Eli William Bowling has arrived. After a long fight/ 24+ hour delivery on Sunday afternoon at 1:22pm, weighting a huge 8.1lbs at 21in. He was so culm right out of delivery.
Due to me having
Gestational Diabetes Eli had to stay in the NICU. His sugar was low and they had to monitor him. They expected him to have to stay in the NICU another week after we were home. This little guy it tough and loves to eat. He ended up coming home with us!!!
Where do I start.
My pregnancy and delivery is deffinatly something to be talked about, well thats what the nurses were saying when they found out I had a blog. They couldn't wait to see pictures and hear about how little Eli was doing.
I have never felt so taken care of as when I did while I was in the hands of
Spectrum Health Family Birthplace staff. I could never imagine how they do this every day, they made me feel so special and unique. I will update the names on who took care of us to come*.
Lets start where I left off
here. I had not 1 but 2 very uncommon pregnancy conditions
Obstetric Cholestasis and
Gestational Diabetes. While I was pregnant I remember thinking this is going by so slow. The pains, the itchiness, sleepless nights, feeling uncomfortable in your own body, weight gain, not being able to bend over, shortness of breath, another symptom another week, feeling like your constantly tired, feeling stuck, wrestles, bloated, heartburn, emotionally not stable, unbelievable cravings, and thats the tip of it. But looking back it really did go by fast. Honestly, I get it now why women are so much stronger. Even today looking back yup I did that!!! All that!!!
Towards the end you just want it to pass. They gave us 9 months because another month we would have go nuts. I would have to say I feel the same about child birth. You don't think about what your body just went through for that long. I would do it all the exact same if I had to.
My Delivery: I had a birth plan set and it was important to me to stick with it. Everything else through my pregnancy was exactly what I didn't expect or I had unexacting conditions. I felt like this was something I really wanted to experience and embrace. This was such a special moment in my life and I wanted to know I had control over it. It was my first and I was being induced and I knew it was going to be long road. I wanted popsicles, a tub, and most of all to be natural.
For the first 17 hours I did it natural. They gave me
Oxytocin to start my contractions and keep them going. During that time they Ruptured my membrane and this triggered my water to break.
At this point from not sleeping from
Obstetric Cholestasis and being up in the nights before and the intense amount of pain, I couldn't keep my eyes open. My body was convulsing, shivering, I had intense back labor. Eli was not getting any closer. They gave me an epidermal. It is amazing on how one point you are watching and FEELING your contractions and another laying in bed just watching them on the monitor not feeling a darn thing. It also was the freakiest weirdest thing I had ever felt, I didn't want anyone touching my bottom half fear of them breaking something and I would never know.
That was shortly lived. As I started to feel the pain again I was able to push stronger my body was at it again. Shaking uncontrollably and to add to it the back pain was so bad to counteract the pain someones full body weight and strength had to be pushing on the center of my back. The pain was so bad I was getting sick and I never get sick!
With all of that pushing Eli did not want to come out. I couldn't keep my eyes open I was a mess.
I had to have a C-Section. I was devastated and terrified.
I then brook down. It was so important to me to be able to hold Eli and bond with him those first few seconds, I needed to!!
That was is with in minutes I signed a paper, behind a sheet, cut open and I had my baby in my arms.
That was all that mattered. He was here safe and healthy.
I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. My Dr made that happen. I would not change a single thing.
Eli arrived 24 hours in the delivery room.
Due to my Gestational Diabetes he had to go straight to the NICU.
Reflecting back the next day. I could not believe what I had been through. Not to mention 9 months of completely giving up myself and body.
We did it, you and I Eli
I ready the pain a mother feels while giving birth is similar to 20 bones getting fractured at a time. A human body an only bear half that.
Look
here for further information.
