The Birth of Gabriel Andrew Wise

by Valerie Wise

I wanted to share our birth story with you .... it is a bit long, as I got carried away. :)
I can't believe I am already writing my birth story. It seemed like d-day was soooo far away, and all of the sudden it's all over. I was due on July 26 (24th according to UltraS.).
We decided to go camping over the 4th of July weekend. I figured I still had a few weeks before baby, and we wanted to squeeze in one last trip. We were staying with my parents in their friends 30 ft. travel trailer so we weren't exactly "roughing it". We arrived on July 3rd late so we just crashed early.
Well, the next day on 4th of July I went into the tiny little bathroom inside the camper and went potty....I stood up and it kept on coming out. I thought at first I was just suffering from urine leakage (which I did have a problem with during pg) but this was ridiculous. I hopped into the tiny shower and it kept coming. It was colorless and odorless so I knew my water broke .... I just could not believe it. So, DH and my parents all surprised and excited...my dh Andy was kinda freaking out....I was calm cool and collected. :-) We packed up camp (which took about an hour) and headed for home. We
started the 2 and 1/2 hour drive home b/c I really wanted to be at my hospital. I felt great and was not having any pain.

We arrived at my hospital at 2pm (still no pain). They hooked me all up to monitor me and My contractions were 5 min. apart. so I was excited....I thought for sure I was going to have a firecracker, 4th of July baby. WELL. I was wrong. I really wanted to just take a shower. And relax in the hot tub there. But since my water broke I couldn't do the hot tub. They started me on Pitocin at 3pm (I mentioned that I was warned about the ill effects of "the Pit" and they told me they had 5 women on it yesterday...so I thought what the heck lets get things going here. I was only 65% effaced and 1 cm. I started having intense pains around 5 or 6pm. I was begging for something to stop the pain...ugg.
The informed me I was only about 2 cm. Well, when the doc finally got there.... I demanded some pain meds. They gave me Stadol through my IV and that was nice. Since I got an IV and was on pit I never got to take the shower I so desired. The gave me Stadol again when that one was wearing off.

My aunt brought me raspberry lotion in a spray bottle, body splash and wash from Bath and Body while I was in Labor and it was wonderful....my mom and Dh rubbed my feet all night with lotion. The nurse told me to imagine I was on a tropical island and the natives were massaging my feet...LOL. It was great. and I am going to do the same for someone when they go into labor (bring them lotion that is). So we kept the room nice and smelling great. Anyways ..... they decided to do a put a scalp monitor on the baby b/c they were having a hard time with the straps that monitor the heart tones (probably because of my large size), the resident tried his hand at this and it did NOT work. He spend 5 min.
probbing around trying to attach it and it hurt worse than anything else that night. An hour later a nurse who had been there a long time came in and got it on in 1 minute.

As it neared midnight I knew we weren't going to have this baby today. I just couldn't believe it was taking soooo long. My contractions were very strong and I wanted something more powerful so doc ordered something called an intra thecal (I believe)...it's like an epidural, through the spine, but it's just a shot and your not attached to anything. Talk about instant relief ...it was the best thing EVER. My contractions were lasting for 7min. (NO breaks) and were measuring in the 50's and I could barely feel them. But yet I was alert and aware. Doc (who was not even my OB, but was my ob's partner who I had an appt. with a week before that just in case he was on call that night.and of course he was. but I liked anyways and trusted) said that if I still wasn't progressing we would talk about a c - section. At this point I was only 4 cm and ready for a c -section. So, we all talked about it and decided that was the thing to do. Let me tell you , having a c-sec was the weirdest thing that has ever happened to me. I had a spinal done, and that was really weird....being totally numb from the chest down. Andy was able to come into the room with me so that was wonderful. Everyone at the hospital was so nice and that really
really helped. because of my large size doc made a vertical incision on the outside (to heal better) and a horizontal one on the inside. Before I knew it I heard my son crying and Andy and I started crying ourselves. It was so great to be awake the whole time. The only bad part about it was that my upper body was shaking uncontrolably during and after the c-sec. I also was very hot!!!!!!!!! during labor and insisted on having the room freezing while everyone shivered.(that was in the laboring room not in the operation room). They cleaned Gabriel up and showed them to me...he was amazing. Andy got to follow the nurse and Gabe's doctor to the nursery where my family was waiting. I had to get finished up and it seemed like an eternity. I was in the operation room for about another 1/2 hour
until I got to see my baby again. He was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen of course. He weighed 8 lbs and 5 oz. and was 20 inches long....not bad for being 3 weeks early. Doc said it's a good thing we did a c -sec b/c he wasn't coming out the other way...I guess my pelvis was really tilted among a few other things.

The next day I forgot all about the pain and was ready to have another baby.!!!!!!!!!
I delivered Gabriel at 6:21am on Sat. July 5th after 20 hours of labor....and we went home on Mon.night. Would I do it again?? Any day!!!!

We had a visiting nurse come to our house on Tues. and she thought that Gabe looked a little too yellow so she took some blood and his count came back a little high so he was on photo therapy for a few days at home for Jaundice, which made him extra sleepy.....but now is leveled off and doing great. She came everyday last week to take his vitals etc... that was a great thing, also she would check my insicion. IF you have the option of getting a visiting nurse DO it. They are great. Ask about them at the hospital.

