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Connor's Birth

Looking back, I believe my labor actually began on Saturday, April 13 (which was my due date according to ultrasound). Between 5 and 6 a.m., I had a sudden episode of strong, frequent contractions (about 45 seconds long, 3 minutes apart). They definitely were not Braxton-Hicks contractions, which I had been feeling throughout the last half of my pregnancy. However, the contractions went away so I figured it was false labor. Later that day, I started losing my mucus plug, and continued to do so for the next few days. My nesting instinct began to manifest itself, not in a cleaning frenzy, but in continuous pacing and prowling around the house.

On Tuesday, April 16, I just hung around the house feeling huge and uncomfortable. I had been having Braxton-Hicks contractions with a few labor-like contractions thrown in for the past few days. About mid-afternoon, I realized I had been having mild contractions about 10 minutes apart all day long. They weren't getting any stronger or closer together, though, so I figured it was another episode of pre- or false labor.

When my husband got home from work, I was very antsy and feeling like I would never have the baby. He suggested we distract ourselves by going out to eat and to the bookstore. We had a really nice dinner, and my husband said, "Here's hoping this is our last dinner alone for a while!" I had stronger contractions during dinner, but they pretty much disappeared while we were at the bookstore. The outing did distract me, but I came home feeling like I was no closer to having the baby.

We went to bed that night about 11 p.m. and stayed awake to read. Just as we were about to turn out the light an hour later, I felt a very strong contraction. I grabbed my husband's arm and told him he might want to leave the light on and get his stopwatch! The contractions just came from out of nowhere, pretty strong (I had to concentrate on relaxing) and 3 minutes apart. I changed position in bed every 20 minutes, and was planning to walk around after an hour to see if they would go away, but my husband was concerned so we went ahead and called our doula, Carroll, about 1 a.m. She listened to me breathe through a contraction and suggested that I get into a hot shower for about 20 minutes and see what that did for me. I still thought I had a long way to go, because even though I was serious during a contraction, I was excited in between them. Anyway, I decided to wait for the next contraction before jumping into the shower. I had another one right on schedule, and prepared to get into the shower. Before I got the chance, Carroll called. She listened to me breathe through a couple more contractions, and said what I was telling her wasn't matching what she heard in my breathing. She thought I was a little closer than I realized, and suggested we call the OB. We did, and she told us to come on in.

We got to the hospital at around 2 a.m. The contractions were stronger now but no closer together. I was really starting to feel the pain, and I was having a pretty impressive bloody show. I changed into my gown and Carroll put some pads down on the sofa in my room so I could squat there and rock back and forth, which felt really good. After a few minutes, my doctor arrived to check me. This seemed to take forever and was really painful. She finally stood up and said the words that totally floored all of us -- "I think this baby is breech." What?! The midwife had told us she could feel the head just 5 days earlier, and I had been told the baby was head-down at all my third-trimester appointments. Another reason this freaked me out was that I was a breech baby, also, and my mom was really worried that my baby would be breech. So my first words were, "My mom is gonna kill me!"

The ultrasound was set up, and it confirmed the baby was breech. My doctor laid out the situation for us. She said she doesn't automatically consider c-section for a breech baby. However, my baby was big, the butt was high, the head was slightly hyper-extended, I was only 2 cm dilated, and it was my first baby. We asked for a minute to talk it over with Carroll, and she agreed that a c-section would probably be the best thing. I would be in for a very long labor otherwise, and given the baby's size and the position of the head, I was in danger of not being able to deliver the head. We decided on the c-section.

At this point, things are kind of a blur for me. The contractions were getting very painful, and Perry (my DH) and Carroll had to help me through them. I was really feeling them hard in my back, so Carroll used counter-pressure there while Perry sat in front of me and held my hands. I was hooked up to the monitors, and the baby was doing great, thank goodness! Eventually the nurse, Ed (yes, I got my hospital's only male L&D nurse!), came in to prep me. He tried to put the IV in my left forearm, but the vein blew. He tried again in my right arm, and it took a really long time. Finally he said the IV was in, but it wasn't threaded very well so it might have to be re-inserted later. Also, he couldn't take the blood for my lab work from it, so he'd have to stick my other arm for the blood. I just started crying like a baby. Perry held me and Carroll massaged my feet and told me to go ahead and cry as much as I needed to.

Like I said, I really don't remember everything that happened at the prep stage because I was trying to deal with the contractions. Carroll said that if I had a head-down baby, she'd guess I was about 8 cm going by the intensity of my contractions. At some point, the anesthesiologist came in and talked to me about the epidural. Ed came in to shave my belly and bring scrubs for Perry and Carroll. When I saw the scrubs I got scared and excited all at once -- I was really about to have my baby! Finally I was all prepped and they wheeled me down to the OR. The whole experience was starting to get surreal. It was going so fast, and there were so many things being done to me while I was out of my head with the pain. And all along, Perry and Carroll kept telling me how great I was doing and how brave I was. I sure didn't feel it!

