Our second son Colton Allen Wisniewski was born November 29th at 3:15 am. He was 8 lbs 1 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. I just wanted to take a moment to write about the experience. It all happened so fast and I want to make sure that I have my thoughts and what I remember written somewhere and I have my computer right now so here goes nothing.
My water broke at 12:25 am on 11/29...Jay and I had gone to bed really late...I think about 11:30 pm ish and so I was very deeply asleep as I had just fallen asleep a little less than an hour before this...I woke up to a loud "POP" noise and then a huge gush of water. I gasped, it scared the crap out of me...Jay jumped up and said, "What...What happened?" I quickly told him that my water broke and he needed to help me out of bed. In that instant I wished I had started doing what my birthing class video had said to do and gone to bed with a towel underneath me. I was in the bathroom shaking as all the adrenaline, fear and anxiety coursed through my body. I told Jay that we needed to note the time and call Labor & Delivery because by this time I began contracting and they were coming every minute or so. He spoke with the labor & delivery dept. and they told him I could go ahead and shower off then to go straight to the hospital.
I proceeded to jump in the shower to try to calm myself down and rinse off before we left. While in the shower I was still shaking and contracting about every minute to 30 seconds...and began feeling nauseated (usually the tell tale signs of transition)...my mom got to our house right as I was getting out of the shower. She began changing the sheets to our bed for us and I quickly got dressed and tried to tell Jay to gather the last minute things we needed to take with us to the hospital. I was still feeling very nauseated and still was contracting quite frequently. My mom hurried us out of the house as she was concerned we wouldn't make it to the hospital. (I was really worried as well). As we were leaving Jay said he had a day dream that Colton was born at Devore off of the I-15. Inside I silently freaked out...I didn't want to deliver him on the side of the road but knew it could be a real possibility if we didn't hurry ourselves to the hospital...we live 45-50 min from Kaiser in Fontana and I didn't know if we had that long.
Once in the car and sitting down my contractions slowed to about every 3 minutes and therefore slowing down my labor a little bit. We got to Kaiser and parked...Jay ran and got a wheel chair we went to the gate where you're supposed to go if it is between the hours of 5 am and 10 pm...it was only 1 something am so we couldn't get in...we had to wheel me back to the car...and drive around to the ER entrance...Once at the ER entrance we were directed to where we could get up to labor & delivery....Jay ran me as fast as he could all the while I was contracting about every 1-2 minutes. Once we got to the L&D floor we went to the desk where you check-in...I have never been so frustrated at hospital procedure in my life...we sat there for at least 5 minutes while the lady asked for my Kaiser card, if I had any allergies, if they could let family & friends know we were there, etc. and then once all her questions were answered she called for someone to come and get us. I was taken to a triage room where they had me pee in a cup so they could confirm my water had broke...hooked me up to the monitors, and checked me. I was 7 cm and 100% effaced. I was so relieved, I knew I was almost there. They wheeled me on the gurney to the delivery room.
This is where things got interesting...right away they hooked me up to the monitors and one nurse tried to start an IV in my left hand...she blew out the vein she was trying to start my IV in and therefore my hand was in intense pain almost as bad as my contractions. Then a second nurse tried to start an IV in my right forearm...that went well for a short period of time but then I began to have intense pain in my arm from the IV, so much so that my contractions weren't really even bothering me (they were every minute again). I was resting between contractions and breathing through them when they came...they were very painful but the IV was bothering me more. Turns out the nurse had infiltrated the vein with the IV (which means basically they didn't insert the IV correctly & the fluid begins to go straight into the arm)...I asked to have to IV removed and asked if I could refuse to have it placed back in...due to the fact that they were having me begin to push. They told me they would feel better if I had the IV in case of an emergency and for the routine pitocin they give after delivery. I told them that if they could get an IV started correctly then I would go ahead and accept it. While waiting for the nurse to get the IV started I began having the urge to push and began pushing...as I began pushing the nurse started hooking me up to the IV. At this point I was pissed that I couldn't concentrate on pushing because I had a nurse trying to get an IV started in my right hand. I was also upset that I was stuck in the bed laying on my back (the worst position for pushing a baby out...no gravity to help with everything & making back labor very intense and painful).
The pain of labor was nothing compared to the pain of delivery...I felt out of control as every nurse in my room was talking at me...telling me not to push or to push or to wait for the midwife and to let Colton stretch me out...I wanted to be able to take a breath and just regroup or find my bearings and couldn't. It was not at all what I had envisioned for my natural labor & delivery... When it was time to push I was tired. Up until that point Jay had been with me, with every contraction and seeing to my needs whether it was squeezing his hand or rubbing my back. But when the time came to push...this was the place where he couldn't really do much for me. This was that lonely spot in the process where I had to find all the strength and faith inside of me to push. Another contraction pounded my body and inside I felt myself scream, "No, you can't do this."
