Birth Story

I went in for my 40 week appointment on March 11, 2010- two days before my due date. I learned that my doctor was going to be out of town for a whole week longer. I was feeling quite ready to be done being pregnant, so when the doctor offered to induce me Sunday since Dr. Beer was out of town, I took him up on it. It was so crazy to know when I would finally be done being pregnant. I called Nick, and the date was set.

Fast forward to Sunday, March 14. We got up around 6:30 and got to the hospital at 8:00. It was the first day of daylight savings time, but I was too excited to sleep for the most part anyway, so I was up in plenty of time, especially for someone who isn't a morning person. We got to our room and got settled. Dr. Downard came into to examine me and break my water at 8:30. At this point I learned I was still only 1.5 cm dilated. This is where I was at on Thursday, March 4, so I had gone 10 days with no progress... Nick said me getting my water broken was the part that made him the queasiest all day. This was uncomfortable but not bad. TMI ahead... I had no idea how much I would leak after this. We decided to start walking the halls to get my contractions going after about 30 minutes on the monitor. I made it about 20 feet before my slippers were wet. I went back to my room and paced there for a while. We kept walking, and I used the birthing ball until about 11:30. Then I was checked again (dilated to 3) and decided to start pitocin. This meant getting an IV.

My nurse attempted an IV twice starting at noon. Then another OB nurse tried. Still no luck. They called the paramedics, telling me that they were always very good. The paramedic got the IV in on the third try. Yup, it took 3 tries. Ugh. Meanwhile, I had started contracting harder on my own, and I felt the contractions only in my back. I had been warned that back labor was rough. Those warnings were absolutely justified. The IV started giving me pitocin at 1:30.

I labored a while longer with no drugs, which allowed me to go to the bathroom and be out of bed a little. At almost three, Dr. Downard came back and checked me again and told me I could have an epidural anytime. At 3:30, I asked for one. The back labor was awful. Props to anyone who can give birth naturally, but that sure wasn't going to be me. It was about 4:00 when the anesthesiologist got there. I think Nick was almost as happy to see her as I was. He was feeling pretty worthless! I was amazed that it was instantly better once the spinal block was in. She told me the spinal block worked for 2 hours and then the epidural would have kicked in. I watched the contraction monitor in disbelief. I could not feel them at all when they had been making me absolutely miserable just minutes before. At this point, I napped for almost two hours. Nick watched TV and rested, too. This part of labor was blissful. When the spinal block wore off I was much more aware of contractions, but it was nothing to complain about. At 7:00, my nurse checked me and I was dilated to 9. At this point I was feeling a lot of pressure. She came back and checked at 8:00, and I was at 9.5. Between 9 cm and 10 cm, I threw up twice. Mom said she always threw up in transition, too. It was weird that neither time I really felt it coming. The second time, Nick was too late with the trash can.

Finally, at 9:00, it was time to push. I seriously felt like my pushing was doing nothing. I could tell when my contractions were, and I won't say it hurt, but it was exhausting. The nurse had to move the heart monitor down, so I knew I was making progress. They also told me the baby had hair. I pushed until about 10:30 when the doctor said I needed help. He mentioned the vacuum or forceps, and I really wanted to avoid the forceps. Luckily, with the first contraction after the vacuum was in place, I got his head out and everything was easy after that. He was born at 10:52 PM. I had my eyes closed when he was born, and they had to tell me to open them so I could see my son. Nick cut the umbilical cord and they laid him on my chest. It was amazing. He had tons of hair, but I couldn't really tell what color it was.

He stayed there for a few minutes, but then I got the shakes, so they took him away to be weighed, etc. while I was being stitched up. His APGAR scores were 9 and 10, which the nurse said she had only given 3 times in twenty-some years. He weighed 7 lbs, 10.5 oz. and was 20 inches long. When he was on my chest, I had no perception of how much he weighed or if he was big or small. After the doctor was done with me, Nick brought him back to me. I asked him what he thought about the baby's name. He said he knew which of our top three he liked, but he wanted me to say it first. I said that he was definitely a Wesley, and Nick agreed. (I am still not sure if he really was thinking this or if he agreed only because I had been pushing for almost two hours). I stayed in bed holding him, staring at him in awe, and feeding him. At about 1:30, I decided I was ready to get out of bed. The nurse helped me, and it was weird to feel so little control over my legs.

Then, the nurses came in to give Wesley his first bath. We could tell then that his hair was definitely blonde. He didn't like the bath except for getting his hair washed under the water. He loved that.

At about 3:30, Nick and I went to sleep and they took Wesley to the nursery because he was spitting up stuff that he swallowed during delivery, so I couldn't feed him anyway. At 6:00, I decided I was completely rested and sent Nick to bring my baby back to the room. It was then that I really fell in love with him. The night before and early morning was just so surreal, but then I held him and really grasped that my son was here.

All in all, giving birth wasn't as bad as I thought it might be, but I did have an epidural, so I am certain that made a big difference. Am I ready to do it again anytime soon? No. It was definitely worth it to get my Wesley, though.