April 20, 2009 (our due date) came and went. No contractions, no dilation either. Darn. My mom flew in from Illinois on Tuesday the 21st hoping she would be arriving in time to help us care for our newly arrived son, but alas that was not the case. More and more waiting until my doctors appointment on Thursday the 23rd. I was told I was 2 centimeters dilated and 50% effaced but Dr. Roberson didn’t think anything was going to happen over the next few days and asked if we would like to schedule an induction. With my mom in town and leaving the next Thursday and with Josh having a final on Wednesday we knew that waiting probably wasn’t going to be the best idea. So, we were scheduled for Tuesday, April 28th at 5am. I think Josh and I both were relieved to know when our little guy was finally going to arrive.
I worked the remainder of the week. Saturday was a lazy preparation day. My mom and I ventured to the Backfin for the first time for lunch…yummy crab cakes and medallion shaped French fries. Josh was on campus preparing for his final. Josh and I watched a ridiculous movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey. (It made no sense…I don’t recommend it.) Sunday Josh and I went to Sacrament meeting and people were surprised that I still hadn’t had the baby. I guess other people were just as anxious as we were. We spent Monday finishing up everything that we needed to prepare for the arrival of the little one the next day. I did some grocery shopping in the morning. Josh studied for his exam and my mom was sewing diapers and adding shelves to two under the sink storage areas in our condo. We went to the Olive Garden for lunch and then to Dairy Queen for a Reese’s Cup Blizzard for an evening snack after enjoying Hebrew National hot dogs for dinner. (My mom wanted us to try them as this brand of hot dog had become a favorite of hers.)
It was about that time that I noticed some tightening and pain around my stomach. I realized I was having contractions. I didn’t get much sleep because I would feel the contractions every so often, but I was okay. Yay…the little guy started to arrive on his own. Mom and dad would have appreciated him arriving closer to his due date, but thanks Levi for teaching us a little of the patience we would eventually need with you.
We arrived at the hospital at 5am as directed. We checked in at the Emergency Room and found our way to the Labor and Delivery Unit. My nurse was already in the room awaiting our arrival. I got a few things out of my bag, changed in to my hospital gown, and let her begin her work. She would be ending her shift two hours later and you could see that she was tired. I answered all of her health questions and I received the first of three rounds of penicillin to treat Group B Strep (a bacteria that some women have that can be passed to the baby at birth). That ended up burning my arm as it entered my bloodstream. The nurse applied a warm compress to my arm to ease the pain. That was a great help. Once I was hooked up to the monitors the nurse pointed out that I was having contractions every 2-3 minutes. I had no idea. I wasn’t feeling very many of them. That was fine with me though. J
When we arrived I was about 3 centimeters dilated. I had progressed one whole centimeter in 5 days. (Pure sarcasm) I was glad Levi had started to come on his own, but even more glad that we were at the hospital helping him reach his final destination more quickly. Dr. Pearce arrived at 7am to break my water and the nurse got the Pitocin started at the same time. Dr. Pearce asked if I was planning to have an epidural and I said that I was hoping to go without one. He encouraged me to have one…reminding me that giving birth was not a contest and that the epidural provided relief. I had planned to go with an IV pain medicine. The nurse explained the process for the IV drugs and I wasn’t thrilled that I would be limited in the doses available and the effects the drugs would have on the baby if labor took too long. When they broke my water there was meconium present (baby’s first bowel movement) so I needed to be monitored more closely. The nurse said that I would have to stay in bed at that point. I wanted to walk and stay active as things progressed, but the meconium made that impossible. I pretty much knew that with Levi being a week late that meconium would be present.
When pain relief and the labor process weren’t going to be as I planned I started to consider my other options. I went from 3-5 centimeters by 10am and that’s when I decided to ask for an epidural. I could definitely feel contractions by then. It wasn’t awful, but it was painful enough that I wanted some relief. I knew the pain was only going to get more intense with the Pitocin so I gave in and I was so glad I did. The anesthesiologist arrived a little before 11am and was ready to make me more comfortable. I took Dr. Pearce’s advice and was not disappointed. Dr. Ho, the anesthesiologist talked me through the epidural and it wasn’t very painful. I had seen the look on women’s faces and their pain on A Baby Story and Deliver Me that led me to believe that receiving the epidural was horrible. I was pleasantly surprised…it wasn’t bad at all. J It didn’t take very long before I was almost pain free. The nurse had me turn on my sides to allow the anesthesia to go everywhere it needed to go, but I had a “hot spot” on the lower left side of my abdomen. (An area where the medicine didn’t penetrate where it needed to.)The contractions that I could feel there were pretty painful. The nurse called Dr. Ho and he came back and injected a combination of lidocaine and epinephrine in the epidural...I couldn’t feel a thing from my stomach to my feet…it was amazing. I was thrilled. I told myself that next time (yes, we plan to have a few more children), that even if I don’t have another hot spot I might just pretend to so I won’t feel a thing. (I really wouldn‘t, but the thought of being pain free is so nice.)
