Birth Story!
05/16/2006 15:48 | Permalink
I promise not to make this graphic. You want graphic, go watch A Baby Story on TLC. This is just a rehash of the birth of Johnny without the gory details. There are details, but not gory.
So, we decided to induce the baby on May 12th. I was measuring about 2 weeks large, so we didn’t want to wait too long before we forced this very comfortable kid out into the world. Tom and I were instructed to be at the hospital at 8 AM, so we wandered up to the 3rd floor at Ridgeview Medical Center in Waconia, MN at 7:55 AM. Of course, turns out that the Labor and Delivery unit is on the 2nd floor, so after a minute or two of aimless wandering, we headed back to the 2nd floor to check in.
When we walked in, me with big smiles on my face, we encountered a poor woman in labor. She had her husband and three other children with her (two older kids, around 12 and 13, and one baby, about a year and a half). She was in obvious pain, and I felt guilty, since I had no contractions and was feeling just fine. What’s worse is that scheduled inductions get precedence for birthing rooms, so I was quickly ushered into my room while this poor woman had to wait for hers (she only waited a few minutes, I later learned, but I still felt bad).
The doctor came in at about 8:30 AM and broke my water. For two hours, we waited. And nothing happened. I had a few minor contractions, and walking helped a bit, but nothing major happened, so we started the Pitocin (OUCH!) at 10:30 AM.
Oh, did I mention my plan to do this without an epidural? Yeah. I figured I would try to do that. Yeah. Anyway, I told the nurse, my thoughts and she was very supportive, but agreed that if I asked for one, she would certainly get it done.
So, the Pitocin was started at 10:30, and the contractions started to get more frequent and intense. But not enough. So, they upped my Pitocin. And the contractions became more frequent and intense. But not enough. So, you get the picture. After about 2 hours, I asked for some Stadol, which is a narcotic meant to take the edge off the contractions. They administered it about 30 minutes later, and for about 15 minutes, I was able to relax, even as my uterus was tearing itself from my body.
But, 15 minutes after they administered the Stadol, I went into what is called the “transition” phase of labor. That’s when your cervix goes from an 8 or 9 to a 10, and you get a new baby. At that point, I asked for the epidural. At that point, it was also too late for said epidural. Dammitall.
So, after about 15 minutes, I was ready to push, and after about 15 – 20 minutes of pushing, out came Johnny. I found that not having an epidural was really, horribly, terribly painful. And I also found out that I yell when I am in excruciating pain. I am sure that some first time moms were seriously freaked out by my vocalizations. Tom was really calm, though, and claims that he was being quiet so as not to become the object of any type of verbal volley on my part. He was really sweet, though, and told him that I wouldn’t have yelled at him. I just hurt. A lot.
In the end, I was shocked to hear the doctor tell me that I had a beautiful son – I really figured, given the experiences of my family and Tom’s family (both of which have only one boy) that we would have another girl. But, we got a sweet little boy baby! I was not, however, shocked when they told me he was 9 pounds 5 ounces. That I expected, given that I had been carrying Mr. Giant Boy in my stomach for 9 months, and given how much it hurt to deliver his head.
Tom and I were instantly in love with Johnny (although, we’d been in love with this baby since conception, really), and we couldn’t wait to tell Patrick.
As soon as I was allowed to use the phone, I called home and told my mom to put Patrick on the phone. He came on, and I told him that he had a baby brother, and I heard him screaming in happiness in the background. He told my mother that he had someone to share his boy toys with. It was very cute. Emma was also very excited, but I think that up to the end, she expected two kids – a boy and a girl – so she might have been a bit disappointed by the one boy thing.
After they fixed me up, I got up, took a shower, and the kids came to visit. Then, they took Johnny to the Nursery for observation because he was a bit hypoglycemic. He was shaky and his body temperature was a little low, so he needed his blood sugar checked. It started at a 48 (50 is “normal&rdquo
, then after eating some formula (he was too shaky to latch on to breastfeed), it went down to 41. At that point, he was technically in NICU, but NICU at this hospital was really just intense observation in the nursery. They popped him in the baby toaster (actually, I think it’s technically called an Infant Warmer) and his temperature went up, he took more formula, and within a half hour, his blood sugar was up to 75. So, he finally decided to latch on and breastfeed. And he’s been fine since. The doctors said big babies sometimes have this problem, and once it’s controlled, it causes no problems.
