August 28, 2007
The doctors tell me that only 3% of babies are born on their due dates so already Jack is an unusual boy. I had my first contraction at 7:30am, by 8:00 they were only 4 minutes apart. Luckily I had a doctors appointment today anyway so we went in early. At 9:00 I was 1cm dilated and walked from the doctors office down the hall to the hospital. The woman at the check in desk was rather dismissive, when my Mom said she was going to call my Dad to let him know that he was going to be a Grandpa, registration lady sneered at her and said, "I wouldn't be so sure." I was taken back to the triage area and hooked up to a few monitors. Dan and I tried our best to do the breathing we had worked on, but by this point the contractions were pretty painful and frequent so our carefully choreographed pyramid breathing devolved into random panting and hand squeezing. The nurse told me I could walk around the halls for an hour or so but as I can barely stand at this point so I opt for the shower. I stand in the beige shower stall while Dan holds the hand-held shower head against my back and I contemplate pulling the emergency cord for the hundredth time. After half an hour or so the pain has gotten so intense that I feel like I'm blacking out between contractions and the urge to push is overwhelming. Dan stumbles into the hall looking for help where he encounters registration lady. She assures him that the monitors will let us know when it is time to push. Dan informs her that as I am in the shower, there are no monitors and she scampers off to find a nurse. Twenty minutes later the nurse ushers me back to a room, hooks me up to the monitors and tells me, "The midwife Clare is here would you like her to check you?" Hell yes we would like her to check me! She does and I have dilated to 8cm. Suddenly I'm being strapped to the bed and wheeled to the triage operating room where they begin the process of checking me into the hospital - that's right, I'm not even officially registered yet. As I am no longer capable of speech, except to occasionally proclaim, "I want an epidural," Dan answers their questions for me while the nurses start an IV. Then I'm being wheeled down hallways to the delivery room. There has not been time to administer an epidural, or any type of pain medication. I start to push. Strangely, the pushing is less painful than the contractions that got me this far. Dan stands beside me holding my hand and turning slightly pale. In 15 minutes, at 12:55 pm, Jack is born. He weighs 10 pounds 2 ounces. All told, labor took just under 6 hours. We spend the next 2 hours in the delivery room, Dan holding Jack and looking dazed and concerned, me being "repaired" and pummeled by the nurse and midwife. This may be the most painful part of the entire experience and I have to ask them to stop several times. Finally I'm moved to the maternity ward, Jack is taken to the nursery where he will stay for the next few hours. I'm unbelievably hungry, the nurses bring me cranberry juice and peanut butter crackers - by far the most delicious cranberry juice I have ever tasted. Too wired to sleep, I hang out with Dan and my Mom and Jack once he is brought back to us in the room. Dan will stay with me tonight but then has to teach his first class tomorrow. By the time we fall asleep at 9:00 it has been the longest and most surreal day of my life. Jack, my son, is here.
The doctors tell me that only 3% of babies are born on their due dates so already Jack is an unusual boy. I had my first contraction at 7:30am, by 8:00 they were only 4 minutes apart. Luckily I had a doctors appointment today anyway so we went in early. At 9:00 I was 1cm dilated and walked from the doctors office down the hall to the hospital. The woman at the check in desk was rather dismissive, when my Mom said she was going to call my Dad to let him know that he was going to be a Grandpa, registration lady sneered at her and said, "I wouldn't be so sure." I was taken back to the triage area and hooked up to a few monitors. Dan and I tried our best to do the breathing we had worked on, but by this point the contractions were pretty painful and frequent so our carefully choreographed pyramid breathing devolved into random panting and hand squeezing. The nurse told me I could walk around the halls for an hour or so but as I can barely stand at this point so I opt for the shower. I stand in the beige shower stall while Dan holds the hand-held shower head against my back and I contemplate pulling the emergency cord for the hundredth time. After half an hour or so the pain has gotten so intense that I feel like I'm blacking out between contractions and the urge to push is overwhelming. Dan stumbles into the hall looking for help where he encounters registration lady. She assures him that the monitors will let us know when it is time to push. Dan informs her that as I am in the shower, there are no monitors and she scampers off to find a nurse. Twenty minutes later the nurse ushers me back to a room, hooks me up to the monitors and tells me, "The midwife Clare is here would you like her to check you?" Hell yes we would like her to check me! She does and I have dilated to 8cm. Suddenly I'm being strapped to the bed and wheeled to the triage operating room where they begin the process of checking me into the hospital - that's right, I'm not even officially registered yet. As I am no longer capable of speech, except to occasionally proclaim, "I want an epidural," Dan answers their questions for me while the nurses start an IV. Then I'm being wheeled down hallways to the delivery room. There has not been time to administer an epidural, or any type of pain medication. I start to push. Strangely, the pushing is less painful than the contractions that got me this far. Dan stands beside me holding my hand and turning slightly pale. In 15 minutes, at 12:55 pm, Jack is born. He weighs 10 pounds 2 ounces. All told, labor took just under 6 hours. We spend the next 2 hours in the delivery room, Dan holding Jack and looking dazed and concerned, me being "repaired" and pummeled by the nurse and midwife. This may be the most painful part of the entire experience and I have to ask them to stop several times. Finally I'm moved to the maternity ward, Jack is taken to the nursery where he will stay for the next few hours. I'm unbelievably hungry, the nurses bring me cranberry juice and peanut butter crackers - by far the most delicious cranberry juice I have ever tasted. Too wired to sleep, I hang out with Dan and my Mom and Jack once he is brought back to us in the room. Dan will stay with me tonight but then has to teach his first class tomorrow. By the time we fall asleep at 9:00 it has been the longest and most surreal day of my life. Jack, my son, is here.
No comments:
Post a Comment