Julian and I both wrote our own versions of Josh's birth story shortly after his birth. We weren't really ready to post them, but decided that on the one year anniversary of me going into labor we should post them :-)
Josh's Birth Story, Margaret's point of view (Click link below to view)
When I woke up on Jan 7th, 2013, something just felt a little off. I was supposed to go in to work to start day one of a 2 day experiment, the last one I had planned before the due date. I had noticed light cramping every ~20-30 minutes starting at like 6am, but didn't think much of it. When I was getting ready to go to work, I noticed a bit of bleeding. After consulting the Internet, I was reminded that this was could mean labor was starting now or in a week. Trying not to get too excited, I decided to wait a little bit before going to work. The experiment that I had planned would use up the last of some valuable samples, so I didn't want to start it and not finish! The cramps/contractions that I was getting started getting closer together (10-20 min apart) but weren't regular yet. I decided that I should run some errands instead of going to work.
I headed out to target to find a few last items for the nursery and some clothing for the hospital, and was immediately glad that I didn't decide to drive all the way to Baltimore. I called my parents to see if they wanted to have lunch at the new Panera bread near the target. While I was out my contractions started getting harder, and it was more difficult to talk or laugh during them. I didn’t want to cause any suspicion at lunch, because I still didn’t know if this was “real” labor. By the time I got home from lunch my contractions were getting more painful and were closer to 5 minutes apart. By about 2:00 my contractions were less than 5 minutes apart and lasting 30-45 seconds. They still weren't painful enough for me to make Julian leave work early, but by about 3pm they were getting more painful and I subtly suggested he get a move on. Ursula (our birth teacher) had taught us that if you take a shower and the contractions get stronger instead of weaker you could really be in labor, do I decided to try it out. After showering my contractions were definitely stronger, so I started to get excited that this might be the real thing! I decided that I should try and rest up for later if that was the case!
By the time Julian got home, my contractions had been less than 5 minutes apart lasting for almost a minute for over an hour (the point that the hospital told us we should come in). My contractions were considerably more painful and difficult to get through, so we called the hospital and they suggested I come in and get checked out. We had been planning to labor at home for as long as possible, plus it was rush hour, so we decided to at least wait out rush hour. My contractions got really strong, painful and closer together, so I decided to get in the bathtub. I ended up taking a 2 hour long bath just to make the contractions bearable while Julian packed the last few things we would need for the hospital. By the time I got out of the tub, my contractions were 3-4 minutes apart and I started throwing up (for the first time in the pregnancy!). I was hopeful that this was a sign that I was in active labor. I was dreading the 1-hour drive to the hospital, so instead of laboring a bit more at home we decided to head to the hospital.
The car ride was very painful, although I was able to breathe through my contractions. But during the car ride I started noticing that my left side was getting tingly and numb, particularly my arm. We had pre-tested a route through Baltimore that would have the least number of potholes and I'm glad we did. We parked the car because I didn't want to be left alone while Julian parked. I had to stop and breathe through contractions on the way in. When we finally got to labor and delivery I had to sign a number of forms, which is almost the worst idea ever to make a laboring woman do. We were put in a triage room to be "checked". By this point I was in so much pain and my contractions were so close together (2 minutes apart lasting for 1 minute) I didn't think I would make it. The nurses hooked me up to a fetal monitor while we waited for a doctor. At this point I started throwing up again and the numbness I had been feeling had spread to both my arms and face. I only had 1 minute between contractions to recover and I was spending most of that time throwing up, as we figured out later I was hyperventilating from the lack of oxygen, which is what was causing the numbness.
When the doctor finally checked me, we were devastated to find out that I was only at 2 cm. I knew there was no way I could walk the halls at the hospital in the state I was in. We had heard that they would not admit you until you were 3 cm, so I was very afraid of what might happen. However, the doctor said that they were concerned about the baby's heartbeat because it was irregular and they didn't feel comfortable sending me home. They recommended we start pitocin and commit to having him one way or the other in the next day. I already had been thinking of asking for an epidural, and I knew that if I had to get pitocin my contractions would get even stronger. I had been planning to wait as long a possible to get an epidural (and had hoped to not need one at all), but I was in so much pain that I didn't care anymore. I was worried that starting an epidural at only 2 cm would put me at high risk of a c-section, but I knew that I had to take my chances.
