Joshua Morris was born, via C-section, on Friday, July 6th at 11:46pm. He was 9lbs and 8 oz. On Friday I went to see the Dr for my NST which did not go very well. Everytime I had a contraction, Joshua's heartrate fell instead of increasing. Needless to say this scared me and I agreed to go to the Hospital for a stress test. I had a quick internal exam and the Dr sent me on my way. Scott and I decided to stop at home since it was on our way, so that we could change clothes. As I was in the bathroom, my water broke!
I did not realize that that is what it was since it was yellow the color of dark urine! Also I could not stop the dripping, so plastic went down in the car and to the hospital we went. I got to the hospital and yes it was my water that had broken but Joshua had not only not dropped, but he crawled back up! I was at barely 2 cm after 2 hours of active PAINFUL labor and the On-call Dr decided not to let me suffer all night long.
I won't lie to you, I was terrified. I even started to cry during a contraction which made it all worse. Its not that I wanted to push for 10 hours and then be told I had to have one, but after two hours and hearing that Joshua had crawled up instead of dropping, I was at my wits end. I had never had surgery before (does pulling wisdom teeth count???) and I had heard horror stories about people going in for surgery and feeling every cut!
It was as if they had read my mind because once the epidural was in, I was told that they wouldn't even shave me if they thought I cold feel it! The man who did my epidural is my hero. A man named Mike who went to great pains to make sure that I was comfortable. And I have to say that I had the BEST epidural ever handed down through mankind! I highly recommend it!
The room was cold about 55 degrees and I was shivering the whole time but they put warmed blankets on me, and did what they could to keep me toasty.
At one point about 10 minutes after they had done a test to check sensation, and since I could not see what they were doing since there was a drape over my chest blocking my view, I asked Mike if they had started yet. Before he could answer I heard the Dr ask for Suction. Mike just smiled and nodded his head. Joshua was born about 5 mins after that. I never thought so many people that I did not know would see me naked! But I got over my modesty really quickly. At exactly 11:46pm Joshua Morris Bradley was brought into the world.
I have to say that this has been the most amazing experience of my life. Joshua is actually asleep in my arms as I write this to you. I look down at his little face and its all I can do not to kiss him constantly. He is such a personable baby. He loves everyone and is loved by everyone. I would have the c section a hundred times over. As for healing, I'm doing well. most people are amazed that 4 1/2 days after the surgery, I was up out of bed taking care of my child. Actually, the hospital had me up and in a chair the next day!
A little secret: Percoset is the drug of choice, but you have to remember to take it every 4 hours or forget it! Once I got home I only took 3 doses of 2 pills each, and I went down to one per dose after only a few days. It really only feels like I pulled a muscle really badly. Truthfully, it was no cake walk but worth everything I went through and I would do it again in a heartbeat.