I started this blog 2 years ago to share my adventure of moving to Italy and travelling through Europe- living 'la bella vita'. I'm state-side again, and now my life is beautiful for a new reason- I have a son! I'm going to be blogging about my adventures with David IV- starting with his birth story.
Thursday Sept 3rd started like any other day. I was more tired than usual, had even considered calling out of work the day before, but chalked it up to the stress of our move the next day and being near the end of my pregnancy. I finally dragged myself out of bed and went downstairs to eat breakfast. David and I started talking about the logistics of the move- we had friends coming over that evening to help me pack some things. David again reminded me (as he had done repeatedly over the last few weeks) not to have the baby until after the move. I again told him he had nothing to worry about- my due date was 3 weeks away. I stood up to get some cereal- and felt a gush of fluid.
"David- I think my water just broke". I looked at him with excitement/fear in my eyes. Was this really happening- today of all days?
"Oh s***, are you serious?" David had that 'you have got to be kidding me' look on his face.
And so the flurry of phone calls started. I told the midwife I thought my water broke, but I wasn't having contractions yet. She told me to get showered and eat breakfast and then make my way to the hospital. No need to deal with rush-hour traffic. I contacted my supervisors to let them know the big news. David also called his office, and my parents so they could come down from DE to be with us.
David took me to the hospital, got me checked in and settled in triage, and then went to our new townhouse for a move-in inspection that had been scheduled for 9:00. I was waiting for confirmation from the midwife that my water had truly broken before I could get a room in Labor & Delivery.
When David returned, I was settled in my room waiting for labor to start. He told me the walk-through went well. He would arrange for the moving truck to come a day early, and my parents and some of his friends would help us unpack. I want to say that he was pretty awesome for arranging for everything from the hospital!
Around 11:00 the midwife came to talk to us, and said that if contractions didn't start at a certain point I'd have to be induced to decrease the risk of infection. Soon after that my parents arrived for a short visit before they headed out again to help with the move. They commented on how calm and upbeat I was. And I was upbeat- I was going to get to meet my baby soon! Since the contractions hadn't started, I felt comfortable. I was patient to wait and let things happen when Baby C. was ready.
And so we waited...and waited...and nothing happened. At this point my sense of time is a bit hazy. I think around 4:00 in the afternoon I was given Cytotec to help contractions start. They did, but not consistently enough to start labor. So I was given Pitocin for induction. At this point I knew I could kiss my dream of a natural birth goodbye. The Pitocin caused the contractions to come too strong and right on top of each other- I just wasn't able to keep up with them. David was so supportive and helpful- he basically gave me a continuous back massage for hours. My parents came back after finishing with the move, but I was in a very different state of mind this time, and wasn't able to talk to them at all. David sent them home and said he'd call with updates. Since I had to be hooked up to an IV, I had to have continuous monitoring- which meant I was trapped in the bed. I begged the nurse to bring me a birthing ball to labor on, but every time I got in a comfortable position, the baby monitors came off, and the nurse would come rushing in and put me back in bed. I don't remember how long I struggled with trying to find a comfortable position and deal with the IV pole and all the wires, but eventually I asked for an epidural. It kicked in fairly quickly and I was sitting quietly in bed, but the nurse still kept coming in the room every few minutes fussing with the baby monitors. Apparently the problem was the computer, not the monitors themselves, so I got moved to a different (much nicer) room- where all the equipment was working. I sometimes wonder how different my labor would have been if they had figured this out sooner rather than later. Finally, I was able to rest. I think around 11:30 or 12:00 David and I both fell asleep.
The midwife woke me up around 1:00am on Sept 4th saying that the baby wasn't handling the contractions well- the heart rate kept dropping, so she wanted to check me. "The head is right there!" she said. I woke David up saying, "It's time!" David was a wonderful birth coach. He encouraged me every step of the way. As I was pushing, the midwife told me that the baby had a full head of hair! I asked for a mirror so that I could see, and that really motivated me to keep pushing! I remember looking at the clock and thinking, I don't want to have to push for more than an hour. I ended up only pushing for about 30 minutes. I simply can't describe how I felt when the midwife pulled my baby up and I saw that it was a boy! He was, is, beautiful. He came out perfectly healthy and screaming. David and I were overjoyed to finally meet him. He was such a little peanut- only 6 1/2 pounds! My husband cut the cord while little David nuzzled at my chest. I stroked his hair and counted all his little fingers and toes. He was so soft! He started breast-feeding right away. The three of us enjoyed some quiet time alone together bonding.
David called my parents and let them know they had a grandchild, but I told him to keep the gender a surprise until they came to the hospital. However, he passed the phone to me to chat with my mom briefly, and I accidentally gave away the secret!
While I was in labor, I was very discouraged that things weren't going according to my 'birth plan' because my water broke prematurely and my body never went into labor on its own. Looking back though, I've come to terms with it. Getting the epidural ended up being the right decision- it allowed me to rest and get the strength to safely deliver my son. The Lord has blessed us greatly, and we are so very thankful!
"For this child I have prayed and the Lord has granted the desires of my heart." I Samuel 1:27
