September 24, 2009 will go down as one of the best days of our lives because our first child, Jude Justice Whitacre, made his debut. With that said, here's the back story.
On Tuesday night, September 23rd we celebrated Tim's Grandpa's birthday. We ate yummy chicken and veggies and laughed a lot at the Hawk's Nest with family. I waddled around and broke up the party early because I was tired and not feeling well (Every party has a pooper. That's why we invited you...party pooper).
Apparently, all this partying was too much for me because a few hours later at 2:22 am my water broke. I immediately went to the computer and googled to make sure that what I thought had happened had actually occurred. I got back into bed and told Tim. My water breaking first was not in my birth plan (insert psycho laughter here at the thought of a birth plan). I was very concerned that if my water broke, I would need to be induced. Tim prayed for me that contractions would start on their own...and they did about 20 minutes later. Praise Jesus! We got up, did some laundry, straightened the house, made sure we had everything packed, and then pretended to watch Robin Hood, the cartoon movie. I labored for about four hours at home moving around as much as I could. I rocked in Jude's room, sat on the labor ball, and leaned on the counter while timing contractions. They were anywhere from eight to five minutes apart.
My doctor had told me that if my water broke I needed to go to the hospital immediately. I knew this, but didn't want to go in. My "plan" was to labor at home as long as possible. Tim called the hospital to see what they wanted us to do and of course they wanted us to come in, so after a nice hot shower and a double check of the to-bring list, we drove to Twin Cities Hospital a bit after 7am. Sure enough, my water had broken and I was dialated 4 cm.
After getting checked in and laboring in the room for a while as they monitored me and the baby, I was able to get into the labor tub. It felt really good and did make the contractions easier to endure. There is something to warm water and weightlessness.
We headed back to the room and at around 11am Dr Prewitt came to check on us and support us. She did a great job helping me focus and reset my mind. The contractions were coming hard and consistently at this point and I was beginning to struggle. She really helped me to welcome the contractions and think of them as purposeful and useful for the end goal: A healthy baby boy.
I continued to labor throughout the afternoon. I took a couple showers, walked around a bit, sat and rolled on the labor ball, and continued to be as active as possible. I was getting tired. My body felt so heavy and my hips felt like they were being ripped in two every couple of minutes. My friend Nikki calls it "the ring of fire"...well said.
At 4pm, I asked the nurse to check my progress. She did and responded that I was going to hate her. Not the words I was looking for. After many hours I had only dialated one more cm to 5 cm. I cried and asked for drugs. The nurse challenged me to labor for another hour until Dr. Prewitt would return and perhaps I would make significant progress within that time. For the next hour and a half, I continued to try to relax through the contractions and remain as active as possible. I was hoping for the best. At around 5:30pm, Dr. Prewitt checked my progress and confirmed that I was still at 5cm. I cried again and asked for drugs...again. This time I got them - Stadol (spelling?). I hate this drug! It made me completely out of it. I felt like I passed out in between the most painful contractions I had felt yet. The contractions came faster and faster and harder and harder. I felt every piece of them, but was mentally incoherent. It was a very difficult two hours.
At 7:30pm, I was checked again and had dialated to 7 cm. This was encouraging, but I was fading. My exhaustion was beyond anything I had ever experience before. I couldn't hold my own body weight anymore and I didn't feel like I could continue to press on. I requested the epidural and Dr. Prewitt agreed that I needed to rest if I was going to be able to push the baby out.
The epidural arrived at 8:30pm. After eighteen hours of labor, I was thankful for the advancement of medicine. My mom, Tim, and I rested for three hours until midnight when it was time to push. The epidural was administered very well and I was able to use my legs during the pushing including squatting. I was very thankful for this. I pushed for three hours and at 3:18am on Thursday, September 24th after a grueling 25 hours of labor Jude Justice Whitacre was laid on my tummy. I get tears in my eyes just thinking about it.
One moment that I will never forget occurred as the nurses were cleaning Jude up as he laid on my chest crying. I was crying and then I began talking to him. He moved his head and looked up at me and I could tell that he knew my voice and found comfort in it. I cried some more.
Labor was really hard and this is probably more information than anyone wants to know, but it's my story and for some reason I feel the need to share it. It didn't go as I had hoped. I think there are things I can do differently next time to be better prepared, but in the end I am so thankful for the amazing staff at Twin Cities Hospital, an incredibly supportive Mother, an enduring, loving, strong, and helpful husband, and most of all for a healthy, happy baby boy. What more could a girl ask for?