Yikes ,.... I made this super duper long....I had better stop. If anyone wants to email me aboutanything feel free. Lots of luck to everyone who is expecting. Even though mine wasn't "easy" it really wasn't that bad, and you get a beautiful baby in the end and that is what you have to remind your self (like every second :) ...!!! I complained about being pg a lot towards the end of my pregnancy but now I miss having Gabe inside of me. I want to be pg again. :-) Oh how we forget ....LOL... We will be having another in a year though !

Hugs and smiles,

~Valerie
Mom to Gabriel Andrew 7/5/97


Return to Birth Stories
Return to OPSS Main Page

The Birth of Jonah Michael Moore

by Janel Moore

Our son, Jonah Michael, arrived at 6:58am CDT on April 9, 1997 via unplanned c-section. He weighed in at 8lb 6oz and was 21 inches long. I don't remember his apgars, but I think 8 and 9. At my 3/24 dr appt, I was dilated 1-2cm and 50% effaced. At my 3/31 appt, I had advanced to nearly 3cm (no mention of effacement). On 4/7, I was nearly 4cm dilated. Over those few weeks, I had been dealing with a horrible respiratory cold (adults version of RSV -- a deep non-productive cough, with tight chest and catches when breathing) which had led to pulling/straining muscles on my lower rib cage (right hand side BACK) along with mild to moderate contractions every 7-10 min most days. I had a couple of days where I could hardly move and the coughing seemed to be tightening back up everything that had loosened in pelvis. Anyway, knowing how miserable I had been and still was, and that he was on call the next day, my dr asked if we wanted to have the baby the next day. I told him I wasn't ready to just schedule an induction, so he recommended castor oil (said his success rate with it was around 80%). I agreed to try it. The contractions stayed about the way they had been. He had me come in, checked me -- a little advance, but not much, and sent me over to the hospital to break my water.

Long story shorter, ended up with pitocin and epidural and reasonable, but ot stellar progression. At the office, it had appeared that the baby's butt was sticking out front just as expected, but by late that night, he was "sunny-side up" again. Tried some tricks to help him turn then had to deal with him not staying engaged after contractions. They put a girdle on me to hold him down(I think that was the point when he stopped>turning). Next check, his nose was facing my right hip. I was fully dilated and dr suggested trying vacuum extraction to help turn and get things moving. The picture my husband describes sounds like a tug-of-war that my son ended up winning. Bottom line -- No baby distress, but c-section because my cervix had swollen and things were going nowhere. My recovery has been quick and uneventful. The best thing for me is that my dr doesn't do
staples or stitches that have to be removed, everything is inside and dissolves on its own.

The recovery from the c-section went surprisingly quickly. It has been 4 months now and I feel normal. I have been breastfeeding, and as a working mother, that means I have been pumping 2x daily since my return to work. It is working well. Our investment in a "Pump in Style" has been well worth it. I had pumped with Sarah, too, but used a rental. This is much handier.

Janel Moore
mom to Sarah Elizabeth 7/10/93 and Jonah Michael 4/9/97

Return to Birth Stories
Return to OPSS Main Page

The Birth of Kent Richard Hooper

by Jennifer Hooper

Hi all. This Is Jen who was due on 2/14. Kent arrived on 2/17 and what with getting used to his routine and getting back to work I haven't done much "net'ing.

Thanks for all your good wishes along the way.

Now for the story of how it all happened. All turned out well and this is not a horror story, it is just LONG. By the way, never once did my Dr. say anything about my being overweight (70 pounds above my ideal to start) causing any difficulties with the pregnancy.

On Friday 2/15 I had the usual weekly appointment and the Dr. said I was still not effaced or dialated baby was still at -1 station and he'd probably see me in a week. ;)

Early Sunday (2/16) morning (2:50) I woke up thinking I had wet the bed. Nope, my membranes had ruptured. I got up, cleaned up, put on a pad, woke my husband (who cleaned the sheets and set up our hide-a-bed so we could try to get some more sleep) and started my "labor record." I also put my underwear in a plastic bag so the hospital could run any needed tests. I was excited to know that in 24 hours Jr. would be here (they want delivery in 24 hours of rupture to avoid infection and risk to baby).

Since I had no real contractions at this point (nothing strong or very long or regular) we tried to sleep or at least rest. I would change my pad every couple hours (obsesively noting all changes and putting the pads in zip-loc bags and numbering them in order) and got no sleep, DH got a couple cat naps.

Called the Dr. at 6:20 am (I had planned to wait until 7 but there was some blood on my pads, so I called early) Dr. said I should head to the hospital. Called parents and grandparents to let them know this was the day!

Arrived at the hospital at about 8 am. Had been having contractions about 5 minutes apart and only about 20-30 seconds long. Checked in and got set up on a monitor. They left me on the monitor for about 1 hour until the nurse could get the data she needed to verify all was o.k. They kept "losing" the fetal heart rate and having to reposition was the biggest problem. Oh and they did a strep B test since my membranes had ruptured (no infection).

They sent me for a walk. We saw the nursery and bought a paper, called my colleagues to let them know I wouldn't be in (I'm a professor and had arranged for the other profs to take my classes for a couple weeks) and finished grading the papers I had taken home over the weekend. (Yes, we were taking it very easy.)

At about 10am the Dr. on call stopped by and ruptured my membranes with the "hook." They thought this might move things along. There was A LOT of fluid and some meconium (baby poop) and I got a bit worried, they just said they would have a baby nurse present at delivery to check on things. I continued to leak lots and go through a pad every few minutes. By 11 am no further progress with the contractions so the Dr. ordered pitocin. They gave me lunch first and tested one of the pads I brought to make certain it was amniotic fluid (it was) and then they started the drip.

