Mom: Julie Watson

Baby: Riley Aiden Moore

Riley's Birth Story

Ok, I'm gonna try to write this before he wakes up...hehe

On Monday the 14th at about 11:00 PM I started having these weird pains. They were not contractions they were more like something the baby was doing. I got up to go pee (nothing new for me..lol) and grabbed some Pepperidge Farm cookies and a glass of milk on my way back to the living room. Little did I know it would be my last meal. Sat down on the couch and began eating my yummy cookies. A couple minutes later, about 11:30 pm, I feel this gush. I'm thinking, "no, I didn't just pee on the couch!" lol Then it hit me, maybe that was my water breaking. I went to the bathroom and my shorts were soaked and I felt like I was dripping all over the place. I almost could not believe that this might be it.

I went into the bedroom to change and thought about waking Gary up. Decided to take a shower first. If I'm going to the hospital I'm going in clean. After my shower I wake Gary up. He says, "Man I knew you would go in the middle of the dang night!" I get dressed and soak a pad right away. Now I'm sure this is my water so I call the hospital. I ask them if I should come in and the nurse laughs at me. I guess it was a dumb question. So Gary takes a shower and we head off for the hospital.

We get to the hospital at about 12:30 and they put us in a room. BTW all the rooms are private birthing suites. They do the paper test and it does not turn blue. They try several times and we cant figure out what's going on. I tell them that I know it was my water but they are not convinced. They hook me up to the monitors to see if I'm having any contractions. Well all I was having were really small contractions about every 20 mins but they decided to keep me overnight and gave me some Stadol to help me sleep.

We settled in and just when was about to fall asleep I felt another gush. They had left the litmus paper on my table so I tested it myself. It was blue!!! I called the nurse and had her test it, of course it was still blue. (I didn't tell them I had tested it myself already) They hooked me back up to the monitors and now my contractions were coming every 12 minutes. They told me to get some sleep while I could...yeah right!

By the time the doctor called in the morning I was feeling my contractions but they were still only 12 mins apart. They hooked me up to an IV and started the pitocin. Right away they started coming every 4-5 mins but they were not to bad yet. The doc checked me and I was only 1cm and -1 station....ugh! I spent the next few hours breathing through progressively worse contractions, still 4 mins apart. I finally broke down and asked for some Stadol. This did nothing for the pain but I was sleeping in between contractions. At this point Gary is really getting on my nerves. Every time I open my eyes from a contraction he's got the camera pointed at me. BTW...we got the pics back and I do not look happy! Anyway, even though the contractions had not gotten bad yet I was still very unhappy all morning. Because of the pit I had to stay in bed and stay hooked up to the monitors. All I wanted to do was move around and I was really pissed but all I could do was cry. I'm sure the nurse was getting frustrated too because I kept asking her why I couldn't get up, why I couldn't have anything to drink...blah,blah,blah! Finally she let me at least sit up in the bed. That kept me happy for awhile. :)

Ok, so at some point the doc comes back. I've been staring at the clock all day but I have no idea what time it is. He checks me and I'm only 3 cm. Can we say not amused? They kept losing Riley's heartrate and I think it was doing some dips too. Anyhow, they put in internal monitors. I'm not sure what he was doing up there but it hurt like heck. So now I'm really stuck in bed. I cant even get up to pee and I'm peeing like every 20 mins. The doc says to up the pit and tells her I can have an epidural now. The contractions are getting really strong but at least I know relief is on its way. The nurse comes back and tells me that the anesthesiologist is in surgery so I'm gonna have to wait a little while. She gives me some more Stadol. I'm getting really loopy and I tell Gary that I don't want to have a baby after all. He is now getting pretty concerned about me. He try's to calm me down but I tell him to sit down and shut up. So he does! LOL

The pain is getting worse and worse. It seemed like every time I opened my eyes that damn nurse was turning up the pit. I know I was staring darts at her too. I kept asking when I was gonna get my epidural and she kept telling me he would be here soon. The doctor came back in and tells her I need something for the pain. They had just given me some more Stadol and she asks if I want some Demerol. Of course I took it. Within minutes I was high as a kite. Unfortunately it was doing nothing for the pain. The next few hours are a blur because I'm so out of it. I remember seeing the doctors shoes once...lol Gary says I told him not to make any noise because it made me think that the epidural man was coming. At some point I get really sick and start throwing up. Good thing I had not eaten. I always throw up when I'm in pain! The doctor comes back and checks me and I'm at 5cm. He tells the nurse to cut off the pit that I'm too tense and not progressing. The contractions start to ease up a bit and I can sleep between them.

At about 9:00 pm the epidural man comes. It does not hurt at all and soon I am feeling great. I talk to Gary and the nurse for a minute and then I fall asleep. At 10:00 pm the doctor comes back. He is talking about a c-section.

Did I just go through all that for a c-section? He checks me again. I'm 10 cm and fully dilated....Yeah!!! He tells me to start pushing on my next contraction. One small problem I cant feel anything except a slight pressure. They turn the epidural off which really scares me but I'm ready to get this baby out. I guess I pushed for at least an hour but it does not seem that long to me. The next thing I know the doctor is putting on his scrubs and they are getting all kinds of stuff together. That's when I saw the forceps. I want to ask him why but I'm too tired. He try's them once with no success. Then he try's the vacuum but it slips off. Back to the forceps we go. I can't feel pain but I can feel the forceps being moved around. It was sort of traumatic for me but I can't explain exactly why. It takes him a few good tugs to get the head out and then the body comes with one push. The doc says, "What were we having?" I say, " A boy." He says, "Yep, here's your boy!" He picks Riley up and lays him on me while he suctions him out. As soon as Riley starts crying relief overwhelms me and I just start crying.

They take my screaming Riley to clean him up and the nurse tells me that he looks a little rough. The doctor smiles and says that he sounds good for just getting beat up. Riley screams his little head off until the nurse starts singing to him. He stopped crying instantly, it was so sweet. When they gave him back to me he really did look like he had been in a bar fight. It hurt me to look at him. His lip was bloody and three times the size it should be. His nose was black and blue, and so was his head. Even with all that he was so beautiful. He looked nothing like what I expected but he was so perfect. (I know all you moms can relate.) We breastfed right away but it was hard on him with his sore lip. Poor guy! Then Daddy got to hold him. It still amazes me how much my feelings for Gary changed in that instant. He wasn't just my boyfriend or the jerk who drives me half insane anymore. He is the one person who loves this little boy as much I do. (He is slowly making his way back to being the jerk who drives half insane...LOL)

So to sum it up I could have lived without the pit, being confined to bed, the episiotomy and the forceps. Let's not even talk about the late epidural! But I can't imagine life without my little angel. It was all worth it. Heck, I'm already starting to forget the pain. :) Gee this sure did get long. And to think, I left a lot of stuff out. LOL So that's my story. Eight years of waiting finally over. I really do feel blessed!

Julie

Head over heels in love mommy to Riley Aiden

Ps... My dad's b-day is the 15th and my mom's is the 16th. For the whole pregnancy I told Gary that I didn't want to have him on their b-day's. I should have known that's when it would happen. Of course my dad was pleased as punch cus we did not think he would make it in time, but he did with ten minutes to spare.