So many have asked, some already know. My son was born in early February 2016 just before 2 PM. He arrived ten days before his due date and three days before his scheduled eviction.
Before I get to the actual birth, it is important for me to mention I had a birth plan. A meticulously detailed birth plan covering everything from who was permitted in the room, aromatherapy scents, music, hot shower relief, yoga balls, and minimal or no pain medications. I had this wonderful vision for the birth of my son. My husband was not entirely supportive of the anti-pain meds thing. Not that he thought I was weak but he said my pain tolerance was low. (This may or may not be true).
Well at twenty two weeks, my OB-GYN (who I love) told us our son was breech. She said she wasn’t concerned, he had plenty of time to turn but if he didn’t turn we would either have to manually turn him prior to birth or we would have to have a c-section. I was a nervous wreck. A c-section was NOT the birth plan.
At every appointment my OB checked baby boy’s position. Every time he was frank breech. I tried every exercise she gave me to no avail; he was ALWAYS breech. So at 36 weeks, she said we could try to manually turn him but there were risks. I went in for the evaluation at 38 weeks and was told I was not the best candidate for the procedure. My son was my first. I am small statured. My abdominal wall was strong and firm. The amniotic fluid was just below the level they like it to be for the procedure. Not to mention, turning him could rupture the sack putting me in labor, the cord could be pinched or twisted, and there was no guarantee he would engage into the pelvis. In other words, he could turn right back around. In addition to all that, it was NOT going to be comfortable. So my OB advised against it.
To say that I was disappointed is an understatement. I was devastated. This was NOT my birth plan. My OB scheduled my c-section for the very next Friday, one week from the disappointing appointment. I had a single week to wrap my head around the new birth plan. Well, that weekend my husband and I planned it out. Who would let the pups out, what car we would take to the hospital at 5 AM the approaching Friday. We were ripe with fresh anxiety, excitement, and the anticipation of coming home with a little bundle of joy. We had the car seat ready to go, we had the bags packed by the door. We WERE READY.
Well Monday morning came, and just as I had my whole pregnancy I went to work. I worked all day. I came home and made dinner, played with the dogs, gave my husband a hair cut, cleaned up, took a shower, and watched a bit of television. Other than some sore feet from the extra 33 pounds, I felt great. I never had any big contractions, just a few Braxton Hicks that I would have never noticed had my OB not mentioned it at one of my various appointments. So I laid there in bed, feeling those slight contractions come and go in total irregularity relishing in the moments knowing that I wouldn’t have these feelings after our son was born. At one point, I thought maybe they were occurring a bit rapidly, so my husband laid behind me and helped me count them. I had thought this would happen, planned for in the original birth plan.
We timed them as best we could, they were hardly noticable. 15 minutes apart. 27 minutes apart. 11 minutes apart. 33 minutes apart. Until I eventually fell asleep as we both had to work the next day.
Well Tuesday morning arrived. I woke to feeling flu-ish. Pardon the grossness, you have been warned, but I felt like I had a bad case of food poisoning. I came downstairs to find my husband in the restroom. That early, I assumed he was suffering the same ill fate I was, we did in fact eat the exact same thing the night before. I took a glass of water and returned to the bathroom upstairs.
After nearly half an hour of living in the restroom, I called into the OB line to see if I should be concerned. How does the flu or food poisoning effect child birth? I had an appointment for that afternoon, my last one before D-day and they said they could see me a bit earlier than my appointment time. So I called into work to let them know I would be coming in late closer to lunch time.
I spoke to my mom, She was the first person to even suggest that I was in labor. I laughed. LAUGHED. What I was experiencing was not labor. This was the flu or food poisoning. At the time I dismissed the fact my husband seemed to recover rather quickly, as he was already off to the west side of Cleveland, a nearly 90 minute drive from our home.
In fact, I had asked a million times through my pregnancy “How will I know if I am in Labor?” only to feel stupid for asking as the response was always some variation of “Oh, you will KNOW!” Well, at this juncture, I was convinced it was food poisoning or the flu. That’s what it seemed like. Just multiple trips to the porcelain thrown, nothing to see here.
