On September 8th, 2017 our lives got a whole lot sweeter! Our baby boy, Adam James Romaniuk was born at 2:51am weighing 6lbs. 13oz. and measuring 20" long. This day, is the best day of my life! Meeting our son for the first time is a moment I will never forget.
My birth story isn't what I had expected at all, in a good way! I didn't have a birth plan, because I didn't want to set myself up for disappointment if nothing went accordingly. I knew I didn't want a c-section, and I really wanted to avoid getting an epidural, but again, I had no idea what to expect, so I knew these wishes of mine could potentially go out the window.
I had an ultrasound scheduled on Thursday September 7th, at 41 weeks pregnant. I hadn't had any signs of dilation at 40 weeks, so there was a good chance of induction. Anders and I got ready that morning, put the hospital bags in the car, and dropped the dog off at my parents. After our ultrasound appointment at 1pm, we went for lunch, and headed to the hospital.
Once we got there, they put me in a room, and monitored the baby for about 30 min. Then the OB came in to check if I had any dilation. I was at 1 cm, so they went ahead and put in cervidil, which is a cervical ripener (a tampon looking thing that has a hormone gel on it). It can take about 12 hours to work and the purpose of this, is to help the cervix dilate and efface before they can start induction with a pitocin drip the next day. They put the cervidil in at 3:30pm, and monitored me and the baby for an hour before sending us home. We were told to come back at 3:30am to see how my cervix has progressed, and then go from there.
Well, as soon as we left the hospital around 4:30pm, I started feeling some contractions. They were very irregular, and I didn't really know what to think of them. We went for dinner with my parents when I started to become more uncomfortable. Once we got home, I laid in bed, and focused on timing my contractions. They were very close together, anywhere from 2-5 min apart, and 30 sec. long. Was I in labour?! I got dressed, and we drove back to the hospital. We got there around 8:30pm, they hooked me up to the monitors again, and we waited for the OB to come in and see how I had progressed. When she checked me, she said I was still only 1 cm, and about 66% effaced. How could I have contractions so close together, and still only be 1 cm. I guess I was experiencing "mini contractions" because they were still too short. She did a stretch and sweep, and then suggested I get a morphine/gravol shot in the hip to help take the edge off so I could go home and get some sleep. We were told to come back at 7am, as the cervidil was still in place, and I hadn't really progressed much. I was disappointed, because what I was feeling had to be the beginning of something! On the drive home, my contractions started to become more intense. I thought, this morphine shot should kick in soon, and hopefully I can lay down and get through these contractions a bit easier in my own bed. From the sounds of it, my labour was in the very early stage, and I still had a long road ahead of me!
We got home at 10:30pm, I put on my sweats, and laid down. The fetal position was the only position that felt comfortable. I tried to sleep, but the contractions were getting SO painful, and I wasn't getting much of a break in between. Very quickly they became so intense and strong, that sleeping was NOT an option! I tried laying down (in all positions), getting on my hands and knees, standing up, walking, sitting on the toilet, leaning over a chair, leaning on Anders, having Anders rub my back, not having Anders rub my back...NOTHING seemed to ease the pain! By this point my contractions were about 1.5-2.5 min apart, and lasting anywhere from 30 sec-90 sec. I was waiting for the length of them to become more consistent, or for my water to break before heading back to the hospital despite not being able to talk through my contractions. The last thing I wanted, was to be sent home again. This continued for about 3 hours! Then, during one contraction, I got out of bed and started bleeding. I ran to the bathroom, and quite a bit of blood was coming out. Anders was like "we need to go to the hospital now!", I agreed!
I was holding my crotch the whole way to the hospital, saying to Anders "the baby is coming!" "I don't want to have this baby in the car!" The pressure I felt was insane, and I had such a strong urge to push!! It was 2:15am when we got to the hospital, Anders wheeled me into Labour and Delivery. They got me into a triage room right away, as I mentioned I had the cervidil put in earlier that day. They checked me right away, and sure enough the doctor said "you are 10 cm dilated!" I was not surprised considering the amount of pain and pressure I was feeling. I still think it is funny that I did all my active labour at home, and how fast I went from 1 cm dilated to a full 10 cm!! They gave me some laughing gas during my contractions while they quickly tried to get the cervidil out, which at this point was lodged behind the baby's head. As soon as they got it out, they moved me into the labour and delivery room, broke my water, and I started to push right away! It felt good, in the sense that it relieved the pain of the contractions, however feeling everything else, was quite uncomfortable. The burning ring of fire is so true! I pushed for about 15 min, and at 2:51am our baby boy was born! It is so hard to describe all the emotions I had when they immediately put him on my chest! It is nothing I have ever felt before. I couldn't stop staring at him! I guess at one point his heart rate dropped while I was pushing, so they had a NICU team in the room ready to go if they needed, but as soon as he came out, he was healthy and doing very well, I didn't even notice them leave! Everyone at the hospital were so great! All the doctors and nurses took very good care of us, especially with how quickly we came in! They were there right away and made everything go smoothly!
Our sweet Adam James, we love him so much! He is named after two very important people in our lives! Adam, after Anders grandfather who passed away ten years ago, a man I wish I could have gotten to know better, and a man who was a huge influence and figure in Anders life growing up. James, after my dad, my hero, my big teddy bear who has always loved me unconditionally, and who has always supported Anders and I in everything we do. We are so grateful for the impact these two men have had in our lives, and we are so happy to honour them through our son.
