Prince Jasper

I woke-up Tuesday morning around 3 am with some cramping.  I couldn't get back to sleep so I lounged in bed and read.  Matt woke-up a few hours later and I mentioned it to him but said I doubted it meant anything since I still had days until my due date and was otherwise feeling good.  None the less he decided that he would stay home from work (just in case) and work on finishing the nursery.  I spent the day working and then ran some errands and Matt and I went out for Indian for dinner.  After dinner Matt was convinced that we should be going to the hospital but I was against it.  I did not want to be the lady who cried labor and then got sent home from the hospital, although I must admit, it was becoming more difficult to ignore the frequency with which my "cramping" was occurring. 

Around 11pm Matt decided that I was going to the hospital, he wasn't having any more of my denial.  Before succumbing to him I called the hospital to get their opinion,  they agreed that we should come in.  We both got packed (none of this being ready at 35 weeks for me) and headed out.  Got to the hospital, they checked me out, told me to walk the halls for an hour, check me again and admitted me. 

Going into this my intention was to not take drugs, however, I acknowledged that all I really cared about is that everyone was happy and healthy in the end - regardless of how we got there.  The nurse checked me out and informed me that baby was sunny side up, hence the horrible labor pains.  I was having back labor since his head was sliding along my spine and pressing on all my nerves as he decended.  I'm not going to lie, the pain was awful but I am stubborn so I declined drugs and continued to walk to halls.  I made it to 8 cm before I gave in and requested the epidural. 

Upon hearing my request the nurse said if I made it this far there really is no need for it now, but I had made up my mind, I wanted it.  Ohy, what a freaking fiasco.  The anesthesiologist came in and proceeded to prep me, an hour and four tries later it was final in.  Did I mention I had to sit hunched over and totally still that entire time while being continually jabbed?  I will take a moment here to say that I absolutely loved the nursing staff that worked with us, the anesthesiologist, not so much.  But once the epidural was in and the medication was coursing through me I was finally able to relax, it was magic.  At that point the nurses helped me shift positions to try and get little man to flip, six hours later and he hadn't budged.  It was at this point that the doctor suggested the c-section since it wasn't looking good for him coming out naturally.  However, he wasn't in any distress so they were in no rush for me to decide an happy to let me labor as long as I liked (have I mentioned how much I liked my labor team?).   Matt and I discussed it a bit and decided that the c-section might be our best bet, I was still in a fair amount of pain and my tolerance for dealing with it was really waning.   

When the doctor came back in I told her our thoughts and she decided we could make one last effort to get him out without surgery - she hooked me up to a massive dose of pitocin to try and force him out.  It sucked, the contractions were so strong and fast that if I wasn't sure about the c-section before I was positive now.  I was ready to be done.  The pitocin did nothing, he was still wedged in the same position.  So, we made the call and the preparations began.  An hour and a half later they were finally ready to wheel me in to the OR.  This is where it gets a little hazy for me. 

I know they brought Matt in and apparently he showed-up on the wrong side of the curtain and got a full on view of my insides being pulled outside.  Next thing I know there was crying and Matt came around the curtain to tell me we had a boy.  After that Matt and Jasper scooted off to take care of newborn matters and they put me back together.  When that was done I was wheeled into the post-op room where I shook uncontrollably and refused to touch my baby because I was petrified I would drop him.  The shakes finally subsided and all my vitals were okay so we were wheeled to our room, the proud parents of a brand new little guy. 

Two days later we finally settled on a name - Jasper Terry Klungle (aka Prince Jasper to the night nurse due to his inconsolable crying). He was born Wednesday, January 30th at 5:36pm, weighed 7lbs 5 oz and was 19" long.