Birth Story
It took me way too long to do this but here it is:
On Tuesday during a routine exam, my midwife said “how do you feel about having your baby today?” As in going to the hospital right then. My first thought was, “I can’t have my baby today, I have too much laundry to do.” Funny how the brain works. For those of you who don’t know, we had just moved into our house 10 days before and nothing was ready. Everyday was a gift of being just that much more ready for the baby. We were sent to the hospital and had another unremarkable non-stress test. The midwife decided that I could wait to be induced until Friday.
The next few days were jam-packed with activity and allowed me to make my peace with the fact I as going to be induced. I talked to women in person and online who had been induced. When they told me how well things had gone, it made me more accepting of it. We actually got everything done we needed to. On Friday I woke up at 3:30 a.m. and could not get back to sleep because of a combination of nerves, bad heartburn and crippling pain in my right hip. We were scheduled to be induced at 1 p.m. but we did not make it to the hospital until 2 p.m. because we were doing a lot of last minute prep and I needed to eat. It’s a good thing I did because I did not get to eat again for almost 24 hours.
Our first nurse Marie came in and introduced herself and went through lots of paperwork with me. She hooked me up to the monitors and took my blood pressure. It was 148/98! I guess it was a good thing I was being induced. Marie also started a rather uncomfortable IV in my hand and took some blood. The IV got caught on everything and the fluids made me swell up even more, which at that point was hard to believe it was even possible.
At around 3 p.m., the midwife Lynnea came in and examined me. I was not very close to having a baby, I knew it’d be a while. I called my parents and let them know there wasn’t going to be any baby tonight but they still could come. Lynnea put the Cervidil in (the medicine to open and soften the cervix and hopefully start labor). That was not very comfortable. Since it was 75 degrees out and they hadn’t turned the AC on yet, it was going to be a very, long, hot night.
My Mom came but had to go back out to find my Dad. Steve went out to get some dinner and I was jealous. I had a clear liquid dinner ordered for me, of which the Italian ice was the best part. My Mom and Dad appeared while I was feeling pretty relaxed but toward the end of their visit, I started to get really uncomfortable all over. They said I should move around so Steve and I took 2 walks around the maternity floor both of which exhausted and caused my hip to be quite unhappy. My discomfort lasted until I got some pain meds ordered. Some kind of narcotic shot in my butt. I was so grateful for it and I was able to sleep.
So I got some sleep in 1-hour intervals. I had to go to the bathroom often and the night nurse Aniceta kept coming in to check the monitors. At around 3 a.m., Lynnea came back in to check me again. I was softer and moving into position but I was only 2 cm. I was shocked after 12 hours but she reassured that it was really good. She put another Cervidil in and I went back to sleep. Around 3:45, I woke up and needed to use the bathroom. I asked the nurse to unhook the monitors so I could go. She said I couldn’t go to the bathroom, as I had to wait 2 hours from when the medicine went in. She offered me a bedpan, but I said I could probably hold it another hour. So I went back to sleep again. Twenty minutes later, I awoke to a lot of pressure and a flood of fluid. I pushed the nurse button and said, “I think my water broke.” Steve made fun because I was so meek about it but really I was just in shock that something was really, finally happening. It was real now. No going back.
The nurse and Lynnea checked me out, helped me get cleaned up and got some dry sheets and chucks on the bed for me. Lynnea checked to see if the medicine was still in place and somehow it was. She said they would wait a few hours and then start the Pitocin. I told them I wanted an epidural before the Pitocin as it had been highly recommended to me and all the nurses I had talked to agreed it was a good idea.
On and off for the hours between 4 and 7, I had some regular, 7 minute apart, 2-in-a row contractions. They would die down periodically and as soon as Steve would get back to sleep they would start up again.
