Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Matthew James Arthur


Birth Story


We arrived at the hospital shortly before 7:30pm and they got me all registered and then hooked up to the fetal monitor to check out baby and to see if I was having any contractions. I was but they were pretty small and sporadic. At 8:15pm the nurse comes in and asks if I am Group B positive, I say "I don't know, but I have never tested positive before" she goes and phones the laboratory and as it turns out I am GB positive!! So I need to have some antibiotics in me...FUN! I tell Bill it's a good thing I am being induced otherwise given my labours, I never would've made it in time do administer the antibiotics. The doc on call comes in at 8:50pm to attempt to rupture my water, this is when we learn that my cervix has not cooperated and is still un-changed. She tries hard to break my water, but just can't quite reach it!!LOL

I then ask that if they're going to start me on pitocin if I could have my epidural first. Apparently they will not do this until you're showing some cervical progress!!UGH! So, my first low dose of pitocin is started at 9:15pm, she tells me I most likely won't feel anything different with the first dose except maybe some minor contractions in about 1/2 an hour. At 9:40pm I have a bit more painful contractions then I had been having and then another 5min after and then another. The nurse comes in and says she is just upping the pitocin a bit more...ugh.... so I decide I should probably go for a pee since it had been over an hour!!LOL I learn that the anesthesiologist is in a c-section and won't be available for at least 45min. My contractions are a bit stronger and are now double and triple peaking (THAT really sucks!!!) I had a couple that were 2min long!!!OUCH!

Finally just before 11pm my doc comes in and breaks my water, I am now about 3cm dilated and we learn that baby is sunnyside up!! They tell me that this will likely increase my labouring time and why I am having so much discomfort in my back. At this point, I still wasn't in unbearable pain, the contractions were definitely not fun, but I was doing alright. I decide at that point that I wasn't going to have an epidural, I figured that by the time the pain got so bad, I would be so close to pushing that I wouldn't get one in time anyways. The nurse I had was so wonderful and was coaching me through different positions to hopefully get Matthew to turn, there was just something about her that I knew I could do it naturally.

At 11:30pm, I have some troubles....Matthew's heartrate isn't reacting to well to the contractions, so we stop the pitocin and get some oxygen in me. The doctor is confident that once I get some better oxygen in me. Sure enough, after about 10mins when the pitocin had cleared and I had some oxygen, everything was fine. 12:40am, they decide that my contractions are now to far apart!!! They are about 90sec long and still hurt, but they were now about 10-15min apart. So, back on goes the pitocin so as to hopefully get me in a good pattern. Shortly after 1am, they are really picking up speed and I am DEFINITELY feeling them. I asked to be checked because of the intense pressure I keep feeling, turns out I was only at 4cm!!! So, I stay like this and keep breathing through my contractions Bill and my nurse are soooooo good and guiding me. 1:30am I get up for a pee and begin to shake......I figure I must be getting close to transition. I have to really breathe through the contractions now and I can't seem to stop shaking!!LOL 1:40am, the nurse checks me and says I am at 6cm, but can easily stretch to an 8cm.

At 1:50am, I tell her to get the dr and start setting up because I am going to be pushing!!!LOL The dr comes in and they have everything set up (the bed is dropped and they are gowned, my legs are up etc!!!)meanwhile I am grunting and trying with all my might not to bear down. The dr checks me and says "NO, DON"T PUSH!!!!YOU'RE ONLY 6cms!!!!" I am shocked, I have to continue breathing through the contractions, but cannot stop myself from bearing down as well. Finally, the dr says she will try to stretch my cervix over his head...1 contraction I am 7cm, another contraction 8cm....another contraction 9.5cm and then there was the top portion left of my cervix which she says she can easily pull over top of his head with the next contraction. However it is at this point that Matthew decides to start turning and his heartrate begins to drop dramatically, like in the 20's. They begin to start calling things out and other drs to come in, she tells me I can start pushing with all my might at the next contraction, I glance at the clock, it's almost 2:20am. I'm not completely aware of what is going on, kind of in that labour fog and was concentrating on the contractions and following my body's cues.