Being pain free ended up being a problem a little later on because everything went so fast after that. From 11:30 to 1pm I progressed rather quickly. Dr. Jones* was on call as of noon that day, so he came by to check me and see how things were going. I thing we were all shocked that I went from 5-9 centimeters in that hour and a half!!! The nurse was very surprised that I went as quickly as I did considering that I was a first timer. I was thrilled. At some point I threw up what I had been drinking while at the hospital. I did get shaky from the epidural as well. I think that worried my mom and Josh a little, but it was fine. [I don’t remember her shaking at all, actually. I was worried that the “hot spot“ pain would come back, but it didn‘t. -Josh] I will admit it was a little frustrating as I tried to talk and was shaking and my words were a little difficult to get out. I don’t remember at what point the nurse made me wear an oxygen mask, but that got really irritating. The elastic going around my ears, supposed to be going around my ears, wasn’t comfortable and didn’t stay in place. Talking became even more difficult with the mask and the shakes. Waiting for the last centimeter is a blur, but I do remember waiting for the doctor. The nurse had checked me and said that I was ready to start pushing, so she called Dr. Jones’ office to let him know that he would be needed soon. He said he would be there by 2pm. Well, 2pm arrived and he didn’t show up. At 2:30 the nurse called again and said that he needed to come over sooner than later. I think he arrived at 3pm and at 3:15 pushing started. I couldn’t tell when I needed to push because I really had no feeling below my chest. The nurse had to tell me when I was having contractions. [Which, incidentally, she was not very good at doing. I tried to watch the monitor myself, but the nurse kept switching the view to something else, so I couldn’t see them. -Josh] They turned off the Pitocin, but by doing so contractions stopped altogether. They raised the Pitocin to 2, but the contractions were too fast, they reduced it to 1, but that was still too strong. They wondered if .5 would work and I think that’s where they finally kept it. After adjusting the Pitocin level a few times they were able to regulate my contractions well enough to give me breaks between pushing and to make sure Levi wasn‘ in any distress.
Dr. Jones readied the vacuum extractor and ended up placing it on Levi’s head, but didn’t get the chance to turn it in before he “spontaneously came out.” (As of week 7 Levi still has marks on his head from the vacuum.) So, after 30 minutes of being told when to push our little guy arrived.
Josh didn’t have a desire to cut the umbilical cord…I didn’t either. Dr. Jones asked if I wanted to see the placenta, I suggested that I did not. I did end up seeing it as it was being taken away, eww. I did have an episiotomy. The nurse said he didn’t cut into the muscle so it wouldn’t be as awful to recover from. It wasn’t bad. I was uncomfortable for the next week or so, but I made it. The whole process was much faster than I thought it would be. Overall I would say it was a good experience. It wasn’t as bad as I had seen on television or compared to some of the stories I had heard. I realize that each birth and each body is different. I also realize that I didn’t need to worry so much about the experiences others had had…my body is different and so my experiences would be different. Yes there are some similarities as well, but I now understand that my experience is my own. I will definitely do it again. I think the only trouble I had was getting enough breath between each push.
Dr Jones cleaned our little guy up a little bit before he placed him on my chest. [I think it was actually one of the nurses who did that, but I could be wrong.] I was getting anxious to see him. I had hoped they would go ahead and give him to me before cleaning him off, but no big deal. [Umm, that’s not what you said before the birth. You were pretty adamant that you wanted him cleaned off first.] I think it was about 2 minutes before I got to see him and they were a very long two minutes. [It was about 30 seconds.] It was when I finally saw our little boy that I got teary eyed. I was hoping I would get to see Josh cry for the first time when our son was born, but no. Neither of us were very emotional. That’s fine. I thought we would be, but better that it was just Levi that was crying and not all of us. I don’t think my mom was crying either, but I could be wrong.