Around 7 a.m., a nice anesthesiologist came and put the epidural in. My right leg almost immediately went numb, the left side took longer. Later, I could feel the contractions but only in one little square on the lower left side of my stomach, which was very strange. Even later on that morning I started feeling the contractions really low. When I asked about the discomfort I was repositioned half a dozen times, told the epidural was fine (I really expected not to feel anything) and told I would need to feel pain to push. Finally they had another anesthesiologist come in and give me a booster to the epidural. He moved me again and I complained I could feel a needle pricking my back. He coldly stated there was no needle. I begged him to check it and he blew me off. After he left, I asked Steve to check my back. Seems the big adhesive patch that holds the epidural down had come up on the corner and was pulling hair when they moved me. Took Steve one second to fix.
I spent the next few hours still feeling each contraction extremely low and I had to do my breathing through each one. After being repositioned several more times, Lynnea came back around 11 a.m. I asked if I should really be in this much discomfort since I had the epidural. She asked where I was feeling the pain and I said the labia area. Her eyes went wide and she asked when the last time I was checked. I said when you checked me last. She checked me again and I was 9 and 3/4 cm! I could hardly believe it when she told me.
They started all this prep work with the baby warmer and brought in a big table with supplies. They took the bottom off the bed and told me it was time to push. Steve and nurse Esther took turns holding my legs. Esther kept telling me to hold my legs and it was important. I preferred holding the handles on the bed. Steve’s counting down helped me through the pushing. They all told me they could see the head. Shortly thereafter, the pain became unbearable. I wanted him out - bad. I screamed for them to please take him out repeatedly and then with another set of pushes, he was out. It was such a relief. Lynnea massaged my stomach. She asked me to push again to get the placenta out and it came out so easy. Steve was snapping pictures and crying. I was being stitched up for what seemed like forever. My parents were outside waiting to come in. Steve gave me some lovely dolphin earrings. He said the three dolphins stood for the three of us. The nurses continued to clean me up. Steve could not stop crying and I could not believe you were finally here and I could see and hold you. I tried to feed you as soon as I could and you took right to it. I could believe how perfect you were and how alert you were and how you had all this blond hair just like the 3D ultrasound people said you would.
David I love you so much, for now and always.
Pictures sfw
David Steven
Born April 1, 2006 at 12:22 p.m.
Weighing 7 lbs. 11 oz.
On Tuesday during a routine exam, my midwife said “how do you feel about having your baby today?” As in going to the hospital right then. My first thought was, “I can’t have my baby today, I have too much laundry to do.” Funny how the brain works. For those of you who don’t know, we had just moved into our house 10 days before and nothing was ready. Everyday was a gift of being just that much more ready for the baby. We were sent to the hospital and had another unremarkable non-stress test. The midwife decided that I could wait to be induced until Friday.
The next few days were jam-packed with activity and allowed me to make my peace with the fact I as going to be induced. I talked to women in person and online who had been induced. When they told me how well things had gone, it made me more accepting of it. We actually got everything done we needed to. On Friday I woke up at 3:30 a.m. and could not get back to sleep because of a combination of nerves, bad heartburn and crippling pain in my right hip. We were scheduled to be induced at 1 p.m. but we did not make it to the hospital until 2 p.m. because we were doing a lot of last minute prep and I needed to eat. It’s a good thing I did because I did not get to eat again for almost 24 hours.
Our first nurse Marie came in and introduced herself and went through lots of paperwork with me. She hooked me up to the monitors and took my blood pressure. It was 148/98! I guess it was a good thing I was being induced. Marie also started a rather uncomfortable IV in my hand and took some blood. The IV got caught on everything and the fluids made me swell up even more, which at that point was hard to believe it was even possible.
At around 3 p.m., the midwife Lynnea came in and examined me. I was not very close to having a baby, I knew it’d be a while. I called my parents and let them know there wasn’t going to be any baby tonight but they still could come. Lynnea put the Cervidil in (the medicine to open and soften the cervix and hopefully start labor). That was not very comfortable. Since it was 75 degrees out and they hadn’t turned the AC on yet, it was going to be a very, long, hot night.