I was moved to the operating table, and both Perry and Carroll kept assuring me they were right there beside me. Everyone looked alike in their scrubs and masks, and it seemed like there were a dozen people there. They put an automatic blood pressure cuff on my left arm, the one with the blown vein, and it tightened up so tight that I started screaming. They turned it off for the time being, thank goodness! Someone taped a big patch to my back that kept falling off. I think it was some kind of heart monitor, but I'm not sure (I have a heart murmur). When it was time for the epidural, they had me sit up and lean forward over a pillow. The anesthesiologist explained what he was doing, and it kind of freaked me out. The local hurt, and the pressure from the needle and catheter going in was awful. Finally they taped the catheter to me and laid me down on the table. People were hooking things up to me all over, and I have no idea what all they did. The anesthesiologist kept brushing something cold on my legs and torso, asking me to tell him when I felt it. I started going numb really fast, and it hurt to exhale. Ed started washing my belly, which seemed to take forever. At some point, he inserted the foley catheter. They gave me oxygen and then things really got moving.

My OB came in and explained the procedure to me. The epidural had taken effect, and the nurses had started putting up the little curtain that would block my view. Now that I was numb, I started to really get excited! They tied my arms down loosely with gauze, but this didn't bother me as much as I had thought it would. The doctor stepped to the other side of the curtain. I had Perry and Carroll on my left, and nurses behind me and to my right. The doctor asked if I wanted to be told what was going on. In my birth plan I had said I did, but now I said no. I said I just wanted to know about the baby. So the nurse behind me just made vague comments like, "They're getting started... everything is going really well...." She also told me that I was going to feel a lot of pressure, like someone was sitting on my chest. She was right! She told me when the baby was out, and someone said, "It's a boy!" I was so excited I could hardly stand it. Perry and Carroll both stood up and exclaimed, "He's gorgeous!!" I heard a faint gurgle and a little cry, and the doctor asked me if I'd like to see my son. They held him over the curtain for a second or two, and my first impression was that he was so big!

They took him over to the neonatologist, and Perry went with him while Carroll stayed with me. She kept me informed about what was going on with Perry and the baby. I was just in seventh heaven. Everyone said he looked really healthy and that he was so beautiful. I guess they started stitching me up during this time. The anesthesiologist told me he had added morphine to my epidural to help with the pain. I was so excited about the baby. I had only had a brief look at him, and I kept asking Carroll questions about what he looked like and whether he had hair, etc. After a couple of minutes, Perry brought me our son. There were tears in his eyes, and he kept saying, "He's just beautiful." Someone laid the baby on my chest and I just looked into his face. He was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. They untied my hands so I could touch him, and I stroked his head. The neonatologist said he looked great. His apgars were 8 and 9. Perry went with him to the nursery and Carroll stayed with me while they finished stitching, stapling, and unhooking me from the machines that go "ping". Right before we left the OR, someone came in and told me my son weighed 8 lbs., 4 oz. and was 21.5 inches long.

I was really groggy in recovery. Carroll was with me but I have no idea what we talked about. I kept watching the clock. Finally, about 45 minutes later, Perry wheeled the baby in and I got to really hold him for the first time. I asked Carroll if I could put him to the breast, and she said "absolutely". His latch-on wasn't perfect, but we got him hooked up and I nursed my son for the first time. It was just amazing. He was so beautiful and healthy. He hadn't even had his bath yet -- just got wiped up and checked out by the doctor -- and there was still a little vernix in his ears. Carroll snapped some pictures of us and Perry took one or two of me nursing. Then Perry took our son to the nursery to give him his first bath.

After a couple of hours (staffing mixup), I was transferred to a post-partum room. A couple of hours later, I started feeling really awful. I was dizzy, nauseous, and really hot. Welcome to the wonderful world of morphine! I was in a haze for hours, and I threw up once. I was so glad when the morphine wore off that I refused Vicadin and had the nurses bring me Ibuprofin instead. At least I knew that wouldn't make me sick, even if it wouldn't help much with the pain.

This is really long, so I'll cut to the chase. We stayed in the hospital until Friday afternoon, with 24-hour rooming in for both my son and my husband. The hospital staff was just terrific. I got lots of help with breastfeeding and all my questions were answered thoroughly. We were so glad to be going home, though. Carroll did two home visits in the next couple of weeks to massage me and the baby and to check on how we were doing. All in all, I have positive feelings about the birth, although it definitely wasn't what I expected! I don't regret the c-section because I don't think my son would have come out any other way. Even though I didn't have a vaginal birth, it was wonderful having a doula with us. She was able to stay with me while my husband stayed with our son, so neither my son nor I were ever left with strangers the whole time we were in the hospital. We hope to have another baby, and I would like to try a VBAC if the next one is in position. And we plan to use the same doula, regardless!

Kathy Statham