Sunday, November 04, 2007
A's Birth Story
So here's the story. I woke up at 12:50 am at the brand new start of Tuesday 10/30 with contractions between 2-6 minutes apart. I've give them a 4 on the pain scale with a once in a blue moon 6. I dosed between 2:00 and 4:00, then finally got out of bed and worked for a few hours. I got a bit more sleep between 6:00 and 8:00, then got up for the day with Bacon. The contractions were still there and were now more or less continuous. Other than the fact that the contractions hadn't stopped for over 7 hours, there really was no difference in their character than earlier contractions.
I really wanted the pregnancy to be over, so called the doctor as soon as they were open (8:30 am) and asked if I could come in. The nurse said sure and scheduled me for a 10:00 am appointment with the available doctor. Since I assumed they would simply monitor me for 20 minutes then send me home, my mom and Bacon came with me.
At the doctor's I was 2 cm and 70% effaced - barely any change from last week. The doctor offered to "strip my membranes" saying that it might move things along in the next 24 hours. I very readily agreed. They put me on the monitor to check out the baby. The contractions showed up at every 5-ish minutes apart. They were still about a 4 on the pain scale.
I ended up on the monitor for over an hour with things ramping up to jaggedy contractions every 2-3 minutes that were up to a 7. (I was glued to the monitor print out watching the contraction come and go - some were off the top of the scale.) My mom was trying to entertain Bacon and eventually took her to the lobby to get some lunch. We were now well over my 20 minute estimate and well into Bacon's nap time.
The nurse took the print out to the doctor 3 times. The doctor, who was busy with other patients, finally came into the monitoring room about 3 seconds after I started losing it. I had now been contracting for something like 11 hours, was low on sleep, and was worried that there was no end in sight. I was trying to keep it together because there was a woman behind another curtain in the same room who was clearly worried about her pregnancy and I didn't want to alarm her. But, like I said, I did lose it - I started sobbing right when the doctor came in. I had another cervical check which showed me to be almost 4 cm dilated and 75% effaced. This got me an offer to the hospital. (They thought the contractions were close enough together and were a little worried about some accelerations with the baby.) I very happily agreed.
I had been working with a client to finalize a deal earlier that morning. I turned over further negotiations to my team leader in the elevator from the doctor's office. (She did a great job finalizing things.)
I ended up driving my mom and Bacon home where D met me and drove me back to the hospital. We got there about 3:00 pm. Checking into the hospital and getting set up was totally different than with Bacon. With Bacon, my water had broken in the middle of the night. A call to my doctor's sent me to the hospital triage where they determined that my water really had broken and got me to a room. I thought thing went smoothly in part because I had already been to triage a few times. This time around was actually easier. Triage was empty when we got there - no nurses or patients. D located a nurse, who was expecting us and took us to our room. She was our nurse for labor and delivery. I'll call her BNITW (best nurse in the world). The place seemed silent - like there was no one there but us.
At this point, I was feeling the best I had all day, but was still well past decision making. BNITW, who I didn't know was BNITW yet, asked if I wanted an epideral and since I said yes, asked if I wanted one right now. This seemed like too much for me to decide. After more calm prodding, I finally agreed that it did make sense that if I wanted an epideral I should have one before things got rough. It took a little time for the epideral to come, during which was wasn't really uncomfortable. The contractions were 6-7 minutes apart and again back to a 4. I felt guilty for not being more in pain with the contractions closer together.
The epideral came at about 4:00 pm. The doctor had me lay on my side at the edge of the bed. With Bacon they had me sit up and it took 3 sticks and resulted in an area of limited pain relief. This time, it only took one stick but I had some serious although incredibly short term nerve pain behind my left hip. (Really no big deal at all.) I was checked again after the epideral kicked in and was 4-5 cm and 75% effaced. It was disappointing. I felt guilty that things hadn't progressed.
The doctor broke my water and lots of gushing ensued, followed by more gushing, then some leaking and some more leaking.
Shortly after that, I wasn't worried about anything. The epideral actually made me feel drunk (without any of the negative side effects). BNITW was guessing delivery between 7 and 10 that night. I couldn't believe it would be so soon, but really didn't care if it took longer. (With Bacon everything took forever and involved at least a moderate degree of pain.) They gave me pitocin to increase and regulate the contractions, which I couldn't feel. I think BNITW did a fantastic job of regulating the meds in such a way that things easily and smoothly progressed to where they should be.
