Let's get this show on the road (December 22, 2001)
Dr. Young came to the hospital at 8:00am. He checked me out and said I was 3-4cm dilated. He didn't want to induce me since I was scheduled to be induced in a couple of days anyway with my regular doctor, but said he would induce me if I insisted. I said "Okay, I insist" He then tried a little to talk me out of it, but when I explained how I had fallen down the previous morning and I didn't want to go home feeling like that for the rest of the weekend and possibly having another fall he agreed to induce me.
He broke my water and told me I was definitely at 4cm now (this was about 8:30-9:00am). Almost immediately I started having contractions. They weren't very strong though so I was also hooked up to pitocin to help labor along. It worked.
Jason phoned Doug and Kay to let them know labor had begun, but there was no big rush because it was still early and I would probably be in labor for quite a few more hours.
At 10:00am I was still managing my contractions okay, but asked for an epidural anyway because I knew by the time the anesthesiologist came the contractions would be much stronger and I would need something for the pain. It took what seemed like an eternity for him to get there. By the time my epidural was in it was 11:30am and my contractions were not letting up. There was no rest in between them and my epidural wasn't working well either. I was numb on one side, but my other side was feeling everything---ouch!!! My doctor came in to check on my progress and to our surprise I was completely dilated and ready to push!!
I pushed for about 10 minutes and little Michael Daniel came into the world. He cried before he was completely born (his head was out, but his body was still inside). It was 11:55am and he was 7lbs (although I didn't find out his weight until later that day) He was taken over to the warmer, given a little bit of oxygen and checked over by a doctor and a nurse. I couldn't see him, and I wasn't happy about that, but I was stuck on the table about to give birth again so I couldn't do much about it.
Shortly after noon I had another contraction and started pushing again. After 2 contractions little Michelle Ann was born. She had been breech for the last 6 weeks or so, but as soon as Michael was born I guess she had room to move because she was born head first. It was 12:07pm and she weighed 6lbs. She was also taken over to the warmer to be checked out.
At this time I noticed that Michael was gone. "Where's the boy?" I asked. They told me he had been taken to the special care nursery to be looked at because he was having a little trouble breathing. It would have been nice if they had told me!
I then delivered the placenta. I had never seen one before so it was really neat for me to see (I think Jason thought it was more gross than neat!). Their placentas had fused together during the pregnancy, so there appeared to be just one, but it was really 2 that had joined together. They asked me if I wanted to save it and take it home with me. This was the first time I was offered that and I was a little shocked. I said no. But now I think it may have been neat to save, and to plant it underneath a tree or something----however I don't think I would want to keep it in my freezer until I could plant it!!!
I got to hold Michelle and she was very beautiful. She was all sleepy and quiet and so tiny! My children were 8lbs10oz and 8lbs13oz, so to hold a 6lb baby was quite different for me. |