The hospital staff then wheeled us to our labor and delivery room where they started an IV for me. We got to our room at about 10pm and they gave me some anti-nausea medication which worked very well. All of the anesthesiologists were busy with C-section patients, so I had to wait longer. They offered me another form of pain medication to "tide me over" until they could start the epidural but I declined because it could have affected the baby. Finally an anesthesiologist was available and came to our room. Getting the epidural placed was extremely painful. They had to try two different spots because my back was very strong (yay I guess :-P), and my contractions were so close together it was very difficult to hold the position I needed to be in to get it placed. Once it was in I felt better within 5 minutes. I was finally able to breathe and relax. I got feeling back in my arms and face, which was great. It took another 20 minutes to take full effect. They gave me a button I could use to "up" the dose of the epidural, which I only needed to use towards the very end. I had full feeling and movement in my legs, which was great. My progress was checked again by the doctor right before I got the epidural and I had progressed to 3cm in about an hour, so they decided that I was progressing well enough to wait to use pitocin. I'm not sure I've ever been happier than after the epidural kicked in. I know that everyone's birth experience is different, but I know that I could not have made it without the epidural. I know that I told Julian then that no matter what happened, I did not regret my choice to get the epidural.
At some point Julian let me know that his Mom had called him. We both knew that a late phone call from his mother was likely to be bad news. His grandmother had passed away that evening.
After all that, we weren't really sure what to do. By this point it was after midnight, but we were both too excited to sleep. We watched a bit of TV and tried our best to rest. They checked my progress every few hours and by 5am I had made it to 8cm!!!! My contractions were very strong without needing any pitocin :-). I guess that was why I was in so much pain... My water broke sometime after this point (Julian was glad it was someone else's problem to clean up). I was not quite to 10cm when they changed shifts at 7am, so I was left to "labor down" while the new shift rounded on all the patients. At about 9:30am the nurse decided I was ready to start pushing. Since my epidural was not too strong I could feel when I had contractions and was still able to move my legs. The nurse that delivered Josh was great and after only 50 minutes he was out!
When my water broke, the nurse had noticed that there was meconium in the amniotic fluid, which can be a problem if the baby aspirated it. I had wanted to have him placed directly on my stomach after birth and to delay cutting the cord, but the doctors needed to be able to clear the baby's airways ASAP after delivery so this wasn't going to be an option. I think this is the only part of the birth experience that was disappointing to me, but I didn't want to put my baby at risk!!
Josh's Birth Story, Margaret's point of view (Click link below to view)
When I woke up on Jan 7th, 2013, something just felt a little off. I was supposed to go in to work to start day one of a 2 day experiment, the last one I had planned before the due date. I had noticed light cramping every ~20-30 minutes starting at like 6am, but didn't think much of it. When I was getting ready to go to work, I noticed a bit of bleeding. After consulting the Internet, I was reminded that this was could mean labor was starting now or in a week. Trying not to get too excited, I decided to wait a little bit before going to work. The experiment that I had planned would use up the last of some valuable samples, so I didn't want to start it and not finish! The cramps/contractions that I was getting started getting closer together (10-20 min apart) but weren't regular yet. I decided that I should run some errands instead of going to work.
I headed out to target to find a few last items for the nursery and some clothing for the hospital, and was immediately glad that I didn't decide to drive all the way to Baltimore. I called my parents to see if they wanted to have lunch at the new Panera bread near the target. While I was out my contractions started getting harder, and it was more difficult to talk or laugh during them. I didn’t want to cause any suspicion at lunch, because I still didn’t know if this was “real” labor. By the time I got home from lunch my contractions were getting more painful and were closer to 5 minutes apart. By about 2:00 my contractions were less than 5 minutes apart and lasting 30-45 seconds. They still weren't painful enough for me to make Julian leave work early, but by about 3pm they were getting more painful and I subtly suggested he get a move on. Ursula (our birth teacher) had taught us that if you take a shower and the contractions get stronger instead of weaker you could really be in labor, do I decided to try it out. After showering my contractions were definitely stronger, so I started to get excited that this might be the real thing! I decided that I should try and rest up for later if that was the case!
By the time Julian got home, my contractions had been less than 5 minutes apart lasting for almost a minute for over an hour (the point that the hospital told us we should come in). My contractions were considerably more painful and difficult to get through, so we called the hospital and they suggested I come in and get checked out. We had been planning to labor at home for as long as possible, plus it was rush hour, so we decided to at least wait out rush hour. My contractions got really strong, painful and closer together, so I decided to get in the bathtub. I ended up taking a 2 hour long bath just to make the contractions bearable while Julian packed the last few things we would need for the hospital. By the time I got out of the tub, my contractions were 3-4 minutes apart and I started throwing up (for the first time in the pregnancy!). I was hopeful that this was a sign that I was in active labor. I was dreading the 1-hour drive to the hospital, so instead of laboring a bit more at home we decided to head to the hospital.
