Joshua's Birth Story

Finally got this done. It will be long and detailed, but really it is so I can remember what I want!

We called Friday morning, (March 4th) at 6 AM to see when we should arrive at the hospital. The nurse said that we could come in anytime and suggested 7 AM. So we got out of bed and started to prepare to go. It took awhile, I thought I was all prepared, but turns out I wasn’t. Brett certainly was not prepared so he delayed our departure slightly. We arrived at the hospital around 7:30 and had to wait to check in. We finally made it up to the 14th floor around 8. My mom and Vicki came with us to the hospital and spent most of the day with us.

My nurse put me on the monitors as soon as we arrived since I needed an hour of monitoring before she could give me the Cytotec. After an hour, we were waiting to receive the first dose when we found out that our informed consent papers were missing. Our nurse was calling around trying to find them when she decided that we should just sign them again. So the on call midwife stopped by and we signed the papers. I was finally given the first dose around 9:30. At this point, I was starving! I had eaten a light breakfast around 6:30 and had nothing since then. I couldn’t eat anything until an hour after the first dose, so when 10:30 came around, I was definitely ready. I still had to follow my diet and check my blood sugar although the nurse did that for me. I didn’t have to keep track of it anymore, which was kind of nice. After eating, the nurse suggested that we start walking around to try to start labor, so Vicki and mom took off to go eat while Brett and I did just that. It was a little weird at first, to be walking around in a hospital gown with no bra or underwear on. I felt very exposed even though I was completely covered. After about an hour, we returned to the room and I was put back on the monitors for an hour to see how everything was progressing.

Around noon I started to have contractions about 10 minutes apart. The nurse gave me my second dose of Cytotec around 12:30. I had to be on the monitor for an hour and then I could eat again. There was a lot of time in between meals and that was pretty difficult for me since before this I ate every 2-3 hours without fail. After the hour of monitoring, Brett and I went off to wander the halls again. The contractions were coming more regularly and they didn’t hurt too badly. I was thinking at this point that I could do this without an epidural. Oh how wrong I was!

I had definitely started labor, so it was decided that I did not need a third dose of the medicine. My contractions were about 3-4 minutes apart and were getting more intense. I was starting to have a hard time concentrating during the contractions. All the breathing techniques went out the window for me. Brett tried very hard to make me look at him and breathe and I just couldn’t do it very well. Vicki was a huge help in telling me when the contractions peaked and then when each one was going down. She was on the side of the bed with the monitor so it was easiest for her to help with that. Around 4 or 5, the nurse checked my cervix and I was at a 3, almost a 4 when I had a contraction. I was disappointed to hear that, I really wanted to be further along! She seemed pleased with it; I was apparently progressing quite nicely.

The contractions started coming so closely together and were so painful around 5 or 6. When I was done with my next hour of monitoring, I hopped in the Jacuzzi tub and that helped a little, but not much. I was still in excruciating pain. Around this time, my day nurse went home and I had a new one assigned to me. Molly was excellent! I absolutely loved her. I had to be on antibiotics because I tested positive for Strep B, so she put my IV in while I was in the bathtub. (A side note: It is amazing how much you just don’t care about modesty when you are in labor. I absolutely did not care that I was completely naked in the tub when I met my new nurse!) One of my first questions for her was when can I have an epidural. She explained that I could have it when I was dilated to a 4 and that she would work on getting that going for me. I got out of the tub and back in bed. Poor Brett, I was in so much pain and he was trying so hard to help, but there was nothing he could do to help me. It was definitely around this time that I was saying the usual; I am not doing this again, Joshua will be an only child, I can’t do this, make the pain stop, etc. Molly came in around 7 and said that Dr Greene had Okayed an epidural at this point so she was just waiting for the anesthesiologist to come out of surgery. She prepared everything for him, so that as soon as he entered the room he would be able to start. He came around 8:30. I was so scared about having to stay still when I was in so much pain during those darn contractions! Brett knelt on the floor in front of me as I sat off the side of the bed. I put my forehead to his and just stared at him the whole time. It seemed to take FOREVER! The first prick was a little to the right, so he pricked me again and this time it was in the middle. I was amazed at how quickly the medicine started working! Such relief! I immediately became mellower and even drifted off to sleep several times.

The epidural slowed my labor significantly. It was around this point that I became aware of the fact that they were concerned about Joshua’s heart rate during contractions. It should be around 150, but he would consistently drop to around 80 or 90. Molly kept moving me to different positions on the bed to see if that would make any difference. Lying on my far right side ended up being the best position for him even though he still had some issues.

Mom and Vicki left around 10:30 to go home and sleep. It was a little bit after that when Dr Greene decided to break my water and give me Pitocin to start my labor up again. Around 1:00 AM, Molly checked my cervix and I was dilated to an 8, almost a 9 during contractions. She explained to me that I would start to feel the urge to push and to tell her when that started to happen. They were still closely monitoring Joshua’s heart rate and were fairly concerned about it. At this point, Molly and another nurse were checking on me frequently.

