Riley's Birth Story --- finally
I had to write this in between checking on him, it's long too. So, there's your fair warning. Now I'm going to pay attention to him some more.
Riley’s Birth Story
The Lead Up
It started on August 5th, late in the evening. My dad and his family were in town and we had taken them to a little tiki bar, Mike’s Dockside, for dinner and live music. I felt funny the entire time, but sucked it up not wanting the attention it might bring and the continual, “so, how do you feel now?” It wasn’t bad, felt crampy, and it came in waves.
By 11PM that night Cordes, Dad, and I were sitting up talking, everyone else had gone to sleep. Again, not wanting to bring unneeded attention I kept quiet and enjoyed the conversation. I don’t get to see Dad much so it was nice.
Contractions #1
Around midnight we went to bed, I woke Cordes and told him the contractions were about 7 minutes apart. We started timing. They hurt every time. When they were running about 5 minutes apart for an hour or so we called the doc. It was Dr. Matthews on call. Of course. He always makes me feel stupid because his response to my questions sounds like he’s repeated himself 10,000 times. He probably has, but not to me.
We went to the hospital, checked in around 330AM. 5 minutes apart still. We stayed in the hospital for a few hours. I knew almost immediately they were going to send us home. I so badly wanted to NOT be one to have false labor. But they said on in when contractions were 5 minutes apart for an hour or more. And these contractions hurt (or so I though until later), it even got to the point where I would cry during them but I was ok in between. At around 8AM, I think, Dr Matthews came in and checked my cervix. Nothing. Maybe a half cm. He told me it was false labor since there was no change in my cervix and I’d know when to come back.
What the hell? So I asked for something to help me sleep. They couldn’t possibly send me home in this condition to tough it out on my own! The nurse that came in during the change was a bitch, she practically laughed in my face when I asked for something to take the edge off. My options: Ambien, Stayodal (sp?), and morphine (!). I chose Stayodal.
Home
The Stayodal made me feel sick and intoxicated. I felt like I’d taken some weird drug at a party from a guy I didn’t know too well and was paying the cost. It sucked. I feel asleep for an hour or two and it made the contractions decrease to about 15 minutes for a while. I was just happy to be off it.
By evening I was making regular retreats to my room. Everyone was having a good ole time, the guys were in the pool, so was my little sister. Cordes should my dad how to scuba dive. I smile and bared it until I couldn’t, then I’d crawl to my room like a wounded animal and roll around in anguish until I could come out again.
By 830PM I was trying to be civil but wanted to cry every time. Earlier I called the doctor, told him my contractions weren’t close enough to come in but asked if I could take something to help me sleep. I hadn’t slept more than a handful of hours since Thursday. Family crisis Friday night kept me up, Saturday was “false labor”, and now it was Sunday. I was exhausted. He went down the usual list of sleep aids, then said “or two martinis”. I laughed and asked if he were serious. He said yes, hard liquor not anything light like beer or wine. But not to mix the things he’d told me. I decided what the hell and had a margarita that evening. Little did I know it was about to the point when it didn’t matter because NOTHING would make the next few hours ok.
My neighbor came over just as I was about to crawl back into my hole and I tried to laugh and be jolly. I couldn’t and I went to my room to cry through it before she left. Not much later we were back on our way to the hospital.
The REAL Thing
Cordes called the doctor again. I told Cordes I felt about to kill someone. I remembered the doctor saying something very similar that morning, I wouldn’t feel ok at all when it was time. I would want to die or kill someone or something like that. So I figured using that would get me back to the hospital. At least they could give me SOMETHING.
Of course I didn’t breathe right through these contractions and focused on the pain instead of anything else which just intensified it. These were NOTHING like the morning’s contractions. I couldn’t talk, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t focus. I was exhausted and scared and in pain. I watched the clock afraid for every minute that would pass to bring the next contraction closer. It was like clockwork so I could watch.
I was about ready to quit it was so bad. We checked in, I had to stop 2-3 times from the car to the check-in counter. It was about 11PM. While we were waiting the first nurse from the morning, Nancy, who I absolutely loved, was coming in for her next shift. She saw us in the lobby and went ahead to get us in. She wasn’t assigned to me but took me anyway.
