Jesse Is Here!

Jesse Michael Rider's Birth Story:

I had come down with PUPPS (a super obnoxious itchy rash) at about 38 weeks and I was trying to deal with it on my own. I was putting on a ridiculous amount of lotion and cortizone every day, taking benadryl and daily oatmeal baths. At my 39 week appointment, my doctor was ready to induce me that night if I wanted, but it seemed a little overwhelming and terrifying that I could have my baby that night. So we ate lunch and tried to talk over when we should have our baby. My problem was that I didn't want to get induced, I was afraid that pitocin would jack everything up and hurt worse and cause complications, but every minute I was scratching and putting too much on/in my body and baby to stop the itching, so it was kind of a lose-lose situation. We ended up deciding on getting induced on his due date.

So it was 7:30am on Monday November 14th and we were just getting settled into the labor room. As I filled out paper work, I got hooked up to a bunch of stuff, a heart monitor for the baby, a contraction monitor, had to keep a blood pressure band around my arm and I got hooked up to an IV and pitocin drip, but it wasn't until about 9:30 that the pitocin actually started. The doctor came in to make sure he was head down and I was already 4 cm dilated! So we started off really slow with the pitocin. They came in every half hour or so and upped my dose by 2 mL an hour. I had a few friends, my dad, Matt and his mom in the room with me. We chatted and time was flying by. We watched my contractions on the monitor, nothing too strong, and about 2-4 minutes apart. We played card games, told stories, checked facebook and kept everyone updated. At about 2, my friends came back with Bojangles and sonic slushes which I only snacked on a little since getting up to pee was the biggest pain. I was checked again at 2:30 and I was still only 4 cm. They broke my water then and upped the dose again, by this time we were at 16 or 18 mL of pitocin an hour and we watched my contractions get longer, stronger and come more often. It was pretty manageable since they felt like period cramps (I had pretty bad cramps during my periods, they just weren't every 3 minutes). For the most part I could just breathe through them. For some reason, something funny would happen every time I was at the peak of my contraction and I would laugh, and it wouldn't feel awesome, but I was laughing so we were all having a good time. Everyone was amazed that I was laughing and smiling through labor. By 4 I was 6 cm. Progress! So we upped my dose a little more and now my contractions were 1 to 2 minutes apart. I started needing Matt during the peaks of my contractions. At first I was just squeezing his hand, but as they got stronger I was really holding on and focusing on breathing through each one. By 6, I was 8 cm. It was starting to get serious because we needed to move into the delivery room and I started feeling the urge to push. As everyone was moving around us, Matt and I focused on my contractions. I was finally wheeled into the delivery room. We could only have 3 people in the room, so Matt sat by my side on my bed, his mom at one leg and our good friend Amber at my other leg. This part is a little foggy but I remember feeling the contraction and this intense pushing urge. So I would push for 10 seconds, breathe and push twice more. We did this through about 10 contractions, at the end I was pushing 4 times per contraction. I kept hearing everyone getting so excited about how close he was to coming out. I just remembering not being able to breathe and getting an oxygen mask at some point. I was so weak and tired and couldn't catch my breath. I started to feel him stay out (since it felt like he was going in after I pushed which was really frustrating) so I mustered all I could and pushed a mighty push until he was out!! I laid there trying to catch my breath as there was a whirlwind of cleaning and crying and he was handed to me. I tiredly counted his fingers and watched Matt shakily cut his chord. He was so beautiful and his cry was so amazing. I was so proud and so very tired, but at 8:10pm, Jesse Michael Rider was born 7lbs 5oz, 20 inches long.

Here are some pictures!





Strong contractions...




My friends wrote on the white board.

Here he is!!

Proud Daddy!

More pictures and an update to follow!

38 weeks

Total weight gain: Well, Halloween candy at walmart is now 50% off... lord help me. And since he's gaining weight everyday, it means I am too. Yay...

How big is baby?: Almost 7 lbs, good gracious.

Maternity clothes?: Getting to big for maternity pants makes my heart hurt a little. My behind has pretty much doubled, and since my belly is so low now a days, it's impossible to fit into any pants while also fully covering my belly with any one shirt.

Stretch marks?: Yup. Bright red swirls all around my belly button... and I've started noticing something faint on my left hip. It's time to get out before it gets worse!

Symptoms?: Braxton hicks, lots of sweating (I accidentally typed swearing at first, but we could possibly say that too), hips screaming while I sleep, swollen fingers and toes, irritability, spurts of energy followed by lots of napping.

Sleep?: Well, the restaurant is closed! So there's no setting alarms which is nice, but I'm tossing and turning every few hours to keep my hips from breaking. And when I say toss and turn, I mean, shifting my weight in 8 small movements from one hip to the other, because I can't just flip like I used to.

Best moment this week?: Closing up the restaurant. I went in for breakfast one last time and helped out (even though I'm 9 months pregnant and didn't even clock in = respect points!). It only took about an hour or so, and I was hoping it would send me into labor.... it didn't.

Movement?: Tons still. I sat and tried to do kick counts while he was napping and it freaked me out. Matt was like 'he has to sleep sometime, relax!' that's what we have husbands for. :) Also, Matt was obsessed with feeling where we could tell were feet or elbows last night, couldn't stop rubbin! It was so cute.

How far along?: 38 weeks!

Food cravings?: Nothing out of the norm, a lot of milk (even though the last 2 glasses I drank, I poured out half way through because I felt like they were tasting funny).

Labor signs?: braxton hicks, but not much real cramping yet. Except for Friday night, I cramped every hour for about 12 hours, thought it was the real thing, and it stopped while I was at work. LAME. I'm so impatient.

Belly button in or out?: so out and stretching.

What I miss: Fitting in clothes or shoes. I started to look at some jeans and then I realized it was pointless. At least for another month or so...

What I'm nervous about: Not knowing if my water breaks! Some people say it can be a slow leak, but apparently a lot of fluids are hanging around these days, so it can get confusing. I just don't want his water to run out and remain clueless! Of course, I'm sure he would stop moving, or I would feel gushes.

What I am looking forward to: Our next appointment tomorrow. Maybe I'll be more dilated?

Milestones: Well, his room has been done, the diaper bag and hospital bag have been packed for weeks, the restaurant closed... it's just waiting for the big moment! Oh! And I trick or treated as a janitor with a 'beer belly'... lol.