Nora's birth story
Nora’s birth story
February 12, 2009:
I was due on February 3, 2009, but the baby wasn’t interested. Provided I didn’t go into labor before then, we scheduled induction for February 13, 2009, with cervical ripening to start the evening of the 12th, and Pitocin for the morning of the 13th.
As of February 11, I was still only dilated to 1 cm (had been for about 5 weeks) and only 50-60% effaced. So Thursday, the 12th, I checked in to the hospital and received 3 doses of the dilation medication vaginally over the course of the night. Additionally, they gave me a combination of medicines including morphine to help me get a better night’s sleep. I remember having some very random conversations with the night nurse that were a direct result of the narcotics. Around 1 a.m., the drugs started to wear off and I got some more natural sleep until around 7 a.m. when breakfast arrived.
8 a.m. - John (my husband) and Kathrine (our midwife) arrived and Kathrine started getting the supplies and personnel together for Pitocin. I was effaced enough by now that the Pitocin had a better chance of working. Dilation was still the same.
9:30 a.m. - Pitocin was administered, starting with a small dosage that was continuously dialed up over the course of the next five hours. Contractions began and I was encouraged to move around with the Pitocin tree. John and I walked the halls for a bit, and I remember feeling very warm. The contractions were getting stronger and more painful. I spent a good portion of this time in the bathtub, which felt good. I started sounding more and moaning through contractions, which seemed to alarm Kathrine when she’d check on me. She was saying that I was working too hard considering that I was still in early labor. At about 12, Kathrine checked me and I was dilated to 2 cm, although I felt I should have gotten farther. I started thinking that my body and I were at odds with each other.
Soon after, I was on all fours on the bed when my water broke. John was on the phone with our doula at the time. It cam gushing out of me, and everyone seemed pleased that it had broken on its own. The contractions were becoming unbearable, and it didn’t take long before I was screaming for drugs. I was crying because it hurt so bad and I didn’t think I could take much more. Kathrine checked me again and I was at 3 ½ cm. Her opinion was that, if I had an epidural then, it wouldn’t slow down or stop the labor. That was our chief concern, so once Kathrine made that pronouncement, we called in the anesthesiologist.
2:30 p.m. - The epidural was finally in and drugs were taking effect…except they were too potent on my left side to the point where I couldn’t move my entire leg, while I could simultaneously feel contractions on my right side. They turned me on my right to help the drugs diffuse, but it was only partially successful and took a long time to give relief. Around 4 p.m, my family showed up and I was able to relax into the drugs and have some conversation while breathing through contractions (which were more like pressure than pain at this point).
Figuring that there were several hours left in the labor, we sent my family out to get some dinner. We thought that things wouldn’t move until 7 p.m. earliest. Around 4:30, Kathrine checked me again. She asked me how far dilated I thought I was, to which I replied “4 cm?” She replied “try adding 5 to that.” (I was at 9!) Kathrine thought it was due to the fact I was finally able to relax and allow my body to work.
Plans were made thereafter to start my pushing around 5 p.m. Lisa-Marie had arrived a few hours earlier and was sent to gather John (who had stepped out for coffee downstairs with a friend), and my parents were called. They had gotten to a restaurant but hadn’t gotten dinner yet.
5:00 p.m. - Pushing begins. They brought in a large mirror so I could see the progress. I pushed through about 5 contractions before Nora’s head started to crown. Within moments, I was holding my little girl on my chest. 5:23 p.m. Nora Maxine Carrier was born. Kathrine and the nurse delivered the placenta, which looked good but had some signs of aging. John cut the cord and bets were placed on her initial birth weight. There were some comments that her feet were bigger than any infant’s they’d seen.
I guessed 9 pounds, 1 ounce; Kathrine and Lisa-Marie put her in the low 8s, and the nurse guessed 9 pounds 3 ounces. Nora was 9 pounds, 1 ounce exactly and entirely healthy.
