Sara's Birth Story

My due date (March 23^rd) came and went.  I started to develop a cold and sore throat over the weekend and by Tuesday I was absolutely miserable.  I had an OB/GYN appointment scheduled for Thursday but I decided to call and see if I could be seen sooner.  Luckily, they were able to reschedule me for that afternoon with the same doctor I saw at week 8 of my pregnancy (Dr. Miles).

I called Matt and he rearranged some work meetings so he could go to the appointment with me.  At the appointment, the doctor was a little concerned about my high blood pressure (I normally have low blood pressure).  That combined with my over-all discomfort and misery is what led us into the decision of inducing labor.  Dr. Miles checked with the hospital and was able to get us in for an induction immediately following our appointment.  Before heading to the hospital, they hooked me up to an NST that monitors the baby’s movement and stats.  The baby was sleeping during the entire 20 minute NST so they sent me to ultrasound to make sure baby Sara was mature enough for labor and delivery.  In ultrasound, she passed all the tests and we got a sneak peek of her in 3D!

At 3:30 Matt dropped me off at the hospital and ran home to grab some belongings and to drop Lucy off with our neighbors.  While Matt was away, three different nurses tried to hook up my IV.  My veins are very unfavorable for IVs and three out of three nurses failed.  One nurse accidentally stabbed the bone in my left wrist with her needle and it sent shooting pains into my left hand and fingers.  When I screamed out the nurses decided to call anesthesia to hook up the IV instead.  The man from anesthesia was able to insert the IV on the first try (thank goodness).  Next, the doctor inserted Cervidil to help my cervix thin and ripen for labor.  I was supposed to be on the Cervidil all night and the next morning they would decide if I need another dose of Cervidil or if I was ready to start Pitocin and begin the induction.  At that point, I was still only 1 cm dilated and the doctor warned me that I may feel some cramping from the Cervidil and to notify the nurse if I needed some pain meds.  By the time Matt returned to the hospital at 5:30, I was still almost in tears from the IV incident.  I was glad to have him there.

At around 8:00pm I started to feel some cramping.  I notified my overnight nurse Carrie and asked for some pain meds.  She gave me Demerol and Fentanyl which completely knocked me out.  At 1:00am I woke up to some intense contractions.  I was able to breathe through them and my nurse didn’t seem to think anything of them because they weren’t registering on her monitor.  Later, we would find out her monitor was not hooked up correctly.  By 2:30 I had awoken Matt with my loud cries during each contraction.  My nurse Carrie checked me at 3:30am and I was still only 1 cm dilated.  Knowing the pain I was in and I was not changing made me completely lose it.  These contractions still weren’t registering on her monitor and she began to get harsh with me, basically telling me to deal with it and they don’t just do C-sections because then everyone would want one.  I had never specifically asked for a C-section, I had asked for help on dealing with the pain.  She asked me if I was mad at her to which I immediately responded in all seriousness, “yes”.  She told me she had been a labor nurse for seven years and there is a reason she doesn’t have any kids of her own.  This nurse really was a complete nightmare. 

From the 3:30am – 7:15am timespan, I needed help recalling the details from Matt because it is now a big blur to me.  Matt has that period of time burned into his memory forever, I believe.  It was quite intense.  I was having “contractions” (remember they weren’t registering on the monitor) one on top of the other and all I could do to cope was cry, scream, and say repeatedly “I can’t do this” among many other words inappropriate to repeat.  I made multiple trips to the bathroom to see if it would help.  I would try to move from the bed to the bathroom so quickly that Matt had a hard time keeping up with my IV meds and thought I might pull out my IV all together!  Matt tried applying pressure to my hips which helped at one point and made it worse at another.  After a certain point, he wasn’t allowed to touch me at all.  A housekeeper came into my room during a contraction and I think I screamed “NO- GO AWAY” at her when she asked me if I needed a nurse.  I still feel bad about that.

At 7:00am a new nurse took her shift.  Her name was April and she turned my entire world around.  She saw the pain I was in and arranged for an epidural immediately.  She noticed my monitor was not hooked up correctly and fixed it.  Matt was able to immediately see when I was going through a contraction and when it would let up.  This helped tremendously as he was able to coach me through them and tell me when they were almost over.  The nurse checked me and I was dilated to 6 cm!  Remember, the Cervidil was not supposed to induce labor, only ripen my cervix.  I was in full blown labor!  Once I knew this I felt a little better but the contractions were still quite unbearable.  I was no longer able to talk through them – all I could do was yell out.

At 8:15am, anesthesia arrived and administered my epidural.  After the epidural took effect I was able to relax on my side.  Matt took his first break (mental and physical) to get some breakfast.  He ate the fastest breakfast of his life and returned within about 10 minutes.  My water broke while he was gone.  He returned to hear news of my water breaking and realized the baby was going to be here sooner rather than later.  My nurse checked me again around 9:30am and I was dilated to 10 cm and ready to push.  I pushed on my own with the nurse until about 10:00am when the doctor arrived.  Sara was born at 10:20am.  Matt announced “it’s a girl!” and I didn’t believe him so I double checked.  I looked at Matt through tears and said, “We have our Sara Mae”!  I still couldn’t believe it.  I was so sure I was carrying a boy.  They set Sara on my chest immediately while Matt cut the cord.  They cleaned her up on my chest and after some time to bond, they took her to a separate table in the corner to take her measurements, weight, and vitals.  Matt was able to get a lot of good pictures during this time.  The talk of the delivery room was how no one (nurses, doctors, etc.) could believe I had the baby by 10:20am!  I guess Sara decided she was ready on her own and didn’t want Pitocin.  I overheard a few of the nurses talk about how they couldn’t wait to let Carrie (my first nurse) know I had the baby that following morning.  I wish I could have been the one to tell her myself.