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Maggie's Birth

My due date was April 1st. On March 27, I had what I hoped was my last OB/GYN appointment and my blood pressure was higher than normal, so my OB told me I was done working until the baby was born. I didn't have any other signs of pre-eclampsia and my blood pressure wasn't real high just higher than normal. I think I was just stressed out from working and going to school at the same time that I happened to be 9 months pregnant. Anyway, I was relieved to be done with work, but I was a little worried that the baby wouldn't be born for another two weeks and I'd be cutting into my maternity leave without my baby. My blood pressure was better two days later and again on my due date, but my OBs wanted to induce away. I had to go over to the hospital for a prostaglandin gel application later that afternoon. It wasn't a big deal except that I waited around for 4 hours beforehand and then I had to wait two hours after I was "gelled" to see if I went into labor. They sent me home around 10pm.

My husband and I arrived back at the hospital around 7:45 the next morning with our bag and my pillow and were set up in a L&D room. It took two nurses about 5 tries to get an IV in and then they ended up switching it to my other arm half way through the morning because it was so swollen. I ended up with two black and blue arms. I was started on Pitocin at 8:30 at which time my OB arrived and broke my water. She said I was at 1cm at that point. The Pitocin kicked in around 9am and the contractions got pretty bad right away. My husband started timing them and they were less than two minutes apart and lasting about 40 seconds. I didn't practice the breathing from my lamaze class, but I did remember that it was important, so I invented my own breathing routine. I would just inhale real deep and pant until the contraction was over. I might also add that I could not get up at all. I was attached to the IV, a fetal monitor and a blood pressure cuff and the nurse wouldn't let me get up at all. I think that made it much harder to deal with the pain. Also, I think it was more strenuous to squat over a bedpan than to get up and actually use a toilet.

By noon I was really in pain and my husband really wanted the doctor on call (my doctor was at her office for the day) to check my dilation to see if I could get an epidural. We knew that once I was at about 3cm I could get one. I didn't want to ask the doctor since I figured I hadn't dilated any further in three hours and I thought I'd lose it if they confirmed that I was right. Well, they checked and I was wrong...I went from a 1 to a 1+....ugh. Anyway, my rotten nurse gave me some nubain. I'm convinced that she enjoyed ramming that needle into my hip. The nubain took the edge off enough that I could catch my breath between contractions. At this point I asked my husband to call my mother to let her know I was in labor. I didn't tell her I was getting induced because I didn't want her to worry all day waiting to hear from me.

I had another dose of nubain at about 2:30 and that did nothing. I was really losing control by around 4:30 and I knew at that point that my doctor was on her way over to the hospital since the office closes at 4pm. I figured by the time she arrived and checked me I'd be dilated enough to get my epidural. At this point I was still using my new breathing method but it sounded more like one big inhale and then I'd pant and make a SHHH sound at the same time and I sounded like I was saying SHIT SHIT SHIT. Well I was only at 2-3cm, but she let me get the epidural. The nurse was helpful in letting me lean on her while I got the epidural and it was no big deal to get inserted. I could still tell when I had a contraction, but it wasn't painful. At this point it was about 5pm. 8 hours of natural labor was enough for me.

The epidural was a huge relief, but I could start to feel the baby moving down around 7pm and it started to get really uncomfortable. I kept asking my husband to rub my lower back. A new nurse came on and she was really great, Stephanie. I had a fever and the baby wasn't moving as much as they wanted her to, so I ended up getting an oxygen mask and a tylenol suppository. I really felt like going to the bathroom, so having them put in a suppository was most unpleasant. A little after 8pm I told my husband I couldn't take it anymore, the pain in my back was awful. I think my epidural either wore off or got misplaced. The nurse checked my dilation and said I was ready to push. I must say that the nurse made a big difference. She was really friendly and very helpful with showing me how to push. Pushing was a relief, but it was really hard and I couldn't believe that some women do this for hours. I put all my might into every push because I knew I wouldn't last long. Stephanie ended up calling my doctor in about twenty minutes because I was making good progress and all of a sudden there were a bunch of people in my room running around and setting things up. I noticed that the alcove where the baby is cleaned up was getting all set up and for the first time since the contractions started I realized what the hell I was doing there. They removed the end of my bed and my doctor was rushing to get in position and I started yelling that the baby was coming and they just told me to push whether I had a contraction or not since I was so close. The doctor stuck me with some novocaine and cut the episiotomy. I was apprehensive about this procedure before labor, but at this point I almost told her to make it as big as possible to get the baby out.

And finally after less than 30 minutes of pushing, Maggie's head popped out. The cord was wrapped around her neck and my husband said that he couldn't even tell if she was face up or down since the doctor cut the cord while she was still in me and then I pushed and the rest of her came out so fast. All of a sudden there were about seven new people in the room rushing around and Maggie was whisked over to the baby alcove where they worked to get her breathing. My husband ran over to her and watched as they rubbed her and patted her and gave her oxygen and she perked up. He held her and then brought her over to me while I was being sown up. I got to hold her for a couple minutes while the pediatrician talked to me and then they took her to the NICU for "volume."

Maggie had a scary start, but she rallied quick and ended up going home with me. She weighed 7lbs 1.5oz and was 21.5 inches long. Long skinny baby. She is four months old now and is a very healthy beautiful alert baby. I am grateful that she was born in a hospital with a good NICU.

I really enjoyed reading the birth stories before Maggie was born. It really helped to know that no two births are the same and I went into labor more open-minded since I read so much about other women's births. It really was the most amazing event of my life and I hope that next time I will not be induced so that I can manage the pain on my own for a little longer. Thank you for this opportunity to share my story.

Amy