My Mom came but had to go back out to find my Dad. Steve went out to get some dinner and I was jealous. I had a clear liquid dinner ordered for me, of which the Italian ice was the best part. My Mom and Dad appeared while I was feeling pretty relaxed but toward the end of their visit, I started to get really uncomfortable all over. They said I should move around so Steve and I took 2 walks around the maternity floor both of which exhausted and caused my hip to be quite unhappy. My discomfort lasted until I got some pain meds ordered. Some kind of narcotic shot in my butt. I was so grateful for it and I was able to sleep.
So I got some sleep in 1-hour intervals. I had to go to the bathroom often and the night nurse Aniceta kept coming in to check the monitors. At around 3 a.m., Lynnea came back in to check me again. I was softer and moving into position but I was only 2 cm. I was shocked after 12 hours but she reassured that it was really good. She put another Cervidil in and I went back to sleep. Around 3:45, I woke up and needed to use the bathroom. I asked the nurse to unhook the monitors so I could go. She said I couldn’t go to the bathroom, as I had to wait 2 hours from when the medicine went in. She offered me a bedpan, but I said I could probably hold it another hour. So I went back to sleep again. Twenty minutes later, I awoke to a lot of pressure and a flood of fluid. I pushed the nurse button and said, “I think my water broke.” Steve made fun because I was so meek about it but really I was just in shock that something was really, finally happening. It was real now. No going back.
The nurse and Lynnea checked me out, helped me get cleaned up and got some dry sheets and chucks on the bed for me. Lynnea checked to see if the medicine was still in place and somehow it was. She said they would wait a few hours and then start the Pitocin. I told them I wanted an epidural before the Pitocin as it had been highly recommended to me and all the nurses I had talked to agreed it was a good idea.
On and off for the hours between 4 and 7, I had some regular, 7 minute apart, 2-in-a row contractions. They would die down periodically and as soon as Steve would get back to sleep they would start up again.
Around 7 a.m., a nice anesthesiologist came and put the epidural in. My right leg almost immediately went numb, the left side took longer. Later, I could feel the contractions but only in one little square on the lower left side of my stomach, which was very strange. Even later on that morning I started feeling the contractions really low. When I asked about the discomfort I was repositioned half a dozen times, told the epidural was fine (I really expected not to feel anything) and told I would need to feel pain to push. Finally they had another anesthesiologist come in and give me a booster to the epidural. He moved me again and I complained I could feel a needle pricking my back. He coldly stated there was no needle. I begged him to check it and he blew me off. After he left, I asked Steve to check my back. Seems the big adhesive patch that holds the epidural down had come up on the corner and was pulling hair when they moved me. Took Steve one second to fix.
I spent the next few hours still feeling each contraction extremely low and I had to do my breathing through each one. After being repositioned several more times, Lynnea came back around 11 a.m. I asked if I should really be in this much discomfort since I had the epidural. She asked where I was feeling the pain and I said the labia area. Her eyes went wide and she asked when the last time I was checked. I said when you checked me last. She checked me again and I was 9 and 3/4 cm! I could hardly believe it when she told me.
They started all this prep work with the baby warmer and brought in a big table with supplies. They took the bottom off the bed and told me it was time to push. Steve and nurse Esther took turns holding my legs. Esther kept telling me to hold my legs and it was important. I preferred holding the handles on the bed. Steve’s counting down helped me through the pushing. They all told me they could see the head. Shortly thereafter, the pain became unbearable. I wanted him out - bad. I screamed for them to please take him out repeatedly and then with another set of pushes, he was out. It was such a relief. Lynnea massaged my stomach. She asked me to push again to get the placenta out and it came out so easy. Steve was snapping pictures and crying. I was being stitched up for what seemed like forever. My parents were outside waiting to come in. Steve gave me some lovely dolphin earrings. He said the three dolphins stood for the three of us. The nurses continued to clean me up. Steve could not stop crying and I could not believe you were finally here and I could see and hold you. I tried to feed you as soon as I could and you took right to it. I could believe how perfect you were and how alert you were and how you had all this blond hair just like the 3D ultrasound people said you would.
David I love you so much, for now and always.
Pictures sfw
David Steven
Born April 1, 2006 at 12:22 p.m.
Weighing 7 lbs. 11 oz.