My birth story

I guess I will start with my 39 week ob appointment on Tuesday last week. I talked the doctor I saw into seeing if there were any appointments open at the hospital for an induction. She said they would call me if there was, and there was. I was super excited that I had a 7:30 appointment Wednesday morning. You would think that I would have been up all night, but I actually got a few hours of sleep, thanks to some sleeping pills. I called at 6am to double check that we were still on, and we were.

We got to the hospital at 7:30 on the dot, after rearranging cars and kids. I checked in, and was taken right to my room .I wad hooked up to all the machines, and given my IV and by 8:30 was getting the pitocin. I really started feeling the contractions around 11, but was dealing with them rather nicely. I had a visit from the doctor on call around 9, and was told that I was still 2-3cm and that the baby was really high still. She did not want to break my water because of it.

After a few more hours of laboring, the nurse checked me again, and said that I was about 4cm, and that the babies head was still really high. I was doing good, and did not want to get the epidural yet, so I kept laboring. She was sure that my water was going to break soon, so I was not surprised when I felt a gush about 30 minutes later. This is where it is going to get icky, so if you don't want to hear the details, don't read on any more. When I felt my "water" break, I felt other stuff coming out too. Lots of stuff. It did not feel like water, and I was terrified. I called my nurse and she came right in. She lifted up my blanket and I quickly asked if it was clear water. She only said no. She stood there for a minutes just looking, I could tell she was thinking what to do. I was really worried because I thought that there was meconium. Turns out what I thought was my water, was a huge gush of blood, and the stuff I felt was huge clots. She changed my bedding, and said she was calling the doctor. The doctor checked out my last ultrasound and said there was no reason for the bleeding except for my placenta detaching. The doctor said she would be there soon, the clinic closed at 5, and she was there at 5:30. By this time I had gotten my epidural and for the first time EVER it worked. It was the best! I felt some pressure at the peek of my strongest contractions, but no pain. It was nice. The nurse had talked me into thinking that everything was ok, so I just relaxed and spent some quiet time with my mom and Husband.

Around 5:15 John's mom wanted to come in the room, so I sent him out to get him, and while he was gone the doctor showed up to check me. She said that I was almost 5, but that my water had not broke. She pulled out a huge clot while checking me, and the look on the faces of the nurse and doctor freaked me out. She said that she could break my water but that we took the chance that the cord would rush through as the water did. That has always been my biggest fear about my water breaking, but if the doctor was comfortable with it, then I was to. John at this time was in the hall just outside of the door with his mom, my mom had her back to us so she did not see my stuff, and the doctor broke my water. Now keeping in mind the extra amount of fluid I have had in this pregnancy, I knew that when it broke it was go everywhere. Oh my god, did it. The doctor and the nurse were sitting on my bed when the did it, and I have never seen 2 people jump up so quickly. The doctor grabbed my legs, concerned about my socks (funny right) and the water flowed. She checked me right away, and she started to freak out. She kept saying to the nurse "that's the cord isn't it! is that the cord?!" The nurse checked me and agreed that the cord had come out.

That is when it hit the fan. There were so many people in that room so quickly. My nurse had to physically hold Jackson's head off of the cord. She was on the end of my bed, and she was scared. I yelled for John and he ran in. Looking into his eyes I did not have to say a word to him. He and I were terrified. They unhooked me and started pushing me out of the room, to the operating room. My mom was at the door and she grabbed my hand and hugged me as they rushed me by. The OR was just a room or two away, and they told John to get dressed and to wait at the door. When they got me in there, they had to give me a spinal block, luckily I had gotten the epidural when I did, or they would have had to knock me out. It took over 10 minutes for them to get their stuff together and to get me numb. When they started cutting me, John was told he could not come in. I later found out it was because I was not numb and because I could feel them cutting into me. They had him locked in a room directly across the hall from me. I could see him through the window on my door, and through his door. We kept eye contact and it was like he was right there with me. I have never felt so close to him ever in my life. They were in had had my beautiful baby out within 5 minutes. That is when I finally went numb all the way, and they let John come in the room. They cleaned Jackson up, and John carried him to me. I have never cried when I was handed my new born baby before. I was so scared, but when I saw how beautiful and healthy he was I just let it all go. John and I and our son were alone at that point, or so it felt. John was told it was time to go clean up the baby, and they finished the operation. It was all over from the doctor checking me to being wheeled into recovery in 1 hour.

I thought I was going to die on that table. I was afraid of leaving my husband, and my beautiful babies. I was thinking of my mom, and how I did no even said goodbye. When it was over and the baby was ok, I felt relaxed.

When I was rolled into recovery the nurse that I was with all day was still in charge of me. She saved my babies life, and I can not ever forget her for that. I was in recovery for 2 hours. Because I could feel them cutting me, he over numbed me and it took 2 hours longer than normal to come out of it. John and Jackson came in to visit me about 45 minutes into it. I could not hold him, because I could not feel all of my arms. I did not get to hold him until 8:30 that night. My mom was waiting for me in my room when I was ok to go there. I have yet to talk to her about this all yet, it is still too new and it makes me sad to think about it, but I hope to hear her side of the story someday.

This is not the birth story I intended on, but the outcome is. My baby is one of the most beautiful things in the world. I love him so much.