Week 40 or A New Chapter: Parenthood - October 25, 2010
As convinced as I was (or wanted to be) that Alexandra would allow us to have yet another weekend to ourselves, Thursday morning proved otherwise.
Timeline
(warning: for some of you squeamish and/or overly sensitive individuals who find certain inalienable facts TMI proceed with caution).
6:00 am - I woke up with my usual need to visit the restroom but this time, on my walk to the bathroom I experienced an unusual yet familiar pain. A pain I hadn't felt since sometime in January: menstrual cramping. In a matter of seconds the pain went away and I went about my business. A few minutes later the pain returned but just a bit stronger, also for a few seconds and then it was gone again. This happened for about half hour to 45 minutes before I realized the pain was pattern-like and more painful as time progressed. It was then that I decided to shake Curtis out of his sound sleep to let him know something was going on.
10:30 am -- After a couple of conversations with the doctor on the phone she determined that it was best we drive to the hospital to determine whether these contractions were false labor or indeed the real thing. In order to be armed with all the necessary tools to articulate the situation, Curtis had pulled out his timers to help me breathe through every painful contraction that i suffered that morning. 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 breathe in 2 3 4 breathe out 2 3 4....And like textbook, there it was, 1 minute lasting contractions with 3 to 5 minute breaks between them.
11:00 am -- Once we reached the hospital we were whisked into the triage room to check vital signs and monitor the consistency and strength of each contraction...basically to prove with medical machinery that I was telling the truth.
Contraction in Action
Like a California earthquake measuring 10 on the richter scale!! Ow!
12:30 pm -- After enough time monitoring me in the triage, everyone was convinced that I needed to be prepped for labor even if I was still only 1 centimeter dilated. My blood pressure was too high to simply send me back home to waited out. The combination of high blood pressure and my age made the decision a no brainer. My doctor asked if I thought of taking an epidural and...I can tell she wanted to ask something else, but I didn't bother waiting to find out, i said "Epidural yes, and NOW! please?"
Relaxing on Epidural
12:30 to 5:00pm-- So we sat around for the next few hours allowing the contractions to happen pain free. The doctor checked in every once in a while and other residents came in and out as well making sure the dilation was progressing and we were on track.
Curits Passing The Time While I Ate
5:30pm - 6:30pm-- By evening, the doctor expected my water to have broken and it hadn't. And the process of dilation seemed to have slowed down. So they decided they were going in....they were going to manually break the water hoping for faster progression. I didn't mind at all, even when i saw their line of instruments, one of them long and sharp. I knew I wasn't going to feel anything so it was simple to cooperate. And then it happened. A gush of water flooded, penetrating the linen and overflowing on to the floor. The doctors finished what they were doing but quickly moved out of the way. The nurses rushed in with extra towels and a new set of bed linens. Quite the scene. After all the changes were made I was told that I had dilated substantially and they expected good results, which meant that within hours I should have reached my 10cm and be ready to push.
Then Evening Turned into Night
9:00pm - 12:30-- By this time, I had been in the hospital approximately 10 hours. The doctor performed an internal test and discovered I had one centimeter left to go. She also said Alexandra's head was within reach and expected the process to begin any minute. But we waited and "any minute" turned into an hour. After 10pm the doctor explained to me that Alexandra was what she calls "sunny side up" meaning that she would come out facing up rather than the typical position of facing toward the back. She said this position made it especially difficult because the arch of her body naturally forced her head upward in the process of pushing bumping the pelvic bone. So my pushes needed to be especially forceful and purposeful to fit under the pelvic bone. So not only did I need force in my pushing, but also form and the best way to accomplish this form was lying on my back --which as many of you know, makes it more difficult to push. Again, if she had been positioned in her normal place, sitting during the pushing would have been the way to go.
My doctor and the nurse sat at the end of the bed as Curt held my hand and cheered me on to push. And I pushed through several transactions but Alexandra's head kept bumping into the pelvic bone. And we tried again. And then we tried some more. My pushes were very calculated...no screaming wild uncontrollable dramatic scene.
Nothing.
I had been told that if after trying several times which caused the child's heartbeat to fluctuate affecting her negatively (exhausting her and reducing her heart rate) the final option would be to perform a cesarian.
The pushing went on until right passed midnight. After that final try, as I watched the news discuss the start of a full moon, my doctor alerted me that I will be prepped for a cesarian. Within minutes I was given anesthesia, Curt was given a gown proper for the operating room and I was whisked down the hall to a room full of people who talked to me about everything they were doing.
1:00am October 22, 2010 -- Curt held my hand and talked to me about the joy and love and magic that filled him...I shook uncontrollably and for a moment forgot what I was doing there, lying there on the operating room. Curt reminded me and then I heard someone yell Happy Birthday and Alexandra was brought over to me put next to my cheek for me to kiss and feel and touch and kiss again.
And then I felt this awful pain and my doctor said she was putting my uterus back in. Suddenly I felt pain where she was operating, real or not, I felt it. And I let them know it. Curt told me that the doctors decided to put me under because I wouldn't let them work with my loud complaints.
I wake up again with Curtis next to me and I'm wheeled to the recovery room.
Timeline
(warning: for some of you squeamish and/or overly sensitive individuals who find certain inalienable facts TMI proceed with caution).
