Leading up to Mason's birthday , I had read every book there was about childbirth, breastfeeding, sleeping babies, nutrition during pregnancy and infancy, the whole shabam. I had a wonderful Doula, Marlo, who was ..and still is...a (frontdesk) superstar. She was so helpful leading up to his birth, we'd walk , talk, breathe, and just be.
The night before Mason was born, I had "that feeling". I wasn't due for another 4 days, but I just knew he was coming. My doc had said a week before, that I wasn't allowed to give birth before the 8th, because he didn't get back from his cottage until the 7th and wasn't working until the 8th. I listened.
My contractions started around 4am. I sat up and grabbed my belly and had a weird feeling. I tried going back to sleep but that wasn't happening, so I got up and started packing my overnight bag ..well, re-packing- it had been packed for weeks but suddenly that I was in labour, I thought it was all wrong.
I called Marlo around 6am , and she says " nooo Em, not today!! I'm sooo sick". Thankfully, she loves me- she hopped in her car, guzzled the pepto bismol and arrived in a timely fashion. :) {thanks Mar!!!!!} We started going through the official motions around 8am. I was upstairs in the bathroom, applying my makeup... yes...makeup- the lighting in hospitals is horrid! husband was up there with me, holding my hand when I had to sit for a contraction. He was scared out of his mind, and so was I - but we were there, it was happening, and we had to be ready!
Lunch time came around, and my sister was coming over to help us. I was starved, so I asked for her to grab me a Harveys veggie burger, fries, pop, and extra pickles on the side. (Mmmmm.....I want it , now. ) She brought us all lunch, and husband started munching his as I'm hunched over on all fours, on the couch during contractions. Bless his heart, he's in my face, "how are you feeling? are you hungry at all?" ...I went from calm and serene, to mega bitch in 2 seconds. I chucked those extra pickles clear across the room and told him to get out of my face- all I could smell was burger, and hear him crunching/munching... at the moment, it was awful.
Sitting on the couch, I felt a GUSH. At the time, I didn't realize it was my water breaking- I thought I had lost control of my bladder, so I ran upstairs to the bathroom again, and asked husband to get me a change of pants- wouldn't you know....he grabbed BRIGHT PINK YOGA pants. and I was mad because they didn't match my top...
I came out of the bathroom, and demanded we go to the hospital. It was now 1:10pm and I just had that feeling that something was happening. I was right- we arrived , I was measured, and I was already 6.5cm dialated. Marlo rushed me upstairs to my birthing room, banging my legs into doorways {in a wheelchair} as we went. By the time we reached the room, I was 8.5cm and ready to go! I demanded an epidural, because I didn't know any better, and once it kicked in....at 10cm, I was all jokes with my Mc Dreamy doctor. First thing I said as he walked in the room, was " you told me to wait.....so I did!" He had just gotten back to work only a few hrs before.
Once the epidural kicked in, everything went numb. I couldn't feel a contraction, I couldn't feel the nurses or doctor touching me, everything from the waist down was numb- and baby's heart rate started to drop. People started to panic, including myself. Shit was getting crazy.
After a tiny little help of the foreceps, beautiful Mason was out {at 2:50pm}- screaming loud as ever. As the nurses were doing Mason's apgar testing, I noticed one of the nurses take his little wrist and watch it flop. *panic* I looked at husband , looked at the nurses, and said "uhm...what are you doing? why is his hand doing that?" and they tried brushing it off like it was nothing. Then they noticed , what we now call his 'baby boo-boo'. Mason was born with a gaping wound on his arm, and it was scary. We were terrified, and the random possible diagnoses that were being tossed around, were awful and devastating, especially for first time parents. I felt like Charlie Brown, with all the nurses and doctors talking but all I could hear was "wa wa wa, wa wa wa wa, wa wa wa" as I stared at my beautiful baby boy. Long and short of it- Mason was born with a Brachial Plexis injury. He had no use/control of the nerves in his hand/fingers, because coming out of the birth canal he had been squished just so that the tendons and nerves in his shoulder had been compressed. We still have no idea about the wound on his arm, that was never figured out- and his injury ended up correcting itself at about 1yr of age. His pediatrician actually cried and called his wife, when he saw Mason grab a toy with that hand. Husband and I have a hard time remembering which side it was, I believe it was his right arm, we thought he'd for sure be a lefty {just as husband and myself BOTH are} but after his injury corrected itself, he started using his right hand like a pro. Today you would never know , he ever had a struggle in his early weeks-first year of life.
I'm so proud of where he is today, a strong, confident, social, sweet, caring little man. He is creative, he is imaginative, he is smart. He's a great friend, an amazing son, and a sweet brother {....when it's good for him ;) } .
Today is your birthday little man, and I hope you enjoy every single minute of it.
<3 Love, mummy.
xoxoxox
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