D and I chatted with BNITW and her dinner relief. Around 7:00 pm, before any physical checks, BNITW guessed that I'd deliver at 7:51 pm and the baby would weigh 7 lbs. 15 oz. Just slightly after 7:51 pm, in the middle of a conversation, I noticed that the sensations from my nether regions had changed. I remember interrupting them (at this point I didn't really feel drunk any more, just a little out there). I was asked if it felt like I had to push and while I wouldn't have described it as that myself, there was this desire to curl up and do something.
BNITW did a quick check and I was 9 cm and 90% effaced. She emptied my bladder, asked me to do a few "practice pushes" and called for the doctor.
They got a big spot light out and moved a mirror so I could watch things. BNITW had already done most of the prep work a while earlier. They didn't take off the end of the bed. The only real difference I remember was the doctor getting geared up in a face shield and paper gown.
I did pushes in groups of three timed with my contractions. At first they had me hold onto my thighs and push which really didn't work. My thighs are just too close to the rest of me to actually get any purchase. I was having trouble getting enough oxygen. I asked if I could put my feet together. I ended up pushing holding onto my feet. It worked really well. I did 3-ish sets of pushes using thighs (didn't really help things moving) and then 2-3 using feet(lots of good movement) and baby A came out. Total pushing time was about 20 minutes. Although the cord was around A's neck, the doctor simply pulled it away when his head was out. D cut the cord. (With Bacon, there was much more too do about the cord neck thing.)
There was a great moment with both Bacon and A when there's suddenly this huge baby head sticking out of you that is many things all wrapped up in the same moment - wonderful, scary things. It is a moment between lifes - the before and after of having a child. You've still kind of pregnant. And you've almost had a child. A cusp.
After he came out, cheese covered and quickly pooping and crying. BNITW got him on my chest and breast feeding. I got to see the placenta - which I really wanted to do with Bacon but was too caught up in other things. Another nurse brought it over and explained the sides and other details. I didn't need any stitches.
It took A a while to heat up. He stayed under the heat lamps for about a 1/2 hour. But eventually measured fine. BNITW bathed him and wrapped him up and we all went up to our post delivery room.
I really wanted the pregnancy to be over, so called the doctor as soon as they were open (8:30 am) and asked if I could come in. The nurse said sure and scheduled me for a 10:00 am appointment with the available doctor. Since I assumed they would simply monitor me for 20 minutes then send me home, my mom and Bacon came with me.
At the doctor's I was 2 cm and 70% effaced - barely any change from last week. The doctor offered to "strip my membranes" saying that it might move things along in the next 24 hours. I very readily agreed. They put me on the monitor to check out the baby. The contractions showed up at every 5-ish minutes apart. They were still about a 4 on the pain scale.
I ended up on the monitor for over an hour with things ramping up to jaggedy contractions every 2-3 minutes that were up to a 7. (I was glued to the monitor print out watching the contraction come and go - some were off the top of the scale.) My mom was trying to entertain Bacon and eventually took her to the lobby to get some lunch. We were now well over my 20 minute estimate and well into Bacon's nap time.
The nurse took the print out to the doctor 3 times. The doctor, who was busy with other patients, finally came into the monitoring room about 3 seconds after I started losing it. I had now been contracting for something like 11 hours, was low on sleep, and was worried that there was no end in sight. I was trying to keep it together because there was a woman behind another curtain in the same room who was clearly worried about her pregnancy and I didn't want to alarm her. But, like I said, I did lose it - I started sobbing right when the doctor came in. I had another cervical check which showed me to be almost 4 cm dilated and 75% effaced. This got me an offer to the hospital. (They thought the contractions were close enough together and were a little worried about some accelerations with the baby.) I very happily agreed.
I had been working with a client to finalize a deal earlier that morning. I turned over further negotiations to my team leader in the elevator from the doctor's office. (She did a great job finalizing things.)