I had a hard contraction, I was crying, holding my breath, in a panic. She took control. Told me to stop, to focus on her, to breath and count, breath and count. It was amazing! The pain didn’t do away but I had something else to focus on. I did that the rest of the time and even blocked out nurses when they talked to me I was so focused. She saved my last bit of strength for me.
I had dilated to 2cm by then so they checked me in. Dr Matthews ordered Stayodal then the epidural whenever I wanted it after that. We got to the room, I had the IV hooked up, Stayodal injected. The WORST idea ever. I went nuts. Or loopy rather. I drifted off to a dream world with colorful dancing people, it was happy and jolly. Oh what a primary color world! Then, suddenly, like being hit by a train the contractions would come. Only I wasn’t prepared because I had FORGOTTEN about them! It happened repeatedly. Somehow I got the epidural ordered. I don’t remember how. I kept losing consciousness.
I remember them telling me to lay on my side, to push back against the needle, to hold still. I was blacking out, shaking violently, I don’t know where all the people came from in the room or why there was so much light, or who was sticking a needle in my back. Oh, I forgot, I had also been having a significant amount of back labor for over 24 hours now. That hurt more than the contractions in my uterus. I saw the anesthesiologist leave. What a wonderful man. Then things got still.
I feel asleep! Hurray! I woke up when the nurses came in to see if I needed to wake up fully. From about 12-4AM I pretty much slept. Poor Cordes had to sleep on the most uncomfortable recliner that didn’t fully recline. At 4AM I noticed lots of pressure. I started to worry the epidural was wearing off even though they said it wouldn’t.
I told the nurse when she came in and she told me to push the little button for a little shot of something extra. I pushed it a few times, but nothing really changed. She checked me and I was at 4cm. Nice! Progress.
Throughout the rest of the morning the pressure kept building. I felt like I needed to pee. I was certain I did since I couldn’t remember when I’d last gone. I was afraid I’d pee on myself and not really know it. They emptied my bladder before things really got good. All I can say is I’m happy I had the epidural because I’m sure that catheter would have killed!
The pressure kept getting harder. By 7AM I was 8-9cm! Holy Crap, I was almost there! The doctor was called. Dr Irvine was coming on shift, not Dr Matthews. I never even saw him. The nurse checked me again closer to 8AM. One nurse said something like, “tell me she’s at a 9”. The nurse checking me said, “what if I tell you she’s ready to push?” I almost passed out. No turning back now.
I had another epidural bag inserted into the drip machine since it started beeping, they never had to lessen the dose I could feel the pressure just fine. I also got a shot of something else to try to ease the discomfort while waiting for the last few centimeters. Oh, and I had a pitocin drip all night which helped speed up the process.
They had me start pushing right at 8AM, before Dr Irvine showed up. When she got there I was in the middle of my first set of pushes. 3 pushes to one contraction. Apparently it was a good push. They told me beforehand it usually took 1-2 hours to push out the first baby. After my first push Dr Irvine left to change into her baby catching clothes.
They warned me that with pushing the baby’s heart rate might drop and they had oxygen to give me just in case. They would wait and see if his heart rate came back up. Sure enough, his heart rate dropped into the 70s with the first push. The oxygen was on before I knew what was happening. We wanted through a few contractions and he came back up. Never again did his heart drop. What a champ!
Between contractions we all talked. The nurse, doctor, Cordes and me. I told them when I felt it coming, they watched the monitors, then held my legs as I pushed. Took only about 30 minutes. Cordes watched the whole time, which I hadn’t expected. They could see his hair after the first push and got me a mirror when I exclaimed how incredible that was that they could see it already. I watched for a while, then got scared: “What if I tear?” “What if I get hemorrhoids?” I wasn’t focusing, so I closed my eyes a few times and concentrated on the important things, like getting this giant head out of my body!
It was incredible. I could feel his head moving down the birth canal. It was incredibly uncomfortable and surreal all at once. It felt stuck, but every push moved him further along. Finally I pushed and he came out! It was amazing! And a relief. I don’t know much else of what went on I was so dazed.
