Chase William Burnell

Our sweet little Chase entered this world on May 5th, 2011 at 10:48pm.  He was 8lbs 3 oz and 21.5 in long. It was probably one of the best birth experiences I could have received.  After going though a very long and painful labor experience and recovery with Wesley, I prayed that this delivery would be a better experience.  It defiantly was. Here is my labor experience (in detail) for those that like to read these sort of things. :-p   

On Thursday the 5th (the day before I was supposed to be induced) I woke up feeling just a little wet.  I became slightly excited thinking that my water may have broken.  I told Jason and he asked if he should stay home from work.  It was his last day because he was going to take the next day off to help me get ready for my induction Friday evening.  With Wesley, my water gushed and there was no doubt what had happened.  This time, I was just a tiny bit moist and I told Jason I didn't want him to stay home if it wasn't anything.  He left, and I went hours staying dry.  I was a little sad and assumed it wasn't anything, and I just kind of spent the day cleaning and getting ready for my induction.  (At the same time hoping there would be a stronger sign that it was my bag of water slowly leaking).  I would get little small wet spots all day, but being pregnant...it could have been anything (I know...TMI :-) ) Around 4 in the afternoon I started to get very mild and painless contractions.  I didn't think anything of it because I know contractions can come and go as they please.  Jason and I had been planning on having a nice dinner that evening since I was going to be induced the next day.   Jason came home around 5ish and I told him about my small and pretty mild contractions.  I didn't know if I should stay at home to see if they got stronger, or just go and have a nice dinner.  Wesley was being a hand full, and I thought it could be a nice break to drop him off at my mom's.  If I really was in labor, then he would already be with my parents.  If not, I got a nice dinner with Jason.  Contractions were getting slightly stronger, and pretty regular.  We got to my mom's around 6:00ish and I told her I was having mild contractions.  She got sooo excited.  It is the one time in your life you actually get excited when you start feeling pain, lol.  I still was hesitant to go to dinner.  With Wesley I threw up 15-20 times and I was scared that if I went and ate a huge dinner I would do that again if I was in labor.  However, I also know the hospital doesn't allow laboring women to eat, so I figured I needed as much nutrients as I could get.  We decided to go to John's incredible Pizza (yes...they are a huge buffet for those that dont know). 

We got there around 6:30 and my contractions were still coming every 3-5 minutes.  I know..I laugh even thinking about it.  They were only like 20-40 seconds long, so I figured even if I was in labor it was the early stages.  We went in, and I had to stop and pause every contraction.  I grabbed a big salad and we sat down in our favorite cabin themed room.  I had to stop eating every few minutes to let the contractions pass.  They were getting stronger, but not enough to stop me from enjoying my date night.  I had some pizza, and some ice cream with oreos on it for dessert.  I probably looked kind of funny eating and then breathing though contractions. Luckily, the place was pretty empty so there wasn't many people to watch. The contractions were getting stronger, so we didn't stay too long.  We headed back to my mom's house and informed them that my contractions were getting stronger and that we would probably leave Wesley with them in case we needed to go to the hospital.

My Dad and Jason gave me a blessing, and we then went back to our house around 8pm  where I wanted to labor as long as I could.  I didn't want to be in a hard hospital bed hooked up to a million monitors in pain for hours.  I knew I would be more comfortable at home.  I gathered my bags and got them ready.  Jason waited anxiously for my signal to go.  I think he was a little nervous and didn't want to wait too long.  I just didn't know when to go.  I didn't want to be sent back home, but I didn't want to deliver my own baby either.  I called the hospital and told them I was having painful contractions every 3 minutes for the past few hours, but they were only 20-30 seconds long.  At first they seemed hesitant to have me come in, but I told them I was also kind of moist today so they said I should come in to make sure my water didn't break.

