A word to the wise: if you don't like medicinal detail or don't want to know details about a birth, STOP reading.
As my friend Heather reported, I got sent to the hospital on Tuesday after my weekly checkup at the Midwives clinic revealed a blood pressure reading that should have caused my head to blow off my body, or whatever happens when the bottom number is more like a number that should be on top. Luckily my Midwife (midwives have FULL hospital privileges here-such a smart thing for the health care system to provide!) was already at the hospital that afternoon with another birth that was just finishing. The problem with high blood pressure in terms of having a Midwife is that it automatically sends you into the "complication" category and you become a "transfer of care" to whichever OB is on call. BUMMER because I have spent the last 9 months getting to the various Midwives and planning my birth experience with them. Now all of a sudden I'm thrown into the care of an OB whom I've never met and who will definitely not share the same ideals about childbirth and labor that my Midwives have. I saw my plan for a natural child birth flying right out the window.
So there I was Tuesday afternoon, unexpectantly thrown into the hospital, no longer allowed to have the MW's be my primary birth support, NOT in labor AT all but being told that I was not leaving the hospital without a baby in my arms....excuse me? At that point I was pretty excited, I had heard about Oxytocin and thought that we would be meeting our little one by Wednesday..oh Holli, so young, so naive. I should have taken the hint when my Midwife (who is a big fan of the natural birth) looked me in the eyes before she left and said "This is going to be a process. You are going to be hooked up to a lot of machines and you will be tired from such a long labor. You won't have many of the coping mechanisms that we've talked about-if they offer you an epidural, I would take it." My lip may have started to quiver after that little pep talk, I'm not sure.
In order for them to start you on an oxytocin drip, there has to be a nurse just for you on duty and because Labor and Delivery was already at capacity they weren't going to do anything for me on Tuesday night. So they moved me down to post pardom recovery and Alex and I spent the night in there. (Rather he slept and I laid awake with the second of four IV's attached to my hand trying to decide on a name if we had a girl)
Wednesday morning I went back down to LD so they could start the induction. I would like to dedicate this paragraph to a little thing called the Cervical Catheter. I've been asking around and can't find another single woman who has ever heard of this sweet little instrument that I was about to become acquainted with. Have any of you ever had one these? Well it works like a regular catheter (blows up like a balloon once inserted) except that it's inserted into your cervix and slowly forces it open. That's right-they insert it into your CLOSED cervix. Closed tight like a drum...not in labor...not even one centimeter dilated. I won't go into to much detail here to spare you losing your breakfast but let's just say the metal instrument used to insert the catheter didn't help matters and after what felt like an eternity of trying the OB announced that the cervix wasn't letting the catheter in....I could have told you that before the tears, lady! So she inserted a little tampon like thing on a string that releases something to make your cervix open. Why is it on a string you ask? Because it can bring on intense contractions and may need to be removed quickly. We head back down to our room at the other end of the hall and basically have to wait for the tampon to do it's job.
4:00 pm on Wednesday and BOOM. The tampon has started working and my contractions start coming every five minutes. Yipppeeeee! Baby T will be here soon! wrong. these were fakers. only brought on by the tampon which was trying to open the cervix, but we didn't know at the time. What I did know was that I was having the worst back pains I've ever had. I've heard people talk about back labor before and OMG it is excruciating. I've cracked a vertebrae in my back before and it was not nearly as intensely painful as these contractions-Xan must have been turned a little funny. By the grace of God we were walking the halls during these contractions and happened to run into my OB. She asked how I was feeling and prescribed a painkiller and a sleep aid. That was my last good nights sleep to date- I think about from time to time and try to draw from the beauty of it.
When I woke up Thursday morning the contractions were gone and we went back down to LD so I could get 'checked' another term that has a whole new meaning now. I was still only dilated a fingertip, so the OB wanted to try the catheter again. NO!!!!!!!! oh yes, but this time she wouldn't use the horrendous instrument only her hand to try and insert it. Try as she might, and she did, that thing was not being accepted. So I made her proposition. I asked for the same shot of pain killer and the same sleep aid that she had given me the night before because I swear you could have cut off my leg on that stuff and I would never have known. She agreed! They gave me the goods and she came back an hour later and VHALA! the catheter was in. NO joke! So here we are Thursday afternoon still waiting.
They moved me down to the LD for good because the catheter won't come out until it falls out by your cervix opening. I was supposed to be 3 centimeters for the catheter to fall out. Only three! We did have one huge blessing at this point. The OB was happy with how my BP was being maintained so she transferred my delivery back to the Midwives. This was such a relief- i can't even explain it. Just to know the people who would be delivering your baby and have them know you is such a wonderful feeling.
Whew, I'm getting tired just thinking about all of this again. Thursday afternoon and evening passed and NOT A THING was happening. I was on the oxytocin drip at this point so I knew the end was inevitable but truly by Thursday night I was giving up hope that we would ever have our baby. We went to sleep and I woke up around 1:00 to a POP. I stood up and yep...gushing. The contractions started immediately so we went to walk the halls. We hadn't even made it one lap when I felt the catheter drop out!!! The hated catheter was gone! The nurse checked me and I was already 6 centimeters-rock on cervix-do your thing! Now I"ve heard that contractions brought on by the oxytocin are terribly severe and since I"ve never had a baby without it, I don't know what any other way is like, but I have to say that I was astounded at the pain. Completely and utterly taken over by it. I couldn't walk much because of all the monitors I was on (fetal and BP, plus an IV on the other arm) and I couldn't get in the shower (two of the main coping mechanisms for natural birth). So what did I do?? I begged for the epidural. He couldn 't have gotten there fast enough. We called the midwives because I was in active labor and they got there the same time as the Candy Man with his sweet sweetness. The epidural gave me the chance to rest for a couple of hours and I started pushing at 8:00 am. By that point it wasn't as strong and I could feel my contractions which really helped me to push.
Now to the Crockpot. The Crockpot was plugged in and full of warm water and wash cloths to perform the "hot towel treatment" as I like to call it. They are what I credit for not having to have a single stitch. I won't go into to much detail other than to say I love the midwives and their hot towel treatment.
Xan was born at 9:22 and came out pooping and screaming and pink, what more could we ask for? The birth was an amazing experience and I'm so thankful that the midwives were there. They kept the mood light and are truly partners along with the laboring mother and father to bring a baby into the world in a loving, nurturing way.
Tuesday night, still smiling, no idea what is in store...
In his chair from Zsa Zsa, thank you, we LOVE his chair!
Can't speak just yet, so he wears clothes that tell us how he feels.
On our way to the Dr.'s Office
A little perspective on size...he's so tiny, I love it! This is our second outing and I make Alex handle the car seat; I don't have the heart for the strap tightening yet.
We explained to Xan about the germs at a Dr.'s office, so now he's doing "the pound" rather than a hand shake.