The nurse got concerned when she did a vaginal to check progress and couldn't feel the baby's head, so she stopped the pitocin and called the Dr. back. All was fine, baby was just high. Started the pitocin again at a slightly higher dose.

Changed nurses at about 3pm. The new nurse was great. She gave me breaks from the monitor! I had previously understood that once they gave pitocin I would be monitored continuously. But she let us take walks, use the jacuzzi, sit in the shower, and generally move around quite a bit.

I remember asking every nurse what I could do to help things along - I was a bit disappointed at needing all the meds. Mainly they said to remain vertical (sitting) and walk. So I did every chance they gave me.

By 8 pm I asked for some meds to help with the contractions. I had a half dose of Stadol, which did nothing. They gave me a full dose and I still was not impressed.

By 10 pm the contractions were getting markedly more intense. I was at 8 cm by then. We tried the jacuzzi which helped a little, and the shower which helped not at all. I asked for an epidural and felt a bit of a failure (my DH is a hypnotherapist and firmly believed I could do this with no pain meds, I tried by oh well, the nurse firmly told me I was not a failure and it was OK.)

The Dr. with the epidural made absolutely no comments about my weight. She only chastized me for not being able to hold still in that curled up position during a contraction while she was trying to put in the needle. She had to try twice to get the needle positioned right. Thank heavens for drugs! I thought I might get some rest now before the final pushing, but the epidural only relieved the contraction pain in my back, I still felt the urgent need to poop (ie push). It hurt, but it did let me know when to do what.

At midnight I started pushing. I don't remember anything of this time except resting between contractions, DH and nurse holding legs while pushing, and trying my hardest to get him out. Oh yeah, DH and the nurse would coach me and encourage and keep me posted on descent (it was great when they said they could see his hair!)

At 1 am the Dr arrived. He eventually suggested using the vacuum extractor. I remember something of episiotomy and third degree tearing - I think I realy tried to block those words out though.

At 2 am Kent Richard Hooper arrived! They laid him on my tummy and all was good again! He weighed in at 8lb 15oz.

We stayed about 36 hours after the birth in the hospital and had fun ordering room service and calling family.

We are now all doing great. Stitches healed at about 2 weeks, hemeroids disappeared at about 3 weeks, bf is going well (the nurses in the hospital were all great at helping with latch on). And the best news, last night Kent slept for 4 hours between feedings, twice!

Sorry to be so long winded. Hope it didn't sound to terrible. My angel is now sleeping on my lap and he is the cutest thing!

Good luck to rest of you!

--Jen Hooper and Kent


Return to Birth Stories
Return to OPSS Main Page

The Birth of Khalil Edward Ford

by Yvonne Ford

Khalil Edward Ford was born on Thursday, April 24, 1997, at 11:33am weighing in at 8 lbs 13 oz and 20" long!!

He came a bit early, don't ya think? Not too much, but enough to catch me (and family!) off guard. When I woke up Wednesday morning, I was all wet. Yuck. I thought that maybe the discharge that I have had was just really bad, but when I checked the bed, there was a spot about the size of a dinner plate in the middle of it! After making sure it wasn't urine, I told my sister that my water broke. Her eyes got all big and she asked if she should still go to work. I sent her to work since I wasn't having hard contractions yet and felt that it might be awhile. I had a doctor's appt that morning anyway so I just took a shower and got ready. I didn't have my bag packed completely so I was running around trying to things together.

I went to my doctor's appt and was upset since my regular doctor had gone home with laryngitis (sp?). I saw the same doctor that I saw the Friday before. He did a strip test on me and since it didn't change color, he told me it wasn't amniotic fluid. And since my cervix hadn't changed much since the last visit, he told me to just go home because it wasn't true. I asked him to explain to me what the fluid was if it wasn't amniotic fluid. He told me that many first time mothers had sworn up and down that it wasn't urine but it really was--I expected him to say "Now listen here, little girl." It
really upset me and I was in tears when I walked out. It wasn't that I was so eager to have the baby right then, but I knew what he was saying was wrong and he wasn't listening to me. He has a great reputation and I am sure he was just having a bad day or was just super busy (taking his patients and my doctor's) but it still doesn't change the fact that I knew it was my bag of waters that had broken, not an accidental pee in the middle of the night!!!

