The Birth Story (The Middle)

If you haven't seen it yet, you may want to start with The Beginning

After being kicked out of the OB's office we were on our way to the hospital with directions to "Go to the hospital, go directly to the hospital, do not stop at check out and chit chat - go NOW!", we headed off to find breakfast. What? Hubs was hungry & I didn't want to hear him whine about it all day. I figured it would only mean 20 minute delay for him go to Chick-Fil-A, drive through for some food & head on to the hospital. Given the state of my every-4-minute-contractions it would only really amount to about 5 extra contractions and wasn't that worth NOT hearing "I'm hungry, I'm starving, I want food, how long is this going to take I'm hungry all ready" for the next 6 hours before my delivery. 5 contractions or a life conviction for murdering my husband. I picked the lesser of the two evils. Besides, I was in no big hurry to get the IV's started.

By the time we got to the hospital (around 9:30am) to check in I was starting to feel the pain. BTW: VERY different from the first kid. I didn't make it 4cm with her without screaming for an epidural. I was hurting with the Newbie, but nothing I couldn't focus & breathe through. Anyway. Turns out I was Number 12 for check-in that day & there were another 4 scheduled to come behind me. I was number 7 on the c-section list, unless I was bumped by an emergency. They were only on number 2 in surgery at that point. It was going to be a while. We settled in, only to quickly realize that there were no good seating options for Hubs, he was on caffeine withdrawal, and my contractions were starting to ramp up on the pain scale. Quickly. Over the next hour we met several nurses who seemed to be trading off patients as different deliveries began progressing ... we quickly realized that they were short staffed for the large influx of girls who decided to go into labor that day. By the time the anesthesiologist came in I was begging for drugs, sooner rather than later, as these contractions were getting a bit more insistent on working. I could see his eyes darting back and forth to the baby's heart monitor as I was requesting the sweet nectar of a Stadol (morphine, crack, anything would have worked at that point). He left us in peace with a pat on my foot, promising to find something to ease my pain soon.

Twenty minutes later a nurse blew in stating that we were getting this baby out NOW! and throwing a set of scrubs at Hubs' head. He was to change & follow the delivery train quickly. In retrospect I can now see that she thought we were informed as to a major development, while in truth, we were riding blind to the fact that the baby's heart rate was fluctuating wildly with each contraction. The nurse who set up the heart monitor turned the volume down while she was going through her "Welcome to the hospital" procedure, she didn't turn it up again afterward and I never thought to do so. The monitors were sitting behind my head so Hubs and I never gave them a second thought. The nurses on duty at the front desk noted the problem and called my Dr who placed me at the top of the delivery line & sprinted across the street to start my surgery. Just looking back and thinking about those moments causes me chest pains, I can only thank God that we didn't know - and that the nurses did.

I was rushed into surgery and was given my spinal while multiple people ran around prepping the OR suite, Hubs stood outside waiting to be ushered in. I was trying to crack jokes and stay calm, all the while knowing a large needle was being pushed into my spine ... I never question the beauty of an epidural or spinal until THE MOMENT it happens, at which point I almost chicken out, but then the pain reminds me that relief is worth the momentary fear! Within just 3 minutes I was ready to go, Hubs was in the room and the Doctor was flying in with his gown open and flapping behind him. The nurses were rushing to wrap him up as he was testing my spinal and telling me that the baby was ready to go Right. Now. Still, we were in the dark, everyone thinking that someone else had told us she was in trouble. They must have thought we were uncaring pricks for cracking jokes while our daughter was in danger. Hubs and I shared a moment of "I love you's" and "OhmyGod how fast do they do this?!" just before we heard the Doctor saying that he was almost there, he had her in his hand & she was out - I took my first deep breath in 9 months when she let out her first scream, followed by the doctor's words "hold on, she's wrapped in the cord" and the nurse saying the cord was around her neck. I stopped breathing. They rushed her to the isolet to check her and Hubs went to follow, while I obviously had to stay behind.

We were able to see our sweet new daughter for just a few moments and then she was rushed off to the nursery ... again, everyone thought that someone else had told us why.