THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2011
Birth Story: Avery Margaret Part One
The day before Avery was born, I went to the doctor and had my membranes stripped in hopes that she would be more ready to come the following Tuesday, when I was scheduled for an induction. Before we left the office, the doctor said there was a 50% chance I'd go into labor within 24 hours. We went home expecting to be back later that night.
Our hospital bags were packed and we walked around the neighborhood in ridiculous heat. I got many mosquito bites and cursed myself for walking outside before the sun went down. We played cards and I beat Kyle (again). We drove to the gas station and ate ice cream cones in the parking lot. We drove to the lake and watched the giant moon rise over the water.
I did not have any contractions.
I did not go into labor.
24 hours passed and we were still home, waiting to time contractions to every 5 minutes. Still, nothing happened. My parents had planned to come Tuesday for the induction but we were bored and tired of entertaining each other so we asked if they'd come down Saturday night instead. We spent hours in the morning heat walking around the farmer's market eating burritos hoping one or the other would get something going.
Nothing happened.
Nothing happened.
Just before 7:00 PM, I was changing my clothes for dinner when I thought for sure my water broke. I mean, I knew it wasn't unusual for someone 9 months pregnant to randomly pee their pants but this just seemed different. Only it wasn't very much, it didn't last long and nothing seemed to come of it. I chalked it up to incontinence and we went to dinner with my parents an hour later.
So here's a question: What do you eat when you want to go into labor? My answer to you is a Tommy's Burger hot dog loaded with sauerkraut, onions and chili (aka the Power Dog). That way, if you are inclined to vomit because of the pain, it will be that much more exciting. Also drink an entire Cherry Coke even though you have gestational diabetes because you figure this baby is coming sooner rather than later and maybe all that talk about blood sugar is just a joke anyway? (Realize later that this was a bad idea)
An hour after dinner, on our way home via the freeway, I got terribly sick and made an emergency stop at the La Quinta bathroom. That's when the contractions started. (Very romantic, don't you think?)
My parents followed us to the hospital and I started to think that maybe we were arriving a bit premature. I did not want to be sent home again but I figured that would probably happen. But still there was the question of whether or not my water had actually broke earlier in the day.
Kyle and I checked into a delivery room and my parents stayed in the waiting room. Shortly after I got hooked up to the monitors, the contractions started to die down and I thought "Crap. We're going home for sure." They did a quick test to determine if my water had broke. It came back negative. Just to be sure, they did another (supposedly more accurate) test and we waited for the results to come back from the lab while my contractions slowly dissipated into nothing to write home about. I was embarrassed for even coming in to the hospital and started to prepare myself to go home babyless. Again.
The second test came back positive! My water really had broke and I wasn't leaving until we had a baby. I suddenly freaked out a little: a mixture of excitement and elation and relief and terror of the unknown. It was just before 11:00 PM when we were admitted to Labor & Delivery.
THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2011
Birth Story: Avery Margaret Part Two
So this was it. I was really going to have a baby. I felt relief that we weren't going home this time without Avery and also less embarrassed for coming into the hospital with such pathetic contractions. Oh and what's more: I didn't pee my pants earlier in the day! My water had totally broke. And it didn't break all over the front seat of the car like Kyle had feared.
What they figured is that I had a small, high tear in the bag of fluids and that's why I only had a little water that leaked. I would find out later what it was really like to have your water break.
Kyle found ESPN and my parents napped in their car for a few hours while I watched the monitor for every contraction. Hours went by and I was only dilated to a 4. It was a little depressing. The pain was getting stronger and I was surprised when the nurse offered me pain medication not in the form of an epidural. I did not know this was even an option! I went for the pain meds (call me a conformist) and was able to doze off and on through most of the contractions during the night.
Eventually I was told that I probably wouldn't progress too much until the rest of my water broke. The plan was to let me labor for awhile longer on my own and when the doctor came in, he could break my water and get things going a lot faster. I was also told that the anesthesiologist had a C-section to do at 7 AM so if I wanted an epidural, I either had to get it before 6:30 AM or I had to wait until after the C-section.
I did not want to risk missing the anesthesiologist so I requested the epidural at 6 AM. It was no big deal, but also I was still on some pain meds so that probably helped some. There was a slight shock in my right hip and I soon felt the pain from the contrations subside. Only there was one problem: I could still feel them on my left side. I started to panic, worried that the epidural wasn't placed right and he'd have to do it again. Every 15 minutes I was allowed to push my button for more medicine in the epidural and I pushed that button religiously until I no longer felt the pain in my left side.
The epidural was great. The nurse was able to turn up the pitocin to speed things up a bit and I started dilating more. Avery was turned slightly face up however, so I had pretty intense lower back pain even with the epidural. I didn't mind this too much though because I kind of felt like since I was in labor I should feel some pain. Like it was cheating to be totally painless maybe? At any rate, I was able to tell when the contractions came because the pressure on my tailbone would get really intense.
Despite the pain, I was able to get some decent sleep (and so was everyone else) in preparation for what was ahead.
A couple hours after the epidural, I felt something that I worried was the baby coming out. Turns out, it was my water breaking. It broke. And it broke. And it broke. Whenever I thought it was over, it just kept coming!
It's very surreal to realize that your body is doing exactly what it should be doing and you have absolutely no control over it. No matter how ready I felt, I could not stop or start labor at any point. I had no control over the situation and yet my body still knew just what to do.
SATURDAY, JULY 30, 2011
Birth Story: Avery Margaret Part Three
Thanks to the epidural, my right leg was totally dead. Kyle was enlisted to hold it up for me so he got a front row seat whether he was ready for it or not. Betsy had a hold of the other leg, which I could still move to some degree. Betsy instructed me in the method of pushing and for the next 45 minutes I pushed along with the contractions. It was quiet and everything was so calm and peaceful.
Pushing was hard work but the 45 minutes went by fast and soon it was time to call the doctor in. Avery's head was coming close and Kyle could see her hair. I could see that he was really excited and seeing him so happy made me even happier. The doctor praised me for my expert pushing abilities. It's funny that when you're pregnant, comments from doctors like "You have a great cervix" and "You're a great pusher" are the best compliments in the world. (Later, they just sound kind of weird)
It all happened so fast: first her head was out and I could see elation in Kyle's face. Another push and Avery was here. It was 10:35 AM and I vaguely remember hearing the doctor talk Kyle through cutting the umbilical cord. Avery was immediately placed on my chest and Kyle and I admired her for the first time. I couldn't believe she was finally here!
Her little hands grasped our fingers and she tried to open her dark baby eyes. Her top lip stuck out over her bottom lip and we joke now that she looked like a little fish. We were surprised she had a lot of brown hair and noticed how long her hands and feet were for being such a tiny newborn. She must have been born hungry because she immediately tried to eat everything near her face: her hands, our hands, my hospital gown, my chest...
They told me whenever I was ready, they would take her back and weigh her but I didn't ever want to let her go. I eventually gave in. She weighed 6 lbs. 8 oz. and was 19 inches long.
She is beautiful and perfect and she is ours.
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