The car ride was very painful, although I was able to breathe through my contractions. But during the car ride I started noticing that my left side was getting tingly and numb, particularly my arm. We had pre-tested a route through Baltimore that would have the least number of potholes and I'm glad we did. We parked the car because I didn't want to be left alone while Julian parked. I had to stop and breathe through contractions on the way in. When we finally got to labor and delivery I had to sign a number of forms, which is almost the worst idea ever to make a laboring woman do. We were put in a triage room to be "checked". By this point I was in so much pain and my contractions were so close together (2 minutes apart lasting for 1 minute) I didn't think I would make it. The nurses hooked me up to a fetal monitor while we waited for a doctor. At this point I started throwing up again and the numbness I had been feeling had spread to both my arms and face. I only had 1 minute between contractions to recover and I was spending most of that time throwing up, as we figured out later I was hyperventilating from the lack of oxygen, which is what was causing the numbness.
When the doctor finally checked me, we were devastated to find out that I was only at 2 cm. I knew there was no way I could walk the halls at the hospital in the state I was in. We had heard that they would not admit you until you were 3 cm, so I was very afraid of what might happen. However, the doctor said that they were concerned about the baby's heartbeat because it was irregular and they didn't feel comfortable sending me home. They recommended we start pitocin and commit to having him one way or the other in the next day. I already had been thinking of asking for an epidural, and I knew that if I had to get pitocin my contractions would get even stronger. I had been planning to wait as long a possible to get an epidural (and had hoped to not need one at all), but I was in so much pain that I didn't care anymore. I was worried that starting an epidural at only 2 cm would put me at high risk of a c-section, but I knew that I had to take my chances.
The hospital staff then wheeled us to our labor and delivery room where they started an IV for me. We got to our room at about 10pm and they gave me some anti-nausea medication which worked very well. All of the anesthesiologists were busy with C-section patients, so I had to wait longer. They offered me another form of pain medication to "tide me over" until they could start the epidural but I declined because it could have affected the baby. Finally an anesthesiologist was available and came to our room. Getting the epidural placed was extremely painful. They had to try two different spots because my back was very strong (yay I guess :-P), and my contractions were so close together it was very difficult to hold the position I needed to be in to get it placed. Once it was in I felt better within 5 minutes. I was finally able to breathe and relax. I got feeling back in my arms and face, which was great. It took another 20 minutes to take full effect. They gave me a button I could use to "up" the dose of the epidural, which I only needed to use towards the very end. I had full feeling and movement in my legs, which was great. My progress was checked again by the doctor right before I got the epidural and I had progressed to 3cm in about an hour, so they decided that I was progressing well enough to wait to use pitocin. I'm not sure I've ever been happier than after the epidural kicked in. I know that everyone's birth experience is different, but I know that I could not have made it without the epidural. I know that I told Julian then that no matter what happened, I did not regret my choice to get the epidural.
At some point Julian let me know that his Mom had called him. We both knew that a late phone call from his mother was likely to be bad news. His grandmother had passed away that evening.
After all that, we weren't really sure what to do. By this point it was after midnight, but we were both too excited to sleep. We watched a bit of TV and tried our best to rest. They checked my progress every few hours and by 5am I had made it to 8cm!!!! My contractions were very strong without needing any pitocin :-). I guess that was why I was in so much pain... My water broke sometime after this point (Julian was glad it was someone else's problem to clean up). I was not quite to 10cm when they changed shifts at 7am, so I was left to "labor down" while the new shift rounded on all the patients. At about 9:30am the nurse decided I was ready to start pushing. Since my epidural was not too strong I could feel when I had contractions and was still able to move my legs. The nurse that delivered Josh was great and after only 50 minutes he was out!
When my water broke, the nurse had noticed that there was meconium in the amniotic fluid, which can be a problem if the baby aspirated it. I had wanted to have him placed directly on my stomach after birth and to delay cutting the cord, but the doctors needed to be able to clear the baby's airways ASAP after delivery so this wasn't going to be an option. I think this is the only part of the birth experience that was disappointing to me, but I didn't want to put my baby at risk!!
I did have a “small” second
degree tear, so while they stitched me up they let Julian hold Josh for the
first time. He came over with him and sat next to me. I wish I had thought to
take a picture of the two of them, but it is a moment I will never forget. Josh
was wide eyed and looking around, while Julian was a mixture of pure joy and
awe. Once they were done with my stitches, I got to hold Josh for the first
time. We talked about his name for a bit, even though we were 99% sure of his
name before his birth, we wanted to meet him and make sure it all seemed right.
We then took a picture and introduced him to our families :-)
I find that a year later I am
looking back at my birth experience with such joy. The only thing that went as
planned was that we left the hospital with a healthy baby boy, and that is all
that matters :-)
 |
| First time holding Josh, awesome hair and all :-) |
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