Zach's Birth
**warning this post contains a description of childbirth... it might be too graphic for you
I wrote down my birth experience with Michael and 2 years
later it is so interesting for me to go back and read it so I have to also
record Zach’s. These
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| waiting to get started. |
Last Monday I went to the doctor. After a delightfully
invasive exam she let me know that I was dilated to 2 (maybe 3) centimeters and
was 60% effaced. I was stoked and I was ready. None of those things happened
with Michael until AFTER I had been in the hospital for hours! Brian had
planned to be out of town on Wednesday for work, his plan was to drive to
Austin in the morning and drive back in the evening. The week before the OB
gave us the green light, but last Monday she said not so much. She predicted
that we would have the baby before the scheduled induction on Monday the 16th.
So Brian cancelled his trip and Wednesday came and went and guess what… no
baby. Thursday and Friday came and went and still no baby, by Saturday I had
accepted that he wasn’t coming until Monday and I was ok with it. Monday
happened to be Brian’s grandpa’s birthday, and since we were naming Zach after
him we thought it would be awesome if they had the same birthday (which they
do). But I spent the week convinced he
was coming. Instead, I had lots of contractions and no baby, but we got a lot
done, and I got to spend a lot of time with Mikey which I really wanted to make
sure and do.
So we made it to Sunday. We were scheduled to check into the
hospital at 8:30pm on Sunday. We spent the morning getting ready for church,
packing, and making dinner. We went to church, came home, had dinner, watched
Curious George Christmas and then headed out. We dropped Michael off at our friends’
house for the night (they were so kind to keep him), explained that Daddy would
be back the next day to get him, and headed off. I will admit we stopped and
rented a redbox movie (because we thought we might need it to kill time the
next day), and got a slurpee (because I have been obsessed with them lately)
and then headed to the hospital. We calmly walked in, checked in, and were
shown to our room. This whole experience was different than with Michael. Our
day went as planned, our check in went as planned, when we arrived we knew we
would be leaving with a baby, we knew what the next 24 hours held for us! Since
we are planners this was actually so refreshing. So we arrive, they make me
change, I argue about keeping as much of my clothes on as possible (those rooms
are chilly), they put in an IV, I accept
having to give up my clothes, and we
wait. I should explain here that the actual induction (starting Pitocin) wasn’t
scheduled until the next morning, but in an effort to get things going faster,
and make sure the Pitocin was more effective I had to be in the night before to
receive cervical ripening medication- basically it softens your cervix which by
itself can get the ball rolling. The plan was to receive one dose and then
start Pitocin around 4am. When we went in we planned to spend the day (Monday)
in labor, we thought the process would take a bit, especially given how long
Michael took (our only point of reference). Because I was already dialated and
effaced my doctor thought the cytotec might send me into labor. I sure that
because Michael had taken so long and the labor had been so defeating that we
would be there forever. I thought Zach would arrive around 4:45pm on Monday,
Brian thought he would arrive around 10:30am (I think).
So around 10pm they place the cytotec. Nothing much
happened, my contractions stayed about the same for a bit. I had been having
contractions for weeks at that point, and over the past week they had gotten
much worse, fewer of them but much more intense. So we decide to watch a show.
We watched one episode of Undercover Bosses and then decided we were both tired
and it was time to go bed. As I mentioned earlier we had rented a movie (Man of
Steel) but opted out of watching it at night because we needed something to keep
my mind off of labor the next day (we still haven’t watched it). Brian tucked
himself into the couch and I think I watched something on Netflix for a bit to
keep my mind off of the uncomfortable but still irregular contractions. I fell
asleep for a little bit, but around midnight the contractions started to get a
bit more irritating. They still weren’t regular, but they felt… more
uncomfortable. Since my water was still intact I can’t say that they hurt
because in comparison they really didn’t hurt, they were just getting
irritating. I went back to sleep, well actually I shut my eyes and pretended to
sleep. Then around 1:50am I felt a pop, the best way to describe it was a water
balloon popping. As the pop happened I
could feel Zach’s knee in my ribcage uncushioned. It was a really strange (and
painful feeling), almost like he was breaking out of a water balloon. And like
a water balloon breaking there was a definite gush. I called the nurse, we
clean up a bit, I am significantly less humiliated than when it happened in
front of redbox, and she checks me. At this point I am at about 4 centimeters,
4 is more than 2 but I still had a ways to go. We discuss possible pain
medication options, but I opted out for the time being. I knew the contractions
would intensify but I wanted to see what would happen before making any
decisions.