No real tearing, no hemorrhoids, nothing to worry over if I had the time. He’s perfect and the rest is history in the making.
Riley’s Birth Story
The Lead Up
It started on August 5th, late in the evening. My dad and his family were in town and we had taken them to a little tiki bar, Mike’s Dockside, for dinner and live music. I felt funny the entire time, but sucked it up not wanting the attention it might bring and the continual, “so, how do you feel now?” It wasn’t bad, felt crampy, and it came in waves.
By 11PM that night Cordes, Dad, and I were sitting up talking, everyone else had gone to sleep. Again, not wanting to bring unneeded attention I kept quiet and enjoyed the conversation. I don’t get to see Dad much so it was nice.
Contractions #1
Around midnight we went to bed, I woke Cordes and told him the contractions were about 7 minutes apart. We started timing. They hurt every time. When they were running about 5 minutes apart for an hour or so we called the doc. It was Dr. Matthews on call. Of course. He always makes me feel stupid because his response to my questions sounds like he’s repeated himself 10,000 times. He probably has, but not to me.
We went to the hospital, checked in around 330AM. 5 minutes apart still. We stayed in the hospital for a few hours. I knew almost immediately they were going to send us home. I so badly wanted to NOT be one to have false labor. But they said on in when contractions were 5 minutes apart for an hour or more. And these contractions hurt (or so I though until later), it even got to the point where I would cry during them but I was ok in between. At around 8AM, I think, Dr Matthews came in and checked my cervix. Nothing. Maybe a half cm. He told me it was false labor since there was no change in my cervix and I’d know when to come back.
What the hell? So I asked for something to help me sleep. They couldn’t possibly send me home in this condition to tough it out on my own! The nurse that came in during the change was a bitch, she practically laughed in my face when I asked for something to take the edge off. My options: Ambien, Stayodal (sp?), and morphine (!). I chose Stayodal.
Home
The Stayodal made me feel sick and intoxicated. I felt like I’d taken some weird drug at a party from a guy I didn’t know too well and was paying the cost. It sucked. I feel asleep for an hour or two and it made the contractions decrease to about 15 minutes for a while. I was just happy to be off it.
By evening I was making regular retreats to my room. Everyone was having a good ole time, the guys were in the pool, so was my little sister. Cordes should my dad how to scuba dive. I smile and bared it until I couldn’t, then I’d crawl to my room like a wounded animal and roll around in anguish until I could come out again.
By 830PM I was trying to be civil but wanted to cry every time. Earlier I called the doctor, told him my contractions weren’t close enough to come in but asked if I could take something to help me sleep. I hadn’t slept more than a handful of hours since Thursday. Family crisis Friday night kept me up, Saturday was “false labor”, and now it was Sunday. I was exhausted. He went down the usual list of sleep aids, then said “or two martinis”. I laughed and asked if he were serious. He said yes, hard liquor not anything light like beer or wine. But not to mix the things he’d told me. I decided what the hell and had a margarita that evening. Little did I know it was about to the point when it didn’t matter because NOTHING would make the next few hours ok.
My neighbor came over just as I was about to crawl back into my hole and I tried to laugh and be jolly. I couldn’t and I went to my room to cry through it before she left. Not much later we were back on our way to the hospital.
The REAL Thing
Cordes called the doctor again. I told Cordes I felt about to kill someone. I remembered the doctor saying something very similar that morning, I wouldn’t feel ok at all when it was time. I would want to die or kill someone or something like that. So I figured using that would get me back to the hospital. At least they could give me SOMETHING.
Of course I didn’t breathe right through these contractions and focused on the pain instead of anything else which just intensified it. These were NOTHING like the morning’s contractions. I couldn’t talk, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t focus. I was exhausted and scared and in pain. I watched the clock afraid for every minute that would pass to bring the next contraction closer. It was like clockwork so I could watch.
I was about ready to quit it was so bad. We checked in, I had to stop 2-3 times from the car to the check-in counter. It was about 11PM. While we were waiting the first nurse from the morning, Nancy, who I absolutely loved, was coming in for her next shift. She saw us in the lobby and went ahead to get us in. She wasn’t assigned to me but took me anyway.
