Thursday, March 26, 2009
Once we got to the hospital, and walked around in circles (thank you for the bad directions, Lamaze-class instructor!), we made it to the triage section of the maternity ward. A nurse had to examine me and make sure I was progressed enough to admit. Thankfully, my water had broken, so we knew we wouldn’t be sent home. Nate started filling out paperwork and I was given some ice chips. The nurse also took four vials of blood. If you know me, I HATE having my blood taken and get very nervous and almost always feel like I’m going to pass out. Not this time! Nate was shocked that I barely even realized when the nurse was taking my blood, much less four vials. I guess I had other things on my mind!
After about two hours in the maternity triage, I had progressed to 3 cm and was formally admitted into the maternity ward. My parents arrived at the hospital just minutes after we arrived in the labor room. The hospital had recently renovated the labor rooms. Nate described it as having all the amenities of a Hampton Inn, with several nice windows, and free wireless internet. This room also had a nice pull-out couch for sleeping. We wish our recovery room had had one as nice.
Now we were playing the waiting game. My parents and Nate chatted a lot and I know Nate was on the phone, giving updates to family, and also emailing family and friends. Next up was decision time – did I want to do natural birth or did I want an epidural?
Throughout my pregnancy I had gone back and forth between natural birth and an epidural. Towards the end, I was “committed” to natural birth. One of my friends and a cousin told me that an epidural was the way to go, and they weren’t that scary, and I would be very happy I had one. Our Lamaze instructor scared me with stories about how you are unable to walk for 10+ hours after getting an epidural, that sometimes you can become temporarily (or not) paralyzed after getting one, and that you wouldn’t feel like you had a “real” birth if you had one.
Well, since I am a person who makes decisions fairly easily and doesn’t change my mind (usually) once I’ve made the decision, I decided to get an epidural. At about 12:30, the nurse came in our room and asked if I wanted one since the anesthesiologist was available. I’d been having decent contractions, but not incredibly painful ones, but I said “Yes, I’ll take the epidural.” The ensuing epidural was actually the most annoying part of the entire day (and almost the most painful). I don’t know if I didn’t have a great anesthesiologist or what, but he had to administer the shot twice, and I had what is known as a zinger (hit a nerve…I am cringing while I’m typing this). I also bled a little (sorry folks, I’ll finish with this part soon). It was uncomfortable for me to be sitting up and also crouching so he could do it right. But, after all this, I was and still am EXTREMELY happy I chose to get the epidural. I know everyone has her own philosophies about natural birth versus medicated birth, but let me tell you….I felt EVERYTHING and was IN the experience the entire time. The epi just took the edge off and made me relaxed so I didn’t worry about the pain.
At 1:30 p.m. I had only progressed to 4.5 cm. Nate and my parents kept laughing because every so often I would ask, “Am I having one?” – meaning, was I having a contraction? I could feel pressure and I could see the monitor spike, but that’s about it. It was nice. I was even able to get some rest; I wouldn’t say sleep, but it was good enough. At this time the nurse administered a light dose of pitocin to get things moving. They didn’t want me to stop progressing since my water had already broken.
After a while, the nurses checked on me again and found that the baby was not responding well to the pitocin. Pitocin increases the strength of contractions, and every time I’d have one, the baby’s heart rate would go way down. I was kept on constant blood pressure monitoring, and had to lie on my side. The nurses stopped the pitocin drip after only 30 minutes. We were interested to see where things would go from here, especially since labor with first babies is usually a long process.
It was a busy day at the hospital; apparently almost all the labor rooms were being used. They were also short on nurses. So, I didn’t have a visit from the nurses and my doctor (Dr. Z) from 1:30 p.m. until about 4:30 p.m. When they came in, they were shocked and amazed that I had progressed to 9 cm on my own. Yay! Another fun development of the day was that Dr. Z was on duty and he would be the one delivering our baby. I was pleasantly surprised by that. I really like him since he is very positive, calm, and doesn’t make a fuss about anything.
At 4:30 p.m. Dr. Z told us that I could start pushing in about an hour. He also reminded me that it would take a while; he estimated that we’d deliver 1-2 hours after the pushing started. He said that the baby was up high in the birth canal and it would take a lot to push him/her out. I’m glad he set that expectation up front; that helped me in the long run. I’m definitely a person who likes to know what to expect from the get-go.
I started the labor effort at 5:10 p.m. and it was a slow start. Let me tell you that “pushing” is not really something anyone can teach you until you are actually DOING it. There is a definite learning curve. Nate was right there with me, holding my hand and feeding me ice chips in between contractions. He actually had to take the place of the second nurse, since with the shortage we were only allotted one nurse. Since the baby’s heart rate would drop every time I had a big contraction, I was placed on oxygen during labor. That was an obstacle for me to overcome because I felt like the oxygen mask was a barrier to my concentration. My labor took nearly two hours: 30-40 seconds of pushing with each contraction and only 2-5 minute intervals.
One of the nurses told me that if I labored for over 2 hours I might need to have a c-section. That got me pretty freaked out because I did not want to go down that path. Nate was very good at keeping me calm and focused. He noticed that I would squeeze my eyes shut when pushing and then keep them shut when I was breathing. He suggested that I look at him instead so I could better focus. That was a big help and I am so happy to have such a wonderfully involved and supportive husband! Dr. Z quelled my fears about the c-section when he came in to check on my progress. He stated that he’d already delivered one baby via c-section today and he wasn’t going to do another one!
Finally it was time for Dr. Z to stay in the room for the actual delivery! It happened very quickly after my doctor came in and put his gloves and smock on. I was only supposed to be pushing three times with each contraction. But I wanted that baby OUT! My body just felt like it was ready. So, on the fourth push of a big contraction, I delivered a baby girl at 7:02 p.m! I remember thinking it was weird that the doctor didn’t announce that right away. Instead, he was a little concerned and quickly informed (and showed) Nate that the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck FOUR times. The doctor quickly worked to unwind the cord and tied it for Nate to cut. The nurses rushed her to the station to begin checking vitals and cleaning.
Nate and I were COMPLETELY surprised that it was a GIRL!! This really was the biggest and greatest surprise of our lives. While Dr. Z was stitching me up, he said he had only seen a cord wrapped around a neck like this once before. But that cord was only wrapped around the neck three times and it was a caesarean delivery. He was taken aback, but we were all happy when our baby girl pinked up right away and her APGAR was 9.
Dr. Z asked us if we had a name for her. I looked over at Nate, and motioned for him to shout it from the rooftops! He teared up and said, “Abigail Jane.” After being weighed at 6 pounds, 4 ounces, and measuring 18 inches long, the nurses expertly swaddled Abby and placed her in Daddy’s arms. It was so special having Nate bring her over to me for the first time. We were instantly a family – WOW!
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