Now we just have to get through the rest of her life :-)
February 12, 2009:
I was due on February 3, 2009, but the baby wasn’t interested. Provided I didn’t go into labor before then, we scheduled induction for February 13, 2009, with cervical ripening to start the evening of the 12th, and Pitocin for the morning of the 13th.
As of February 11, I was still only dilated to 1 cm (had been for about 5 weeks) and only 50-60% effaced. So Thursday, the 12th, I checked in to the hospital and received 3 doses of the dilation medication vaginally over the course of the night. Additionally, they gave me a combination of medicines including morphine to help me get a better night’s sleep. I remember having some very random conversations with the night nurse that were a direct result of the narcotics. Around 1 a.m., the drugs started to wear off and I got some more natural sleep until around 7 a.m. when breakfast arrived.
8 a.m. - John (my husband) and Kathrine (our midwife) arrived and Kathrine started getting the supplies and personnel together for Pitocin. I was effaced enough by now that the Pitocin had a better chance of working. Dilation was still the same.
9:30 a.m. - Pitocin was administered, starting with a small dosage that was continuously dialed up over the course of the next five hours. Contractions began and I was encouraged to move around with the Pitocin tree. John and I walked the halls for a bit, and I remember feeling very warm. The contractions were getting stronger and more painful. I spent a good portion of this time in the bathtub, which felt good. I started sounding more and moaning through contractions, which seemed to alarm Kathrine when she’d check on me. She was saying that I was working too hard considering that I was still in early labor. At about 12, Kathrine checked me and I was dilated to 2 cm, although I felt I should have gotten farther. I started thinking that my body and I were at odds with each other.
Soon after, I was on all fours on the bed when my water broke. John was on the phone with our doula at the time. It cam gushing out of me, and everyone seemed pleased that it had broken on its own. The contractions were becoming unbearable, and it didn’t take long before I was screaming for drugs. I was crying because it hurt so bad and I didn’t think I could take much more. Kathrine checked me again and I was at 3 ½ cm. Her opinion was that, if I had an epidural then, it wouldn’t slow down or stop the labor. That was our chief concern, so once Kathrine made that pronouncement, we called in the anesthesiologist.
2:30 p.m. - The epidural was finally in and drugs were taking effect…except they were too potent on my left side to the point where I couldn’t move my entire leg, while I could simultaneously feel contractions on my right side. They turned me on my right to help the drugs diffuse, but it was only partially successful and took a long time to give relief. Around 4 p.m, my family showed up and I was able to relax into the drugs and have some conversation while breathing through contractions (which were more like pressure than pain at this point).
Figuring that there were several hours left in the labor, we sent my family out to get some dinner. We thought that things wouldn’t move until 7 p.m. earliest. Around 4:30, Kathrine checked me again. She asked me how far dilated I thought I was, to which I replied “4 cm?” She replied “try adding 5 to that.” (I was at 9!) Kathrine thought it was due to the fact I was finally able to relax and allow my body to work.
Plans were made thereafter to start my pushing around 5 p.m. Lisa-Marie had arrived a few hours earlier and was sent to gather John (who had stepped out for coffee downstairs with a friend), and my parents were called. They had gotten to a restaurant but hadn’t gotten dinner yet.
5:00 p.m. - Pushing begins. They brought in a large mirror so I could see the progress. I pushed through about 5 contractions before Nora’s head started to crown. Within moments, I was holding my little girl on my chest. 5:23 p.m. Nora Maxine Carrier was born. Kathrine and the nurse delivered the placenta, which looked good but had some signs of aging. John cut the cord and bets were placed on her initial birth weight. There were some comments that her feet were bigger than any infant’s they’d seen.
I guessed 9 pounds, 1 ounce; Kathrine and Lisa-Marie put her in the low 8s, and the nurse guessed 9 pounds 3 ounces. Nora was 9 pounds, 1 ounce exactly and entirely healthy.
Now we just have to get through the rest of her life :-)