Baby Calvin Has Arrived!! Some Things Expected, Some Things Not...

The big day finally arrived!! So much buildup, and I never thought this little guy would ever come. He was due the day after Thanksgiving, November 26, and that was exactly the day he decided to grace us with his presence. And here is the story...

HE'S COMING

I decided to stop working the week of Thanksgiving. I had a feeling it would be incredibly difficult to have nothing to do, but I actually managed to keep myself very occupied. The nesting instincts truly kicked in. I could not stop cleaning everything. In fact, the paneling on my interior doors even got attention. I kept being active as well. After my false labor scare the week before and the subsequent inactivity, I had vowed to do something active every day. I either walked the dogs (about 2 1/2 miles each time), strength trained with the TRX, or did yoga. It seemed to be working somewhat because at a doctor's appointment earlier in the week I was 3 cm dilated.

The morning of Thanksgiving I was really starting to not feel well. I was nauseous, crampy, and was having frequent contractions. Fortunately, my parents were staying at our house for Thanksgiving so we knew that if anything happened we were ready. My mom and I went for a dog walk, and then later that afternoon I decided to try bouncing on my physioball (this was after looking up some techniques to induce labor online...I picked the activity related method, of course). I was constantly having contractions, but when I timed them they were only about 10 minutes apart. They weren't getting closer and sometimes I wouldn't even have one. I finally gave up timing them and admitted to myself that I was psyching myself out.

We had Thanksgiving dinner at our house with my mom, dad and brother. When all the Thanksgiving festivities were over, I got up to get ready for bed. Standing in the bathroom, I suddenly felt a slight pop (almost like Calvin kicked me really hard), and realized I was SERIOUSLY leaking all of a sudden. It wasn't the crazy gush you hear about sometimes, but nevertheless I decided that my water must have actually broken. (This was how I always wanted it to start, actually, without all the contraction timing, etc.)

When I told Scott, the chaos began. We started rounding things up for the hospital, putting my dad and brother in charge of the dogs, giving directions, and knowing I was forgetting something. I was super excited, but really scared at the same time. I immediately started feeling some contractions, this time with pain. Sitting in the car, I started violently shivering. It was so weird, and I never could control it. The shivering continued all the way to the hospital.

FULL ON LABOR

We actually made it to the hospital in about 15 minutes since it was 10:30 on Thanksgiving night. Absolutely no traffic. My contractions were about 3 minutes apart and starting to get pretty strong. Even in the car I was having to focus my breathing on them. There was nobody at the hospital so it didn't take very long to get checked in. It made me laugh because walking up to the admissions desk, the receptionist casually asked, "are we having a baby?" Um, yeah.

When the nurse checked me at first in the room, I was only 4cm dilated. I thought it would be more because my contractions were really getting intense and stacking close together. She asked me if I wanted an epidural, and I told her that I was going to try to do it naturally. Well, two violent contractions with very difficult breathing patterns later I asked for the epidural. I never thought I would get an epidural...this pain was completely different than anything I've ever experienced. It just violently took over.

After requesting the epidural I had to wait about 30 minutes for the anesthesiologist to arrive. Wow, that was rough. My mind was now set on the fact that pain relief was imminent, and I lost all focus. The contractions were so out of control. I actually had to vomit in the middle of one, which was probably the worst experience of my entire life. The anesthesiologist finally arrived and it was like an angel walked into the room. He was surprised that I was only dilated about 5 cm at that point since my contractions were so strong and close together. Sitting through the epidural process was torture...I had to hold completely still through yet another wretched contraction. Once the epidural was in place, I asked the doctor how long it would take to kick in. He looked at me and said, "Well you're having a contraction now...can you feel it?" No. Utterly amazing.

Once I was relaxed, I quickly dilated from 5cm to 8cm in about half an hour. The last two centimeters took about two hours of utter bliss. I couldn't feel a thing. I was able to casually chat with Scott, my mom and my sister.

BABY TIME

When I was finally 10cm at 4:00am on my due date, we decided to try to start pushing. The doctor was on her way to the hospital (the doctor on call was actually the doctor I was hoping would deliver my baby!!). Up to this point labor consisted of about two hours of hell, and an hour and a half of ease. I figured that by 4:30 I'd have my baby in my arms. What I didn't realize was the serious workout I was about to have.

I started pushing with every other contraction at 4:00. I pushed for an hour and a half! I somehow thought that it would take 4 or 5 pushes to get him out. Not so much. This was so much work!! I was a sopping, sweaty, exhausted mess by the end of it all. I have no idea how I would have been able to push for so long if I didn't have the epidural. However, it may have taken longer considering I couldn't feel exactly where I was suppose to push. They finally brought in a mirror, which was weird, but it did actually help. The nurses also said that I was actually TOO strong! I was clenching too hard with everything I had, but not in the right place. Funny how that works.

Finally, at 5:28am on his due date, Calvin Scott Dahlman was born! It was the most wonderful thing to finally hold my little guy and know that I had done it. He was 6 pounds 15.3 ounces and 19 inches long. He was just perfect.

RECOVERING

For the last week my workouts have consisted of sustained isometric biceps curl (holding Calvin), slow eccentric squats (lowering myself SLOWLY onto the couch), and ocular exercises (trying to keep my eyes open). Fortunately, I didn't tear too badly (1st degree), so I feel much better everyday. But I can feel my muscles shriveling away. I know it won't take long to get them back, and I'm really looking forward to being able to workout as before. I can already put my shoes on just fine and sleep on my stomach, which is incredibly promising. It's the simple things...

SOME THINGS EXPECTED, SOME THINGS NOT

Well it's pretty rare that my labor would actually start with my water breaking AND that he would be born on his due date. He's a rare one. But, I did not expect that I would end up getting an epidural and that I would push for so long. I thought with my high pain tolerance and super strong muscles that it would be much easier. Haha. I have a newfound respect for all the mothers out there.

I'm excited to have a perfectly healthy, beautiful baby boy that sleeps well, nurses well, and is gaining weight well. I am incredibly blessed by the whole process and God's incredible providence through all of it. Now for the adventures of motherhood...