I concluded our previous blog by stating we were on our way to the hospital for me to be induced. That was Sunday evening (October 3, 2010)…my final "full" day of being pregnant with our Little Lady!
8:30pm….Ben, my Mom and I (and our baby bump daughter!) left the house and made our way to the hospital. We were taken to our room, #110, which was happily a private “suite!” Thank the Lord! First things first…. I started off by filling out a bunch of paperwork. As soon as the paperwork was complete, they hooked me up to a machine to check our daughter’s heart rate and monitor my “contractions.” Ben and my Mom stuck around for a bit, but there really wasn’t to be much else going on until Monday morning… and they needed their rest, as did I. (Rest? Ha! I DID at least TRY….). I am introduced to Sister Lona, the night nurse who will be administering my induction drugs and watching over me throughout the night. She asks if I am religious and I tell her I am a Christian. She does a quick exam to see where our Girl’s head is and discovers our daughter’s head is nowhere near where it should be. It’s not low enough. Sister Lona sees my disappointment even though I am attempting to hide my tears and fears. Before she leaves the room she says, “He is with you…”
2am Monday morning, October 4, 2010….Sister Lona comes in and administers the Propase (induction drug). They also discover that our Girl’s head has not moved any closer to the correct position…
3am and on…car alarms in the parking lot outside my window. Security guards yelling in the parking lot outside my window…more car alarms….
4am….my brain…. “When will the contractions begin? Was that a contraction? I could totally stand it if that was a contraction. Is her head moving lower? I think it is. What will the labor be like? When will Ben get here? He better get here early. Baby Girl….oh Baby Girl!!!! Was that a contraction???”
4:15am….sleep…….
4:42am…I hear a knock on the door and a lady turns on the light and says “Tea mam?” What on earth? Tea, really? I say “no thanks.” She says, “no tea??” I repeat, “No tea, thanks though.” And she says, “But are you sure you don’t want tea?” Again, I say “No thanks, no tea for me. I’m weird. I just want water.” Finally, she leaves. However, by this point, sleep has completely been tossed out the window. And my brain reactivates…only this time, it enters hyper drive. Especially considering the fact that at…
5am…Sister Lona (turns out Sister Lona is my night nurse) stops in to check on me, hooks me up to the machine and we see there really haven’t been any significant changes. Our girl’s head had not dropped any further.
6amish….BEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
7am…..Our Doctor: Dr. Dahms, stops in to check on me and Baby Girl. Once again, I am hooked up to the machine, where we confirm Baby Girl’s head is just as Sister Lona had assessed…not dropped. Dr. Dahms tells us she will have Sister Rose (the day nurse) continue to check on us, and that we should head to the Labor Ward as soon as the “action” begins. Before leaving, Dr. Dahms administered a second dose of the induction drug…leaving us hooked up to the machine.
7:20am…Ben and I sit and stare at the machine, waiting and analyzing any change on the monitor. We notice my contractions becoming more frequent and intense. Awesome! I’m sooo ready for this! I know it’s going to be painful, but I also know that I have the strength to get through it. At this point, my back hurts the worst, but mainly just because I had to lay on my back for so long….listening to and watching the machine.
8:20am…Still hooked to the machine and my back is killing me. I am so eager to get up, walk around and experiment with various laboring positions…and just get out of this hospital bed! Ben rings for Sister Rose and she checks to see if our Little Lady has dropped any more…but that’s a negative. At least she unhooks me from the machine and gives us the green to move around.
8:40am…Ben and I head out of the maternity ward to walk around the hospital. I can tell it’s a hot day outside and so I choose to remain indoors. I don’t want to get all gross BEFORE I actually go into the “action” part of labor! As we walk I can definitely feel the contractions. After about 20 minutes of walking, we head back to our room in the maternity ward. I was bored with walking and the hallways were hot anyway. Might as well be in our air conditioned room instead.
9:10am…Ben and I turn on his Ipod and we listen to some tunes. Remember the “Birthing Playlist” I created a few months ago? Yeah, we played that. As I listened to “walk on water,” I strongly encouraged Baby Girl to break my water. I even did some dancing, which we tried to capture on video. “Here we go” by Grits was a favorite though, I really began to feel my contractions during this song. By the time we hit “Deliver me,” however, I was feeling a bit disappointed. Our girly was not following the “orders” of the song. Sure, I felt like she surely must be dropping, but she definitely was not delivered during “Deliver me….” We continued our dance routine until about 11:30am…at which point we rang for Sister Rose. I was ready to head on into that labor ward, regardless of where our Little Lady’s head was sitting!
11:40am…Sister Rose appears and finds me bending over with my arms on the bed as I breathe through a contraction. This is the time when my Mom and Pam (my sissy!) also show up. Sister Rose says, “Aww, now this is what I like to see! That’s a laboring position, we can go to the labor ward now.” Alrighty!!! LET’S DO THIS THING!!!! I hug my Mom and Pam, grab Ben’s arm and hobble on over to the labor ward.
