| I quit my job in the middle of December, and my husband took a long vacation and we headed towards my mom�s house to stay until the birth of the baby. She lived two hours from our apartment, and it really was rough moving back home, but my insurance was no good in the city we lived in, the only OB was filled until after the birth of our baby! So I got a doctor in my hometown, and traveled back and forth, DH didn�t miss one appointment. Both of our jobs were very helpful when it came to time off. You can imagine moving back home isn�t always the easiest transition especially being so pregnant! Everyone annoyed me and I spent most of my time trapped in our bedroom watching movies or playing board games. We continued to go to my doctor�s appointments and always came home disappointed, nothing was happening down below! I had already expressed worry at my ultrasounds when the baby was measuring so large, at my 38 week ultrasound the baby was measuring 9 � lbs! How was I going to push that out? My doctor, the non-listener that he was, said �don�t worry it can range from a pound so it may only be 8 1/2 lbs.� While I was thinking, only a pound off, this baby could be 10 � lbs!!! Finally a week after my due date, 2 weeks after the due date listed on all my ultrasounds, he said he would induce on the next Thursday, it was currently Friday. So we left with some hope, at least there would be an end to side sleeping, belching, and constant discomfort. So that weekend we packed up a bag and left for home, figuring nothing is happening anyway, and we can have some alone time. So we went home, ordered a pizza, watched a movie, cuddled on the sofa and urm... in bed. Then while we were watching a movie I began to feel really strange, like I was really wet, but it wasn�t like A LOT of wetness, just a constant one. So I put my mind to the movie, no way was this kid going to come with me 2 hours from my hospital! After the movie, I told Jeremy that we should stay up a little longer, it was already 11:30 pm, and maybe play some cards in bed, until I was sure what was going on. So he got the cards out, and I kept hopping off the bed to go to the bathroom, and standing in the doorway for the third time in the past 2 minutes, my water gushed all over the bathroom floor. I�d like to say that at this moment I was refined, dignified, poised, and ready for anything. Instead I began crying hysterically, so much that I ended up throwing up several times, once in our bathroom, and then again in the other bathroom. I couldn�t decide if I wanted my head in the toilet or my bottom since both ends were going haywire. No one ever told me that once your water breaks it doesn�t stop leaking until after the baby comes out. Jeremy calls the hospital, while I'm screaming in the background �I don�t want it to come out!� I'm a big wimp for pain, Ill be the first to admit it. So the hospital 2 hours away knows that we are coming. Jeremy grabs our clothes, cleans up the mess, after all we won�t be back for a week. And grabs some towels to throw on the seat, and slowly helps me up. And off we were to the hospital. Strange thing I never got any kind of contractions really. I was thinking, this isn�t so bad for the road trip. We were listening to Jewel, our favorite artist that in a strange way brought us together, but that�s another story. And we were thinking, �We are going to have a baby today!� Driving down those familiar roads, I didn�t get scared again until we came into my hometown, the street lights shining in the early morning, and the hospital ER well-lit. Oh I just wanted to die. I tried to walk, but thankfully someone saw us coming and brought a wheelchair, it was just too gross to walk. I was more grossed out then in pain. Anyhow, I'm rambling on here. They checked me as soon as I got checked in, just like a hotel room; it was so nice in there. And of course I wasn�t dilated a pinch, just my luck. So they tell me to rest, and Jeremy immediately conks out, something he did very well during our hospital stay. And while there I began to get very uncomfortable, I had lots of contractions, though very far apart, and very handle able. I even asked to take a bath, because the showers had always helped so much while at home, back when I contracted daily! This was one of the biggest mistakes; the water is set so that its �safe� for the baby, it�s freezing! I was so cold, but I didn�t want to get out, because then I thought the nurse would think I a nuisance. So I sat in the water, teeth chattering, thinking I wish Jeremy was awake to talk to me. So when the doctor comes in at 6, she checks me again, still nothing! So she puts me on Pitocin. Funny thing about this, is she told me that they were going to put it at a certain number, lets say 10 (I don�t really remember the numbers anymore) and she said that was pretty intense, by the time noon rolled around, it was at 50! (Again I don�t remember exact numbers but it was a huge gap) I was afraid my uterus was going to never stop contracting, they were on top of each other, and without Jeremy breathing with me I never would have survived. There really is power in breathing, or at least focusing on someone. So even after all of that I was still not progressing. They gave me some IV drug; around 11:30 because I was getting very warn out. I must admit that it felt really nice to have the pain dulled, I still had to breathe through them, and the medicine didn�t last nearly as long as it was supposed to, but it was a nice break. So the doctor tells me at 12:30 that they cant get an internal monitor inside of me, and the doctor was feeling pressed for time because my water now had meconium in it, so she said that if I didn�t make any progress by 1 that they would begin prepping me for a c-section, and she told me to get an epidural. So we got the epidural and finally my mother arrived. I never wanted to have her be there for the birth until I was actually in the hospital, especially since my outlook was pointing toward a c-section something she had with each of us girls. So once she arrived, time flew. They prepped me, and did a bunch of things I don�t remember them doing. And I was off down the hall towards surgery, leaving Jeremy and my mom behind in scrubs. This part I don�t remember that well, they give you some type of sedative and it makes you pretty foggy. But I remember them tying my arms down, and the doctors asking about the anesthesiologist, and then at about 2:30 they began cutting, at least I think it was around there. And of course Jeremy and my mom are in the room; my mom is standing back, while Jeremy is cowering over my head, whispering to me, both of us crying with excitement and nervousness. He has a very weak stomach and he couldn�t look at my tummy. When they were getting to the last layer, I could feel them cutting through, and I could feel a lot more then tugging. My drugs were wearing off mid-way through surgery! The dumb anesthesiologist never put more in, the doctor didn�t realize that he snuck in late, and therefore never told him to top me off. The doctor said that she only had one layer left to cut through and then we�d have the baby, we could actually hear her muffled crying inside. She didn�t want to knock me out, though the dumb anesthesiologist was hopping all over it, and the topping of the epidural would take too long to kick in. So, Jeremy breathed with me, right in my face, my mom doing the same while she coaxed my hair, and they both told me it�d be alright, that we were almost done. And before I knew it, we could hear her crying without the muffling. The doctors and nurses going crazy over all her hair and how big she was. While we were so amazed that it was a SHE! We never found out the sex but had thought it was a boy, since that�s how my husband�s family works. It was one of the most beautiful, wonderful moments of my life. Afterward Jeremy and Arianna left the room while they stitched me up, and then they wheeled me into recovery, boring. The whole time I kept thinking I want to see my baby; I want to see my baby! But they insisted I stay for one hour and rest. I tried but couldn�t sleep despite the sedatives they gave me. Arianna was born weighing 9lbs 13.5 oz; she never dropped to put the pressure on my cervix which had a lot to due with my never dilating. She was 21.5 inches long and head of wild black hair that later turned blond. She scored very high on the apgar, can�t remember the numbers, I believe it was 9 and 8. I'm very proud of my labor and delivery, and wouldn�t change a thing, even the pain I felt during the cutting, because to me, it was the same as pushing her out. I went into this pregnancy saying drug free, and left with happy birth experience, and a beautiful daughter. |
| Kristel's Birth Stories: |
| BC Screen Name: Mommy2Ari&Baby Email: [email protected] Est. Due Date: 12/15/02 Children and Birthdays: Arianna 1/22/01 |
| Welcome to the World Arianna Maisie! |
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