Birth Story

At last... 

Confession time.  I didn't keep a baby book for Emma.  And starting one for Robert at this point seems, well, just unfair.  So since I haven't started journaling the events of Robert's birth anywhere else, I'm posting them here.  I'm sure the VAST majority of you could not care one bit about the excruiating details to follow, but this slightly self-indulgent post is my way of memorializing Robert's birth, which is important since I have ZERO memory of life events (sad though it may be).

I'm always a fan of chronologies, thus a timeline (with limited editorials) follows:

Friday, May 21st.  

Two days past due date.

2:15 a.m.:  Wake up with contractions. Try to time them while lying in bed, but realize they are not very regular, so I try to go back to sleep.

3:15 a.m.: After 1 hour of unsuccessfully returning to sleep, I decide to shower.  Still contracting, but not super regularly. Wake Jason up with an "fyi, I'm having contractions and getting in the shower.  You might want to think about getting up too."

3:45 a.m.: Contractions are consistently 5-7 minutes apart.  Jason is up and showering, and slightly convinced I might be in labor. He packs a bag.  Decide to call Mom to come over to sit with Emma in case we go to the hospital.

4:30 a.m.: Mom arrives.  Still contracting. Still 5-7 minutes apart.  Armed with stopwatch and pad of paper we all sit down to watch something off DVR (CSI, I believe) while we decide whether to go to hospital.

4:45 a.m.: I decide unless something changes quickly, I'll hold off going to the hospital and wait to call the on call Dr. before 6.  Don't want to waste that $200 copay if Labor and Delivery sends me home with false labor.  Jason decides to go to work for a little while to finish some things up, just in case this is it.

5:30 a.m.: Call on call Dr., who instructs me to stay home (unless I need pain meds) and come to office when they open to be checked out.

7:15 a.m. Jason comes home from work.  Emma is up.  Feed everyone breakfast and load up the car headed to the Dr. with our bags (in case they keep me).  Still contracting. Still 5-7 minutes apart.

8:15 a.m.: arrive at Dr.'s office to find a very confused office staff since I'm not on the schedule.  Nonetheless, I pee in the cup, stand on the scale, get the BP check, and wait on Dr. in room.  On call Dr. is McKenzie--same Dr. who delievered Emma.  Still contracting, but now more entertained as I watch Jason play with the bendable neck on the obstetric lamp-- straight Ross Geller style.

9:00 a.m.:  Dr. McKenzie pronounces my cervix unchanged since my appointment Tuesday.  This edict means I am still 70% effaced, -3 station, and only 1 cm dilated.  Instructs us to come back before the end of the day to be checked again.  Tells me if I continue contracting without any other progress, he will schedule a C-section on Saturday morning because the risk of uterine rupture (after my previous C-section) will dramatically increase after contracting for so long without additional progress.

9:50 a.m.:  Leave office with 1:30 appointment to return.  Feel defeated and in search of a "real" sprite.  Arrive home.  Jason goes back to work.  I start laundry and fix lunch for Emma.

11:30 a.m.: Jason's Aunt Carol (aka Ammy) arrives for the afternoon shift of Emma care.  My mom (aka Nana) goes off duty and returns home to get some sleep.

12:15 p.m.: Jason returns home from work and we head to Chick-fil-a in Brookwood Mall for lunch.  Still contracting and trying not to show the pain in public.  NOT doing a good job of hiding it.  Unfortunately, the mall is FULL of people since it is apparently the last day of school and all the kids decided to hang at the mall to celebrate.   So, I get LOTS of stares--more the exotic zoo animal kind and not the sympathetic kind.

12:45 p.m.:  Jason and I commit to some "mall walking" in the hopes of moving things along.  Still contracting and squeezing the stew out of the Jason's hand during the pain while we walk.

1:30 p.m.:  Arrive back at Dr.'s office for appointment no. 2 of the day.  Dr. announces there is NO change from this morning.  Still only 1 cm. dilated, and still contracting, now more consistently every 5 minutes.  Dr. orders non stress test on the baby.  Jason and I wait for the test. Repeatedly scream in my head "ARE YOU KIDDING ME??"

2:45 p.m.: FINALLY get the test underway.  Nurses seem surprised that the test reveals I am actually having contractions. (Did they think I was kidding?).  Baby looks great.  Dr. sends us home.  Says to call if things get "more intense" but otherwise try to get some sleep and take some Benadryl to help if needed.

3:30 p.m.:  arrive home. Defeated and mentally preparing for a C-section in the morning.

