Sam's Birth Story

It all started out on Sunday evening November 26th. We had had such a normal day that if you had told me that morning I would be going into labor I would have laughed at you!! We went out to breakfast with my parents, I went grocery shopping, and that afternoon I sent Jeff out of the house to get some “without children” time. That turned out to be fortunate! I spent some time alone with the boys and then we headed over to my parent’s house for our weekly family dinner. I didn’t feel too hungry, which I guess was a sign, and luckily didn’t eat too much. I wasn’t even really having any contractions, which was strange because I had been having terrible ones for weeks. Anyway, I got home, gave Charlie a bath, and put the boys to bed. I took a shower, and sat down on the couch next to Jeff for what I thought would be a little bit before turning in early for work the next morning. As soon as I sat down, I had a pretty good contraction, but that wasn’t unusual, so I ignored it. We watched Days of Our Lives (on Soapnet) and I noticed that they weren’t going away. Still not unusual, but I started timing them for the heck of it, and they were six minutes apart. I got up to use the bathroom to see if they would stop, and when I sat down they got worse. I decided not to go to bed yet, and see what happened. By halfway through the second espisode, I was curled up next to Jeff having to breathe through them. By then I was starting to get a little nervous, because this was not in my game plan for the week! Jeff suggested I go lay down and try to get some sleep, since this had made them stop in the past. So, I laid down, and then they went to every 4 minutes, and got a bit stronger. Jeff convinced me to call the doctor at 11:30, who suggested I go in to the hospital to be monitored for an hour. Me, being the stubborn person I am, thought, I am not going into the hospital until I am sure I am not going to be sent home!!! So, I sent Jeff to bed and went into the living room to walk around to see what would happen. By 12:30 I had to sit down through them, and I finally called my parents and said “I think it’s time!!” (The first time I have had the opportunity to say this!) They rushed over, Jeff and I threw stuff in our hospital bag, which I stupidly had still not packed, and then I sat down on the couch and cried. Partly from pain, but a lot from nerves. My parents arrived at 1:15, and my dad stayed at the house with the boys while they slept and Jeff and my Mom and I headed for the hospital. Jeff is the most careful driver I know, and on the way he even went past the speed limit and turned left on a red arrow. He must have been nervous too. We got all checked into the hospital through the emergency entrance and then they put me on the monitors. They had to work for about an hour and a half to get my IV started. They said I have crooked veins, which apparently makes things really difficult. They tried 6 different times, and each time they blew the vein out (painful!) so they finally called the house supervisor. She was pretty cocky, but at least she got my IV started. When I got to the hospital I was at 7 cm dialated, but Sam’s head was still really posterior. We found out later that this was because he was being cushioned by a large pocket of amniotic fluid, and he couldn’t move down. They decided to keep me since I was so far dialated, but I don’t think I believed them until I was actually pushing. I remember asking over and over again if they were going to send me home. Because Sam was still so high up, he was able to move around quite a bit, and wouldn’t stay on the heart monitor (they need to monitor the baby’s heartbeat for 20 minutes out of every hour). So, I only got to walk around for about 40 minutes with my mom in the hallway from about 4:00-4:40. I feel so much better standing up in labor, so this was hard for me. I had to stay in bed the rest of the time so they could fiddle with the monitor. Most of the time a nurse had to hold it in the right spot. At 7:00 the doctor on call came in to check me and I was then dialated to 9 cm, but Sam’s head hadn’t come down any, and the contractions weren’t as strong as when I had first come in. He also told me that my regular OB was off for the day, and that Dr. Eric Shulte would be delivering Sam. I was so disappointed! When I heard his head hadn’t come down any, I got really scared, because I am terrified of having a c-section. I asked for pitocin to help with contractions, and then I asked for the epidural. I knew it wouldn’t get any better until I had some pain relief down there. His head was so high, I couldn’t even stand for them to break my water. I had my mom call Christi about then. I hadn’t wanted to wake anyone up during the middle of the night. Poor Jeff was just exhausted. Neither of us had gotten any sleep that night. The epidural was probably the worst part. By this time, I was feeling pretty frustrated, since so many things had been like a comedy of errors. Jeff got me through them putting in the needle. I really cried for this part, and thank goodness I have an all star husband. He is such a rock for delivery. As soon as it took effect, they broke my water, and thankfully his head starting moving down right away. I had talked with the anesthesiologist about my extreme sensitivity to epidural’s, but as usual, he didn’t believe me and insisted on giving me the regular dose. So, about 45 minutes after it started, my blood pressure dropped really low, and I started feeling like I was going to pass out. Luckily Christi arrived about then, and I felt so much better just knowing she was there. It was so great to talk to her and distract myself, which helped a lot since my blood pressure dropped three different times causing me to vomit, and for them to need to give me a medication that increased my hear rate. Finally the dumb doctor believed me, and he turned it down to the lowest dose possible. This turned out to be fantastic. I wish I had had an epidural like this each time. It was just enough to cut out a lot of the pain, but I was still feeling everything, and I was still in control. By 10:45, I was ready to push. The nurse had me do 2 practice pushes, and she realized he was going to come fast, so she called the doctor, but he was finishing with a patient, so I had to breathe through about 4 or 5 contractions before he arrived without pushing. This was SOOO hard to do!!! I had this incredible need to push and everyone was telling me to wait. Argh! Luckily, once again Jeff was my rock, and got me through it. As soon as the doctor slid in, 6 pushes and Sam was out. It was a little surreal for me, as there was this metallic panel in the ceiling above my bed, which had something to do with the lights, but reflected everything to me like a mirror. I was able to see everything, and I’ve never wanted to watch before. It was really neat though. Sam’s head is perfectly round, so that part was tough, but it was so neat to see him being brought into the world. They put him on my chest as soon as he was born, and I finally knew that this little boy would steal my heart just like my other two. I think I said something dumb like “I DO like him!!” I had been so worried I wouldn’t. I did have to get the episiotomy to get his head through, but otherwise, no tearing or anything. Another special part of Sam’s birth was that Evan was here for this one. He came with my dad at about 8:00, and he was so sweet! He couched me through the whole thing, and kept saying “You’re doing such a good job Mom! Here he comes!” Afterwards, he stood next to my bed and gave me a kiss and said “He’s just beautiful Mom!” What a sweet child. I will always remember Jeff and Evan standing next to Sam in the baby warmer looking at the newest member of our family. I love my boys so much!