| My estimated due date was Aug. 6. Jason & I decided to schedule an induction the week before my due date for several reasons: the hospital was over 1.5 hours away, Jason works nights & is difficult to reach at work, my regular doctor was going to be out of town beginning Aug. 5, and at 38 weeks the baby was already an estimated 7.5 lbs. So at my 38 week appointment, induction was scheduled for 8 a.m. on Thurs., Aug. 3. My maternity leave began Tues., Aug. 1 & I spent the day running errands. I went to the bank, got groceries, gassed up the truck, had lunch with my mom, checked in at the office, went to the high school & checked my mail box, & made Jason tacos before he went to work. I spent the evening doint odds & ends around the house, playing on the Internet, & watching TV. Jason called to check on me at about 10:30 p.m. & I told him nothing was happening & that it looked like we wouldn't have a baby till Thurs. I went to bed about 11 p.m. & got up once or twice during the night to pee. I woke up very suddenly at 4:30 a.m. I figured since I was awake I might as well go pee again so I got up & headed to the bathroom. I felt what I thought was pee coming out & I remember thinking 'Boy, I must really have to go!' I made it to the toilet & peed. I thought I was finished & I stood up, then WHOOSH all over the bathroom floor. I sat back down & it kept coming & I was thinking "Oh my God, my water broker. This is it!!' I thought it was done so I stood up again & it was still trickling. I wiped & saw my mucous plug on the toilet paper. I put a towel between my legs & headed to call Dr. Rauch & Jason. The emotions I was feeling are indescribable, but I remember feeling anxious, scared anxious & excited anxious all at the same time. I decided to call Jason first. I tried our cell phone cause he was normally headed home about this time. There was no answer. I tried him at work, but there was no answer because no one gets in the office till about 6 a.m. I called my mom, told her my water broke, & asked her to go up to the mill & find Jason and tell him to get home. Then I called Dr. Rauch's office, I got her answering service & I told them my water had just broke. They immediately connected me with her home phone. She asked if I was having contractions & I said no I wasn't yet. She said since I wasn't contracting we could take our time getting to the hospital as long I as was there by about 9 or so. Not 1 minute after I hung up with her, I felt my first contraction. It felt like a menstral cramp. Then Jason called; he was on his way home. I told him to take his time, there was no hurry. I called my mom back & told her we'd be headed to Missoula sometime in the morning & I'd call her back when we were on our way. Then I got in the shower. By the time I got out I was having contractions pretty regularly & decided I better time them. They weren't as regular as I thought--anywhere from 5-8 minutes apart and lasting anywhere from 20- 45 seconds. But since they were consistently less than 10 minutes apart, I decided we should probably go ahead & leave for Missoula as soon as Jason got home & showered. He got home, showered, & we hit the road. We called Jason's mom & told her my water broke & we were on our way to Missoula & we'd stop by & drop Ace off. On the road, I called my dad & called my mom back to tell her we decided to head over. She said she'd see us there later in the morning. About halfway to Missoula, the contractions, which still had no regular pattern, were now 2-8 minutes apart & now getting really intense. I told Jason to hurry so he upped the speed from 75 to 85 mph. This is where I start turning into She-Devil during the contractions. The radio was on, but it was commercials, so I asked (OK, told) Jason to find something with music. All the stations must have been on commercial cause he couldn't find any music so he switched it to CD. Well the CD player had Kid Rock--not good music to labor to! I told him (OK, yelled at him) to find some country. I also yelled at him to quit smacking his gum. We pulled into Missoula at almost exactly 7 a.m. & I called Keli & Amber to tell them we'd be having the baby today instead of tomorrow. We got to the hospital at 7:15 a.m. As we were walking to the door, a lady said something like, "Looks like somebody's got a scheduled c-section this morning huh?" I gave her a look to kill & Jason said, "No, she's in labor!" Then she said, "Oh, Yep, she's walking pretty fast." Whatever, lady, mind your own business!! We got to the OB Department & got the last available labor/delivery room available. I put on the sexy hospital gown & the nurse checked my cervix. I was dilated to 3 c.m. I filled out a bunch of paperwork & we decided to do some walking to help the dilation. At 9 a.m. we checked back at our room & my mom was waiting. At 10, my mom & I headed out to walk some more so Jason could take a nap (since he'd been up for about 18 hours by now.) We walked till 11:30 then I had to lay down and be monitored for a while to check the regularity of the contractions. During these contractions, I remember requesting that everyone shut up & turn the TV down. They were still very irregular, coming every 3-6 minutes. Dr. Rauch came in & said she wanted to get some pitocin going in me to try to get the contractions to regulate to at least 2 minutes apart. So they put in the IV (which hurt like hell!) & started the pitocin. My mom decided to run & get her and Jason