Mar 05 2009
Remembering My First Pregnancy - Part 2
The pregnancy was completely by the book. If something weird was going on, I could look it up in my What To Expect book and find it right there. In the exact week that I was at.
A week before my due date, I felt some contractions. They were not bad contractions, but they started in the evening and by 5:00 the next morning they were still going. I did not sleep and did not wake my husband until around 3:30 to tell him. Could this be it? We drove to the hospital and checked in. The nurses hooked me up to all the monitors and watched me for an hour. “Sorry, hon, no baby today. I won’t be surprised if I see you back here at the end of the week, though.” Well, that’s good news.
The due date comes and goes. Five days later I have another appointment. The doctor orders an ultrasound and determines that we should induce labor the next day. The next day, really, that is my birthday. My baby will be born on my birthday!
We leave the house before the sun comes up and arrive at the hospital early in the morning. We wait. Finally, the doctor arrives around 7:00, breaks my water, and starts the induction. I feel the contractions start almost immediately and within a few hours they are getting very strong and quick. The nurse checks me - only 4 cm. Are you kidding me? An hour later - 4 1/2 cm. ARGGHH! My husband calls our parents and fills them in on where we are. My parents decide to come to the hospital. They, of course, can’t wait. Maybe their theory was that the baby surely would not make it’s grandparents wait. If they were there, the baby would say, “I must be born now! Grammy and Gramps are here!”
Well, maybe the baby did say that. Shortly after this point, his heart rate started dropping during the contractions. The nurse called the doctor and instructed her to change my position. Okay, so now I’m very uncomfortable and being rolled all over the place with wires and tubes sticking out of me everywhere. Next contraction, heart rate drops, change position again. Next contraction, heart rate drops, nurse calls the doctor again. This time the doctor instructs her to stop the Pitocin and to continue changing my position. Now, the contractions slow down, but the heart rate continues to drop. The nurse calls the doctor one more time and she instructs the nurse to start preparing me for a C-Section and she will be right there. After eight hours of labor and no pushing, I’m going to have a C-Section. My parents arrive to a room which is crowded with nurses running in and out. I am almost completely out of it, tired, and confused. I tell them that the doctor is on her way and the baby’s heart rate is dropping, and I’m probably having a C-Section. Just then, the doctor walks in and says that she doesn’t anticipate any problems, but she thinks it would be best to just deliver the baby and get him out of there.
I’m off to the operating room. I’m still very dazed and confused. Everything seems so rushed. I’m very nervous and I don’t even realize that the doctor has already started the operation. I see my friend, our pediatrician, walk into the operating room. Some sense of normalcy returns and I start to feel a little more comfortable just knowing that she is here and she will be able to take care of our baby. The doctor says, “Kristi, look here. Here’s your baby.” Craig is tapping my arm and telling me to look, too. What? I look up and over the curtain. There he is! It’s our baby boy! I just caught a glimpse of him and then he was off. My friend, our doctor, examined him and determined that he was fine. She came over to me and told me that he was perfect and fine and she would be back later in the day to see him again. Thank goodness!!
