Bowman West

Finally...

I guess it's time for me to finish this story. My computer's been out of commission for about two months so I've just been using Andy's work computer for the basics. I'm out of patience now though so I'll finally finish this story!

Last time I left off with Andy about to hit the anesthesiologist. What's funny is that a few days ago I realized that the anesthesiologist is the husband of a friend/acquaintance here. Now I feel bad for getting mad at him (not really).
Anyway, the only option I had at that point was for IV pains meds which could only be given up until the final stage of labor. Anything after that could cause respiratory distress for me and/or the baby. Just as the nurse was going to give me the meds I suggested that they check to see where I was in my labor because things seemed to be moving along fairly quickly. Sure enough, I was getting really close to the pushing point so no meds for me! BTW, when I looked at the itemized bill for L&D they charged us for the meds I never got. Jerks.

So there we were about to have this baby with no pain medication and completely unprepared for the entire experience. It's all a little hazy now but I'm sure I resembled those women you see on A Baby Story moaning and crying like it's the end of the world. I always thought they were being overdramatic. It turns out they weren't -- that stuff hurts like heck! I kept going into the bathroom so I could sit down and my nurse (who was AWESOME!) told me if she heard me pushing she would tie me to the bed. I guess they frown upon babies being born in the toilet. I guess I can see her point.

I think it was less than an hour from the time we saw the anesthesiologist until the time Sarah Jane was born. At least now it seems to have gone by fast. I'm sure it didn't seem that way at the time! I finally reached the point that I've always wondered about. Again, on the TV shows, there's always this woman screaming, "I have to push!". I never understood that but now I do. When there are no drugs involved your body just takes over and does its own thing. Once I told my nurse that I had to push the labor & delivery ninjas descended on the room.

We had intended on my OB being there for the delivery but everything was happening so fast and we liked the OB & senior resident who were on duty that night so we didn't call him. It was all women and Andy in the room and they were cheering me on with some major girl power. All I needed was some Indigo Girls playing and I would've felt fully empowered. :)

I think I pushed for about 20-30 minutes and SJ was born. She came out screaming and snorting and making everyone laugh. Her full head of curly hair impressed everyone, too. They put her right on my chest and I got to hold her as long as I wanted. IT WAS AMAZING!! This was all very different from when Charlie was born after pushing for two hours and him needing the NICU team to clear his airway and help him breath for the first ten minutes or so. What was a little weird was that it took some work to deliver the placenta and when I finally did they marveled at how large it was. Andy even went over to look. Nice. I bet he thinks I'm sexier now that he's seen that abnormally huge placenta. That's hot.

SJ's birth is definitely one of the most amazing things I'll ever experience. I'm actually glad now that I didn't have pain meds. I felt perfectly fine after her birth and even walked down to my postpartum room. Again, a very different experience than I had after Charlie. With him I could hardly move on my own for two days.

I think if we have another baby (Andy would kill me for even considering that -- don't tell him!) I would try to go with no pain meds because it was much better without them. Although when I told my OB that at my 6-week follow-up he laughed and called that "mommy amnesia." He's probably right!
So there you have it. It took me almost six months to finish that story. Sorry for the wait!

Little Sarah Jane has been pure joy since she arrived. She got off to a slow start with jaundice, poor feeding, & weight loss but you should see her now! She's all cute and chubby and LOUD. She doesn't cry much but when she does she gets very serious about it. She also gets really loud when she jabbers which she does a lot. She's 5.5 months now, rolling everywhere, and very frustrated that she can't crawl. She keeps a close eye on her big brother, loves her paci and blankie (thanks Adria!), and is super ticklish. We LOVE this little family that God has given us and are so incredibly thankful to have happy, healthy kids!