Thompson & Co.: Rowdy's Birth Story (finally!)

Here we are, three months later, finally sharing about Rowdy's entrance into this world! It was pretty uneventful labor (until my little man showed up, of course!), thank goodness, right?!
DT took me (dragged me) for a walk on Monday, March 11th (two days past our due date). He kept asking me why I was walking so slow. (We're off like a herd of turtles, he says now.) You can just imagine the look I gave him! I'll go ahead and warn you that this post might be TMI for some, so if you think you might fall under that "some" stop reading right.about.here.
We got home from our walk around two, I had been contractions on and off for the past few days but they were finally getting closer together. I started bleeding (already lost my plug so I knew that wasnt it) and it really worried me so I called my doctor. He said to go in and get checked out, but I REALLY didn't want to be 'that girl' that goes in and has to go home- false alarm kinda thing. So I waited a couple hours. At 630 I ended up going to the birthing center by myself (told DT to go ahead and train his client because I figured they would just check out the bleeding and send me home since my contractions weren't under five minutes.) In our birthing class they told us we would go in through the ER, but I went straight to the birthing center and just talked to one of the nurses (I dont know if thats what I was supposed to do or not..but it worked!) She got me all hooked up and checked out (cervix was nowhere near ready to have this baby), all was good, get dressed you're good to go home they said, and they walked out of the room. I hopped up (as you can imagine a 9 month pregnant girl would hop) and waited for my discharge papers. THEN my doctor showed up, that was a bit alarming. He said he had been looking at the papers that come out of the monitor thing..forgot what those are called, and that Rowdy's heart rate was dropping after each contraction when it was supposed to speed up. He told me to change back into my gown and he checked me again... and what do ya know? PROGRESS! I had finally dialted, weird, I know, considering it had been like 30 minutes since they last checked me. Dr. looked at me and said "Are you ready?" I said uhh.. yeah. But what I was really thinking was uhh.. I thought I was going to go back home. I dont have my stuff (that bag that had been packed for months- I didnt even bring it! Whats wrong with me?!), and my husband (I made him go to work, Im going to have this baby while hes at work and I cant even blame him because I made him go!) Luckily it was a very slow process so he made it (with 8 hours to spare). They took me to a different room (DT got there about this time)- the birthing room, and hooked me back up to the monitors, and gave me an IV. Cue anxiety attack.. There going to poke me with needles, Im about to push a baby out, maybe even have surgery, and become a mom to a BABY! I had to have a little bit of oxygen, but my melt down was breif. It quickly turned into excitement once I got used to the room and everything in it. DT, my mom, and Daniel's mom and dad were there with us.

The nurse broke my water, I was having consistent contractions, and dilated to a four around nine oclock.

The contractions really started hurting after they broke my water, I couldnt talk through them anymore. I wanted to wait on the epidural so I could walk or bounce on the ball if I wanted to. I bounced for a while, went pee once more, and then decided it was time! Got my epidural around 1130, started feeling very woozy, they gave me something new in my iv and some more oxygen, checked again at 115 am and I was at an 8. The nurse did some kind of massaging and within seconds I was at a 10 and ready to start pushing. I pushed for about an hour with the nurse. Dr. finally came in and said Rowdy was stuck on my pubic bone, and asked if he could use forceps to dislodge him. I asked him if it would hurt, and if I could press my epidural button a few more times. He used the forceps to dislodge Rowdy, but not to pull him out. I pushed him right out after that at 4:48 am. He was 7 pounds and 7.5 ounces, and 20 inches long. He was exactly what we prayed for- just as healthy as could be. I couldn't feel the forceps at all, so if you're about to have a baby and are a little concerned- dont be! The nurses took Rowdy for a few seconds to weigh and measure and do the tests, and gave him right back to us. Oh my word, I tear up just thinking about his little eyes looking right into mine as soon as they laid him on my chest.

I fed him and he latched on like a champ. He nursed for about an hour- those Thompson boys can eat! We stayed in the recovery room for a couple hours, just me and my Rowdy Jay (Dt, Mom, Greg, and Anna all went home to shower/sleep, and Dt had to get ready for school!)

Rowdy and I just relaxed, it was so comfortable and perfect, almost indescribable. At about 730 am we went to our recovery room (cue the new baby music the hospital played as we were wheeled to our new room). The nurses told me I had to pee twice before I could get all unhooked from the iv, so I chugged a bunch of water and went twice in about 30 minutes. I had Rowdy in the nursery for a little while so I could get cleaned up and dressed. Everyone told me to sleep, but there was no way- I was so filled with adrenaline. Friends and family started coming aroud 10am. Im glad they were there to keep me company since DT had a test that morning that he couldnt make up.

I wasnt to sore the first day, but the next day I felt like I had been in a car wreck. I had some good meds that helped with that.

Im so glad that so many of our friends and family were able to come visit little man. Just goes to show what amazing friends and family we have. Our little boy is so loved by so many people.