Some may find that there is too much information here. For you I'll summarize the story:
1. I couldn't get pregnant 2. I got pregnant 3. I had a healthy babyThe End
For the rest of you, here is the second installment: (read Part 1 here)
Birth Story
Of
Adam Tod xxxxxxx
Born Wednesday, December 17, 2003
3:34 a.m.
(cont.)
I had been having contractions since week 22 of my pregnancy. Which was quite irritating because then I had difficulty deciding if “anything” was really happening. That evening (Tuesday, after the exam) I was packing some Christmas gifts to mail and having contractions as usual. I was really trying to decide if they were any different than usual, if they were noteworthy. I just couldn’t tell. Arrgh!
About midnight, I headed for bed. I took my ever-so-lovely-Ambien (I had been having tremendous trouble sleeping the last 5-6 nights). I got into bed. I did a few hee-hee-whooos and tried to get comfy in bed. Then Jim, asked me, “When are you going to go to the hospital?” “Should I go now?” I asked. “What do you think we should do?” Jim said that it would better to call people (to come stay with the kids) now rather than later. So I got back out of bed and got dressed. Jim called CheriB from church to come and stay with the kids until we knew for sure that we were really going to deliver (I had a couple of false runs to the hospital with the other two kids). Then Jim’s dad would come and take over. I actually don’t remember Cheri arriving at the house. It was starting to be very obvious that this baby was coming. Jim and I drove the 30 minutes to the hospital. We got there around 1 am and I was promptly admitted.
This time in the hospital was different from the others because I had only Jim with me. The other two times I had a lot of company. My two sisters, my friend, Joy, and my parents were all there. They weren’t all in the delivery room the whole time, but they were there. This meant that someone was taking pictures, someone was taking video, someone was getting me ice chips, etc. This time it was just Jim. Not that there’s anything wrong with my sweet husband, but hey, he’s just ONE person! After he got me into the hospital, my contractions were so strong that I didn’t want him to leave me to go get my bag from the car. I kept thinking that he could run down to the parking lot just as soon as my friend, Joy got there but she was working and wasn’t going to be there for a while.
I had tested positive for Group B Strep so I had to have a !@#^% I.V. I detest IV’s. I had the previous 2 babies without IV’s. I was pretty bummed weeks earlier when I tested positive and they told me that I absolutely HAD to have that horrid IV. So I consented. I wish I hadn’t caved to the bullying, but that’s old news now! Anyway, the contractions were getting stronger and I wanted to get into the wonderful Jacuzzi tub. They gave me a HepLock so I could have the meds and still be able to get into the tub and move about freely. That was nice anyway.
Ahhh. The tub. Nature’s epidural. I love the Jacuzzi tub! The nurse told me that I could be in the tub for one hour and then I’d have to get out so they could monitor the baby and see if it was handling the warm water and the labor. I had wicked contraction after wicked contraction in that tub but it was fairly manageable. I started wondering, though, how I was ever going to get out. There didn’t seem to be much time between contractions. How am I going to get out of this tub, get dried off, and get back into the bed BETWEEN contractions? I was hanging on to the grab bar right above the tub during contractions. Jim was kneeling on the floor (how comfy!) and pressing his fist into my lower back (at my demand request). I decided that I didn’t want the pressure of the nurse coming to tell me that it was time to get out and then waiting for me to do it. At the 45-minute mark I told Jim that I wanted to get out then. Plus, I was having a lot of pressure and felt like I might need to go to the bathroom. I had a few false starts getting out of that tub. Every time I started to hoist myself up with that grab bar another wave of contraction pain washed over me and I sank back down into the relative comfort of the water. Finally, though, I did get out and immediately had to go to the bathroom. While on the toilet, I had an incredible urge to push. The nurses didn’t want me pushing on the toilet so we hurried up (as much as I could) and got to the bed.
Now on the bed, the contractions were really intense. I sure missed the water. Jim held my hand and tried to help me with my breathing, but it wasn’t working. For the first time during any of my deliveries, I stated that, “I CAN’T DO THIS!” A nurse took over for Jim, locked her eyes on mine and really helped me through the pains. She kept trying to get me to focus, but I was having a hard time. It hurt so much and it had been 5½ years since I’d last done this and I was feeling very defeated. Another nurse called my doctor and said that I wanted to push and he’d better get there. The doctor wasn’t at the hospital since I had just checked in less than 2 hours previously. The nurses were trying to get me to put off pushing but there was no putting it off. This baby was a-coming! During the whole pushing stage, although only 8 minutes long, I felt so out of control. I felt like I was being dragged along under a freight train barreling through town! Anyhow, push I did. Oh my goodness. It hurt so much and I just wanted it to end.
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