Flashback

I hurt my back a few days ago. Nothing awful- just too much lifting, bending, and carrying heavy things when I helped my sister get her house ready for her new baby and then spent 12 hours the next day doing similar things at my own house.

I was trying to remember the last time I really hurt my back and it made me think of my labor and delivery with Micah. In my birthing class (and from all my friends who'd previously gone through labor) I heard all about the tightening pain in your uterus, but I didn't hear much about back pains. When I was in labor, it wasn't the uterine contractions that bothered me, it was my back! That pain didn't come and go like contractions and it's what put me over the edge and lead me to ask my OBGYN for an epi at only 3 centimeters.

In honor of my many, many friends who are about to start delivering 1st and 2nd and 3rd babies any day now, I thought I'd post some minor things about my delivery that I might not have shared in my original Birth Story. So, let's all take a trip down memory lane!

It was darn exciting. Truly. From the first tiny ouch in my stomach to loading Micah into his car seat it was mind-blowing, once-in-a-lifetime, roller coaster thrilling! I can't imagine how labor would feel without all that glorious God-given adrenaline that rushes through you during those few hours.

I had no trouble sleeping. Once my lovely epidural was snug inside my spine (and graciously out of sight) I drifted in and out of sleep like a lazy cat. (What about the rest of you in the room? Terry? Mom? Dad? Did you sleep at all?)

I was insanely peaceful. Surprisingly all of those many, many things that could go wrong did not enter my mind the entire labor. Maybe that is, once again, the drugs.

My birthing class gets an A+ for teaching me how to push. Because once it was time to do so I couldn't feel my legs even the slightest bit. They were so numb I couldn't even move them on my own. I remember that when the nurse and Terry lifted them so I could push, they just felt like giant tree limbs hanging onto my body. But yet, I was able to miraculously push with no trouble by just thinking about what my teacher had taught me (too long and weird to write but if you'd like to know the method, I'll be happy to share).

Micah didn't cry. Not until we shook him up a bit to get him to. I was expecting him to come out wailing, but in typical Micah-fashion he entered the world as if he'd known what to expect all along.

I didn't know how quickly the bond would form between me and my baby. When time came for the nurse to take Micah to the nursery to be observed for the standard hour (which later turned into 4 because of his low blood sugar) I hated parting with him. Newer hospitals now have LDR rooms where you labor, deliver, and recover all in one space. Women's Hospital is older so we labored and delivered in one and then recovered in another. Once they took Micah to the nursery they asked if I wanted to be moved to the new room or if I wanted to eat first. Completely oblivious to my exhausted husband, I asked for the food and made him wait even longer to get in a nap.

Which brings me to my next point. Women's Hospital has excellent food. They had an order-in menu which I could take advantage of any time I wanted. And I'm pretty sure I forgot all about healthy eating and ordered dessert nearly every meal!

My stay at Women's would have been near perfect if I weren't such a prisoner in my room. Most women are encouraged to get out and walk around to get their energy back. It was almost 8 hours before I could stand on my epidural sea-legs. But after that, my OBGYN gave strict orders that it was to the bathroom and then back to bed only. Because I ripped in two directions, I was bleeding a lot and subsequently in a good deal of pain. (Warning to soon to be first-time-moms or anyone with a queasy stomach) For 4 days I bled through the pads and diaper-like-things the hospital gave me and several times I even bled through my pants and the sheets of my bed. I'm optimistic that the second time around will be better. I remember Monica giving birth just 6 weeks after me and when we visited her in the hospital (only hours after delivery) she was up moving around wearing little pj shorts and looking very cute. If I remember correctly she wasn't even taking any pain meds. Lucky girl!

Mostly when I think about those first 36 hours in the hospital, what I remember feels like a dream. We had lots of visitors, which I was grateful for. But when I think back, all I remember is being unable (or more likely unwilling) to sleep after Micah was born because I thought I'd miss something. Terry was pretty wiped and slept on the bench by the window. But not me. I flipped through the tv in that dark room just waiting until Micah needed another feeding or a diaper change. I couldn't get enough of him. I laughed at his hair, I smoothed lotion over the scrapes he'd given himself on his face. I wanted to breathe him in, eat him up. It was like finally reaching the top of an ugly mountain and being able to stand on the apex and gaze out at the wonder and beauty of what lay just on the other side. It was like God finally saying to me, "None of that other stuff ever mattered." It was my once-in-a-lifetime "AHA!" moment. The once-in-a-lifetime moment that I'll get to have again. In just 3 short months!