the story of Townes birthday

I bring you the edited and shrunk-wrapped version of Townes birth.

edited because, well, sharing the details of labor and delivery on the world wide web just ain't my jam.

and i'm sharing because what kind of mom-blogger (i've resorted to the title) would i be if i didn't share a birth story?!?

I never did share about Judson's birth because it was not pretty and i don't really care to relive it in writing. 

Of course, of course, of course I am incredibly thankful for the ability to have and delivery my babies. Most definitely I am grateful that everyone was and is healthy! but, that doesn't mean I want to remember all of the details.

moving on.

Townes birth was much better and the recovery has been a dream (relatively. it is post-partum, after all). I was ready to go home that night!

But, for some reason, my labor and delivery did not go as smoothly as desired...again.

in (not very) brief:

we went in to the hospital on Tuesday morning, i was 40 weeks and 1 day.

I had already dilated 4-5cm (already too much detail for some i do realize, i'll try to refrain going forward) and was having contractions but nothing consistent and no other labor signs.

We arrived at 630, check in, gown on, IV started, antibiotic began, hook up to monitors, etc, etc.

by 745 I was having a reaction to the antibiotic- Red Man Syndrome. not fun.

so, we get that taken care of and move on. I receive some IV Benadryl and am out-like a light.

Doctor comes in a breaks my water to get the party rolling.

Epidural please.

So by 10am something or the other, I am in and out thanks to the lovely Benadryl, have received my epidural (thank you modern medicine!) and am progressing in the dilation department.

for a couple of hours all is well, family come and go.

we hang out, do some chit-chatting

GT's mom brings Judson in and he is not such a fan of me laying in the bed

oh! did I mention that Townes (who was unnamed at this point) was sunny side up.

not optimal.

So they turn me to my side to help him flip.

for some reason, i start to feel the contractions again. a little pressure at first, then yeah-that hurts.

I've dilated to an 8 and am reeeeeaaaaallllllyyyyy feeling the contractions.

promptly ask GT to kick everyone out of my room. I was over social hour.

then begins the crazy, tv-labor Kate.

GT called the nurses station twice on the call bell to let them know that someone needed to hurry because I needed to push and told them to hurry, to which they responded. "ok, she'll be in there in a minute".

being the smart man that he is, he marched himself out to the hall and put a pep in their step.

prompt arrival of nursing staff. they took one look at me and got busy.

p.s. my doctor was at a meeting.
 outside of the hospital.

I'm not sure the time frame or sequence of events, but baby flew down my birth canal (sorry, details) and I was asking politely for someone to catch. ha!

GT could probably give you a better run-down of the events and my choice of words.

what i do know is that I was demanding that my nurse deliver the baby and that I, in fact, did NOT know how to and could NOT "just don't push" and "relax" and "breathe".

let me tell you one thing, when you need to push a baby out- you need to push a baby out.

ESPECIALLY when your epidural does not work!

so, like i said. i was trying not to push and breathe and relax and ALL that mumbo jumbo I was not prepared to do without an epidural. 

If I had been prepared for a natural delivery, maybe I would've had better control of myself, but I had gone into this gig prepared to enjoy an epidural'd (word?) delivery. 

Call me a sissy, if you will, but that's where I was at. 

At this point, i told them that i was not responsible for the words coming out of my mouth.

where was i?

ok, back on track. (brief? you say. yep)

Dr. Wilson arrived and as he walked in the door, he said "what happened with the epidural?" 

to which i replied, "i'm not paying for that!"... classy, huh?

then i told him to get a move on, because he needed to deliver a baby, like 5 minutes ago.

chop chop.

then came pushing

holy painful pushes

i yelled out numerous times that i could't do it and i meant it.

that was, seriously, the hardest thing i can EVER remember doing.

i really thought that i might never see my baby and was ok with him staying put.

i tried to quit, but my amazing coaches- GT, Dr.Wilson, nurses Cynthia and Debbie- were so encouraging
and demanding, i might add, that I knew I could and would do it.
I pushed for about 15-20 minutes, which might as well have been 16 hours

then, i heard him cry.

and i can guarantee you that i have never known such a sense of relief, joy or accomplishment.

never have i ever been so happy to meet someone (double chin and all)

after an hour or so of just me, GT and Townes, our family got to meet him

due to his sunny side up status, little brother entered this world looking like a prize fighter.

swollen eyes and tad bit of brusing

after a few days, the swelling went down and we realized that he had eyelashes

and the prettiest, deep blue, big eyes!

i am so thankful that GT's parents were able to be there!

His mom took care of Judson all day and that eased my mind so much, knowing he was taken care of and having a blast!

He surprised us all by his reaction when seeing Townes for the first time!

he walked in and said "bay-bay" with a big grin, giving him a sweet little lean-hug.

we are insanely blessed by family!

having my family close has so many benefits, one of which is watching them love on our kids.

even though the labor and delivery did not go as we would have liked, we still met our sweet Townes.

and yes, i would do it again tomorrow and the next day and the day after that.

us moms are crazy like that.