| 6
a.m. |
Daddy and I decided to sleep
in until 7 am but I got up for some juice so I could lay on my left side
and count the number of your movements. |
| 7
a.m. |
We got up
and I felt a trickle of something. I thought it would be still some
of the blood from the day before (from when the doctor examined me) but
a stream of clear liquid ran down my leg. My water broke! We
paged the doctor and Daddy went to fill the car with gas and to get some
bread to make toast for me. Contractions hadn't started at this point.
It was odd to think you'd be here soon. We were SO excited.
Daddy said, "This is going to be fun!" |
| 8
a.m. |
The doctor said to eat breakfast,
take a shower and then meet him at the hospital. I still wasn't having
contractions so I wanted to stay home awhile. But the doctor explained
that once the water breaks, there's fear of an infection if the baby isn't
delivered soon thereafter (like 24 hours). I talked to the doctor
myself and I forgot to mention that I wasn't having contractions yet so
Daddy called his office to explain. They said to meet the doctor
at his office first. |
| 10
a.m. |
We arrived
at the doctor's office after Mommy got ready (Daddy was a little anxious
and thought I took a little too much time) and we made a detour through
McDonald's drive through for coffee for Daddy and a spoon for Mommy to
eat the lemon jello Daddy made. They were waiting for us. Dr. Weinstein,
our regular doctor, wasn't in (his sister and brother were visiting - the
ONE day of the year he told us he wouldn't be available to deliver you)
so Dr. Biest examined me. He said, "It's definitely your water."
He explained that they'd want to start Pitocin to help labor along if my
contractions didn't start soon. So we were off to the hospital. |
| 11
a.m. |
The hospital staff agreed to
let us walk the halls for awhile to see if
that induced labor. We walked down to the nursery, down the patient
halls looking at the signs of the new babies and then back down the same
route - for about an hour. Then the house physician came to check
me and I was STILL one cm dilated and 70% effaced - which I'd been since
July 11 (week 37). So they decided to hook me up to a monitor to
see what was happening...nothing! We did get to see your heartbeat,
though, and that was neat. The next step was to start the Pitocin;
I insisted on the lowest level to start with because I'd heard such awful
things about Pitocin-augmented births. The nurse then told Daddy
that this may be his only chance to eat so he ran to the cafeteria.
Meanwhile, you had hiccups and we could hear them on the monitor:
beat...beat...HIP! Too funny. Just as they were starting the Pitocin,
Mommy began to have contractions on her own, but they started the medicine
anyway saying they needed to accelerate the process as my water had already
broken. So Daddy returned and
they started the Pitocin. As time passed, the contractions gradually
became stronger. But I was able to focus and breathe through them
for quite some time with the help of Daddy's voice. Each time a contraction
would come on, Daddy would just talk and count. This went on for
some time while I ate popsicles, drank Gatorade and sucked on Dum Dums. |
2:30
-
3:00
p.m.
? |
The contractions
were coming very close together so the nurse suggested I take some Stadol
which was supposed to "take the edge off." I had heard some bad things
about this too but decided to try a small dose. It was wonderful!
The contractions were immediately more bearable but the problem with Stadol
is it only last two hours and the first dose is the most effective. |
| 5
p.m. ? |
[Time really got away from
us!] Daddy took a call from his
paralegal (he was preparing
for trial) just as a contraction began and Mommy was unable to focus.
That was the last phone call Daddy took. ;) SO the Stadol had worn
off and I had lost my focus...the nurse suggested an epidural. The
epidural was one of the big things I was trying to avoid but the contractions
were coming so close together that I wondered how much longer I could make
it, especially since I was just now dilated to 5cm. We
called the anesthesiologist. He had me sit on the edge of the bed
and lean on Daddy's chest while he inserted the catheter. It was
a very odd feeling, one I felt even in my knee. Soon my contractions
became very manageable. It's difficult to explain because I no longer
felt pain but I wasn't numb like when you have a Novocain shot for dental
work. But then something happened: your heart rate began to
fall -- to 72 beats per minute at the lowest point I could see (normal
was 145-150 per min). They had me on all fours and put an oxygen
mask on me. I was very frightened and was crying but trying not to
so I could take in more oxygen for you. The resident physician on
call stimulated you by rubbing your head. She promptly announced
that I was dilated to 8-9 cm which made me wonder whether I could have
made it without the epidural but I know I couldn't have handled that crisis
without it. They never knew what caused your heart rate to dip -
perhaps that the labor was progressing too rapidly or the hormones in my
body changed too quickly due to the epidural. But they used a drug
to stop the contractions which allowed your heart rate to return to normal
and Daddy and me to relax. We laid there watching the Cardinals baseball
game for a couple of hours. Then they decided to resume the Pitocin
and begin labor again. Dr. Biest arrived not long afterward and showed
me how to push. I'd learned in our birth classes to blow while pushing
but Dr. Biest suggested holding my breath. The latter was much more
effective. The labor nurse was wonderful and also helped me push.
After a bit, Dr. Biest said, "Your baby doesn't like to push." Daddy
and I both thought that meant C section but Dr. Biest said you were nearly
there so he just wanted to help you come out a bit more quickly with a
vacuum extractor. Well, that was another intervention I wasn't too
thrilled about, especially since I thought an episiotomy would naturally
follow, but I didn't care at that point. I just wanted you to be
safe. |
| 10:57
p.m. |
So with a
couple more pushes you were born at 10:57 pm! Dr. Biest scooped you
up and placed you on my tummy immediately. The nurse then put towels
on you and we rubbed you to stimulate you. It was scary again for
a moment because you were so quiet
and looked so blue. Later Daddy said he was worried but didn't want
to frighten me so he was relieved when my first words were, "Is she blue?"
The doctor said you were normal but neither Daddy nor I thought babies
were that blue. Then Daddy cut the cord and went with you to be monitored
while Dr. Biest repaired my episiotomy. Daddy held his hand on you
so you felt safe. Your APGAR scores were 9 and 9. (Dr. Biest
said only pediatricians' kids score 10s!) You weighed 7 pounds, 9
ounces and were 21-1/2 inches. And so beautiful! When you were
finally warm enough, they gave you your first bath and then brought you
to me for your first breast feeding session. You ate like a champ!
For 45 minutes! We totally lost track of time - it was 12:15am when
we next noticed. You were just so perfect. I've never cared
much for babies and they all looked alike to me...but you were different.
Still a scrunchy baby - but ours and absolutely precious! |
