I had to start my leave early because I was having high blood pressure. I was able to keep it down at home but when I went into work it would raise up to 140/100. I tried to do less stressful things at work, but things kept getting piled on me, so my doctor said to start my maternity leave because it wasn't good for me or for Toby to be in that situation. She was expecting with all the troubles I was having that he would come early. Not so much! He ended up coming a week late and only after being induced! So I was upset that I "wasted" 4.5 weeks of my maternity just trying to keep my BP down, but I know that it's what was healthiest and safest for me and my baby.
At 41 weeks they decided to induce me. Apparently after 41 weeks the placenta starts breaking down and it can become dangerous to remain pregnant. So they started inducing me at 9:30 in the morning. Once my contractions started coming on strong I got my epidural. Getting my epidural was not a fun experience. It took them half an hour to get it in there. They kept hitting bone and missing the "epidural space." Once they got it in I realized that it was completely numbing my legs but I could still feel all of my contractions. They said they could take it out and put it in again but I said absolutely not I'll just feel the contractions.
Finally at 9pm I was fully dilated and ready to push. And I pushed and I pushed and I pushed. For 2.5 hours I pushed. Now I have very large hips. I never thought for a second that I would have a hard time getting out a baby. Apparently it isn't the size of your hips, it's the shape of your pelvis. My pelvis is not the optimal shape for birthing babies. So, I couldn't get him out and the doctor said I needed a c-section. At this point I was so tired and emotional that I just started sobbing. I felt like a complete failure for having to get a c section but my lovely husband consoled me and told me I was doing everything I could and not to blame myself.
So they rolled me into the operating room and got me all set up. They gave me some really good pain meds so I was all numbed up and for the first time in HOURS I was without pain and it was amazing! My husband came in after I was all set up and held my hand. I was so tired that I really wasn't paying a ton of attention to what was happening anymore now that I wasn't in pain so all of a sudden they held up my baby and I didn't even realize they had started cutting me open! My husband then went to be with the baby and after I was shown the baby I fell asleep while they sewed me back up.
I woke up eventually and I held Toby while they rolled us back to the room. They wanted me to breastfeed him as soon as we got back to the room but I told them there was no way. I was too tired and I felt like I was going to drop him. From start to finish it was 15 hours. So his first meal was formula but after I had gotten a couple hours of sleep I was able to breastfeed.
I was also not expecting some of the after effects. My legs were SUPER swollen after. I could hardly get in and out of bed because of how swollen they were. I had to literally lift my legs up one at a time when getting back into bed. I also had to recover from some of the effects of a vaginal delivery because of how long I pushed for as well as all the effects of the c section. It has not been pleasant but it's all worth having my Toby :)