I went home bawling because of the way he treated me and called my mom back to tell her what the doctor had said. Along with her and several other mothers that I talked to, they all agreed that the contractions I was having (very light but consistent) were real (not nerves) and it was my bag of waters that bad broken (not pee!). So I finally called my sister in the early afternoon to tell her I was going to go to the hospital. I actually told her I would drive myself and she could just meet me! She wouldn't let me do it (smart woman!) and we arrived at the hospital around 4pm. They repeated the strip tests on me and they all came back negative but the resident doctor took asample and looked at it under the microscope and yes, it was amniotic fluid!! He said the tests aren't foolproof and it was a good idea that I had come in. They let me go for a while on my own, hoping
that my contractions would get stronger, but they didn't. They started the pitocin in the early evening and at that time hooked up an internal fetal monitor. I wasn't wanting to do that, but the externalmonitor wasn't staying in place if I moved off of my back (I was having back labor even though the contractions weren't too strong). When they attached that monitor, the rest of the amniotic fluidgushed out (ick!) and that is when they discovered the meconium (sp?). Because of this, they did an amnio-infusion with saline water to flush all of that out. This was a really gross experience because there was only so much room for fluid and the rest would leak out, soaking me :( This also meant
that I was restricted to the bed. As labor progressed, I detested this even more because my back was killing me and no matter what position I was in, nothing helped. My mother and my sister were with me and really helpful. I was able to breathe through most of the
contractions and didn't have pain medication until well into it. As the night progressed, they upped the pitocin so the contractions got harder. Around 3am is when it started getting really bad, but I was able to sleep a bit between contractions because of the pain medication (it never really took the pain away or lessened it but it did help me sleep which was great). I was at 9cm for over 3 hours--the
top part of my cervix refused to dilate all of the way and until it did, I couldn't push. This was the most horrible part of it--I wanted to push so bad but they wouldn't let me. I kept telling my sister that I wanted to go home--I guess I figured that things would miraculously stop hurting once I walked (?!) out of the hospital. I was so exhausted that I didn't think that I would be able to push, but I kept begging them to let me. Finally they were able to push that part of my cervix up over his head so that I could begin pushing. I pushed for little more than an hour--this hurt like hell but amazingly it felt good at the same time! :) My doctor arrived and all of these nurses poured in (they had nurses from
the nicu because of the meconium). I still can't believe the intense pain as I finished pushing him out--I saw stars with each push! I felt my hip pop when he dropped down the final distnace. Feeling him drop like that was such a strange sensation. They didn't let him cry right away because they were afraid of the meconium, but they held him up so I could see him before taking him over to the warmer. I couldn't believe it--it felt so unreal to finally look at my son! My sister kept saying "he's so pretty" and when I looked over at my mom, we both were crying. I watched them as they worked on him and was so relieved when I heard his cry. That is when I let myself finally feel peace that he
was okay and I started to cry. The doctor finished stiching me up (I had an episiotomy plus I tore a bit)--(I remember seeing the needle and thread and wondering why I couldn't feel anything) and came up to my head to congratulate me--I was so happy that he had been there even if he was still sick (he kept his mask on the whole time).

They brought Khalil over to me and I was so amazed at how quiet he was. His beautiful brown eyes were wide open and he was looking around. He had so much curly hair!! All three of us were in awe of this little guy. Pretty soon the room cleared of the nurses and I called my SO to tell him about his beautiful son. It was hard not to have him there so he could hold him too. After I talked with him, my mom and my sister left and I was able to be alone with my son. Everyone has told me about the overwhelming love that a mother feels when looking at her child, but I couldn't comprehend it until it really happened. I still could not believe that this beautiful guy was our son!!

I stayed in the hospital for 2 days. I had rooming in for the first night, but after not sleeping at all, decided (along with my doctor) that I would not do it the next night. All of the nurses were really wonderful in helping me with breastfeeding. He had a good latch-on and suck, but he was so lazy that he wouldn't continue. I tried the rest of Thursday and all day Friday and most of Saturday before deciding to bottle feed. I was really impressed with how great the nursing staff was in helping me out and encouraging me. It also felt good when they accepted my decision to bottle feed after trying so much with breastfeeding. Maybe I should not have stopped, but I noticed how tense and
upset I was when trying to breastfeed, but how relaxed and loving I was when I would give him a bottle (we would try nursing on each side for 10-15 minutes and if he was still fussy i would give him a bottle). This was the main reason I decided to switch. To me, it is much more important that I am loving and talkative towards him during feeding instead of upset and not talking as much to him while trying to breastfeed. I still feel like I failed because I had really wanted to breastfeed, but I know that he will still be healthy. He did get a lot of colostrum so he did get antibodies. Last night I decided to try nursing again, just to see if he would since my milk had come in. The first time he screamed like
crazy but I still decided to try it again. I was so amazed when he latched on and nursed on each side for over 20 minutes!!! It felt undescribable--wonderful! So I tried this all night, but it must have been a freak accident since he has since refused to even nuzzle at my breast let alone latch on. But I am okay with it--at least I was able to nurse when I did and I will try again with my next child.

Khalil is a healthy little guy, eating 1-2 ounces every 2-4 hours. He did stay in the hospital a night longer than I did because his bilirubin level was high so the doctor was worried about jaundice. It was horrible leaving him in the hospital--I could barely walk out of the nursery. He came home early Sunday morning, but his level was still high. He was retested on Monday and Tuesday and we have to go back Thursday. His level is decreasing so we are hopeful that all will be okay soon. He has also had blood in his poop and at first they thought he had swallowed blood during delivery but it has continued. His x-ray showed that everything is intact and looking good so that isn't it either. The doctor changed his formula to a hypo-allergenic one (he was on Isomil prior to that), hoping the
problem would clear up. So far it hasn't and I am hoping he can do something else when we go to the clinic tomorrow.

We are gradually getting into a routine, but I think Khalil's night and days are messed up. He really likes music and when I sing to him (even though my voice isn't the best!) and also just being held. I have fallen asleep many times with him in my arms because he won't stop fussing unless I hold him. This is only during his fussy time--the rest of the time he sleeps in his bassinet with no problem. My mother was here until Tuesday to help me out and my sister will be home the rest of the week. It is really nice because they are able to watch him during the day so I can get some rest. I have had to do a lot of running around since I didn't have bottles or anything like that. Plus there are many things
that I have found that I needed even though I thought that I had everything!!

Things are going really well and I love my little lovebug like crazy. Today I went out without him to mail pictures to my SO and I called twice to make sure he was okay (even though my sister would page me asap if anything wasn't!). I had liked the idea of taking some time away, even if it wasn't for too long, but I missed him like crazy the entire time!!