I had a hard contraction, I was crying, holding my breath, in a panic. She took control. Told me to stop, to focus on her, to breath and count, breath and count. It was amazing! The pain didn’t do away but I had something else to focus on. I did that the rest of the time and even blocked out nurses when they talked to me I was so focused. She saved my last bit of strength for me.
I had dilated to 2cm by then so they checked me in. Dr Matthews ordered Stayodal then the epidural whenever I wanted it after that. We got to the room, I had the IV hooked up, Stayodal injected. The WORST idea ever. I went nuts. Or loopy rather. I drifted off to a dream world with colorful dancing people, it was happy and jolly. Oh what a primary color world! Then, suddenly, like being hit by a train the contractions would come. Only I wasn’t prepared because I had FORGOTTEN about them! It happened repeatedly. Somehow I got the epidural ordered. I don’t remember how. I kept losing consciousness.
I remember them telling me to lay on my side, to push back against the needle, to hold still. I was blacking out, shaking violently, I don’t know where all the people came from in the room or why there was so much light, or who was sticking a needle in my back. Oh, I forgot, I had also been having a significant amount of back labor for over 24 hours now. That hurt more than the contractions in my uterus. I saw the anesthesiologist leave. What a wonderful man. Then things got still.
I feel asleep! Hurray! I woke up when the nurses came in to see if I needed to wake up fully. From about 12-4AM I pretty much slept. Poor Cordes had to sleep on the most uncomfortable recliner that didn’t fully recline. At 4AM I noticed lots of pressure. I started to worry the epidural was wearing off even though they said it wouldn’t.
I told the nurse when she came in and she told me to push the little button for a little shot of something extra. I pushed it a few times, but nothing really changed. She checked me and I was at 4cm. Nice! Progress.
Throughout the rest of the morning the pressure kept building. I felt like I needed to pee. I was certain I did since I couldn’t remember when I’d last gone. I was afraid I’d pee on myself and not really know it. They emptied my bladder before things really got good. All I can say is I’m happy I had the epidural because I’m sure that catheter would have killed!
The pressure kept getting harder. By 7AM I was 8-9cm! Holy Crap, I was almost there! The doctor was called. Dr Irvine was coming on shift, not Dr Matthews. I never even saw him. The nurse checked me again closer to 8AM. One nurse said something like, “tell me she’s at a 9”. The nurse checking me said, “what if I tell you she’s ready to push?” I almost passed out. No turning back now.
I had another epidural bag inserted into the drip machine since it started beeping, they never had to lessen the dose I could feel the pressure just fine. I also got a shot of something else to try to ease the discomfort while waiting for the last few centimeters. Oh, and I had a pitocin drip all night which helped speed up the process.
They had me start pushing right at 8AM, before Dr Irvine showed up. When she got there I was in the middle of my first set of pushes. 3 pushes to one contraction. Apparently it was a good push. They told me beforehand it usually took 1-2 hours to push out the first baby. After my first push Dr Irvine left to change into her baby catching clothes.
They warned me that with pushing the baby’s heart rate might drop and they had oxygen to give me just in case. They would wait and see if his heart rate came back up. Sure enough, his heart rate dropped into the 70s with the first push. The oxygen was on before I knew what was happening. We wanted through a few contractions and he came back up. Never again did his heart drop. What a champ!
Between contractions we all talked. The nurse, doctor, Cordes and me. I told them when I felt it coming, they watched the monitors, then held my legs as I pushed. Took only about 30 minutes. Cordes watched the whole time, which I hadn’t expected. They could see his hair after the first push and got me a mirror when I exclaimed how incredible that was that they could see it already. I watched for a while, then got scared: “What if I tear?” “What if I get hemorrhoids?” I wasn’t focusing, so I closed my eyes a few times and concentrated on the important things, like getting this giant head out of my body!
It was incredible. I could feel his head moving down the birth canal. It was incredibly uncomfortable and surreal all at once. It felt stuck, but every push moved him further along. Finally I pushed and he came out! It was amazing! And a relief. I don’t know much else of what went on I was so dazed.
No real tearing, no hemorrhoids, nothing to worry over if I had the time. He’s perfect and the rest is history in the making.