I begin pushing, but something doesn't feel right, like I'm not pushing hard enough or something...I keep on pushing because the urge is so strong and this is when they tell me his shoulder is stuck. I vaguely here the dr tell me about the vacuum if it doesn't come unstuck with this next contraction, Matthews heartrate is still doing funky things on the monitor and they're not sure if he's in distress or if the cord is being compressed because of him turning. The next few minutes are very foggy. I remember hearing get the vacuum and the dr telling me about possible complications and holding it up between my legs, I couldn't even tell you what I saw...a diaphragm with a cord?!?!? Then suddenly the bed drops back and I am lying with my butt and legs higher then my head and then two nurses and Bill shove my legs back and down...I swear my thighs touched my earlobes....I think that was the most painful thing.......then they say PUSH!! That was so hard, but I sensed that there was urgency and pushed with everything in me.

In that contraction, the next thing I heard was here's his head and then this little creature was flopped onto my belly!!! I couldn't really see him because of the angle I was at, but I felt his little head!!I looked at the clock and it read 2:36am!! They then whisked him over to the little area where they check them out. I deliver this HUGE placenta and a very long cord!!!LOL Turns out it was the cord being compressed after all.

While they are checking him out, they discover that his lungs are filled with tons of gunk and Matthew was trying to hard to get air. They had to suction him like crazy and called in the pediatric team. He wasn't crying, just making these bubbles come out and kind of grunting noises. The pediatric dr begins to tell Bill and I that he will need to take Matthew to the special care nursery and have an IV put in and oxygen. He says to us that they may have to keep him in there for a couple of days. I am devastated and Bill is obviously upset. My dr suggests that I be allowed to hold him skin to skin before they take him, and the pediatric allows that.

While I am holding my precious little gift, I am praying with all my heart for the Lord to heal what is going on, begging the Lord to make him better and stop what is going on. Within a couple of minutes of my holding him and praying and quietly talking to Matthew and telling him to be a brave boy and cough that gunk out, a miracle happens. The pediatric dr says "Hey, he's not blowing bubbles anymore and he's not making gurgling sounds, can I check him again?" I pass him my sweet little baby, and the ped dr looks at us in disbelief, little Matthew has perfectly clear sounding lungs, they check and re-check him...all clear. The ped dr hands Matthew back to me and says "Sometimes a Mothers touch is far better than medicine" I get the OK to go ahead and nurse him and he latches on like a champ!Praise the Lord!!!

After about an hour of snuggling and nursing, Bill gets to hold him while I go and take a much needed shower!! My back was so sore and the afterpains were quite something, let me tell you, after I gave birth, I said NOW I will certainly take a nice big shot of morphine!!LOL They had no problems with that!!LOL

So, there it is!! Finally!! Sorry it took so long, but this time I had to heal I was so sore!!LOL But, once again, I managed to give birth and not need stitches or an episiotomy, no bruising either. The dr was amazed that with all that trauma (she said they weren't very gentle...no?really? I hadn't noticed!!!ROFL!!!) that I didn't need anything.....nope little ol' me is just proof that when it comes to labour and delivery, it's what's on the inside the counts!!!LOL

Some interesting points:
Matthew was born on a Wednesday at 2:36am and Robbie was born on a Wednesday at 2:36pm!! I laboured in the same room that I did with Alyssa and I spent a bit of time in the same maternity room that I did with Alex. Neat, huh?

God bless!!

2 comments:

Sandra said...

Awwwe! What a time you had there at the end! I had a similar experience with my oldest. You did awesome with no epidural. I had my first three with no eipidural (not my choice, it just happened that way)I finally got to have my epidural with my fourth and boy! What a difference!
I love reading birth stories. That is also neat about he and Robbie being born at the same time, only one in am one in pm.

Christine said...

Wow, what an amazing story! I really enjoy your blog, and I will link to yours. I also believe children are blessings. It is great to see another proud nursing mama.