At 8:45 we left and I was in more pain.  I coudn't talk during the contractions, and I had to breath though them.  We were down the street when Jason realizes he forgot his wallet, so we had to go back to the house. We got to the hospital a little after nine, and Jason pushed me in a wheel chair.  I felt kind of silly, but I knew I couldn't make the long walk either.  We checked in, and no one seemed to be in any hurry.  They had me go into triage to be checked out.  I had to go into a tiny little bathroom to change and pee in a cup.  Doing that while having contractions is not fun.  Then, they asked me a ton of questions that I know for a fact they have in my medical file.  I was getting really annoyed when every person would ask me the exact same questions over and over during contractions.  Hello...I can't talk and can hardly even think right now!  They hooked me up to all the yucky monitors and left us alone in the small room.  There we waited and waited for the doctor to come and check me.  I watched my contractions on the monitor appear pretty frequently. I was in a good amount of pain, but nothing like I experienced with Wesley.   I didn't understand what was taking so long.  I remember telling Jason, "what if some lady was about to have her baby...they would never know from taking so long!" Finally the doctor comes in around 10:20 ish (...its hard to remember) to see if my water had broken.  She looks in and says, "I see hair through the bag of water!"  That made me so excited.  Not just because he had hair (even though that was fun news)...I really didn't care about that, but that there was a little person with a personality in there. It motivated me to keep going.  She looked at the nurse with wide eyes and said "she is a nine!"  Jason and I looked at each other in amazement.  He excitedly said "You are almost done!  You labored at home almost the whole time!"  I was shocked.  I never ever would have imagined.  I thought I still had hours to go.  The pain was really intense, but not as I had imagined it being.  Induced labor was soo much worse. They wheeled me into a delivery room and my contractions kept getting stronger.  They had music softly playing in the background.  The nurses were relatively calm, and the atmosphere was surprisingly relaxed and peaceful even though I was minutes away from delivering a baby.  It was nice. The nurse in the delivery room said, "you can't be a nine...you are still smiling!" The contractions (compared to horrible induced contractions) really weren't that bad.  I really, really had been wanting to have an all natural labor this pregnancy.  If I was going to be induced, I know I would have gotten an epidural because those contractions are awful.  I was really excited to be doing this on my own, but when I got into the delivery room I got a little panicked thinking about the pain I was going to have to face.  I kept telling myself I was almost there and it would be really fast.  A nurse came in and started to put an IV in me really quick.  I know it is protocol for all women to have IV's, but I kept thinking, "really??  I am a few minutes from having my baby, and I am going though the hard part of labor, and you are trying to put an IV in me?? But I am almost done!" At least it didn't hurt as bad because I was concentrating on the contractions. I felt like I had to pee really bad, so they brought me a bed pan since they didn't want me to stand up and have the baby fall out since I was 9 cm. Ya, trying to pee while a nurse and your husband are staring at you just doesn't work. I couldn't go, but the nurse said it was the baby pushing on everything that was making me feel like I needed to go. The nurse checked me, and just kept her hand in me.  That hurt really bad.  She was deciding if she should get the doctor to rupture the bag of water when all the sudden there was a loud "POP!"  Both the nurse and myself jumped.  The water broke on its own, and I was moving fast.  The doctor came in and was rushing to get situated.    I was in sooo much pain and my body started pushing the baby out.  I literally couldn't stop it from pushing.  The doctor got in position and I had to start pushing.  This was the hardest, most painful part.  I felt like one of those crazy laboring women on tv.  I was trying not to scream but I know I did exclaim "This hurts!" a few times.  I was frustrated because I kept putting my hand on my legs because it felt more comfortable that way.  They were repositioning me, and it put me in more pain.  They kept yelling at me telling me how good I was doing and how amazed they were at me.  They said "push through the pain!"  I felt like saying "YOU push through the pain!!!!!"  I just wanted him out...it burned soo, soo bad.  I didn't think I could do it.  Everyone was cheering me on, telling me "just one more good push and he will be out!!"  At the time I just wanted everyone to stop talking to me, but I know it helped to get him out so much faster.  I didn't want to push anymore.  It is like being stuck between a hard place and a rock.  If I push, it is going to hurt extremely bad.  If I dont, I will remain pregnant and wont get to meet my baby.  So, after probably only 7 minutes and after 2 contractions, the little guy came sliding out.   I am glad it was only a few minutes because that was the worst part.  I could feel him come out, and I looked down (very happy to have pushed him out), and I saw his cute,  (and slimy) little body.  He was covered in the cheesy vernex (much more than an overdue baby usually is).  Jason said, ""oh ya...he is definitely a boy!" He then peed while the doctor was holding him (it was kinda cute, lol....you know..it meant I had a really working baby!), and they whisked him over to be checked out since he had a little meconium in the water.  I had really wanted to hold him on my chest since I never go to do that with Wesley, but I was honestly so worn out, I didn't mind having a quick break.  I had a detailed birth plan that I had written, but everything went so fast I didn't even get to show it to anyone.  Luckily, everything went as I would have wanted.  I am sooooooo happy and grateful I didn't have to be induced.  I couldn't have planned it better if I tried. The nurse was looking at the sheet of paper that records the contractions laughing to herself saying, "that is one of the shortest pieces of paper we have had!"  "You are the only one (i'm assuming that night) that didn't have an epidural!"  If it had taken longer I might have given in, but I am really glad it was so fast and "easy."

I did tear a little, and was bleeding a lot.  They had to push really hard on my stomach to stop the bleeding.  That hurt really bad, but it did the trick.  They also had to give me medication to help stop the bleeding.  That is one reason why I'm glad to have delivered at the hospital.  Even though there is a lot I can't stand about hospitals, I may have been in big trouble if the doctor didn't stop the bleeding fast.

After a few minutes I got to hold my sweet baby and just enjoy the moment.  I was still in a good amount of pain right after birth, but I was sooo happy to not have had any medications.  Chase was wide awake and alert because he didn't have any medication in his system.  He was placed on my chest and started to breastfeed right away.  It was amazing to think that this is how women have been delivering babies for years.  It was an amazing, amazing experience.  Right away I could walk (if I wanted to) and I wasn't groggy or drowsy like I was after I had Wesley.  By the time we were placed in our recovery room, it was close to midnight.  Chase was left with us, and we had the whole night to just enjoy him.  Jason feel asleep, but I couldn't.  I just held my baby all night and admired his cuteness. 

The whole recovery process has been a lot easier this time too.  I didn't really need any pain medication after.  Breastfeeding, however, is proving to be extremely painful.  I am hanging in there, and I know it will get better with time. I am just so grateful to have been able to take my baby home with me, and I love how innocent and pure he is.  I am trying my best to enjoy him every minute even in my sleep deprived condition.  I know they are only newborn's for a month or two and then they start turning into cute rolly polly babies. We are just enjoying our time now as a little family of four.  Wesley was NOT happy about having a baby the first day.  He tried to whack him out of my arms.  However, the next day he started to show interest in him, and was ok with me holding him.  He is doing really well now, and likes to point to the babies features and tell me where his nose and eyes and so on are.  It is sweet.  :-)