Jackson's Debut

Meet Jackson John Feldman. He was born at 12:33 PM on March 2 - his due date!!  He was 7lbs. 4oz. and exactly 21 inches long.  

His arrival story starts on March 1 at 7:30AM.  I woke up to get ready for work and went to the bathroom only to find out that my water had broke.  I called my doctors office and confirmed what was happening.  Since I had no contractions, I was instructed to stay home for the next 4 to 6 hours to see if anything happened.   My husband and I tried to keep busy and finished up a few last minute things around the house.  We ate a huge breakfast - since we didn't know when we'd eat next.  Around noon, we became impatient and headed to the hospital.

We were immediately admitted into the labor and delivery unit upon our arrival, and then the wait began.  And we waited, and waited, and waited.  My doctor arrived at 8PM (12 hours after my water had broke) and advised that I take cervatex every 2 hours to jump start labor.  After your water breaks, they become concerned with the risk of infection.

I started the Cervatex as recommended, but still nothing for a while. Finally, contractions started around 1:30AM, but nothing too crazy. At first, I wasn't even sure that they were contractions - they seemed like minor menstrual pains.  They checked me and I was 1cm dilated, 80% effaced. Contractions picked up quickly. I got in the jetted tub for a while which helped. At 4:30AM I was about ready for an epidural l, so they had to check me. I was 10cm and 100% effaced, so they said no epidural. 

The contractions were terrible and they kept telling me I should have the urge to push, but I really didn't. I went through that for almost 2 hours and then when they checked me again, they realized I was actually 8cm and shouldn't be pushing! That meant I could have the epidural, which they quickly got for me. They also gave me Pictocin because my contractions had slowed. 

The epidural seemed to work right away and they wanted me to take a nap - I was completely exhausted after my 2 hours of unnecessary pushing!  Ten minutes in, I was woken up by terrible contractions. They got the anesthesiologist and added Phentonal to my drip, which kicked in and fixed everything. Both my husband and I took an hour and a half nap while they waited for the Pictocin to do its job. They checked me again, and I was finally (actually) fully dilated - it was time to push.  

When I began to push, they noticed the baby's heart rate dropping.  They had me turn to various positions and noticed that the heart rate stabilized when I was laying more on one side than the other.  I pushed for about 2 hours and then baby boy made his appearance. He came out with the cord around his neck, making him appear blue.  They gave him a few good pats on the back though and he took his first breath and they laid him on my stomach.