Ask A Nurse
Pregnancy Photos
Pregnancy Calendar
Birth Plans
Birth Stories
Bookstore
Boy or Girl
Cesareans
Chat Room
Complications
Doulas
Educators
Episiotomy
FAQs
Feeding Baby
Fertility
Finding a Class
Health
Interactive
Labor
Message Board
Monitoring
Newborns
Postcards
Postpartum
Pregnancy
Reviews/Awards
Search
VBAC
Week by Week

Caleb

After enjoying everyone's birth stories during my pregnancy, I thought 
that I might add mine.
	My second child was due on September 21, 1996.  About two weeks
before the due date, I started to get impatient and started with the herbs(cohosh) in 
hopes of hurrying the baby along.  Well nothing hap-
pened.  My daughter wa 11 days late so I wasn't really surprised.
	When the baby was nine days late, I went in for a nonstress
test.  Everything was okay but the student midwife offered to strip my
membranes and decided to schedule an induction in three days,on thurs-
day.  I was under the care of the student midwives at an airforce hos-
pital and I really enjoyed the prenatal care.  Although I had said I
would not have an induction during the whole pregnancy,I was impatient
and the midwives only delivered on Monday and Thursday.  I really didn't 
believe the pregnancy would continue until then because I had felt on the
brink of someting for days(my first baby  was induced after my water broke).
I began having mild contractions after she stripped my membranes, but the
next day they stopped.  Then Wednesday, my mucous plug started coming out.  
All i can say is YUCK!  
	I felt really strange those last few days.I can't describe it. I
just wanted to hide in the house and lay around.  
	Thursday, October 3rd dawned.  Despite all the herbs, enemas, nipple
stimulation, etc,  I still was not in labor.  We dropped my two year old, 
Tierney, off at a friends and drove to the hospital.  At this point I was 
very nervous.  It seemed muych harder knowing when the date was.  When I got 
there I was ignored for about a half hour and then stuck in a room for another
hour or so.  Finally a doctor came in and did an internal exam.  Dhe said that 
I was four cm dilated and 50% effaced.  I was excited.  "Maybe this won't be
so bad," I thought.  At about nine they hooked me up to an IV and I waited.  
	Nothing happened.  Finally at a quarter after 11 a nure came in and
asked me all the health questions and started the pitocin (I had thought it
wasn't hurting much).  Since I was being induced my birth plan was shot
all to heck so i only insisted on water to drink, no internal moniter and
freedom to take myself to the bathroom.
	My husband then went out for food. Oh I forgot about him.  He
was nervous and we had an unspoken fight going on, but even so I was
thankful to have him there.  He got back as the contractions were becoming 
heavier, which was good because I am extremely shy and didn't hit it off with
the nurse.  The contractions were beginning to get hard.  Figuring I was at 
about 6 or even 7 cm I asked for another exam.  I wanted to die when the 
midwife told me I was at 4 to5 cm.  I insisted that the contractions were
much worse, but was told that I didnt remember the pain from the first time.
After all it was only my body.
	I was extremely discouraged.It all began to get unbearable.  I made 
many trips to the bathroom, dragging the IV with me. After I got behind 
closed doors I would rip the external belt off and throw it to the floor. 
It wasn't working anyway.  My bad contractions were only hitting braxton-
hicks like proprtions on the monitor.  
	Finally, I agreed to an internal monitor if they would get me an epidural
soon!  So much for natural childbirth.  It seemed to take the anesthesiest or what
ever forever.  I went to the bathroom and wondered where I could find a 
nice sharp razor blade.  I considered jumping out the window but it was only
about a six inch drop.  I didn't tell anyone these feelings cuz I figured they
would think sometihing was wrong with me and not let me take the baby home.
At some point the midwife broke my membranes. When the Epidural guy got there ,
I was sprawled out uncovered and not caring.  I remember this struck me as
funny cuz I don't even wear bathing suits, I am so modest.  Anyway I had to 
sit up and not move.  I was doing little pushes without telling and feeling
nauseated.  I didn't tell anyone because I really wanted that epidural.  And 
he was good looking and touching my back...
	As soon as the epidural was started the baby's heartrate started
to fall.  The midwife called the doctor in and we tried moving me around inall
positions.  The doctor did an exam and pronounced me at nine cm.  She pushed 
the cervix open the last cm. and although the epidural had just started working 
I was able to push.  The midwife grabbed the vacuum(scary) and the doctor did
a big episiotomy.  Naturally the shoulder got stuck, like my first childs, but 
this time the collarbone didn't fracture.Then with a big push out he slid.
	"He's so little,"I cried, and everyone laughed.  I soon got to hold
and nurse, my sweet-tempered 9 lbs. 14 oz. baby.  After three hours in the
nursury we began rooming in.  It was a busy night for the staff as they were 
completely filled with "Blizzard Babies".  All in all the labor lasted not 
quite five hours.  Fromn five until nine cm. it was only about 30 minutes.  
Caleb developed  a slow draining hematoma from the vacuum and had to be re-
admitted for jaundiced treatment when he was four days old.  Now he is five 
months and the sweetest little boy I've ever had.
 
	Sorry this is so long, it is just so helpful to write about it all.
		

Jill Hessee