On Saturday, May 21st 2011 @ 38 5/7 weeks I was woken from my sleep around 6:00am with a sharp pain in my stomach. It felt a lot like a menstrual cramp but it was not that intense so I attributed it to constipation or something else. I was able to fall right back asleep but in a short while later I was woken again with another of these pains. I looked at the clock and saw it had been about 11 minutes since the last pain. I again fell back asleep and this pattern continued for the next couple hours.
When I finally got out of bed around 9:30am I noticed that these “pains” were still happening and were occurring about every 9 minutes. Hmmm…maybe something was going on. I thought I’d give the bathroom a try in case I was just badly constipated and although I did have a bowel movement it did not help to relieve the cramping and pain. In fact, the “pains” were getting more intense…okay, I was having contractions.
At this time I decided to crawl into the bathtub to help relieve the discomfort. The warm water felt amazing! As I was soaking in the tub my husband woke up and walked by the bathroom and asked what I was doing to which I responded, “I’m having contractions, but don’t panic because they’re still 9 minutes apart”. My husband began to panic! We spent the next few hours cleaning the house, doing laundry, mowing the lawn, etc.
Throughout this time I had been texting my mom and sister giving them updates on what was happening. I had also called the hospital to ask them when I should come in; they told me to come if the contractions were consistently 4 minutes apart or if my water broke. Okay, so that gave me something to look forward to. As the hours passed my contractions came closer and closer together. From 11 minutes to 9 minutes to 7 minutes to 5 minutes. My sister came over to our house at 3:00pm to see how I was doing. I told her that the contractions weren’t that consistent (or so I thought) so she started to write them down. Turns out they were more consistent than I thought and were coming every 3 minutes. Okay, it was time to go to the hospital.
When we arrived at the hospital I was put into one of the triage rooms, hooked up to the monitors, and told to wait for the on-call doctor to come and check me. My contractions were still coming every 3 minutes and were starting to get much more intense. The doctor arrived and checked me and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I was already 4cm and 75% effaced. Labor and delivery room, here I come! I was admitted to my L&D room and again hooked up to the monitors. The nurses and doctors talked with me about pain management options and we decided that we would try hourly fentanyl injections into my IV. The fentanyl was amazing (at first) and really helped to take the edge off. I tried a few other non-pharmacological options for pain relief: the birthing ball, the tub, walking the halls. I was totally convinced that I was going to be able to make it through without an epidural…yes!
My parents arrived as did my best friend, Heidi, and we all tucked in for what looked like it was going to be a long night. I tried to get some rest to save up my energy for pushing but my contractions were getting more and more intense. Around 10:30pm they were coming every minute and were lasting longer each time. I was no longer getting relief from the fentanyl and was starting to feel absolutely miserable. My doctor came in to check me and told me I was 7cm and still 75% effaced. I had been at a 7 for a couple of hours at this time so my doctor decided that we should start Pitocin to get things moving a little quicker. He also wanted to break my water to further help things along.
It was at this time that I decided that an epidural was going to be the best option for me. The contractions were already so intense and I knew that they were only going to get worse with the addition of Pitocin and the breaking of my water. Thankfully my doctor was okay with waiting to do these interventions until after I was given the epidural. And thank goodness he was okay with waiting because due to several emergencies the anesthesiologists were unable to come and do the epidural for 2.5 hours. Boy was I happy when I finally saw them!
My epidural was finally in around 1:00am on Sunday, May 22nd…why I waited so long for this miracle is beyond me! The epidural was fantastic!!! Shortly after my doctor came in to break my water and my nurse started me on a Pitocin drip. After only an hour I started to feel intense pressure in my bottom and felt like I need to pus. My doctor came back to check me and I was 10cm and 100% effaced…time to push! I started pushing with some excellent coaching from my nurse and was very relieved when she told me that I was doing a great job pushing and that my little guy was moving with each and every push. We tried a couple different positions for pushing and found that using the birthing bar and a sheet was the most effective. I continued to push for 3.5 hours; I don’t even know how I had the strength to push for this long but I somehow kept going. I was determined to get my little man into this world.
At this time, about 5:30am, everything changed. My doctor and a group of OB doctors came into my room and told me that we needed to help my little guy out and get him into this world. This is when the words I never wanted to hear were spoken: “c-section”. It turns out that with each push Ryder’s heart rate was dropping and it was taking longer each time for his heart rate to recover. The doctors felt that the best plan would be to get me back to the OR for a c-section while things were still stable and safe rather than waiting until it became an emergency. I immediately became very emotional and I couldn’t hold back the tears as they rolled me into the OR to get me prepped for Ryder’s delivery.
After what seemed like hours, Ryder David Munsterman was born at 6:30am. I will never forget hearing his cry for the first time; it was truly the greatest sound I have ever heard in my life. As I was being stitched up I heard the doctors and nurses talking about how healthy our little guy was. He was 7lbs 8oz and 21.5 inches long! Both of his Apgar scores were 9. He was truly perfect. Getting to see him for the first time is another moment I will never forget. Here he finally was in the world, my son! We came home from the hospital on Wednesday, May 25th and have been getting into our groove here at home.
Now begins the hard work. As everyone kept telling me, “It’s a lot easier to take care of them on the inside than on the outside!” Although this statement is VERY true, I look forward to having my little one on the outside and taking care of all of his wants and needs. As I sit here and write my son’s birth story I am watching Ryder sleep soundly in his swing, and I truly feel BLESSED to be his mother and to be taking this journey of motherhood with him.
Here is our first family photo:
