James Francis Gildea
James Francis Gildea
Born: 7:35 p.m., 10/5/93
Weight: 7 lb. 3.5 oz
St. Francis Hospital, Wilmington, Delaware
On our 2 year wedding anniversary, my husband (Jim) told me that he
was ready to have a baby. But he wanted to be surprised so he
told me that when I decided I was ready I should just go off the
pill and not tell him. I waited 5 months, went off the pill for a
month, and luckily got pregnant on our first try! When I gave him
the good news, he was thrilled, and it was made even more special
because the baby's due date was October 1st -- Jim's birthday!
My pregnancy was very normal for the most part. I had morning
sickness (all day long), but in textbook fashion, it disappeared
about a week into my second trimester. My doctor had me quit work
about 2 weeks before I was due because I was 2 cm dilated (and
claimed this was a good sign that I'd have an easy labor - hah!).
Everything was fine until right around my due date. I had a doctor
appointment on Tuesday (3 days before I was due), and I expressed my
concern that the baby hadn't been moving quite as much as usual. I
had heard that that is pretty normal, but I wanted to be sure. Dr.
V scheduled a non-stress test for Thursday. He also told me that if
I didn't deliver by October 8th, he would induce me. I wasn't too
worried about induction even though I'd heard horror stories, and I
was actually glad to know that there was an end in sight!
On Thursday Jim and I went off to the hospital. We ran into our
childbirth instructor who decided to come in with us for the test
and explain what was going on. I was hooked up and all was fine
with the baby, but I was having some contractions. I couldn't even
feel them, but they said that if they continued at the same
frequency for the next 20 minutes, they'd have to keep me. It was
kind of scary and exciting at the same time. I was also told my
blood pressure was high and I was put on bed rest (lying on my side)
from then on. As it turned out, the contractions stopped and we
went to Jim's grandmother's for dinner. Sometime that day I had
begun itching on my arms and stomach. Since my stomach had been
itchy from stretch marks, I didn't think much of it. Then the next
day (my due date) the itching got a little worse and started
spreading. And the following day (Saturday) it was really bad. I
tried hard not to scratch, but sometimes it was impossible, and once
I started I would scratch until I bled! The doctor on call told me
to take Benadryl and that if it didn't go away, to call Dr. V on
Monday. The Benadryl did not help at all. About the only thing
that helped a little was sitting in a tub of cool water. So I'd get
up in the middle of the night and run a bath, then doze in the tub.
First thing Monday morning I called Dr. V's office. Dr. V told me
to come in that morning. (I should tell you that my mother-in-law
worked for Dr. V for many years and he knew my husband's family
pretty well.) When I got there, it seemed that no one in the office
had ever seen this rash, even the nurse. But luckily Dr. V knew
what it was. Pregnancy Rash is what he called it (real technical,
huh?). He couldn't give me anything while I was pregnant so he
said, "Why don't we have this baby. I want to deliver you
tomorrow." This time I was really excited. I couldn't wait to call
Jim and tell him we'd be having our baby the next day!
So on Tuesday morning, Jim, my mom, and I went to the hospital. My
mom was supposed to work in the morning and come to the hospital
later, but she said there was no way she'd be able to work knowing
her first grandchild was about to be born! We arrived at the
hospital around 8 a.m., and I got into the gown and they inserted
the IV (that one they put in my wrist hurt really bad!) Only one
person out of all the doctors, nurses, etc. who came into the room
had seen pregnancy rash -- the others looked a little leery about
touching me and would ask if I had poison ivy. Anyway, I was still
only 2 cm dilated (since mid-September). I didn't have the fast and
hard contractions a lot of women get with Pitocin. They started
gradually. By about 9:30 I could feel them, but they didn't hurt.
By 12:00 they were getting uncomfortable, and the nurse asked if I
wanted an epidural. I knew all along that I wanted medication, and
I'd heard enough horror stories of women who waited too long and
then couldn't have anything. I was terrified of that happening, so
I got the epidural at about 12:30. It was great. I couldn't feel
anything. Eventually the doctor decided to break my water so they
could put an internal monitor on the baby because there were
"breaks" in the heartbeat on the external monitor. When they got
there with "the hook" I rolled over and felt something wet. My
water had just broken on its own! There was very little fluid
though, and Dr. V suspected that what was there was all baby. The
epidural started to wear off around 2:30 and I asked for another.
Unfortunately, this one only took on the left side. I was having
horrible back labor. As it turned out, Jimmy was posterior, but no
one told me that. Somehow I feel like if I had known I would have
felt better......at least it would have explained why it hurt so
bad. Every contraction could be felt on the right side, and since I
was still being kept on my left side because of my BP, I was
extremely uncomfortable. By now, more family had arrived at the
hospital ( dad, sister, cousin, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law)
and kept taking turns coming into the LDR with me and Jim. Jim and
my sister were having a great time watching my contractions on the
monitor. They would then tell me how "high" it went....as if I
didn't know! Then there was one where the numbers kind of "went
out" because it was such a hard contraction. And still, I could
feel EVERYTHING on the right side and I was amazed at how close
together they were coming . When I thought I felt one coming I
would ask Jim to check the monitor to see if I was right. And he
was surprised that I could feel them coming on sooner than I had
earlier (I guess he didn't realize they got harder as time went
on). At 5:30 I was declared 10 cm and was told I could push. There
was still a "lip" which the nurse tried to hold back. I pushed for
about a 1/2 hour and then was told that it wasn,"t doing any good, so
I could rest. The nurse said I could push through contractions if
it felt better, which it did, so I did. I finally told Jim to not
let any family in anymore. I didn't like anyone seeing me in pain.
I didn't scream, but I did whimper and moan some. At one point I
even apologized to Jim because I felt bad about him having to see me
in so much pain. He said he felt bad because there wasn't much he
could do.
When I was told I could stop pushing, Dr. V apparently went out and
talked to my mother-in-law. She came in and was whispering
something to Jim. She thought I couldn't hear her, but I could.
She said Dr. V said the baby was not moving down, and that if it
didn't progress by 7:00, they'd do a c-section. I cried, "Can't
they do it now?" which is when she realized I heard what she said!
At 6:30 Dr. V checked again, and the baby still hadn't moved down
any. At this point I asked him to do the section NOW. He agreed.
I had to get a spinal this time since they knew another epidural
wouldn't work. I was nervous about being wheeled to OR. I didn't
know how I'd handle it if I had a contraction during that time,
which surely I would. But I made it, and once the spinal was in, I
was in heaven! No more pain! But I began to shake uncontrollably.
It took them a while to get the baby out because he had gotten stuck
in the birth canal, which was why he couldn't turn into the correct
position and therefore couldn't move down. One doctor pushed from
one end while Dr. V pulled from the other. As soon as he was out, I
heard Jim and Dr. V both say it was a boy. I was so happy! It took
him a few seconds to start crying, which felt like forever to me.
But he was perfect. He did have some bruising and a scratch on one
side of his face from where he was pressed against my pelvis (and
didn't I feel guilty for doing the extra pushing when I was told I
didn't have to!) Jim stayed with me for a few minutes then went to
be with Jimmy as they cleaned him up. After I was stitched up we
went to recovery where I was able to hold Jimmy. Our families were
allowed to come in two at a time to see Jimmy -- by this time there
were 10 of them in the waiting room (first grandchild on Jim's side
also)!
We went home on Friday. I had begun nursing in the hospital, but
after I got home post-partum depression set in and it was easier to
bottle feed. I thought I was nuts because at first none of the
people I talked to had had this problem. Then one of my cousin's
told me the exact same thing happened to her and one of her sisters.
That in itself was a relief, but still my depression got worse and I
couldn't eat, so Dr. V prescribed anti-depressants and sent me to a
psychologist. Once the drugs kicked in, I was fine. I'm hoping
that the next time this won't happen since I'll be an "experienced"
mother and I won't get so freaked out over every little thing.
Julie Gildea, Mommy to Jimmy
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