My birthing story

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Friday, July 25th:

My Dr. called and said they made room for me at the hospital so off we go. Around 11:45am I got induced with the pitocin and I was at 3 cm and 50% effaced. (If  you are saying , "What does that mean?" just moving along. Don't want to give you too much information). By 4pm I was still only at 3 cm (bummer)
although I had been having regular contractions, but they weren't too painful yet. Dr. Leach came in around 4:15 and broke my water (again, just move along). Then the contractions became more intense and closer together... Let's just get to the good part. 

I think it was around 6:15 or so when I told the nurse she'd better call Dr. Leach to come on down because I was about 7cm and I was feeling some pressure downstairs. And the contractions just got brutally painful. At one point I thought for sure I was going to throw up so they got me a little container. Shiloh was to my side and Heather (my great friend who served as my doula) was in my peripheral. But my Mom was standing right in front of me staring. I know she was a few feet away, but it felt like she was in my personal throw up space so I said, "Mom, don't just stand there and watch me throw up!" So she ran and locked herself in the bathroom like any good mother would. 

Then I just started barking orders. "Need cold wash cloths." And they all went scurrying. "Fix my foot" (because it was tangled in the sheet). I was trying to concentrate on relaxing on breathing ... but how do you relax when you are in that much pain? And then it came. 

Tourette Syndrome. I could not control the outbursts. No, I wasn't cussing or anything (but at one point I did manage to squeak out, "If I were a cussing woman I would be cussing right now!"), but I just made some moans and shouts that I honestly could not control. They were in conjunction with the pressure of feeling that Jordis was trying to make her way out and I could not stop her. 

I was feuding with the nurse, "She's coming!" I shouted. "Wendy, don't push." she replied firmly. Then more Tourette's.

"Wendy you cannot push right now."

Ahhhhh! Finally, Dr. Leach came in. I watched him put on his gloves and coat and I remember thinking "Forget the dumb coat and gloves just get this baby." 

And out she came in seconds. 

And I felt such relief... until Dr. Leach had to go do some more business and get the placenta out and stuff. I'll spare you the details, but that hurt a lot. I told Dr. Leach I knew why they used stirrups because If my feet weren't in them I would have kicked him in the face. But he has been through 4 deliveries with me so I am sure his feelings weren't hurt.

Afterwards I told Heather (who plans for a drug free delivery in November), "I don't know if I would recommend this." It is hard when you know just how good it can be with the epidural. And incidentally, it hasn't helped with the nursing (which was my primary motivation for trying to go without the epidural). At the hospital (after the birth) the lactation consultant told me that studies have shown that the epidural can contribute to a baby clinching down when she nurses (as Jordis does). But then she told me that pitocin was equally as bad as far as that goes.  I then kicked her in the face.

The delivery nurse said that 98% of the women who deliver at John Muir have an epidural. The lactation consultant told me that about 1 /3 of the babies she sees do the clinching thing.  Whaaaat?

The end.

Here is Jordis and her cousin Kylie today (july 31). Pin It Now!

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