4:00 p.m.: contractions start to intensify.  I mean REALLY intense.  I lie down in bed and Jason starts timing everything.

5:00 p.m.: Contracting every 3 minutes.  Pain is getting LOTS worse.  Emma asks repeatedly "what's wrong with Mommy" as I try to muffle the screams and moans with a pillow.  Still not convinced I'm in active labor since I was only 1 cm. dilated just a few hours ago.

6:15 p.m. Contractions have been 3 minutes apart for over an hour.  Pain level is super high.  I sit up and think my water might be breaking.  Have 4 INTENSE contractions in 6 minutes.  Jason decides to call Dr.  Dr. says to come on to hospital. I'm convinced Dr. thinks it will be another waste of time.

6:30 p.m.: Leave home.  Emma is crying when we leave. I'm in too much pain to try to console her. I feel terrible about it.  Yell at Jason on the way to the hospital for hitting too many pot holes--which is of course making the pain worse--or at least it felt that way at the time.

6:45 p.m.:  Arrive at Labor and Delivery entrance at hospital.  Can barely walk from the car to the door. Nurse stops and asks if we need help. I shoulder on--wondering if I'm the biggest wuss in the entire world and waiting for the news that I am still just 1 cm dilated--and a $200 co-pay poorer.

7:00 p.m.:  Settled into L&D room.  Meet Melissa Graham, my L&D nurse.  Totally provided by God. She is a saint.  She checks me.  Pronounces I am 6 CM DILATED.  HOLY COW.

Jason's heart stops.

7:10 p.m.:  Different nurse enters room in full scrubs complete with surgical hat.  Begins setting up a tray of instruments.  Tells me she is getting some things ready "in case I deliver quickly."

PANIC.

I immediately DEMAND an epidural and some narcotics through my I.V. before the anestheisologist arrives.

7:15 p.m.: I CONTINUTE DEMANDING AN EPIDURAL.  Nurse tells me baby doesn't look great so no narcotics.  I ask how long she thinks it will be until I deliver.  She says, maybe an hour.

MORE PANIC.


BUT, the Lord provides.  My Dr. is still at the hospital (required before I can get an epidural) and the anesthesiologist is on his way as soon as my bloowork is complete.

7:30 p.m.: Continue trying to muffle screams as the contractions intensify.  Ask if they can just  perform a C-section if I can't get an epidural in time!

8:09 p.m.:  Hospital admitting shows up wanting our co-pay.  ARE YOU KIDDING? I snap that she is just going to have to wait. Jason apologizes for me and politely steps out to take care of it.

8:10 p.m.: HELLO ANESTHESIOLOGIST. Sit up in bed for epidural. Water breaks.  Meconium present.  Call NICU nurses to be present during delivery.


8:25 p.m.: CALM sets in.

8:30 p.m.: Finally, enjoying my labor experience.  Begin profusely apologizing for my Diva-ness.

8:45 p.m.: Dr. talks to us about possibility of needing a section.  Says everything looks ok, but he is concerned about the baby's oxygen levels.  He wants to let me labor as long as possible, but it might be come necessary to section.  I am surprisingly ok with this information.  He makes me wear the oxygen mask--which also muzzles most of my sarcastic remarks.

9:10 p.m.:  9 cm dilated.  Dr. is still concerned about baby and how much longer baby can hold out.  Still, he lets me continue laboring.

9:20 p.m.:  I am completely dilated and ready to start pushing.  I realize for the FIRST TIME that I have NO IDEA WHAT THE HECK I'M DOING.  Jason and I never went to the child birth class (we tried--it was cancelled).  Melissa, however, saint that she is, gives Jason a crash course in coaching me.

From here, I lost track of time.   At some point, Dr. tells me that Robert is "face up" and I'll probably feel more than I would otherwise. As I continue to push, I realize he wasn't kidding.  My tailbone is KILLING me.  But Jason continues being the best spur-of-the-moment coach ever.  I hear repeatedly, "chin to chest, chin to chest"--and it surprisingly doesn't annoy me at all.

I push for the next 40 minutes or so and Robert is finally born at 10:04 pm., just 3 hours after we arrived at the hospital.  I am actually so in awe of the fact that the Lord provided a successful VBAC that I don't remember learning Robert was a boy!!!  It was such a different and wonderful experience from my C-section with Emma.  I am so grateful He had this planned for our family.

Robert, we love you so much. Your birthday will always hold a special place (and a great story) in our hearts!

Now, long gone is the pregnancy and birth, replaced instead with the child rearing.  The REAL labor of love...