6:00 am - I woke up with my usual need to visit the restroom but this time, on my walk to the bathroom I experienced an unusual yet familiar pain. A pain I hadn't felt since sometime in January: menstrual cramping. In a matter of seconds the pain went away and I went about my business. A few minutes later the pain returned but just a bit stronger, also for a few seconds and then it was gone again. This happened for about half hour to 45 minutes before I realized the pain was pattern-like and more painful as time progressed. It was then that I decided to shake Curtis out of his sound sleep to let him know something was going on.
10:30 am -- After a couple of conversations with the doctor on the phone she determined that it was best we drive to the hospital to determine whether these contractions were false labor or indeed the real thing. In order to be armed with all the necessary tools to articulate the situation, Curtis had pulled out his timers to help me breathe through every painful contraction that i suffered that morning. 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 breathe in 2 3 4 breathe out 2 3 4....And like textbook, there it was, 1 minute lasting contractions with 3 to 5 minute breaks between them.
11:00 am -- Once we reached the hospital we were whisked into the triage room to check vital signs and monitor the consistency and strength of each contraction...basically to prove with medical machinery that I was telling the truth.
Contraction in Action
Like a California earthquake measuring 10 on the richter scale!! Ow!
12:30 pm -- After enough time monitoring me in the triage, everyone was convinced that I needed to be prepped for labor even if I was still only 1 centimeter dilated. My blood pressure was too high to simply send me back home to waited out. The combination of high blood pressure and my age made the decision a no brainer. My doctor asked if I thought of taking an epidural and...I can tell she wanted to ask something else, but I didn't bother waiting to find out, i said "Epidural yes, and NOW! please?"
Relaxing on Epidural
12:30 to 5:00pm-- So we sat around for the next few hours allowing the contractions to happen pain free. The doctor checked in every once in a while and other residents came in and out as well making sure the dilation was progressing and we were on track.
Curits Passing The Time While I Ate
5:30pm - 6:30pm-- By evening, the doctor expected my water to have broken and it hadn't. And the process of dilation seemed to have slowed down. So they decided they were going in....they were going to manually break the water hoping for faster progression. I didn't mind at all, even when i saw their line of instruments, one of them long and sharp. I knew I wasn't going to feel anything so it was simple to cooperate. And then it happened. A gush of water flooded, penetrating the linen and overflowing on to the floor. The doctors finished what they were doing but quickly moved out of the way. The nurses rushed in with extra towels and a new set of bed linens. Quite the scene. After all the changes were made I was told that I had dilated substantially and they expected good results, which meant that within hours I should have reached my 10cm and be ready to push.
Then Evening Turned into Night
9:00pm - 12:30-- By this time, I had been in the hospital approximately 10 hours. The doctor performed an internal test and discovered I had one centimeter left to go. She also said Alexandra's head was within reach and expected the process to begin any minute. But we waited and "any minute" turned into an hour. After 10pm the doctor explained to me that Alexandra was what she calls "sunny side up" meaning that she would come out facing up rather than the typical position of facing toward the back. She said this position made it especially difficult because the arch of her body naturally forced her head upward in the process of pushing bumping the pelvic bone. So my pushes needed to be especially forceful and purposeful to fit under the pelvic bone. So not only did I need force in my pushing, but also form and the best way to accomplish this form was lying on my back --which as many of you know, makes it more difficult to push. Again, if she had been positioned in her normal place, sitting during the pushing would have been the way to go.
My doctor and the nurse sat at the end of the bed as Curt held my hand and cheered me on to push. And I pushed through several transactions but Alexandra's head kept bumping into the pelvic bone. And we tried again. And then we tried some more. My pushes were very calculated...no screaming wild uncontrollable dramatic scene.
Nothing.
I had been told that if after trying several times which caused the child's heartbeat to fluctuate affecting her negatively (exhausting her and reducing her heart rate) the final option would be to perform a cesarian.
The pushing went on until right passed midnight. After that final try, as I watched the news discuss the start of a full moon, my doctor alerted me that I will be prepped for a cesarian. Within minutes I was given anesthesia, Curt was given a gown proper for the operating room and I was whisked down the hall to a room full of people who talked to me about everything they were doing.
1:00am October 22, 2010 -- Curt held my hand and talked to me about the joy and love and magic that filled him...I shook uncontrollably and for a moment forgot what I was doing there, lying there on the operating room. Curt reminded me and then I heard someone yell Happy Birthday and Alexandra was brought over to me put next to my cheek for me to kiss and feel and touch and kiss again.
And then I felt this awful pain and my doctor said she was putting my uterus back in. Suddenly I felt pain where she was operating, real or not, I felt it. And I let them know it. Curt told me that the doctors decided to put me under because I wouldn't let them work with my loud complaints.
I wake up again with Curtis next to me and I'm wheeled to the recovery room.
2 Comments:
Hi Mary,
It was so nice checking your blog and reading about your experience. I'm so glad that you and Baby Alexandra are doing well -- I look forward to meeting her one day :)
Lauren
This blog is so beautiful. I kept reading it and I must say your story made me cry at the end :) and it filled me with so much joy. I appreciate your dedication and wish to let others know about your experience when bringing Alexandra into this world. Congratulations to you and your husband. Alexandra is a beauty :) God bless her.
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