Devin's Birthing Story

Devin Malakai Pitt
9 Pounds, 3 Ounces
20.75 Inches
Born 04/06/2012 at 7:20 p.m.

Brian and I arrived at the hospital and I was checked in at 7:20 p.m. Once I was settled in, Brian left to go home to rest & take care of Melanie. The nurse took my blood and popped in the cervadil. So I settled in & just tried to entertain myself until 11ish, which was when the nurse promised she'd unhook me from some of the monitoring systems to let me sleep.
So I was hanging out when Dr. Ashby came in to say hi. We hugged and then she dropped the bomb... My blood platelettes were low and I may not be able to have an epidural. Platelettes of 50,000 is danger-zone, 100,000 is the acceptable minimum for getting an epidural. I was at 70,000. (The blood thinners I took throughout the pregnancy definitely did their job!) So she said to prepare myself for not having an epidural, but using other means to "take the edge off" the pain. And that she ordered another blood work round in the AM just to see if my numbers do improve. I asked Dr. Ashby what my chances were, and she frankly told me it wasn't great. Later I half-joking/half-serious asked the nurse if we could just take out the cervadil & try again some other time. She said no.
So I shared the news with Becky, the only person I knew was awake. And tried my darndest to relax to get as much rest & strength as possible. I "slept" in the hospital bed - it's really tough to get a good night's rest when you're hooked up to so many monitors & I was also at a disadvantage because I'm used to sleeping on a waterbed.
In the morning I was woken up by Kate, a middle-aged British no-nonsense nurse that I knew I'd love because we quickly shared a bond with our love of "Under Pressure" (by David Bowie & Queen). The nurses did a blood draw & we waited for the results before starting the picotin, per Dr. Dillon's orders. Imagine our GREAT relief when we found out my platelettes were at 130,000! :) So I got the pictotin drip started and a delicious breakfast of I.V. and apple juice.
Brian showed up around 9:30ish and Mom and Dad showed up around 11:00ish. We all anxiously awaited the arrival of Devin.
And we waited
... and we waited
... and we waited
It seemed like Devin was still very comfortable in his surroundings, so we made it as uncomfortable as possible for him by breaking the water. Surely he'll come down now!
Tick tock, tick tock. I snuck in a little, itty-bitty snack when no one was looking. I HAD to eat something, darn it!
Slowly but surely I started getting some contractions, but I could breathe through them & I knew I was a long way away from being in active labor. I think I was only 3cm dialated at the time. Knowing how hungry I was, how tired I was, how difficult it was to breathe because of allergies, and how SORE my toosh was for sitting/laying in the bed, I decided to start the epidural around 2:00.
Things still progressed slowly. An hour passed and I dialated an extra cm (now at 4), then another hour passed & another cm down (5cm).
I asked for another dose of epidural drug, as I was starting to feel the contractions again. It was so strange having absolutely no control of my legs, but I thought it was funny. :)
Around 5:00, Mom2 went to pick up Melanie from daycare. We hoped the whole gang would be around for the labor & delivery, so Melanie was coming back to the hospital to hang out with us.
Harry came by to visit as well. I think he was hoping for Devin to be there, but no such luck. So he just enjoyed a picnic-stlye meal with the family (except me, of course. I was just allowed to smell only...).
Then, Kate decided to check my progress around 6:00 and she said I was at 7cm and I'll have Devin before she leaves (which was at 7pm). I don't know if it was something psychological or what but it seemed as soon as I heard that (I received the blessing) things started moving very quickly.
They transisitioned the room to the delivery phase. Dad and Melanie went outside, per the doctor's request. This ended up being a good thing...
So the time had come, Mom had a hold of my left leg, a nurse had my right & Dr. Dillon was sitting in the middle, watching the show. At this time, the medicene was wearing off so I could feel things, more like a pressure that made me want to keep on pushing. I went through about 4 or 5 contractions, Mom said I pushed about 7 or 8 times. When Devin's head came, Mom looked at me & told me that Devin had dark hair. Later, Mom said that Devin was facing down, which usually babies face up.
So Devin was born at 7:20. They placed him on my chest & cleaned him off a bit. Then they whisked him away to finish up the cleaning. The nurses were surprised at how big he was, commenting on the size of his feet & being bigger than the footprint card and taking bets on his weight. He was perfect... and big!
Once the mess was cleaned up (there was a big mess. The bed was new and not as functional as the old beds were & I think some things weren't where they should have been.) Dad and Melanie were brought back in. Melanie instantly came to me & it felt great to be able to hold her without worrying about the belly. She immediately fell in love with Devin and "shushed" him when he started to cry.
So now baby boy makes four! We're so blessed to have him in our lives! :)