did scare me for a little bit so I'm glad that I kicked it in gear soon enough to avoid that. Anyway, when they said it was time to get ready to push I, of course, freaked. I had been so worried about this huge life change for such a long time, even before I was pregnant. I DON'T do well with change so I was scared out of my mind. I was shaking uncontrollably and I felt bad that I wasn't very excited for this big moment because I was so afraid of how it would change my life and how much responsibility I would have to keep this baby alive. Anyway, Nate is always good to talk me through things and my friend Lindsay Whiting came because she wanted to take pictures of us during the delivery and she made me feel a lot better too since she had, had a baby recently too. It was nice to have her there since my mom and sisters weren't there to calm me down like they usually do. But I ended up pushing for about an hour and a half and I actually enjoyed that. It was exciting to hear that they could see hair and, honestly, it was a good workout haha. It was also SO nice to be numb so that I could just enjoy the moment pain free. As soon as he came out I felt nothing but extremely happy. It truly felt like Christmas morning and any fear I had immediately left. I thought that I would at least have to fight back tears when I saw him (I knew I wouldn't cry because I'm a little anti showing emotion) but I at least thought I would be fighting the tears back. Wrong. I was, like I said, just stoked about the whole experience and so happy that he was healthy, had hair, and was so cute. I can totally see how people get addicted to having babies because that was, by far, the coolest thing I've ever done in my life. Totally worth the gruesome 9 months and body destruction (that means a lot coming from me). Nate said that he had to fight back the tears when he saw him which I thought was crazy because the only time I had ever seen Nate cry was when he lost out of state basketball his senior year haha but apparently our son's birth was a close second to that in the emotion category lol. Like every new mom I was addicted to looking at him and was on cloud 9 but the exhaustion soon kicked in after they kept us in the hospital for two and a half days AFTER I had delivered. That was a HUGE mistake to stay that long. We were woken up like every hour by the staff and the rest of the time I was trying to get Wake to eat. He was a good eater from the beginning but it took a lot of time and energy to keep him awake long enough to eat. Nate and I were so exhausted that we didn't even have the energy to even think about trying to leave the hospital early so we were off to a bad start with a newborn. When we finally did get discharged Monday afternoon we were so ecstatic to be in our own space again and try to figure this little dude out. I felt bad for Nate at the hospital because he basically went hungry and had to sleep on this tiny, hard cushion so I cannot express enough how good it felt to be home. The first few nights at home were rough too though. I admit that I bawled every night for the first three night because I was so sleep deprived and overwhelmed. The worst night was the first when I was not only exhausted but I was worried about him not getting enough food and my stitches hurt so much that I thought that I had ripped them out and I literally couldn't hold him while sitting down and standing up from the couch which was, obviously, a huge problem because I had to do both to feed him. Anyway, I saw lactation the next day and she said he was acting weird about eating because my milk was coming in and he couldn't latch on like he used to because of the change so she told me to press down around the area in a window-shaped fashion right before I fed him and that helped a ton to reduce he firmness so that he could latch on. She also showed me how to look for his chin making deep dips when he ate so I could tell when he actually swallowed something versus when he was just sucking and that helped a ton too to put my mind at ease so that I knew he was actually swallowing. I also got my stitches checked that day and they ended up being fine so just for my own future reference, they just hurt that bad and it doesn't necessarily mean something is wrong haha. ANYWAY, we are learning everyday and it has definitely gotten easier but we still have a long ways to go learning-wise lol. Here are some pictures from his birth...

Me mentally preparing for this and making sure to close my eyes to keep from being more freaked out.

Nate giving me the, "Stop being so dramatic" face that I'm usually giving him haha.

Wondering what I had gotten into...

Them putting Wake on me for the first time and me being somewhat annoyed because I told them beforehand to clean him off before they gave them to me haha.

Favorite picture...He ended up being 8.2 lbs and 21.5 inches long.

Major cone head.

So freaking pleased with life...

Love swollen babies...

Also so pleased...

I don't know why but I LOVE this picture because when I think of what Wake looked like the first time I saw him, this is the face I think of. Captured perfectly.

Officially a family of three...

So here is my post on my pregnancy for my own personal record. Nate had been wanting a baby for awhile and me, being afraid of having kids before we were both done with school, made the compromise with him that I would agree to start trying as soon as he got accepted to dental school. So, sure enough, when he got his first acceptance letter in December we started trying. It wasn't until May that I actually found out I was pregnant though which I was kind of bummed about because I really wanted a fall baby but my due date ended up being February 28th. I wasn't able to get in for an appointment until I was 16 weeks so I heard his heartbeat for the first time and found out his gender all at my first appointment. Nate and I were both convinced it was a girl because we just thought we were the type to have girls for some reason ha so when she said it was a boy we were both shocked. Nate was stoked and, I admit, I almost cried lol but it wasn't long before I was pumped too. I had a very easy pregnancy in comparison to everyone else I've talked to. I never threw up (which I knew I wouldn't because I don't think my body knows how to) and that made it a lot easier to keep working out. Now, there is nothing more annoying than hearing about someone else's workout but, like I said, this is for my own information for the future so I'm going to document it. I made sure to be very consistent from the first week I found out I was pregnant so that I would never feel like it was too hard to continue doing what I was doing pre pregnancy. So every week up until I delivered at 41 weeks I went to a kickboxing class for an hour (that was mostly legs), a class called R.I.P.P.E.D for an hour which is a combination of weights, cardio, interval training, resistance, plyo, and abs, and I ran a 4 mile route and a 7 mile route each once a week (I had to quit the 7 mile route after 38 weeks though and replace it with another 4 mile route). I also continued my daily push-up and sit-up routine that I've been doing for about ten years up until the day I delivered as well (whether or not it helped, I'll never know but it helped my sanity). I felt pretty dang awesome throughout the whole 41 weeks and I attribute it to all the working out I did so something to remember for my next pregnancy. It wasn't all smooth sailing though, there were a few minor things that I hated about being pregnant. There were a few times I felt a little nauseous but not enough to ever throw up. Also, I felt a "warmness" in my throat on occasion like I could feel my stomach fluid coming back up my esophegus which was annoying. My ears seemed to need to be popped a lot more than when I wasn't pregnant (no idea if that was related or not though). I experienced my first charly horses when I would stretch first thing in the morning (worst pain ever). Of course I was hungry at night and got up every single night to pee which was annoying. I also never slept super well towards the end because I had to wake up to heave myself to the other side so the one I was laying on wouldn't go numb ha. Running started to get harder at around 23 weeks. I would get killer side aches on some of my runs (which I had never gotten side aches before in my life) and my feet started to hurt towards the end too. The 7 miler runs were definitely not enjoyable towards the end, I just forced myself to do it but the 4 miler runs were still pretty enjoyable even towards the end. The weirdest thing that happened to me though was I got really bad vertigo that lasted a full 24 hours even after I had tried to sleep it off. It hit out of nowhere and went away just as suddenly. I didn't end up taking anything for it but I was pretty much out of commission that entire day. I don't think I had any real cravings but I did really want slushes and apples during the time I was pregnant with him. Other than that I just hated being pregnant because nothing fit and it sucks to feel huge but I'm sure I am no different than anyone else in that aspect. The only thing I liked about being pregnant was feeling him move inside of me which I felt for the first time at exactly 20 weeks and that really never got old and it didn't hurt even towards the end even though some people told me it would. My pregnancy was completely normal from a medical standpoint though, so for that I was very glad. I absolutely HATE taking pictures of myself and ESPECIALLY pregnant so these pictures, once again, are just for my own FYI even though they are painful to look at. I just had Nate snap the picture once so I got what I got when it comes to how good/bad they turned out haha.