"I can't do it." I said to Jay and I began to tear up...I wanted to go home... I couldn't control myself now, the situation was beyond my ability to breathe or concentrate. "I can't do this I said again."
When I look back at this point I know how vital Jay's response was to me. I was in a desperate, comfortless, truly vulnerable place. He could've said, "Well, babe you can get pain meds" But instead he looked at me and assured me I could do it.
"You're almost there, you are doing great. You can do it babe!"
Then with the next gripping contraction I pushed. I pushed with everything I had in me. I found a way to quiet all of the voices in the room and focus on Jay talking to me...each contraction he would tell me how great I was doing and that he was almost out. Once Colton was born I felt an instant surge of emotion...I was so proud, relieved and I felt so blessed. As they placed him on my chest I couldn't help but cry...I had done it and here in my arms was the new infant that Jay and I had made...who I had carried for 9 months. What a miracle. Jay was able to cut the cord like he had with Parks. They took Colton to clean him off and then they gave us our skin to skin time.
We tried nursing right away and Colton latched immediately, which was a surprise to me because Parks had been so groggy that he hadn't nursed for the first few hours after delivery. I was given 2 bags of pitocin (which made the after contractions so painful with no breaks that I asked for pain meds...lol...which is kind of funny to me). After the 2 bags I was able to have my IV removed and we were taken to my recovery room. Colton stayed with us the entire time at the hospital except for when they took him for his circumcision.
It has been 2 weeks and they have been the most exhausting, difficult and rewarding 2 weeks of my life. I feel so blessed and am so proud of myself and what I was able to accomplish through laboring & delivering naturally. I love my boys...Jay, Parks & Colton and am so excited for our little family of 4. Parks is so sweet with Colton and loves being a big brother. I love having a new baby...it is difficult when I have had to be alone with both Parks and Colton because Parks is so busy and into everything but I know things will get easier. Right now Colton nurses about every 2 hours so I feel like that is what I am doing all day long...but he goes for 4 hours the first part of the night and then 3 hours the second part. I am getting about 5 hours of sleep total a night which has been very nice but I am still pretty sleep deprived. He is also pretty sensitive so I have found that I cannot eat any sweets or sugar...it gives him horrible gas and that tends to make him vomit. I am so glad that Jay is home 4 days a week...he is a huge help and I feel so blessed and grateful that my mom has been able to be here...she has helped so so much.
I am so thankful for the miracle of childbirth and pregnancy. I'm thankful for forever families and the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I feel so blessed...LIFE IS GOOD! -Nicole
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Colton Allen Wisniewski
Our second son Colton Allen Wisniewski was born November 29th at 3:15 am. He was 8 lbs 1 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. I just wanted to take a moment to write about the experience. It all happened so fast and I want to make sure that I have my thoughts and what I remember written somewhere and I have my computer right now so here goes nothing.
My water broke at 12:25 am on 11/29...Jay and I had gone to bed really late...I think about 11:30 pm ish and so I was very deeply asleep as I had just fallen asleep a little less than an hour before this...I woke up to a loud "POP" noise and then a huge gush of water. I gasped, it scared the crap out of me...Jay jumped up and said, "What...What happened?" I quickly told him that my water broke and he needed to help me out of bed. In that instant I wished I had started doing what my birthing class video had said to do and gone to bed with a towel underneath me. I was in the bathroom shaking as all the adrenaline, fear and anxiety coursed through my body. I told Jay that we needed to note the time and call Labor & Delivery because by this time I began contracting and they were coming every minute or so. He spoke with the labor & delivery dept. and they told him I could go ahead and shower off then to go straight to the hospital.
I proceeded to jump in the shower to try to calm myself down and rinse off before we left. While in the shower I was still shaking and contracting about every minute to 30 seconds...and began feeling nauseated (usually the tell tale signs of transition)...my mom got to our house right as I was getting out of the shower. She began changing the sheets to our bed for us and I quickly got dressed and tried to tell Jay to gather the last minute things we needed to take with us to the hospital. I was still feeling very nauseated and still was contracting quite frequently. My mom hurried us out of the house as she was concerned we wouldn't make it to the hospital. (I was really worried as well). As we were leaving Jay said he had a day dream that Colton was born at Devore off of the I-15. Inside I silently freaked out...I didn't want to deliver him on the side of the road but knew it could be a real possibility if we didn't hurry ourselves to the hospital...we live 45-50 min from Kaiser in Fontana and I didn't know if we had that long.
Once in the car and sitting down my contractions slowed to about every 3 minutes and therefore slowing down my labor a little bit. We got to Kaiser and parked...Jay ran and got a wheel chair we went to the gate where you're supposed to go if it is between the hours of 5 am and 10 pm...it was only 1 something am so we couldn't get in...we had to wheel me back to the car...and drive around to the ER entrance...Once at the ER entrance we were directed to where we could get up to labor & delivery....Jay ran me as fast as he could all the while I was contracting about every 1-2 minutes. Once we got to the L&D floor we went to the desk where you check-in...I have never been so frustrated at hospital procedure in my life...we sat there for at least 5 minutes while the lady asked for my Kaiser card, if I had any allergies, if they could let family & friends know we were there, etc. and then once all her questions were answered she called for someone to come and get us. I was taken to a triage room where they had me pee in a cup so they could confirm my water had broke...hooked me up to the monitors, and checked me. I was 7 cm and 100% effaced. I was so relieved, I knew I was almost there. They wheeled me on the gurney to the delivery room.