Around 2, both of them came in and said we need to get this baby out. Lets see what happens when you push. She checked my cervix and kept her hands there to feel what happened. She was pretty pleased with how Joshua moved, but his heart rate dropped. They had me push a few more times and the same thing happened. It was an interesting feeling to push. I really didn’t know exactly how I was supposed to do it. Molly helped immensely. She explained that my legs should be relaxed and I should feel like I was having a bowel movement. She went into such detail that I really feel like I was doing exactly what I was supposed to and they kept telling me I was a good pusher, so I guess I was!

At this point there were a lot of people in my hospital room. I had my two nurses, there were a couple baby nurses hanging around, Dr Greene, and of course Brett. All eyes were on the monitors, watching my little boy’s heart rate. They had me push 3 times during a contraction and then wait through several so that Joshua could recover from the stress. We did this 2 or 3 times and then Molly started talking to Dr Greene about the options. He had been pretty quiet during this and when Molly prompted him he started talking out loud. He was worried about the stress already being put on the baby and thought that pushing him out would be too much. He said that he thought our options were to try the vacuum, but that put more stress on him or to go to the OR and just do a C-section. After a couple minutes contemplating what he had said, I told him that I thought it would be a shame to do a C-section about all the labor I had been through and that we are not morally opposed to using a vacuum to get him out. Apparently there are some people who are. Obviously we said that whatever needed to be done to get him out safely was our choice. We really did want to try the vacuum before going on to a C-section though.

Dr Greene seriously was quiet for about 10 minutes considering what the options. Finally he said that he had a gut feeling that it would be ok to use the vacuum. He said that everything had progressed quite well throughout the whole labor; it had even been faster than normal for a first baby and inducing labor. Joshua was in a good position for the vacuum so he really felt that it would be quick. Just in case though, he wanted the OR prepped and ready. Molly asked him if he wanted to do the vacuuming IN the OR just in case. He said no, but just to be ready. As soon as that decision was made, everyone started moving. I haven’t seen that many people start rushing around so quickly! Molly told Brett that if we did need to go into the OR, he was going to have to stand off in the corner and let them do their thing. It wasn’t the time for questions or concerns; someone would talk to him about it all afterwards. He just needed to do what he was told.

After about 2-3 minutes of hustle and bustle, Dr Greene was ready to start with the vacuum. He waited for a contraction to start and me to push so that he could attach the vacuum to Joshua’s head. He did a light seal at first to see how it would fit on him so the two pushes after that were trial. Then the next contraction came and he told me to push hard. 2 pushes later, his head was out and Dr Greene could see the reason his heart rate was dropping. The cord was wrapped around his head. Dr Greene cut it right there and then told me to push one more time. He was out a couple seconds later at 3:38 AM. It was so weird, but really cool feeling him come out.

Everything was a blur of activity after that. I was just so shocked that it was over that it all seemed a little surreal. They put him on my chest for a second and then whisked him away. I started to cry when I saw him and I looked up at Brett and he was crying as well. I was so touched that he was feeling that emotional too. I had to be stitched up from my episiotomy, so Brett went over to be with Joshua as they were doing all their tests and stuff on him. He weighed 6 lbs 10 oz and was 19 ½ in long. He cried for a little bit, but then stopped and didn’t cry again until much later in the morning. It was kind of crazy! Brett was the first one to feed him, he needed a bottle of sugar water to help his sugar levels. All the tests turned out great and finally we were headed off to our recovery room with our baby boy.

Joshua had a hard time latching on to me, so my nurse Valerie and a lactation consultant spent a lot of time with us trying to help me figure it all out. Finally Valerie gave me a nipple shield and put some sugar solution on it to get him to go for it. He finally did and I was able to feed him a little bit, but it wasn’t as successful as Valerie wanted it to be. Saturday night he woke up in the middle of the night and wanted to eat. I was a little nervous about doing it without the nurses, but I got up and fed him. He actually ate on both sides that night. I was so proud of myself that I had figured out how to feed him after having such a hard time with him during the day. I eventually decided that it was the nurses making this difficult. I had to do what worked for me and they kept trying to do what worked for them. I remember thinking that night how amazing it was to be a mother and to have my child in my arms. So wonderful!

Other random things I want to remember about the hospital:
1. After Dr Greene stitched me up, he said that I was done with my diet and I could eat whatever I wanted again. The first thing I asked for was orange juice. ☺
2. I was so thankful to have Brett there. I enjoyed our conversations as we walked the hallways. At one point, I just needed him to talk and he rolled with it! Lol. I asked him to explain the draft for football and he talked for a LONG time! I don’t remember what he said so don’t ask me how the draft works, but he did distract me at the time!
3. My mom and Vicki were the first family members to meet Joshua. They were at the hospital all day Saturday. They just kept passing him back and forth as Brett and I slept. We were extremely exhausted so that was nice. One other thing, mom made chocolate chip cookie dough and brought it to me Saturday morning!! That was amazing!! ☺
4. We were released from the hospital around five on Sunday night. My mom made us spaghetti for dinner. I was so happy to be able to eat pasta again!

Well I think that is all for now! Glad I have finally finished this for my journal.