Well, I should get going--it is time for him to eat again <> I am amazed that I have been able to spend this much time typing this!! I hope that all is well with everyone on the list--though I might not post too often right now, I am reading what is going on. Take care!

God Bless!
Yvonne and Khalil Edward (4/24/97 8lbs 13oz 20")

Return to Birth Stories
Return to OPSS Main Page

The Birth of Liam Thomas Hollmann

by Layla Rogers

(I'm getting knots in my stomach just thinking about this)

Liam Thomas Hollmann was born on Tuesday, April 22nd at 10:45pm, but labor had started days earlier. On that previous Friday I went in for a non-stress test and a serving of prostin gel. At this point, I was nearly 2 weeks late and scheduled for an induction on Tuesday morning. I desperately prayed that the gel would be enough to trigger labor. I was tired of feeling like a beached whale! That afternoon I had some fairly strong contractions start up, but they were coming irregularly -- anywhere from 5 to 55 minutes apart. I started feeling hopeful and excited -- maybe the gel was working! The contraction were just strong enough to disrupt my sleep and make me anxious about
the birth -- they usually took my breath away and provided good practice for my breathing. An internal exam during the NST showed that I was only 30% effaced and 'fingertip dilated.' I put that in quotes, because I think that is the nurse's nice way of saying 'tight as a clam' without discouraging me too much. The gel-induced contractions were pretty hard, so I was imagining myself dilating like crazy and going into labor any moment. Not. All I got was a little bit of bloody show -- encouraging, but not enough!

On Monday I went in for another NST -- if I didn't go into labor by Tuesday morning, I was coming in for the induction. More gel, more contractions. Progressed to 50% effaced and still 'fingertip dilated.' Still getting contractions that I thought were strong (oh would I soon be educated!). But I felt alot of emotional stuff come up as I was sitting there bargaining with the Labor and Delivery Goddess to get the show on the road. I was scared or birthing the baby, afraid that something horrible might happen to him. My doula came over and we walked and talked and tried to cry the baby out. No luck.
Monday night -- the only way I could sleep was in the bathtub. After 2 hours I was completely prunish, so decided to give the bed another try. An hour later, I get up to go to the bathroom and *whoosh* a bunch of water splashed down my legs. "My water broke!", I screamed, and promptly woke Robert up. We rush to the hospital, suffer an internal exam, and was told that my water was still intact, and that it was just bathwater. It was 3 am by that point and we went home extremely dissapointed, with only a sedative as a consolation prize.

Tuesday morning, 6:30 am. We get up, knowing that this would be the last time we'd come home without a baby (we thought). After a lackluster bagel breakfast, we head up to the hospital to face the Pit-dragon. I was beginning to feel demoralized now -- I failed to go into labor myself, and had to face an induction. Besides my fear of the pitocin, I hate IVs and knew that I'd have to get one.

7:45: We're in our LDR room, the IV sunk without incident. My doula shows up and we're all really chatty. My contractions are beginning to get stronger. Even though I was hooked up to the monitors, I was able to sit in a rocking chair, which helped alot. They were now 4-5 minutes apart, lasting 45 secs. It was hard, but managable. The nurse kept upping the pitocin every 45 minutes, until it was at level 27 (? -- I'm fuzzy here, but I think that was the number.)

9:45: My first "motherf***r" contraction -- the first one that made me curse and whimper. We were off and running. I thought that at this point they'd turn down/off the pit. Nope. The contractions are now coming every 2-3 minutes, lasting 45-50 seconds. The monitor is showing some doozies and I'm now in active labor, truly. Carol helped me breathe, reminding me to keep my tones low. I ended up growling, like the lions on my bedslippers. Rob is by my side, rubbing my head.

3:00: I want drugs, now. There has been no break in nearly 5 hours of induced labor. We ask the nurse for some narcotics in the IV.

3:45: I finally get the drugs. It felt like forever for them to kick in, but it also went by in a blur. I am convinced that labor and delivery runs in a parallel universe with different time properties. The first 30 minutes of Nubain feel like heaven -- I'm chatty and the contractions don't have their edge.

4:45: The Nubain has worn off. A second dose is given, but doesn't feel so wonderful as the first.

6:15: I am crawling the walls. The contractions are getting harder (I couldn't imagine they could get that strong) and relentless. I want the epidural, but they have to give me an internal exam first. 85% effaced and 1 cm dilated. I wailed like a keening woman -- 1cm!! That is when I totally broke down. Carol tried to reassure me that the effacement was great news and that once I was totally effaced, it would go much more quickly. I didn't really hear her and started cursing -- sailors don't have nothing on laboring women!
The doctor, God save her, decided that she'd let me have an epi anyways. She figure that all the tension and fatigue of the labor was hindering my progress. The Anesetheologist (aka Angel with a Halo) was paged and was reassured that she'd be there shortly.

6:45 The Angel showed up. After 2 attempts during the 15-30 second lull between contractions, the epidural is placed. Trying to sit up while in active pit-labor was probably the second hardest part of the process.

7:15: The epi kicks in and I'm in heaven. I know that many women do deliver naturally, but the epi, in my case, was the best thing possible. I was able to sleep for 2 hours during some really tough labor, the first sleep in days. Carol went home for a quick shower and some food while I slept.