This is where things got interesting...right away they hooked me up to the monitors and one nurse tried to start an IV in my left hand...she blew out the vein she was trying to start my IV in and therefore my hand was in intense pain almost as bad as my contractions. Then a second nurse tried to start an IV in my right forearm...that went well for a short period of time but then I began to have intense pain in my arm from the IV, so much so that my contractions weren't really even bothering me (they were every minute again). I was resting between contractions and breathing through them when they came...they were very painful but the IV was bothering me more. Turns out the nurse had infiltrated the vein with the IV (which means basically they didn't insert the IV correctly & the fluid begins to go straight into the arm)...I asked to have to IV removed and asked if I could refuse to have it placed back in...due to the fact that they were having me begin to push. They told me they would feel better if I had the IV in case of an emergency and for the routine pitocin they give after delivery. I told them that if they could get an IV started correctly then I would go ahead and accept it. While waiting for the nurse to get the IV started I began having the urge to push and began pushing...as I began pushing the nurse started hooking me up to the IV. At this point I was pissed that I couldn't concentrate on pushing because I had a nurse trying to get an IV started in my right hand. I was also upset that I was stuck in the bed laying on my back (the worst position for pushing a baby out...no gravity to help with everything & making back labor very intense and painful).
The pain of labor was nothing compared to the pain of delivery...I felt out of control as every nurse in my room was talking at me...telling me not to push or to push or to wait for the midwife and to let Colton stretch me out...I wanted to be able to take a breath and just regroup or find my bearings and couldn't. It was not at all what I had envisioned for my natural labor & delivery... When it was time to push I was tired. Up until that point Jay had been with me, with every contraction and seeing to my needs whether it was squeezing his hand or rubbing my back. But when the time came to push...this was the place where he couldn't really do much for me. This was that lonely spot in the process where I had to find all the strength and faith inside of me to push. Another contraction pounded my body and inside I felt myself scream, "No, you can't do this."
"I can't do it." I said to Jay and I began to tear up...I wanted to go home... I couldn't control myself now, the situation was beyond my ability to breathe or concentrate. "I can't do this I said again."
When I look back at this point I know how vital Jay's response was to me. I was in a desperate, comfortless, truly vulnerable place. He could've said, "Well, babe you can get pain meds" But instead he looked at me and assured me I could do it.
"You're almost there, you are doing great. You can do it babe!"
Then with the next gripping contraction I pushed. I pushed with everything I had in me. I found a way to quiet all of the voices in the room and focus on Jay talking to me...each contraction he would tell me how great I was doing and that he was almost out. Once Colton was born I felt an instant surge of emotion...I was so proud, relieved and I felt so blessed. As they placed him on my chest I couldn't help but cry...I had done it and here in my arms was the new infant that Jay and I had made...who I had carried for 9 months. What a miracle. Jay was able to cut the cord like he had with Parks. They took Colton to clean him off and then they gave us our skin to skin time.
We tried nursing right away and Colton latched immediately, which was a surprise to me because Parks had been so groggy that he hadn't nursed for the first few hours after delivery. I was given 2 bags of pitocin (which made the after contractions so painful with no breaks that I asked for pain meds...lol...which is kind of funny to me). After the 2 bags I was able to have my IV removed and we were taken to my recovery room. Colton stayed with us the entire time at the hospital except for when they took him for his circumcision.
It has been 2 weeks and they have been the most exhausting, difficult and rewarding 2 weeks of my life. I feel so blessed and am so proud of myself and what I was able to accomplish through laboring & delivering naturally. I love my boys...Jay, Parks & Colton and am so excited for our little family of 4. Parks is so sweet with Colton and loves being a big brother. I love having a new baby...it is difficult when I have had to be alone with both Parks and Colton because Parks is so busy and into everything but I know things will get easier. Right now Colton nurses about every 2 hours so I feel like that is what I am doing all day long...but he goes for 4 hours the first part of the night and then 3 hours the second part. I am getting about 5 hours of sleep total a night which has been very nice but I am still pretty sleep deprived. He is also pretty sensitive so I have found that I cannot eat any sweets or sugar...it gives him horrible gas and that tends to make him vomit. I am so glad that Jay is home 4 days a week...he is a huge help and I feel so blessed and grateful that my mom has been able to be here...she has helped so so much.
I am so thankful for the miracle of childbirth and pregnancy. I'm thankful for forever families and the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I feel so blessed...LIFE IS GOOD! -Nicole
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