At about 2:30am contractions started which became regular at 6min apart very quickly and continued to increase in intensity over the next few hours. At about 6am Angela decided it was time to get things going so we finished up packing, dropped off the boys suitcases at Gap & Gut's and headed off to the hospital.
They decided to check Angela on arrival, stating that she was 2cm and starting to efface (interesting to us since her OB said she was 3cm and 100% effaced at her last appt.). They decided to monitor for 2hrs and recheck- during this time her contractions were consistent at 4min apart but on recheck the nurse said there was no change and wanted to send us home. We decided instead to walk for an hour and return for a recheck as Angela was certain that the nurse was not entirely accurate in her assessments and was aware from her past two births how quickly things change for her once they get going. Well, apparently the walking did the trick, when we returned her contractions were EXTREMELY strong- lasting 1min each and were less than 2min apart. Unfortunately, we were left laboring alone for nearly 40min in great pain before a new nurse finally came in and realized how advanced Angela was and decided it was beyond time to actually admit her (it was about 11am at this time).
By the time they got Angela admitted and brought to the delivery room the anesthesiologist decided to do a spinal block in addition to the epidural in order to provide immediate relief since they suspected a baby anytime. Well, the block kicked in and for the first time in hours Angela has some relief and could rest a little bit. After a short while however, Angela began feeling contractions again-- not too bad at first but increasing in pain over time. The block was wearing off and the epidural had not taken. The nurse continuously reassured us that it was just pressure that is common at the end near delivery and not actually pain. Angela continued to tell the nurse that it was more than pressure and not something she had experienced with the last two births but the nurse was adamant that Angela was wrong. Angela was exceedingly nervous for the birthing process with the extent of the pain she was experiencing especially considering the problems she had experienced with the last two births and the unknown of the size of this baby.
Well, by the time the actual delivery rolled around there was NO numbness to be had so it was a rather unexpectedly painful delivery but fortunately Angela was able to push for just about 5min to get out baby Mathus! After, finally getting some local anesthetic and stitched up Angela was able to hold baby Mathus for the first time!!!
We welcomed Mathus Michael-James McEachron at 2:28pm on December 31st.
He weighed 6lbs 9oz and was 18inches long.
FYI- We had decided to add James to the middle name as Mathus was born on the anniversary of the passing of Angela's mom's dad (James Gilman) and finally new years eve could have a positive memory/meaning for Penny (angela's mom).
1 comment:
awwww, he's such a doll baby!!!!! what a great way to start out the new year!!!! congrats!!
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