9:15: Carol's back and I wake up shivering. I immediately puke on Robert, and the contractions are back, stronger than ever. I knew I was in transistion and I knew I needed to kick the epidural up a notch. The Angel ups the dosage a bit, Rob cleans himself off and we got another internal. I was right -- 7.5 cms and completely effaced. Liam was in the +2 posistion, so they were fairly certain he would have no problem passing through. Doctor wants to do AROM, for the scalp monitor. I refuse, since there was no signs of stress.

9:20: My water broke, finally. Scalp monitor inserted, 8.5 cms.

9:30: I want to push, badly. Another internal -- 10 cms, allowed to push.

10:45: Still pushing, Liam almost crowning. Although doc does everything to avoid the episiotomy, it becomes necessary. Liam is showing signs of distress and I'm fading fast. I'm snipped, and Liam is born. Carol reassures me that the doc did everything right and that it was necessary.

10:46: Liam has serious breathing problems. After being put on my tummy for a few seconds, they take him to the heating table and start to drain his lungs. They remove several ounces of fluid (no meconium) from his lungs. He's briefly returned to me before he's whisked away to the NICU. I'm stiched up quietly.

11:00: Everyone except Carol and Rob is gone. We're alone and I'm a mess. I try to reassure myself that Liam is just fine.

11:30: I'm finally to my recovery room, with no baby. Rob and I try to calm down, but we're a mess. I cannot stand on my own, since the epidural made my right side numb. We try to sleep.

2:00: The doctor comes by. She explains that Liam has a serious lung infection and is in the NICU. They are running some cultures, and will have a prognosis in the morning. We're allowed to go see him. He's on a heating table, with a breathing hood around his head, IV in arm and a blood sampler out of his still-open belly button. We sit there for an hour and cry. I'm only allowed to touch his hands.

8:00am next morning: After breakfast we go up and see him again. Now he's on a ventilator, breathing 80% oxygen. The doctor explains that he was fighting so hard that neither the hood nor the cpat nose-tube would work for him. I was later told that it took 4 nurses and a shot of morphine to intubate him -- such a fighter esp compared to his 3 pound preemie neighbors.

Thursday: He is removed from the ventilator, and I'm allowed to hold him. I've been pumping every 3 hours and sleeping in the hospital's hospitality room for NICU moms.

Friday: We're able to breastfeed, IV and all, just as my milk comes in.

Next Wednesday: We're allowed to take him home. One of the nurses told me that he was much more touch and go than the doctor let on. But he is a fighter, and I'm convinced that he willed himself better. Many babies with his condition are not released until 10-14 days, but at 7 days he had no sign of infection.

Everything is OK now -- he's a bruiser. A fighter indeed -- everytime I try to change him! I really wish it hadn't been this way, but I'm not sure what we could have done differently. They have no idea why he was so sick. It is unlikely that it came from vaginal infection, since his water wasn't broken very long. They guess that the placenta had started to fail, and that a bacteria passed through the barrier and infected him.

While the labor was tough, it was that first post-partum week that was the toughest. Sometimes I don't know how I made it, and I certainly can not even imagine what it must be like to lose a baby. I never knew I could care so much about someone else until then. Part of me thinks that I'm going through a post-traumatic syndrome after this -- but it's hard to differentiate that from general post-partum madness.

I hope this sheds some light on why I feel passionately about some things -- I just don't want anyone else to go through that. This was not meant to scare anyone -- most everything goes well for delivering women. But complications can set in, they do happen to people you know. That is why I think it's important to really take this seriously and take control of your own process. Next time, I think I may decline more of those internal exams, and maybe not opt for the gel -- which might have introduced germs into the canal. But ultimately, we can only control so much, and give the rest up to
whatever you think of as God. I know that my faith in the fundamental goodness of life was what helped me survive that first week.

--Layla

Proud mom of Liam Thomas Hollmann
4/22 10 pounds/22 inches


Return to Birth Stories
Return to OPSS Main Page

The Birth of Nate Thompson

by Melissa Thompson

Thanks for all the wonderful notes and thoughts during Nate's delivery. I'm home and doing well, and Nate is WONDERUFL. He really is a non-fussy child - and a very healthy eater! I'm posting my birth story for those of you who are interested.

Just to forwarn you all that the following birth story is not the MOST positive, but I learned a lot that you might want to be aware of. Also, if you don't want to hear another "horror" story before you give birth, save this one for after :-).

DH and I went to the hospital at 8:00 on Wednesday evening. They took some time getting me ready (gown, check-in, etc). At about 9:00 pm the resident checked my cervix. It was soft and dilated to 2 cm. Nate was at a -2/-3 position. They called my midwife and decided to skip the gel because it is really intended to just get you to a 2 cm stage and then the pitocin should be started. So, they immediately started me on pitocin drip, low dose for the evening. I slept relatively well, and by morning I was at about 3 cm, but they thought I was still only 70-80% effaced. An anesthesiologist came to see me in the morning and looked at my back to see if an epidural would be possible. He strongly advised against it. He said that my lower backbone was impossible to feel through the excess tissue, and it would really be a hit or miss kind of thing. We did discuss a peduncal (sp?) block in combination with a paracervical. Apparently paracervicals are rarely done
except by midwives, and involves deadening the cervix. Unfortunately this doesn't help with back labor. I really thought I could deal with no pain meds as long as I knew up front that they weren't an option.