So Brian goes back to
sleep and I attempt to do the same. He was successful, I was…not. My
contractions continued to be somewhat irregular, closer together, but still not
something you could set a watch by, but holy smokes were they suddenly more
intense. Without the water to cushion them they were… painful… really really
painful. So I am breathing through the contractions, but at some point I decide
that really isn’t cutting it for me. I page the nurse and she gives me
something to “take the edge off”. I had the same thing with Michael, I can’t
remember what it is called, but basically I just makes me really really dizzy.
The nurse told me it feels like you had one too many margaritas, I haven’t ever
had one so initially it was… great. And then about 2 minutes later it was just
disorienting. So I close my eyes, because the spinning room was just making me
ill and start the internal battle with myself about when and if to get an epidural.
I was torn. I knew that I could not have delivered Michael without an epidural
(ok I probably could, but it made that experience so much better), but I wasn’t
sure about Zach. With Michael, I was just so discouraged during the labor. It
was so painful but I was not progressing, the epidural gave me some control
back. I thought that I might be able to skip it with Zach because the labor was
progressing, but I think it was a different control thing. The epidural makes
me feel like I am in control, it helps me control my emotions, and allows me to
have a clear head while we build to the pushing stage. So I have this internal
battle with myself and decide I am going to get the epidural, but that I am
going to wait until 5:30am. The nurse came in at 4:30am to start the Pitocin
and I let her know I was going to want the epidural and when. She gets the
nurse anesthetist and at 5:30am they put the epidural in. It was lovely, but
once it was in I knew I probably wasn’t going to sleep much. When I had the
epidural with Michael it seemed stronger. With this one, I could feel pressure
during contractions, and it was still somewhat uncomfortable, the contractions
felt like the contractions during breastfeeding you feel the days after giving
birth- they were there, and they weren’t pleasant but they weren’t overwhelming
anymore. I think at this point we decided to watch another episode of
Undercover Bosses. We even calmly discussed wanting to take Michael to one of
the places they showed. Shortly after the epidural the nurse did another check,
by the point I was at a 5… so not much progress. We watch the show and then I
try to sleep, didn’t work super well. I have to use oxygen for a bit because
Zach is too sleepy, I also had a popsicle. They thought this might help him to
wake up, and why not, I hadn’t had anything in hours.
The shift change happens around 7am and I meet my new nurse.
Funny enough she was one of my nurses when I was in the hospital a few months
ago with a fever. We go over what happened during the night, and she leaves to
get something. All of a sudden I felt like I was going to throw up, not nauseous
like I was going to throw up right then. I look around… nothing to throw up in.
I call the nurse, Brian runs to get them, and they come running back. I throw
up my red popsicle, it was delightful, but I suddenly feel better. The nurse
tells me she thinks it was one of two things, either the baby suddenly dropped
or the sugar on an empty stomach made me ill- since it was about 2 hours after
I ate it that seemed unlikely. I didn’t think that much about it, besides that
it was embarrassing that several people came running when I suddenly had to
vomit. Around 7:30am I convince Brian he should go get some breakfast, I think
this was when visiting hours started so it was easier for him to get on and off
the floor. He leaves and everything is fine. The contractions are much closer
together and finally regular, but I still don’t think much is happening.
