Dean's Birth Story
Dean was due on July 18, 1993. On July 30, 1993, I woke up at 5:45 AM with very strong contractions. Since I was only 17 years old, my husband (ex now) and I lived with my parents. After I realized that the pains I was having were actually contractions, I walked out to the living room and sat in the rocking chair. My mom was already awake, but I hesitated telling her I was in labor, because I wasn't sure. I went back to bed. At about 7:00AM I woke my husband up and told him I was in labor. He said, "uh-huh." and rolled over and went back to sleep. I waited another 30 minutes or so, and by then I was in a lot of pain. My contractions were coming less than a minute apart, and were very strong. I tried again to wake him up. I got a grunt, and he went back to sleep. Finally, I got angry and yelled at him, "I'm in labor! Go get my mom, at least she'll take me seriously!" He quickly got up and got my mom. Then he went back to sleep. My mom took one look at me and said, "Oh, honey. You're in labor aren't you?!" I didn't even have time to respond, and she was telling me to get up, we had to go NOW she said. I wanted to get dressed, even though my mom said we shouldn't take the time. By now, it was almost 8:30 AM.
My mom convinced my husband that I was in labor, so he finally got up. We called my babysitter to come over, but she wasn't home. Neither was my back-up babysitter. We had to call around until we found someone, then wait for them to get there. I was in SO much pain! I didn't realize how much of a difference a little bit of Demorol made! I was very ready for drugs!
We got to the hospital around 10AM. I was given an enema (I hate those things!) and changed into a gown. The nurses gave me my IV and I immediately asked for something for the pain. They checked me, and it was too late. I was already dialated to almost 8 cm. I started pushing at around 11: 30 AM. The pain was much more intense this time than it was with my first baby. I was begging for medication, and insisting I was dying and couldn't do it. The midwife on call was delivering my baby, but he was coming so fast that none of the doctors could get there in time. She had a doctor on the phone on and off. When Dean started crowning, we realized that his left hand was on the side of his face, and was coming out with his head. In order not to break his arm or dislocate his shoulder, the midwife had to deliver his arm, then his head, so he was sideways. Finally I got his other shoulder out, and the rest of him just slipped out. The midwife said, "It's a boy!" and immediately I started to cry, "Thank you God! Thank you God! Thank you for my baby!" Everyone in the room was crying. I also immediately realized that Dean had been born exactly one year to the day since my gandfather died. That was also an emotional moment.
At 12:06 PM, on July 30, 1993 Dean Michael came into this world. My special baby weighed in at 10 pounds, 6 ounces. He was 23 inches long. The midwife told me later that he was the second biggest baby ever born at that hospital. The biggest was only 2 ounces bigger. |