So I waited until 11 for my mother in law to pick me up. I didn’t trust myself driving. I was acutely aware that I may soil my drawers and prayed that I could keep the cheeks together long enough to save my mother in laws car. We got to the OB’s office and at this point, I am struggling. I feel nauseated. I am sweating. This is totally the flu. I already felt embarrassed for showing up at the OB with something as silly as the flu or food poisoning or gas pains. They ushered me back. My temperature was normal. Urine test normal. Its looking more like food poisoning, as I suspected.
So my OB comes into the exam room, after having just saw me a few days earlier, knowing I was hardly dilated then at all (less than half an inch!). She starts asking how I feel, what I ate, making casual talk as I anticipate her confirming to me what I already knew (food poisoning). I remember her placing the probe on my stomach to check my sons position once again. As I suspected, he was still breech. (Sigh).
But I noticed a shift in her posture just then. She gently placed the probe down and placed her hand on my stomach instead. She said, wow, that was quite a contraction. After she received no reaction from me, she asked if I felt it. I said well, it felt a tad bit tight, but nothing serious. As she was about to express her shock, she felt it again. Soon she had her hand on my giant basketball like stomach while staring at her watch. Minutes passed, long minutes with nothing being said.
Then she took her hand off my belly, nodded to the nurse who promptly left, looked me square in the eyes and said “well sweetie, you are in labor. Your contractions are less than 3 minutes apart. I am sending you over to the hospital right now. So congratulations. We are having a baby!”
This was NOT the birth plan. Needless to say, I was shocked. I was scared. We all know I was literally crapping my pants. My mother in law called my husband who was over 90 minutes away. I didn’t have the birth bag. We didn’t have a car seat. I didn’t have anything. I was calling my mom who lives 90 minutes east in Pittsburgh and telling her to get her butt in her car and to Ohio because We were having a baby! THIS WAS NOT THE BIRTH PLAN. This wasn’t even the SECOND birth plan! This wasn’t even a thought in any birth plan!
Upon arriving at the hospital and making it to the maternity floor, I was greeted by a nurse. She seemed shocked to see me since my appointment wasn’t until Friday. I told her my doctor sent me, and she told me I would be monitored and most likely sent home. SENT HOME? Wait, what? She took my mother in law and I to a birthing suit, had me undress and hooked me up to monitors. Apparently I didn’t look like I was in labor. I didn’t feel like i was in labor, atleast I didn’t feel like what I thought labor was going to feel like. I was just whining about poop pains.
She placed the probes on me, explained they would monitor me for an hour and reassess. I said okay. She started explaining the peaks and the beeps the machine was making indicating contractions. She suddenly looked incredibly confused. She moved some probes. The machine clicked and beeped. She moved the probes again. More clicks and beeps. The needle moving up and down on the paper in quick movements. She hurried out of the room. When she returned, minutes later, another nurse was with her and the anesthesiologist who was responsible for the spinal block. I was now getting a million arm bands, signing admission papers, getting an OR gown and cap, getting cath’ed, and answering a million questions.
To my horror, my mother in law and father in law were the only family members who were present at this point. I love my in laws, they are family. But having nothing but a crinkly hospital gown between my naked body and my in laws is NOT ideal. It was weird. But I didn’t care, I was freaked out, and weirdness aside, at least I wasn’t alone!
As the surgical team was about to wheel me out of the room to the OR, my mother and husband show up. THANK goodness. Before I knew it, my son was born. Just shy of 2.5 hours from my OB appointment. I remember hearing my son cry for the first time. My first words: “What does he look like?” My husbands response: “Purple-ish”
They handed my son to my husband who cautiously held him next to me as the doctor finished up the surgery. They took my son and husband to the nursery for our sons initial check. My husband named him. (We had agreed on two names prior to our son’s birth, so my husband just had to pick the more fitting name, which he did).
I had a short hospital stay and a fast recovery for such a major surgery so no complaints and no horror stories there. Unless you count your in laws seeing you in a hospital gown as a horror story.
Overall, my son’s birth was nothing like I planned. It wasn’t even on the day it was planned. But from the chaos emerged the most perfect little boy. 8 lbs even, 19 inches long and my whole world changed for the better.
Life of A Mama: Unfiltered 