They increased the pitocin doses regularly until I started to really feel the contractions at 11:00 am. I was contracting about every 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, but they were still very manageable. I could tell that I was going to have hard back labor. I really hit active labor at 1:30 or so, and continued well at this pace until 6:00 pm. My midwife came to check me and I was dilated to 8 cm, but Nate had backed up to -4. We started discussing a section at this point because of Nate's lack of progression to the canal. My OB had just started a section at another hospital and we had to wait for him. I was "complete" by
the end of the hour, and ended up with hard contractions and the order to "not push" for the next two while we waited for the OB to arrive. I WAS MISERABLE. In the meantime we had numerous nurses in the room and three different anethesiologists who were
attemptimg to get another IV going and to start an arterial line (this allows for direct pulse monitoring during a section). They also refused to let me have ice or water because of the potential for the section.

When my OB arrived, he and my midwife argued about whether the let me push - Nate was now at -5. Then someone suggested we try an epidural "just to see" if we could do it. Well, after being relatively nice up to this point, I made some harsh and nasty statements - essentially I demanded that 1) they give me a general - I was not willing to "try anything that had a good chance of failing and 2)that they do the section. Within ten or fifteen minutes we were in the operating room. They gave me a shot of some drug that
reduced the contractions (finally some relief), and they prepped me. They won't give you the general until right before cutting because they want to avoid giving any to the baby. DH was in scrubs, but wasn't allowed in until they actually began. I don't remember anything until about midnight. The OB didn't do a "bikini cut", but a horizontal that goes from just above my pelvic bone to 3 inches above my belly betton. I'm very thankful for this. I know that I'll have an awful scar, but it isn't like I show this area off to everyone! I think the weight pull on this incision is much less harmful and much more confortable. I'm not really in much pain.

Nathan came through with flying colors. His apgar scores 9 for 1 minute and 9 for 5 minutes (this is a scoring chart that measures baby's reactivity, color, general health and is done immediately after birth and again 5 minutes later) are excellent. He is a super kid - very little crying, and is now taking 4 ounces of formula every 4 hours and sleeping well.

I do have to say that I am glad I stuck with my decision to bottle feed. The hospital staff was very supportive of my decision and with the section, DH and grandparents/siblings/anyone else could feed him and they all felt part of his "coming" to the world. I'm also amazed at how unjealous I am of other's holding him. I love to see other people cuddle and coo, and he seems to really enjoy the attention.

It was definately all worth it, but I will seriously think twice about repeating it!

Melissa and baby Nate
born 3/13/97 8 lbs 12 oz

Return to Birth Stories
Return to OPSS Main Page

The Birth of Cameron Dellan Fleming

by Tanya Fleming

Name:Cameron Dellan Fleming
Weight: 6 lbs 8 oz
DOB: 10/13/97
Length: 19 1/2 inches
Looks: beautiful

First of all, let me say that we expected Cameron to be a girl because that
is what the dr said plus we had 2 ultrasounds and even though you couldn't
see anything, they guessed a girl on the first one and wouldn't even guess
on the 2nd.

10-13-97
Monday morning 5:30ish am- I get up to go pee. I pee all the way to the bathroom.
"Uh-oh, that doesn't look yellow. It doesn't smell either. Wow, there is baby hair in my underwear. SHANEEEEEE!!!!!!(DH)" Oh S@#T! Dr. Wharton is out of town.

We piddle around the house until about 7:30am till DH is foaming at the mouth and stutters "Please, let's go!" Drop off video from last night and run by Wal-Mart to get blank tape. DH thinks I am insane.

8:30am-4:00pm We are at the hospital. They are very organized and very smooth. Every nurse was nice helpful and seemed genuinely interested in everything going on. Contractions started about 7:00am. My mom and Stepdad came up as well as as DH's parents. The room was pretty big. None of them were crowded in their and all had places to sit. They induce with pit to get things rolling.

4:00-6:00pm Dr.Gonzales comes in and does my epidural. He is very nice too. He said my weight would not be a problem in doing it. I was scared of it because of everything I had read but I wasn't dealing with the pain how I thought I could. (we had basic hospital Lamaze,not Bradley ect.)
*ANYONE WHO WANTS TO KNOW MORE DETAIL ABOUT MY EXPERIENCE WITH EPIDURAL, FEEL FREE TO E-MAIL ME. I KNOW THIS CAN BE A PASSIONATE SUBJECT.

6:00-7:10pm Push,PUsh, PUSh,PUSH! The nurses really do all the work and I am glad because I had one Dr come in and check on me that afternoon and a different one deliver. My nurse even did most of the dr's work on the pushing. "It's a boy!" My mom yells! She and my DH stayed in there for the active labor. I didn't think I wanted her in there beforehand but I am so glad she was. Shane did good but was exhausted too and mom was very into it. When DH's mom went in there she said "See, all the pain is gone, and now you have a beautiful baby." Yes, he was beautiful, but I didn't feel like it was over.

Later that night: When it was time to go to the bathroom, there was ALOT of blood. I passed alot of big clots and that is why I was still hurting. The nurses said I was still delivering the blood clots. I passed out in the bathroom on the toliet and threw up. One of the nurses found a little piece
of placenta in the blood and said that is probably what triggered it. They had me on low pit all night to pass the rest of the clots. Had mild contractions all night. That next morning I passes on more big clot and then I felt fine.

Return to Birth Stories
Return to OPSS Main Page

The Birth of Ethan Raebig

by Lisa Raebig

We spent Saturday Oct 5th in the hospital getting the "gel" to get my
cervix ready for induction. I was 2 days shy of 40 weeks and have
Insulin Dependent Diabetes so the time was right. When I went home that
afternoon my cervix was soft but not really dilated. I had little
contractions all night. Not bad but annoying. I was psyched to go in
on Sunday.

