My Birth Story - Part II

November 26, 2007

6:00pm I spoke with my Doctor and told him that I thought my water had broken. I asked him if I could wait a few hours before going in because I wanted to hang out and make dinner. I still had all of the Thanksgiving leftovers to use and I was going to make turkey soup that night. However, he was convinced that since I was already so far dilated that I was going to go fast so he wanted me to get to the hospital. Our bags were already packed from the day before, so while DG packed up the car, I made us turkey sandwiches. I knew I had to eat dinner in the car because once I got there, I would not be allowed any more food.

7:00pm After dropping the dogs off with Cynthia, we arrived at the hospital at 7pm. I cursed the fact that I haven't purchased maxi pads since the early 90's and that I had 5 soaked through paper towels in my underwear. Stephanie, our nurse came in to hook me up to the monitors and do a swab test to check for amniotic fluid. Her Q-Tip turned black immediately which meant we were full steam ahead.

7:15pm We were put in the biggest room. This hospital recently revamped their maternity ward, so the rooms are like being in a resort hotel with hardwood floors, leather chairs, and a sleeping bench for David.

7:30pm I had 2 monitors around my belly, one for the fetal heart beat and one to measure contractions. I also had a blood pressure cuff around my left arm. They wanted to monitor me for 20 minutes every hour. The Doctor on call wanted to start pitocin, but I told her that I wanted to give my labor a chance to progress naturally. If we weren't ready in 6 hours, then they could start it. DG and I started walking the halls.

Stephanie, our nurse also had me sign the release for the epidural. At that point I was wanting to see how far I could make it. Well that and I was terrified of a needle in my back. But she insisted that it would be better to have it just in case.

8:30pm We walked the halls for 3 hours taking quick 20 minute breaks to get my vitals checked. I was a sight in my double hospital gown, BLACK socks and black Dansko shoes. Crap if I didn’t forget to put on fun socks!

Here is a shot of our bathroom. Those pink pads on the sink are the diapers I had to wear all night to catch the amniotic fluid. Check out that awesome tub. Unfortunately, I never got to use it.



9:30pm When I went to the bathroom, I noticed some green in my continual flow of water and told the nurse about it. She explained that this is common and it meant that Hadley had pooped in utero and that it was coming out. This also meant that the NICU (Natal Intensive Care Unit) would have to be in the room during the delivery to take the baby immediately and suction out her nose and throat so that she didn't get poop in her lungs. *aw man*