some lunch. By about 1 p.m., the contractions were hurting pretty bad & I told the nurse I needed something for the pain. They gave me something 'to take the edge off.' I don't remember what it was called. Half of the dose was given through my IV to ensure immediate relief & the other half through a shot in my other arm. This made me feel really groggy, but definately helped with the pain. Shortly after getting the pain med. I threw up. From this point on I don't remember exact time frames of events. My cervix was checked again at probably about 3-4 p.m. It was 4-5 cm, completely thinned, & the baby had dropped down. By this time, I was starting to feel pain again & asked when I could have an epidural. The anesthesiologist was called & came in & put in the catheter. He gave me some fentinol (sp?) through the catheter to start with thinking that would probably take me through the rest of labor & delivery without actually needing the epidural hooked up. The fentinol was wonderful!! Completely took the pain away, but I could still feel the pressure of the contractions so I knew when I was having one. So they turned the pitocin up again. My cervix was checked again & was 7 cm. Then I threw up again. The fentinol lasted a couple hours then started to wear off so the anesthesiologist was called to hook up the epidural. It took him a while to get there this time, so my cervix was checked again to see how close to pushing I was. I was 10 cm. (FINALLY!) Since there was no use in hooking up the epidural this late in the game, they just topped off the fentinol. I started pushing at exactly 6 p.m. My doctor was gone from the hospital so her mid-wife was in with me. Jason & my mom would hold my legs & count to 10 as I pushed through each contraction. I took turns pushing this way & with a squatting bar. Dr. Rauch got there at about 6:30 pm. She told me because I was already really swollen that I should stop using the squatting bar to push. I happened to glance in the mirror behind her and, well, she wasn't kidding! I started getting bitchy again at this point. Jason would be ready with ice chips to give me after a contraction & I would say "If I want ice chips, I'll say ice chips." But then if he didn't have any ready, I'd say "Ice Chips?!?!?!!" I also remember my mom putting some gum in her mouth & that's all I could smell & I swore I was gonna puke again so I yelled at her to get ride of her gum. I was trying to concentrate on pushing effectively. My blood pressure got outta whack & I had to put on an oxygen mask for a while. Dr. Rauch kept telling me she could see dark hair & that helped keep me motivated. Dr. Rauch told me she was going to try helping things along with the vacuum extractor. I pushed his head out, they suctioned his mouth, & started trying to push his shoulders out. Dr. Rauch & the nurses kept telling me to look down, but I was too busy trying to push. His shoulders were stuck for a long time & Dr. Rauch had to really tug to get him out. Finally, he was out & Dr. Rauch said the cord was around his neck so she had to cut the cord very quickly & get him to the warming table. He was kicking & squirming, but was yet to cry. Then he wailed & I cried. He cried for just a few seconds then quit & began looking around. Jason got to hold him first cause I was busy delivering the placenta. Then I got to hold him. I was amazed at how alert he was & how he just kept looking around. His apgar scores were 6 & 9. When the nurse weighed him, everyone was betting on his weight. I said 'how bout 7-11 cause that's our anniversary.' She put him on the scale & it rested at 7 lbs 10.5 ounces. He was measured & was 21 inches. Dr. Rauch said she was going to request that his right collarbone be x-rayed cause she thought it might have broke. (It wasn't.) Then I ate. I had a 4th degree tear and was very swollen. We stayed in the hopital until Friday, Aug. 4. Jason stayed the whole time with us. He was really great, he'd go get me ice packs or anything I needed the whole time. The first night we had to share a room with another couple in a maternity ward room because they were so full. The next night we got a private room & that was wonderful. We had several visitors while in the hospital. The care I received from Dr. Rauch during my pregnancy & the delivery was extraordinary. She was so sweet, I'm so glad she's my doctor. And the care I received at the hospital was awesome. The labor nurses were angels. The anesthiesologist was Super-Man and came to check on me every day we were at the hospital. My maternity nurses and lactation consultant were so helpful--I truly have them to thank for having an exclusively breastfed baby. My LC even called us at home the next week to make sure breastfeeding was going okay & to see if I had any questions. Zack's pediatrician was great in caring for Zack, he was very thorough and kept us up to date on Zack's collarbone, his jaundice, & even let us know that Zack slept through his circumsision. Now that Zack is here, I am truly amazed at how I possibly lived so seemingly happy without him. He is so perfect in every way. I thank God every day for the miracle of motherhood. I feel so lucky to have experienced pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, and parenthood. I always knew it would be magical, but I didn't know how magical. |
| Zackery Jay Havener's Birth Story Written by Mommy August 2, 2000 - 8:00 p.m. |
| Please Beware - This is VERY detailed! |