My Mother's Day Baby (long)
I am pretty new to the Bump, and LOVE reading everyone's birth stories! We are preparing for DS #2 to arrive in February, and have been reminiscing about Dylan's (DS #1) birth, who was born on Mother's Day 2006. So, I hope you don't mind my sharing an oldie. I look forward to sharing another birth story with you soon!
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On May 13, 2006, my dad, DH and I spent the day outside, planting flowers and working on the yard. I was four days past my due date and was mainly "supervising" from the front step. We decided to go to my favorite restaurant (Mexican) for dinner and I was hoping some spicy salsa might encourage Dylan along a bit. We finished dinner and I had just come back from the bathroom and sat down in my seat. My dad paid the bill and we sat around talking for a minute getting ready to leave.
All of a sudden I felt a small gush and thought okay, either my water just broke or I peed my pants! I then felt a series of additional small gushes and said to my dad and DH - "I think my water just broke." I was very excited that the time had finally come, but I was petrified at the thought of walking past everyone in the restaurant with wet pants. The water kept coming and I was soon sitting in a pool of amniotic fluid and it had leaked down my khaki pants clear to my ankles - very obvious and not something I could hide! I didn't even have a sweatshirt/jacket or anything to wrap around my waist. My dad went to find our waiter and explained what happened. He asked if they had something that I could use to cover my rear. My dad came back with a small hand towel - not big enough to cover anything! We asked if they had an extra apron and he brought us one. I was still terrified to stand up, I was continuing to have small gushes and as I said, clearly had water down to the ankles of my pants. DH went to check the back of the restaurant to see if there was a rear exit I could sneak out of... there wasn't. I finally decided I had to just get up and go. I stood up with the still too small apron around my backside and walked quickly to the front door, not making eye contact with anyone, and my dad following right behind me. DH stayed behind to try and mop up my seat with napkins. We got to the car and DH came out to let me in while my dad took the apron back to the restaurant - probably something they didn't want anymore, but we weren't thinking very clearly!
Luckily the restaurant was only a couple of blocks from the hospital and we headed straight over. From the car I called the doctors office, my mom and MIL to give them a heads up that it was finally time. We got to the hospital right before 8 pm and were admitted right away and taken to the birthing suite. I was still feeling fine, not having any contractions, but my water had definitely broke and was continuing to gush out. I remember them telling us in the birthing classes that when your water breaks, it's not like it is in the movies where it gushes out, it's more of a trickle... definitely not that way for me! I was a gusher.
DH made a bunch of phone calls to let everyone know what was happening. Our good friend went to our house to get our bags and brought them to the hospital, my mom and sister set out on their 17 hour drive from Kansas City, and my MIL & BIL began their drive from Northern VA. I began to have some cramping, which was the beginning of contractions. DH asked if I wanted to do the breathing like they taught us in the birthing class. I still wasn't sure the cramping was real contractions and felt foolish trying to breathe through them, because I felt like I should be able to handle them better than that. So, I stupidly refused to try and breathe through them or do anything to make them easier. They gave me a pill to speed up the contractions and pretty soon I could tell these weren't just menstrual cramps, they were definite contractions (I still refused to do the breathing... not sure what I was thinking!).
Around 12:30/1:00 a.m. I asked for some drugs and they gave me Fentanyl which helped me relax and took some of the edge off, but I was definitely still in a lot of pain and the Fentanyl didn't last very long and they could only administer it once per hour. I decided at that point I was definitely going to need an epideral, but was told I had to wait for the anesthesiologist to get there. Apparently the anesthesiologist was at home in bed, so it wasn't until about 3:00 am that I finally got the epideral.
Meanwhile, I had to stay continuously hooked up to the fetal and other monitors as with each contraction Dylan's heart rate would drop. They weren't too concerned as it always came right back up at the end of the contraction, but it was enough to need the continued monitoring. My blood pressure was also high so they had to keep checking it regularly. I ended up with a bunch of different monitors on, I can't remember what they all did, but I think I had two externally (on my belly) and two internally on Dylan. They were also inserting additional fluid since I had lost so much of the amniotic fluid when my water broke.
As I said, I finally got the epideral around 3:00 am. Getting the epideral itself wasn't very painful, it was just uncomfortable to get in the exact position they wanted me in while contracting and with so many different monitors on. Before 5:00 am they decided I was far enough along to push and I began pushing. As this began my epideral wore off and they decided not to give me anymore. Dylan's heartrate was not bouncing back as much as they would like after the contractions, so they wanted him out ASAP or they would have to do a C-section. So I began pushing and had zero pain medication to help. I felt everything. I have never been in any more pain, and I wasn't quiet about it. I cursed and yelled and it seemed to go on forever.
Dylan was born at 5:35 am on Mother's Day - May 14, 2006. He did have the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck which accounted for his heart rate dropping with the contractions, but he was fine when he was born. Dylan weighed in at 7 lbs, 7 oz. and was 20 1/4 inches long. When they first handed him to me, I remember thinking that he was absolutely beautiful. DH kept telling me (prior to this) that no newborn is cute. They are all wrinkly and ugly. Well, Dylan proved him wrong, and DH admitted it. Dylan was crying when I first got to hold him and his bottom lip quivered. I was in love.
We were at the hospital for two more days. Dylan did really well, definitely an easy going baby. He did get an eye infection that required prescription eye ointment for several days. Dylan, DH and I were discharged and went home on Tuesday, May 16th. Leaving the hospital, I kind of felt like I was stealing a baby! They just let us pack up and walk out. I always thought they took you outside in a wheelchair, but they didn't. Dylan at that time weighed 7 lbs. 1 oz. (he had lost 6 oz. since birth).
My mom and dad stayed until Wednesday morning and then had to start back towards Kansas City. Dylan was a bit jaundiced when we left the hospital, so a home health nurse came to visit us the next day and to check Dylan's bilirubin levels. At her Wednesday visit, Dylan weighed 7 lbs. 3 oz. (he gained 2 oz. in one day!). She was impressed and gave a good report on him. Then on Friday, May 19, Dylan had his first appointment at the pediatrician, where he clocked in at 7 lbs. 9 oz., gaining an additional 6 oz!! (We should have known then we had a big baby on our hands!)
Dylan continued to tip the scales at all of his well-baby/well-child appointments. I even developed tendonitis in my wrist while I was home with him on maternity leave -- I called it 'fat baby syndrome.' He continued to be an easy going baby though and just has an easy, social personality. He is very excited to be a big brother, and I know he is going to be great at it!
Re: My Mother's Day Baby (long)
Reading these stories makes me so excited about my birth coming up and fondly remember the births of my son and daughter perviously.
Congratulations on your little man becoming a big brother! He'll do great!