I was sitting in the bed watching the contraction monitor
(it is super interesting) when all of a sudden I felt another pop and a huge
gush, this was about 8am, maybe like 7:57 am. I was confused. My water had
broken earlier, there was no question about it, how can it break twice? Well
here’s the thing, earlier the nurse had told me about something called a
forebag, basically the way the baby is positioned there are two sections to the
sac of water, and the second one had just broken. Luckily, as this was
happening my nurse was walking in. I tell her what happened and she asks if I
feel an increase in pressure, I reassure that nothing has changed, and she goes
to get towels. Then all of a sudden I feel pressure… lots and lots of pressure.
The nurse decides it is time for a check and she says “You are a 10, I have to
call the doctor”. Brian walks in at this point. He starts to tell me about what
he got for breakfast, and I tell him what happened, that I am at a 10, and he
keeps talking and then it clicks and he asks “you are a 10?, What does that
mean next?”. Then all of a sudden, I want to scream (maybe I did) because there
is a LOT of pressure. I tell the nurse and she seems calm, but you can tell she
is hurrying. She calls the nursery, and makes sure the doctor is on her way. At
this point I know I need to push, it isn’t just a thought in the back of my
mind, I KNOW I need to… now. If you
haven’t ever had this feeling let me just tell you it isn’t something you can
push (hah) out of your head, you NEED to push. I tell the nurse and she tells
me I have to wait for the doctor and she is on her way. I breathe, but with
each contraction the need to push gets worse and worse. I am almost crying, I
ask her if the doctor is hurrying, and she reassures me that yes the doctor is
hurrying, and yes I do have to wait. I ask if there is another doctor on the
floor, and she says no but that mine will be there soon. It seems like time has
stopped, but the clock reassured me that time was still going. I roll to my side at one point which was
supposed to help but so didn’t. At 8:30am my doctor runs in, she puts on her
gloves and shoe covers and then says I can push. At that point, I was a little
nervous, after not pushing I wasn’t sure I could actually do it. I pushed as
hard as I could, and when they said to stop I seriously did not want to, it was
to the point where it just had to be over. But I was tired and I wasn’t pushing
hard enough so the doctor and nurse are trying to get me to push harder, and
after 11 minutes he was here! Zach arrived at 8:41am! While I was pushing it
was painful, much more painful than with Michael, and because he was coming so
fast the doctor had to do an episiotomy… which I heard and felt… delightful.
They put Zach on my chest, turn up the Pitocin, clamp the chord and then he and
Brian go to the other side of the room so he can be checked out. The placenta was delivered a minute or so
later (you needed to know that) and then the stiches start…
Zach came fast, one minute I was breathing through
contractions and the next my water had broken (again) and I had to push. I
don’t know how things would have been without Pitocin or how they would have
been if I had gone into labor at home, but because he came so fast the recovery
is going to be… long. Zach had been
weighed, measured, tested, and Brian had held him for a good 15 minutes before
I was stitched up. The doctor started the stitches and I could feel them (which
is… awful) so my epidural wasn’t as effective as it could have been during the
actual delivery, but let’s be honest by that point I just wanted it to be over
and I didn’t care if the medicine was working or not. But it does explain why I felt such an
overwhelming need to push and why I could really feel him when he was born. She
gave me some local anesthetic, mostly I think to keep me from moving because as
I said I could feel every single stitch and they hurt so incredibly bad, and
then started stitching away. I must say it is a bit strange to have a
conversation with someone as they stitch you up, anyway, we chatted for about
30 minutes and then I got to hold Zach. While I was being stitched up Brian
updated me on Zach. I was astonished how tiny he was, I had guess he was 8lbs
8oz, but he wasn’t even 7lbs! He seems so small compared to Mikey, and so
skinny, but given that he already loves to try eating I think he will fatten up
quickly.
***Update: I spoke with the doctor the day after Zach was
born about why there was a tin y bit of panic in her voice and why an episotomy
was necessary and she told me the cord was wrapped around Zach’s neck (twice)
and that because we went from a 5 to a 10 so fast he was in distress. Because
he wasn’t delivered as quickly as he needed to be (my pushing wasn’t as
forceful as it needed to be) she had to get him out quickly. He is fine and
beautiful and stitches heal.
so zach didn't like to be cold. It should have been a sign to us how he would feel about being naked from then on.
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