Ariana's Arrival Part II (Switch It Up!)

So when we left off, we were still walkin the hospital, 5 cm and in good spirits. I also forgot to add that I had such a great support team when I went into labor. My amazing mom was there with me, of course. As well as two of my awesome NC/Marine Wife friends, Whitney and Raechel. Whitney was my birth partner at lamaze class when Mr. P wasn't allowed to come due to work.

Whitney and I, Raechel and I, respectively. Don't ask why I'm grabbing the crotch of my gown, maybe it's cuz I'm just gangster.

Ok, so back to the story. Walking the halls, feeling hungry, and being bored, I was ready to speed things up. Contractions were between 4 and 5 min apart at this point and I was still talking through them. It was around this point the nurses agreed to speed things along as well and spoke to the attending MW about breaking my water. I can't tell you the time this occurred because I wasn't really paying attention, but soon after my walk I know they came in and broke my water. That was an interesting experience in and of itself, basically peeing your pants and having no control over it. It was chilly in the room and the fluid was warm, so I didn't mind it (haha, I'm not kidding). Very quickly following this, the contractions quit playing and started getting serious. The intensity spiked rapidly and they started getting a bit closer together. I breathed through them but they freakin' hurt, I'm not gonna lie. I was doing ok until the attending MW came in and I asked her about taping. You see, I'd been told repeatedly that while the commander of the Naval Hospital won't let you take photos or record during delivery, many midwives would bend the rules a bit, especially for wives of deployed spouses. I brought this subject to the attending MW's attention and she would not agree. She was an active duty MW and said basically that what the commander said was solid rule and couldn't believe anyone would suggest otherwise. This news was not what I wanted to hear, especially as things were getting more intense and I was really missing my hubby. I broke down for a few minutes and just cried and said how much I missed Jonny and that I just did not like her (the MW). It was also at this time that the great switching began.

Right after breaking my water, Ariana's heart rate began rapidly dropping. My nurse came in and hurriedly told me to change positions. I had to roll over to my side and they continued to monitor Ari's heart rate closely. This would not be the last of the position switching. Throughout the night, Ari would decide she didn't like how I was laying and her heart rate would begin to descend. The nurses always caught it and came in running to get me to change things up. Quite a few times an entire team was there "just in case." I was very impressed by this fact, that had anything gone wrong, people were there and ready to take action. I believe at one point there were 8 doctors/nurses in there. MW and nurses attending to me and getting us in position to raise heart rate, pediatric nurses/docs getting the warmer and baby equipment ready in case she had to arrive very fast, and corpsmen (Navy Medical Emergency Personnel, basically) were there in case things got really intense. It was a good feeling knowing that everyone was ready. It was not a good feeling hearing the monitor slow down, but I was positive that nothing was going to go wrong. I did spend a large chunk of time on my hands and knees during delivery, as that was where she was most comfortable and would keep her heart rate ticking steadily. There was also a time where I had to swish my butt back and forth to make her feel better. Are you surprised that she really likes her swing now??

Still in good spirits, even on hands and knees (Yes, my tongue's sticking out inside the mask)!

After the water broke, I was also put on oxygen to help baby out because of the heart rate issues. Soon after the water was broken I was also asking for an epidural. It was actually a tough decision for me to make. I was steal tolerating the contractions and had wanted to go naturally as long as possible, but I decided to get it then because I was in pain and knew it was only going to get more painful. I wanted to enjoy my delivery. I am very happy with my decision and glad I went with pain assistance. I ended up having to get a little extra of the epidural and a little dose of pain killers as well, as they weren't really kicking in the way they should. Once they kicked in it was smooth sailing... for the most part.

Along with the miracle of childbirth, I experienced another miracle the day of my delivery (besides my hair staying so nice). Raechel (from above) went to visit one of our friends from the battalion whose husband has a little more access to email. She emailed him and let him know that I was in labor and to tell my husband and... I got a Phone call from the hubs during labor! He says "you can thank Lt N's wife, she sent him an email and he came up to me and said Porto, you're wife's having your baby, you need to call her." Haha! From there he called the hospital and was eventually patched through to me! So he did get to be there, in a way for labor. He was even there for pushing and he got to hear his baby girl cry out! It was amazing and I was truly lucky and am very thankful to the N's for helping out!

Talking to the proud poppa from across the world, he was still there

Anyway, as the contractions strengthened, I started feeling like I had to take a huge poop. I told the nurse this, I really need to poop. Apparently, during child birth, this is a good feeling. It means things are moving down and you're baby is almost ready. I had to wait a bit longer and then it was time for pushing. Pushing wasn't too bad, just very tiring. It was like running a marathon and I kept running out of breath. I pushed for 25 min, which apparently is pretty awesome. They told me with Ari being my first baby and an epidural I could be pushing up to 3 hours. Yeah, we def were not having that. When she came out, it was with a splash. Then as her head was hanging out (apparently, it's not like I could see any of this...) the MW had to get the cord from around her neck. She was blue headed to purple. One big push and a big yank from the MW later and my daughter was born. It took her a second and then she let out a yell and was handed to me. Luckily, the splash she was born with rinsed her off and she was just wet, not gooey or bloody or goopy, when they set her on my belly. After that it was a hustle and bustle of cleaning her up, checking her out, and me feeling like I was going to pass out from shear exhaustion.

Don't worry, that alien head is molded down to normal now :)
We're kind of a big deal ;-)

She loooooves her Gramma

The hospital stay was decent. Most of the nurses were very nice and helpful. The lactation consultants and nurses helped with breastfeeding (which I'm still learning, a topic that deserves it's own post), the food was actually really good, and I began adjusting to being a new mom. I got wicked cabin fever and was glad to go home when we did, though. Now we are just hanging out getting adjusted. She slept all day today so I won't be surprised if it's a rough night for us... hopefully I will be proven wrong, we shall see (she's asleep right now but will probably be waking up for a feeding here soon). So for all that were curious, there is my story of Ariana's world debut.

Oh and I just want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Gianna Christine who was born to my good friend Caitlin today. She is Ariana's best friend from the womb. Weighing in at 8lb 8oz and 21in long. I can not wait to meet her!!