We stuck around the hospital for a couple of days, and then headed home on Sunday morning. And that’s the story!
So, we decided to induce the baby on May 12th. I was measuring about 2 weeks large, so we didn’t want to wait too long before we forced this very comfortable kid out into the world. Tom and I were instructed to be at the hospital at 8 AM, so we wandered up to the 3rd floor at Ridgeview Medical Center in Waconia, MN at 7:55 AM. Of course, turns out that the Labor and Delivery unit is on the 2nd floor, so after a minute or two of aimless wandering, we headed back to the 2nd floor to check in.
When we walked in, me with big smiles on my face, we encountered a poor woman in labor. She had her husband and three other children with her (two older kids, around 12 and 13, and one baby, about a year and a half). She was in obvious pain, and I felt guilty, since I had no contractions and was feeling just fine. What’s worse is that scheduled inductions get precedence for birthing rooms, so I was quickly ushered into my room while this poor woman had to wait for hers (she only waited a few minutes, I later learned, but I still felt bad).
The doctor came in at about 8:30 AM and broke my water. For two hours, we waited. And nothing happened. I had a few minor contractions, and walking helped a bit, but nothing major happened, so we started the Pitocin (OUCH!) at 10:30 AM.
Oh, did I mention my plan to do this without an epidural? Yeah. I figured I would try to do that. Yeah. Anyway, I told the nurse, my thoughts and she was very supportive, but agreed that if I asked for one, she would certainly get it done.
So, the Pitocin was started at 10:30, and the contractions started to get more frequent and intense. But not enough. So, they upped my Pitocin. And the contractions became more frequent and intense. But not enough. So, you get the picture. After about 2 hours, I asked for some Stadol, which is a narcotic meant to take the edge off the contractions. They administered it about 30 minutes later, and for about 15 minutes, I was able to relax, even as my uterus was tearing itself from my body.
But, 15 minutes after they administered the Stadol, I went into what is called the “transition” phase of labor. That’s when your cervix goes from an 8 or 9 to a 10, and you get a new baby. At that point, I asked for the epidural. At that point, it was also too late for said epidural. Dammitall.
So, after about 15 minutes, I was ready to push, and after about 15 – 20 minutes of pushing, out came Johnny. I found that not having an epidural was really, horribly, terribly painful. And I also found out that I yell when I am in excruciating pain. I am sure that some first time moms were seriously freaked out by my vocalizations. Tom was really calm, though, and claims that he was being quiet so as not to become the object of any type of verbal volley on my part. He was really sweet, though, and told him that I wouldn’t have yelled at him. I just hurt. A lot.
In the end, I was shocked to hear the doctor tell me that I had a beautiful son – I really figured, given the experiences of my family and Tom’s family (both of which have only one boy) that we would have another girl. But, we got a sweet little boy baby! I was not, however, shocked when they told me he was 9 pounds 5 ounces. That I expected, given that I had been carrying Mr. Giant Boy in my stomach for 9 months, and given how much it hurt to deliver his head.
Tom and I were instantly in love with Johnny (although, we’d been in love with this baby since conception, really), and we couldn’t wait to tell Patrick.
As soon as I was allowed to use the phone, I called home and told my mom to put Patrick on the phone. He came on, and I told him that he had a baby brother, and I heard him screaming in happiness in the background. He told my mother that he had someone to share his boy toys with. It was very cute. Emma was also very excited, but I think that up to the end, she expected two kids – a boy and a girl – so she might have been a bit disappointed by the one boy thing.
After they fixed me up, I got up, took a shower, and the kids came to visit. Then, they took Johnny to the Nursery for observation because he was a bit hypoglycemic. He was shaky and his body temperature was a little low, so he needed his blood sugar checked. It started at a 48 (50 is “normal&rdquo
, then after eating some formula (he was too shaky to latch on to breastfeed), it went down to 41. At that point, he was technically in NICU, but NICU at this hospital was really just intense observation in the nursery. They popped him in the baby toaster (actually, I think it’s technically called an Infant Warmer) and his temperature went up, he took more formula, and within a half hour, his blood sugar was up to 75. So, he finally decided to latch on and breastfeed. And he’s been fine since. The doctors said big babies sometimes have this problem, and once it’s controlled, it causes no problems. We stuck around the hospital for a couple of days, and then headed home on Sunday morning. And that’s the story!
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