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Sarah Lynn's Birth

I had been married for eleven months in November of 1996 when I suspected that I might be pregnant. We were not trying to become pregnant, although I must admit to having "baby fever" and wanting a baby very badly. One of my first clues of pregnancy was a bladder infection - my sister had developed one with each of her three pregnancies, and apparently, I followed suit.

My husband Charley and I woke up on Sunday, November 17th after having been in some friends' wedding the night before, and I relayed my suspicion. We went together to Walgreen's to get a pregnancy test, came back and nervously awaited the results. I was afraid that if it were negative, I would be disappointed, and if it were positive that Charley would be flabbergasted. Obviously, it was positive. We both saw the results at the same time and we both burst out laughing! It is hard not to be excited when getting the news of a pregnancy. Charley was overcome with emotion at one point, and was on the verge of tears. My pregnancy was very "normal". I did have some spotting on Christmas Day, but an ultrasound revealed a beating heart and the doctor estimated that I was nine weeks pregnant. I gained weight pretty normally, although I started out on the plus side (I had gained 10 lbs before getting pregnant!) but my blood pressure was always normal. My first glucose-tolerance test resulted in a high number, but the follow-up was normal. Whew.

Everything was sailing right along, and then at my 24 week checkup I measured two weeks ahead of my current gestational age, but my weight gain was normal. Uh-oh. Three weeks later, I measured three weeks ahead. The doctor scheduled an ultrasound to check the baby's size - we knew that the due date was right because of my calculations and the nine week ultrasound.

The ultrasound at 33 weeks revealed a perfectly healthy baby that was breach! One leg up and one leg bent! She said that we would wait several more weeks, and if the baby had not turned on its own, she would try to help the baby turn by doing an external version. Now, all throughout my pregnancy, I lived on the internet. I read every bit of information that I could about every possible subject, and I was very much in favor of doing the birth with as little interference as possible. I didn't want to be induced and I didn't want to have drugs.

A few weeks went by, so I was 36 weeks pregnant, and let me tell you something...I was HUGE!! I had people asking me if I was having twins. I had become really swollen - so swollen that my normally 9.5 size feet could only fit into one pair of size 11 Keds. I wore those darn shoes with everything. There wasn't too much I could fit into there at the end!! Anyway, the ultrasound at 36 weeks revealed what we already knew - this baby was big, but the baby was head down!! YEA!! At that point, the doctor estimated the weight at 8lbs, 2oz. And I officially had 4 weeks to go, so the baby, if delivered on my due date, would weigh at least 10 lbs. At least.

I agreed to an induction on the 18th of July, and I started doing everything I could to have that baby. I had sex with my husband as often as my bulging body would let me. I took Evening Primrose Oil and I also inserted it (one of the many secrets shared by midwives out on the net). I remember feeling as if a bowling ball was pressing down on my pubic bone. It hurt to sit, and it hurt when I rolled over in bed because I felt bruised - like I had been riding a horse!

My last day of work was July 11th, and one week later, on July 18th, Charley and I arrived at the hospital at 6 am to have our baby. The entire family, his and mine, would join us later, but we enjoyed a couple of hours of just us and the nurse who would be with us the entire time. She did the paperwork while I stripped, put on the gown and got into bed. Of course, there were IV's for fluids and pitocin and monitors for the baby and for me. I was so wired up that nothing was easy to do - least of all going to the bathroom. The pitocin started officially at about 7 a.m. At 8:30 my OB came to break my water. At that point, I was 3 cm dilated, about 70% effaced and at a -2 station!!

After breaking my water, the dr. said that she would return around noon to "check on me". She was counting on an all-day ordeal. I couldn't just sit there, so with the help of the nurse, I put a towel on the floor for my leaking fluids, and stood next to the bed and rocked back and forth for about 2 hours. I remember family arriving, and at one point, my mom, my sister, my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law were all in the room. They're talking and laughing and trying to joke about things with me, and it was around this time that I started to really feel pain. The Price is Right was on, and that's how I know that it was around 10:30. In no time, it escalated to the point that I couldn't breathe through the contractions, and I kept feeling as if I had to have a BM.

The nurse got me to lay down on my side for awhile - that lasted maybe 10 minutes. For some reason, I felt more "in control" if I was standing up. Along with the pain came the shakes. I shook so badly that the BP machine would keep restarting and restarting and never get a reading. Charley and I were finally alone during the worst of it, and I tried really hard to get on top of the contractions, but I failed miserably. I had wanted to wait until the DR got there before I decided on drugs - I had really wanted to go without. At 11:30 I had the nurse check me hoping that progress would serve as inspiration to keep going. I was at 5-6 cm. Not too bad. At least there was progress! The next 30 minutes were almost unbearable, and at 12:00 I gave in. My husband looked at me and said "you know that you can ask for an epidural whenever you want". I was about to say "no" when I was hit by another one and I couldn't take it anymore. I said okay.

Now, the one thing I learned from all of this is that it is a good idea to have someone you love with you when they do this. My husband is a needle weenie, so he left with my blessing (no fainting!). I did not, however, request that he send someone else into the room. I remember waiting for the anesthesiologist, standing by the bed, starting to cry because I was in so much pain, and on top of that I could not stop shaking! I got up on the bed, and the nurse tried to hold me still while the dr. inserted the catheter into my spine, and right in the middle of it all - a contraction like none other. And then...relief. I felt better within 10 minutes, and after 15-20, I could still feel my legs, but the pain was gone. I could tell when a contraction was coming, but there was no pain associated with it. I could even lift my legs slightly, but they felt like they weighed ten tons.

Once my husband was back in the room and the nurse had me all settled, everyone else (meaning family) decided that this was going to be awhile and they would go get some lunch. So it's just me, Charley and the nurse. The nurse decided to check my bedding, and she discovered a lot of blood, etc. So she decided to check and see if I had made any progress. 10 cm!! I was at 10 cm!!! Looking back, I really think that that 30 minutes before I requested the epidural was transition, and that it continued between the time I requested it and the time it was complete (it only took 15 minutes from the time I requested it till the time it was done.) Whatever the case, I was ready to push. By this time it's almost 1:00. I had been pushing for about 15 minutes when my doctor arrived to discover that I was having this baby.

I pushed for about 45 minutes, and at 2:00 delivered a beautiful 9lb 8.5oz baby girl!! I had a third degree tear that I don't think will ever feel right again, but all in all, I have to say that I was a textbook case of induction, and although it wasn't how I would have chosen, I still had the same result - a beautiful, healthy baby girl whom we named Sarah Lynn.

She is now almost nine months and is crawling everywhere! What a joy she is! Good luck to everyone out there preparing for childbirth.!!