cash burkely christensen
arrived 9.22.09 @12:55am
8lbs 1oz | 20 1/2 inches
it was quite an event bringing this little man into the world!
we headed into the hospital at 7am to be induced (i needed the baby here since i had a wedding to shoot in 5 days). they hooked me up to an iv and got the contractions moving right along. my initial plan was to go natural and was really excited about it. i had practiced mental imagery and felt like i was as prepared as i could be . . .
the contractions through the first three hours were going pretty good and i was continuing to dilate. my mental imagery was working good and for maybe 2 seconds i thought "i can do this!" well things changed. after 6 total hours of contractions and mental imagery i didn't give a crap about going natural anymore! at one point i had a contraction coming on and i was hanging onto jeremys shoulders and swaying and he started to say "alright lindsey we can do this, just focus on my voice and imagine . . . ." in totally interrupted him and said "just shut up its not working! i just need an epidural!" jeremy then said quietly "i want my own waiting room."
we are still laughing about it right now!
he was so amazing and supportive. i love him.
well the epidural was ordered and i thought i was going to die 6.5 hours into this without an epidural. once i got it, i wondered why the crap i didn't get it in the beginning.
dr. bean came in to check on me and i asked him why on earth he didn't push me to get one . . . he wanted to support me of coarse, but then said "aren't they great!"
well by 10:30ish i was starting to feel like i wanted to be pushing. we called for a nurse and sure enough . . . i was ready. fully dilated, fully effaced, and in the #2 position.
the nurse didn't think this was going to take very long at all . . . 30 minutes tops.
well after an hour dr. bean came back in and started to get his gear on. he gave jeremy and i the options of forceps or vacuum and warned us that if things didn't move within 2-3 contractions that we would have to move to a cesarian section. (this is NOT what i wanted!)
so we started at it with the vacuum option. cash was doing good so there wasn't any need to go extreme and use the forceps. after about 30 minutes i realized that dr. bean wasn't giving up. i had enough room for cash to come, he was coming down but then getting sucked back up. one of the nurses said "maybe he is posterior." dr. bean decided to check and sure enough he was. so then began the rigorous challenge of turning him around. {due to graphic nature - continue reading at own risk!} as jeremy puts it dr. bean was "elbow deep" gripping the babies head and trying to rotate him. he was using all of his strength grunting and getting a work out to get him turned. he got him turned a contraction came and VLOOP . . . he rotated right back to posterior as well as having the vacuum pop off of his head. don't worry this happened 4 different times until i looked at warn out dr. bean who was taking a break and looking off to the side . . . discouraged. he told the nurse to prep for a cesarian and call the anesthesiologist. the nurse followed directions and i heard her let them know over the phone that we would be there shortly because things weren't looking good. dr. bean wanted to try one more time. he rotated him, had me wait through a couple of contractions with not pushing, got the vacuum on and we went for it. on my 4th push . . . his head finally popped out! fifth push . . . he was here! they placed him up on my stomach despite the high risk he was because of the traumatic delivery. i reached down and touched my little 8lb baby fresh from my womb lying on my stomach. i loved him already. emotions swelled within me of coarse. then they did take him away to check him over and warned me that he would probably have to go down to the nursery . . . but he was a fighter! they were all surprised to see that his vitals were steady and he was responding to this world we live in rather well. he got to stay for a little bit, however i was a little preoccupied because . . .
of how bad my tearing was . . . 3rd degree. which means that i ripped through some of the rectum muscle . . . ouch. so as dr. bean continued to stitch me up and jeremy headed down to the nursery.
i am amazed at how much jeremy and i have grown over the last week. our love for one another, compassion, and understanding. i appreciate his support so much and am so grateful that i am married to him. i am so grateful that he was there by my side while i went through the delivery process.
today i am grateful for jeremy and cash.
(and ps, after what i went through i don't care how miserable and crappy i look in the pictures below . . . i earned the right to look like that! :)