Sunday morning: No one from the hospital called to let us know when to
come in, which they were supposed to do. We called them and had an
appointment for 9:30. After dropping the dog off at his grandparents we
arrived at the maternity ward, with great expectations. After futzing
around for a while they hooked me up to the Pitocin at 10:30. The doc
didn't want to do an internal till after I had been on Pitocin for a
while so that we could keep them to a minimum. DH and I watched bad TV
for a number of hours while I had little baby contractions. I thought
"Hell, this is easy" HAH!
The OB checked after a couple of hours, 3 cm. My water broke around
4pm after he stripped my membranes. I was kinda angry because he didn't
tell me he was going to do it, but at that point I didn't care. I also
had an internal monitor because the external wasn't picking up my
contractions.
After a number of hours on Pitocin, I noticed that the contractions
were getting longer. In fact, after a while, there was no break at all
between them. Suddenly, it wasn't so easy after all. I wasn't able to
get a break between in order to relax. I was miserable. After a quick
internal to see how far I progressed we found I was still at 3cm and
miserable. I broke down and asked for drugs. They were a little bit of
a joke. They shut the Pitocin off for a bit till the I got a break in
the contractions and then started it up again. They also put an internal
monitor in for the baby cause they were having trouble monitoring the
babies heart rate
By 11pm my Uterus was hyper-stimulated again and the pain was
unbearable. I was making quite a ruckus. Not the "suffering in
silence" type I thought I'd be. After a very long hour of this I bowed
to peer pressure (DH and MD) and got and epidural. (At this point I was
6 cm, progress but not enough) The epidural was the best thing that
ever happened to me. I found myself promising to send the
anesthesiologist a nice gift for Xmas. Now I had 2 tubes coming out of
my vagina, a catheter and 2 IV’s!
I was able to rest and Tim was snoring within a few minutes of the
epi. By 5:30 the nurses where getting concerned about the baby’s heart
rate. He was having decelerations after my contractions. By 6:30 I was
being prepped for a C-Section. Of course, I was balling like a baby by
then. A bad idea cause my nose got all stuffed up and I had to mouth
breathe, which sucks with an O2 mask on..
It took about 30 minutes for all the preparations. My OB was off duty
by then but stayed to do my surgery. They explained every minute detail
to me. And prepared me for every step. I am claustrophobic so I was
pretty horrified about being numb from the chest down but I kept
reminding myself it was for a good reason and would be over soon.
I was a surreal experience. When they are ready to take the baby out
they practically sit on your stomach to push. At 7:27am Ethan was out.
I could tell he was by the expression on my husbands face. It was
beautiful, sheer joy. They brought him around the sheet for me to see
and when I talked to him, he turned his head to me. His eyes were wide
open and he was taking it all in. He was whisked away and Tim was
torn. He wanted to go but he knows about my claustrophobia so he
thought he should stay. I, of course told him to go with the baby. I
had worked too hard to let him out of our sight.
It took about 30 minutes to sew me up. Ethan was taken to the nursery
because they need to check his blood sugar. By the time I was in
recovery he was back and the nurses helped me put him to breast.
I started getting feeling back in my legs after about an hour. I was
walking by that night and convinced the nurse to remove my catheter.

Even with all the post-partum complications and baby colic, I would
easily do it again. He is the most wonderful thing in my life. I never
saw Jerry Maguire but I remember a line from the commercial - "He
completes me. " and that is what he does.

Return to Birth Stories
Return to OPSS Main Page

The Birth of Maxwell DeMeo

by Shannon DeMeo

Hi everyone and happy Thanksgiving! I thought I better get around to writing
this before the little one wakes up again. I went into labor on Monday,
November 10, which was my due date. I woke up in the morning with a horrible
backache but thought that I had just slept wrong. I couldn't get rid of the
backache and by about lunchtime I kept complaining to my Mom (who had come to
stay with us) that I had really bad gas. Finally about 2 pm, my Mom said that
she thought I was in labor--nothing like having to have someone tell ya :)
About 3 pm I startedgetting really noticeable contractions and by 5 I had
been having them 5 minutes apart for over an hour so off to the hospital we
went. Well everyone and their brother was also in labor so I had to wait for
over an hour before they got me bed and checked me. By this time my back hurt
so bad I thought that there was no way I was going to make it through the
rest of the night. To make matters worse when they checked me I was only at 2
cm. Luckily they decided to keep me and I walked for the next three hours
until I was at 5. I couldn't believe how much having back labor hurt. Once I
was at 5, they decided to do an ultrasound to check the baby's position and
his head was turned the wrong way, nose up instead of nose down which is why
my back hurt so bad. So I decided to go ahead and get an epidural and for the
next 5 hours they flipped me from my right side to my left side trying to get
the baby to get into the correct position which he finally did.

My water broke when I was at 7 cm--what a strange experience. I started
pushing at 7:00 am. Maxwell Gordon was born at 7:33 am on November 11 with
the help of forceps. I end up with a lot of stitches but he was worth it. Max
was 9 lbs. and 191/2 inches long.

Some of you may remember from some of my previous posts that we thought we
were having a girl so we were definitely suprised when Max came out! We had
had a ultrasound done at 22 weeks and the technician assured us that she was
99 percent positive it was a girl. Luckily we hadn't bought too many dresses.


Return to Birth Stories
Return to OPSS Main Page

This site is hosted by Geocities Home of the free webpage

"On The Wings Of Love"
Courtesy of Jack's Shack

Design and Background by Ashli Gantt-Gillespie
©Copyright 1997