11:55am…Sister Rose hooks me back up to that dreaded machine in the labor ward. So I am stuck lying on my back again…during contractions. BOO. Fortunately, Sister Rose didn’t keep me hooked up for long. But she did take note that our Little Lady’s head had still NOT moved any further down. And my cervix was not opening (bro-in-laws, that’s probably TMI for you….). With those two things not cooperating, things were not looking good for a natural birth. Sister Rose informed me of this and went to call my Doctor. This is when my tears began to come. Not because of the painful contractions (they were at the max on the machine thingy), but because I really REALLY wanted to deliver natural. And I was afraid of having a c-section. Plus I don’t like needles….and I wouldn’t get to hold my daughter right away after she was born…and the recovery would be aweful…and I would be stuck in the hospital for an extra night….tears….tears….and more tears. And the contractions continued to increase.
12:30pm…Dr. Dahms appears and checks my progress. Nothing. Besides consistent contractions. She gives me two options: 1- have a c-section in about 30 minutes or 2- go home and come back for another induction in a couple days. The risk with the second option is that up to this point, our daughter has not been able to get her head where it should be…and the longer we wait, the bigger she gets and the more difficult it becomes for her to get out on her own. It was a no-brainer for me. We had to do the c-section. Tears….and more tears. Dr. Dahms comforts me and tells me that I am handling the contractions like a champ and it’s a shame because I could obviously deliver naturally, it’s just that our Little Lady is too big for me. Ben and I are left alone while the Doctors prep for our c-section. Ben sends out a message to his parents and my Dad…and also informs Pam and my Mom in the waiting area. We pray together and ask God to remove my fears, give me strength and make everything go smoothly…bring our daughter into our arms safely. I still have tears, but I am feeling better. I know people are praying for me. I know God is right there with me. The contractions are fierce and I continue to breathe through them…it’s tough to not give into the disappointment, knowing I could have done this naturally if everything else would have worked together…
1pm…My Mom and Pam come in to give me a hug just as Dr. Dahms returns with her Anesthesiologist. It’s a male…which would usually bug me, but he has a mustache and kind eyes and for some odd reason he reminds me of my Dad. He witnesses some more of my tears and assures me that he will take good care of me. He holds my arm and walks me to the “theatre” where they will do my c-section. I’m shaking. He pats my hand and tells me it will be okay, it’s perfectly normal to shake. He assists me onto the table. I look around for Ben and suddenly there he is, decked out in scrubs. He rubs my back, kisses my forehead and I relax. I can do this. I’m going to meet my daughter. But I can’t stop shaking. I’m handed my pillow as I lean forward for the Anesthesiologist to numb my body with the big needle drug (I know there’s a technical term, but in my head, that’s all it is to me…a big needle drug that BETTER numb my body completely!). Ben holds my hand and helps me lay back. I notice there are quite a few people swarming around the operating table I am on. Blue sheets are put up in front of me so I can’t see the “action.” I quickly tell Dr. Dahms I can still kind of feel my legs. I don’t want to feel the cutting! And of course everyone assures me they will make sure I am totally numb before performing the c-section. Dr. Dahms and the Anesthesiologist talk to me throughout the surgery.
1:32pm…And suddenly they are asking me if I want to see my daughter. The Anesthesiologist lowers the separator slightly and I see her….there she is…oh my goodness…she is beautiful….that’s her!! Charlotte! Oh my, my precious Charlotte! I feel the tears, happy tears and the Anesthesiologist pats my hand and tells me the tears are natural. I can’t take my eyes off of Charlotte. Ben is right there with her as they weigh her and perform the APGAR. Charlotte….oh my precious Charlotte….her cries are so sweet! I hear the doctor’s saying “she is so big!” “There’s no way you could have pushed this baby out!” Finally, they place her in my arms. Ben leans down and kisses my forehead, Charlotte’s forehead….our family…family of three. He tells me Charlotte weighs 3.93 kilos (8 lbs, 10 oz!!), is 50cm long (19.7 inches!), and has a head circumference of 37cm…I am oblivious to anything else that is going on, so transfixed on this blessing God has gifted us. I hold her close, her tiny body pressed against my own as they wheel us out of the theatre.
2:05pm…We are wheeled out of the labor ward and I see my Mom and Pam. They are wheeling us pretty fast and I quickly yell out, “Charlotte! Her name is Charlotte Renee!” I see my Mom start to cry and Pam hugs her…I return my eyes to my daughter…my little Charlotte…
So that is our Birth Story…via “journal” format. I learned later that Charlotte’s umbilical cord was wrapped around her body and neck in addition to her not being able to get her head low enough…and my cervix not opening. Dr. Dahms spoke with me and said that even if Charlotte’s head would have lowered and my cervix would have opened, her birth would have ended in an EMERGENCY c-section. Jesus was definitely with us during Charlotte’s birth and I am so thankful for all of you who prayed. I know the only reason I was able to make it through the c-section and everything is because of God. And now we are blessed with our precious Charlotte...her name means "Joy to the Lord." Joy to the Lord, indeed!
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