The Kidd Korner: B's Birth Story

First off, I gotta tell you…I was big as a barn! I gained 55 pounds when I was pregnant. I was a very happy pregnant person and a very hungry one. I always knew I wanted to be a mother and I never really got scared of being a mom…just of giving birth. My grandma told me it was the greatest pain I would ever endure, but I would have a hard time remembering the pain shortly after it was over. She was soooo right.

It was Wednesday, October 18, 2000 at 4:30pm when I first felt the contractions. Just like everyone says, it was slightly more uncomfortable than menstrual cramps. I called B’s dad at work and he came home right away. (I had actually called in sick to my office job at the big car plant that day because I could just tell something was different). We started timing them and got nervous because they weren’t hard contractions but they were coming pretty fast. AND, my doctor was out of town. See, I wasn’t due until October 27. My doctor was on vacation in Florida with his family. Late that evening we went to the hospital. They sent us home. I was up all night with more contractions, but still nothing to scream about…just couldn’t lie down or sleep. The next morning we went to the doctor’s office so I could be checked by one of the other doctors that partnered with my OBGYN. While she was checking me, she “pulled my plug”…I will probably never crochet again. The instrument looked exactly like a crochet hook. She told me, “That should speed things up!” I was only dilated to 1 cm! It was a very pretty day and in the 70’s, so we walked around the park for 2 hours trying to get things going. Did I mention that I was advised not to eat when I was at the hospital the night before? By the afternoon, it was almost 24 hours since I had eaten and was getting along on ice chips and sips of water. We knew it was a boy, so I kept talking to my belly saying, “Come on, B! It’s time to come out…we want to meet you!” He was very stubborn. That evening the contractions got worse. After it was all over, I was told I had back labor. I never understood why I didn’t feel any pain in the front of my belly when I had contractions. I only felt huge bolts of electricity surging across my lower back every time. Every time it happened I felt like my legs were going to buckle and I was going to fall over. That scared me, so we went back to the hospital Thursday night. This time they admitted me and put the monitors on my belly. The nurse seemed to think my contractions weren’t strong enough by the looks of the print-outs on the monitor, so she was suggesting we go home again. We made it to the parking garage and I had a huge contraction and said, “Take me back in…I’m not leaving!” So we spent the night. B’s dad was in a cot beside my bed and I kept hitting him with the pillow ever time I heard him snore…if I couldn’t sleep, he couldn’t sleep! I sorta feel bad about that now, because I was delirious at the time and had been in pain and without food or sleep for 30 hours. That’s not good. Anyone who knows me usually keeps crackers or snacks in their purse just for me…because I get ugly when I’m hungry. The next day, the nurse started to show concern because I still wasn’t dilating and my water still hadn’t broke. She conferred with the doctor on call and it was determined that if I didn’t dilate soon, I was headed for an emergency C-section. They kept this a secret from me though, because I would have freaked out. I think it is important for you to know that I am a pretty strong person…strong willed, high pain tolerance, stubborn. I was very adamant that I was not going to have any drugs whatsoever. That down right scared me. I could never be Jack Bauer’s (24) side-kick because after 40 hours of no sleep and no food and constant lower back pain, I was ready for anything to make it stop. However, I had to wait until I was dilated to 4 cm before they would give an epidural. People told me later that I called the anesthesiologist “God”. Now it gets good…the epidural slowed things down!!! “This is common,” they said. Now I’m chipper and can’t feel anything but B still wasn’t making any progress. I didn’t know it, but my nurse was not an experienced OB nurse. I also didn’t know that she came to check on me for the last time…if I hadn’t fully dilated, she was going to advise the doctor and they would have prepped me for the C-section. After feeling around for a while, she said she just couldn’t tell. Out the door she went to find another nurse. That nurse checked and said, “She’s fully dilated! That’s the head you’re feeling!” They dropped the bottom of the bed down really fast and put my legs in the stirrups and the doctor finally came in. I had to wait for them to tell me I was having a contraction before I could push. That was weird…not being able to feel anything while you were pushing. I couldn’t even move my legs…the nurse had one and B’s dad had the other. After about 40 minutes of pushing, the doctor had to leave because his daughter had a program at school!! So literally, the doctors passed each other in the doorway and another doctor took over to deliver! That’s when the doctor noticed that B was not in the normal birth position. His head was down and everything, but he was face up instead of face down. So during the entire labor, his head was pressing on my lower spine during every contraction and that was causing all the pain. The doctor got out those awful looking forceps things and I thought he might have to use them to turn B in the birth canal. Those things must have scared B too because he turned by himself…half way during one contraction and the other half during the next contraction. After that, it was smooth sailing! After 49 hours of labor and 45 minutes of pushing, B was born at 5:30pm on October 20, 2000! That evening, my mom brought me the biggest take-out serving of chicken and dumplings from Cracker Barrel that you have ever seen. I ate it all!