I ended up driving my mom and Bacon home where D met me and drove me back to the hospital. We got there about 3:00 pm. Checking into the hospital and getting set up was totally different than with Bacon. With Bacon, my water had broken in the middle of the night. A call to my doctor's sent me to the hospital triage where they determined that my water really had broken and got me to a room. I thought thing went smoothly in part because I had already been to triage a few times. This time around was actually easier. Triage was empty when we got there - no nurses or patients. D located a nurse, who was expecting us and took us to our room. She was our nurse for labor and delivery. I'll call her BNITW (best nurse in the world). The place seemed silent - like there was no one there but us.
At this point, I was feeling the best I had all day, but was still well past decision making. BNITW, who I didn't know was BNITW yet, asked if I wanted an epideral and since I said yes, asked if I wanted one right now. This seemed like too much for me to decide. After more calm prodding, I finally agreed that it did make sense that if I wanted an epideral I should have one before things got rough. It took a little time for the epideral to come, during which was wasn't really uncomfortable. The contractions were 6-7 minutes apart and again back to a 4. I felt guilty for not being more in pain with the contractions closer together.
The epideral came at about 4:00 pm. The doctor had me lay on my side at the edge of the bed. With Bacon they had me sit up and it took 3 sticks and resulted in an area of limited pain relief. This time, it only took one stick but I had some serious although incredibly short term nerve pain behind my left hip. (Really no big deal at all.) I was checked again after the epideral kicked in and was 4-5 cm and 75% effaced. It was disappointing. I felt guilty that things hadn't progressed.
The doctor broke my water and lots of gushing ensued, followed by more gushing, then some leaking and some more leaking.
Shortly after that, I wasn't worried about anything. The epideral actually made me feel drunk (without any of the negative side effects). BNITW was guessing delivery between 7 and 10 that night. I couldn't believe it would be so soon, but really didn't care if it took longer. (With Bacon everything took forever and involved at least a moderate degree of pain.) They gave me pitocin to increase and regulate the contractions, which I couldn't feel. I think BNITW did a fantastic job of regulating the meds in such a way that things easily and smoothly progressed to where they should be.
D and I chatted with BNITW and her dinner relief. Around 7:00 pm, before any physical checks, BNITW guessed that I'd deliver at 7:51 pm and the baby would weigh 7 lbs. 15 oz. Just slightly after 7:51 pm, in the middle of a conversation, I noticed that the sensations from my nether regions had changed. I remember interrupting them (at this point I didn't really feel drunk any more, just a little out there). I was asked if it felt like I had to push and while I wouldn't have described it as that myself, there was this desire to curl up and do something.
BNITW did a quick check and I was 9 cm and 90% effaced. She emptied my bladder, asked me to do a few "practice pushes" and called for the doctor.
They got a big spot light out and moved a mirror so I could watch things. BNITW had already done most of the prep work a while earlier. They didn't take off the end of the bed. The only real difference I remember was the doctor getting geared up in a face shield and paper gown.
I did pushes in groups of three timed with my contractions. At first they had me hold onto my thighs and push which really didn't work. My thighs are just too close to the rest of me to actually get any purchase. I was having trouble getting enough oxygen. I asked if I could put my feet together. I ended up pushing holding onto my feet. It worked really well. I did 3-ish sets of pushes using thighs (didn't really help things moving) and then 2-3 using feet(lots of good movement) and baby A came out. Total pushing time was about 20 minutes. Although the cord was around A's neck, the doctor simply pulled it away when his head was out. D cut the cord. (With Bacon, there was much more too do about the cord neck thing.)
There was a great moment with both Bacon and A when there's suddenly this huge baby head sticking out of you that is many things all wrapped up in the same moment - wonderful, scary things. It is a moment between lifes - the before and after of having a child. You've still kind of pregnant. And you've almost had a child. A cusp.
After he came out, cheese covered and quickly pooping and crying. BNITW got him on my chest and breast feeding. I got to see the placenta - which I really wanted to do with Bacon but was too caught up in other things. Another nurse brought it over and explained the sides and other details. I didn't need any stitches.
It took A a while to heat up. He stayed under the heat lamps for about a 1/2 hour. But eventually measured fine. BNITW bathed him and wrapped him up and we all went up to our post delivery room.