Josh followed our son over to the warmer where they really cleaned him up and weighed and measured him. Josh came toward me and said that he though he looked like a Levi. So, Levi Wesley Booth he was. We had picked Levi and Daniel as names…taking them from our family trees. Josh and both have a Levi in our families. Wesley was the middle name of my grandfather and uncle. I always liked their name, John Wesley, and it just seemed to fit well with Levi, so I am able to carry on that portion of the McDaniel line without having another John W. Booth in the world. J My mom and Josh were wonderful supports to me. I don’t think I was a bad patient either. I think Josh was pretty grateful that I didn’t scream or cuss during the whole process. I think he was pretty glad I didn’t break his hand either. He said that he knew I would eventually give in and get the epidural.
My mom provided Levi’s first birthday cake. The three of us enjoyed snacking on that while Levi was in the nursery for a bath and whatever else the hospital does to newborns. We played a song to commemorate the occasion, Sister Hazel’s “Welcome to the World.” We have since decided that we will have a special song we’ll play at the birth of subsequent children. I got my favorite doctor and the nurse I had was very nice and offered support. My room was a nice size and clean. It was a labor and delivery room so I was there from the time I arrived at the hospital to the time I left. The staff was attentive and I don’t feel like I lacked anything. I stayed in the hospital two nights. My mom stayed with me each evening. The first night was so Josh could get a good night’s rest in preparation for his final the next morning. The second night I wanted her there so I could be with her. She was scheduled to leave the next day so I wanted her around as long as she could be. The first few times I got emotional and cried was the thought of my mom not being around to help me. I am glad she was there for the delivery and could welcome her first grandchild into the world. The hospital food was fine…I don’t think I have any complaints about it. Levi got to stay in the room with us the whole time. He was only gone for testing and his circumcision which he slept through. I think the circumcision was one of the things we worried about most…we didn’t want our little guy to be too uncomfortable.
[Umm, you haven’t mentioned the TV problems. They have some supposedly high tech service on the TV that’s supposed to let you watch TV, movies, and surf the internet. It didn’t work for the first day and a half we were there--despite our continual efforts to get service on it. When it did work, I wasn’t impressed, although they did have a few good movies you could watch. That was the only real disappointment we had with our experience at the hospital.]
Overall, it was a great experience. I think next time I wouldn’t mind having a mirror so I could see everything that was going on since I couldn’t feel any of it. [Yet another thing you were adamant that you’d never want.] I’m grateful for the support I had as well as the near pain-free and wonderful experience of bringing our first child into the world. Yes, Josh you’re right. Now that I have more experience than birth, rather than seeing the bloody grossness of it all from television I am more curious and would like to see more of what the human body can do. I have changed my mind and am not as “adamant” about some things as I once was. ;)
So, that’s the story. Its not as dramatic as some, but that’s fine with me. I’ve never been a “drama queen” as far as I know, so why should birth have been any different?!. It was a smooth and positive process. I don’t think I see birth as a “beautiful, magical thing,” it’s a process that you have to go through to bring life into the world and I am glad there are so many resources available to make it as positive as possible for all those involved. I am opinionated about some things, but birth isn’t one of them. As I experience it more maybe I will develop more of an opinion…I’ll let you know in about 10 years when I hope we are finished having children.
*Dr. Jones, I think my favorite doctor in the OB/GYN practice I use. YAY!! He was probably my favorite because he was much more personable than 2 of the 3 other doctors I rotated through. When he met Josh at one of our appointments he took time to ask him questions. I think we both felt comfortable with him. He is probably the oldest of the doctors in the practice and maybe realizing the importance of building rapport with his patients compared to the younger doctors in the practice. I felt like the other doctors were in a hurry at each appointment. Yes, I realize the doctors are busy and that they have other appointments. They always asked if I had any questions, but I didn’t feel like they wanted to take the time to really make sure that I was doing well. They would listen to a fetal heartbeat , but never asked if I was getting enough calcium or eating healthy foods. Never asked if I was taking my prenatal vitamins. Next time I hope to find a single practitioner…someone that I can get to know and can get to know me and not feel rushed during each visit. I hope that won’t be asking too much.
