We arrived at the hospital at about 7 minutes after 6 in the morning. We were hooked up to the monitors and settled in. I was dialated to a loose one and about 60% effaced. The Cytotec was administered at around 6:40. At 8:30 my doctor came in ad checked me. I was two cm dialated and working my way to 3 quickly. He decided to go ahead and break my water since I was progressing so well. Nearly instantly my contractions because stronger and moved into my back. At 10:30 my nurse came in and told me that Sarah was having heart decelerations and that she wanted my doctor to come and check on us. She obviously hadn't read my records, because her next words sent me into a panic. She said, "They're really nothing to be concerned about...it usually indicates a problem with the cord". I becamse nearly hysterical. My doctor was called instantly and was there in about a minute and a half. Sarah was given a scalp monitor to get a more accurate reading of her heart rate and I felt a little better.
At noon the nurse came in and said my doctor wanted me to go ahead and get my epidural, even though I had only asked for one dose of Nubain. Looking back, I think my doctor was more concerned than he was willing to tell me about the heart decelerations and was scared he might have to do a c-section. So, I got my epidural and life was a little better...
At 3:05, I started to push. Brian and my friend Tina, who is Sarah's Godmother, were in the room. I was pushing for all I was worth and Tina was at the end of the bed, giving me the play by play. Brian was torn between helping me and watching the action. After about 20 minutes of pushing, and not making a great deal of progress, my doctor decided to do an episiotomy because Sarah's hear rate was still dropping during contractions and she wasn't tolerating my pushing very well. It turned out she had a short cord, which was causing the decelerations, and was hand to face presentation, meaning I probably could have pushed for an hour and not made any progress.
The first thing Brian and I said after her delivery was "She cried..."
Sarah Elizabeth Schaefer
Born Alive
November 8, 2000
3:36 pm
5 pounds 11 ounces
18 and 1/2 inches long
