Monday, August 04, 2008

Birth Stories

Guys...you may want to skip this one.

Any Mommy Out There posted a birthing story and challenged her readers to post their own in her comments. I just posted a comment about how great her story was and how much I enjoyed reading her blog, blah, blah, the usual (she's a great writer by the way).

and.she.emailed.me.wanting.me.to.tell.my.story.

I love telling my birth story, I love hearing other birth stories. Funny L&D Nurse (who has not posted in a long long time) collected birth stories from her readers and posted them. It's how I e-met (is that a word) Sitting in Silence. She had posted a birth story there and I responded and well the rest is history -- now I, and the rest of my real world neighborhood are trying to get her to move here. Birth stories were the reason I wanted to be a L&D nurse. I think it would be so awesome to be in the presence of a miracle like that on a daily basis. To encourage, help, love on a woman in her most vulnerable, yet most courageous strong moments. Alas, my clinical experience in the L&D department made me realize that L&D nurses are (for the most part) not like that. What they seemed to do was sit on the labor deck, complain and gossip, watch the monitors and go jump in the room when the laboring woman was about to 'blow'. Not how I envisioned my new mid-life career going. This turned out to be quite the long preamble to my birth stories...here you go.

Jake:

Three weeks before my due date I went in for another ultra-sound. Jake, and we knew he was Jake at that point, was measuring big. Thankfully we went because that ultrasound showed that my amniotic fluid was dangerously low and he was breech. The radiologist left the room and I looked at Jason and said, looks like a C-section today or tomorrow. He, in his - Oh my goodness my wife is getting hysterical and she's coming to conclusions with out the facts - voice tells me to calm down (by the way, I just made the statement, I wasn't crying, upset or anything that would indicate I was somehow freaking out). We head over to the OB and in the car he calls his office to put in his breakfast order for the next day's breakfast meeting -- after all we have THREE MORE WEEKS. I, calmly, tell him it made me nervous that he was planning on going to work the next day, as I didn't think he was going to make it. He rolled his eyes at me. We get to the OB office and he jokingly says to the nurse, "Oh my gosh, Tracey is freaking out, she thinks we're going to have this baby now" The nurse replies, "yeah, as soon as we heard about the breech and low amniotic fluid we booked an OR, you'll be having this baby tomorrow at 8am).

Jason turned ashen white and had to sit down, muttering something about three more weeks and he wasn't ready...who's freaking out now buddy.

I had horrible morningdaynight sickness the entire 8.25 months AND I couldn't eat for 12 hours prior to the surgery so I was not feeling very well. They gave me the spinal, laid me down flat on my back and I told anyone who would listen I was going to get sick. They hand Jason that ridiculous little kidney shaped bowl and the doctors and nurses all stepped back, I turned to the side and threw up. Good thing Jason was in scrubs, because nothing got in that bowl. I laid back down, told all who would listen I was feeling better and they proceeded. Jason, bless his heart, didn't complain, just took my hand and was there for me. They opened me up, pulled out Jake, bottom first but then his head got stuck. I could feel them tugging and pulling and discussing whether they should cut some more, then I heard a POP, kind of like when you put your finger on the inside of your mouth and flick it...that kind of popping noise, and he was out.

But he wasn't crying. He wasn't moving. And he was a very strange shade of blue.

No one said anything.

The pediatric crew scooped him up, took him and revived him. It seemed like an eternity but I think it was only a couple of minutes later we heard a cry. There was a collective sigh of relief. My doctors proceeded to sew me back up. The Peds guys let me take a quick peek at Jake and they whisked him away for some O2 therapy. Five hours later I was holding him in my arms, close to my heart and was in complete awe.

I think if you could bottle that feeling of when you first meet your baby you could make millions.

I'll post Isaac's story later -- I have to take the kiddos to school......How quickly they grow.

9 comments:

Rock Chef said...

I always hated that stomach churning pause between birth and the first cry - I can't imagine how it must have been to wait a couple of minutes.

I think our hardest (and quickest) was my son who kept disengaging and going to sleep. In the end we had 2 midwives, one standing over my wife pushing the baby's bum and the other waiting to catch his head and guide it out, pausing only to cut the chord that had got wrapped around the baby's neck. We were given a choice of that or go home!

anymommy said...

Oh, well done!! (On the birth AND the story writing.) I loved it. The 'who's freaking out now' line cracked me up. And, omigosh yes, if you could bottle that feeling you would be a billionare, probably rule the world too. Thank you so much for indulging me.

ohn said...

I have three entirely different stories. I think I may write about them one of these days, they are entertaining to say the least!

Sitting In Silence said...

TZ...I so remember.....I used to love that blog, but I had to take it off my list as it would freeze my whole PC...I had someone look into it and they thought it may have been some advertising she had on her sight that was trying to access my ports....
I have not been back but she sure was a wonderful read....

I might even try to go back and see if the same problem is still around.

On another note...thanks for sharing your birth story...I love reading them....
x

Sitting In Silence said...

Hang on...I just checked out that link...the site I wrote my birth story on was from pad and panty..OMG I cant believe I just wrote that...that's the site that I have trouble accessing..

Anyway...I am a bit excited about finding a new blog, so am off to read it

xoxo

Aimee said...

My birthing stories are so boring except about 20 minutes in each, I'll have to write about them for posterity.

Jenelle said...

Such a man. You get the hard time for freaking out and it is really him who was doing the hyperventilating.

I had AMAZING L&D nurses. Oddly enough they were both pregnant. Our first was a bit difficult delivery and had it been the old-bitty nurse from earlier in the day I would have ended up with a c-section. As it was she forgot to order my epideral when I asked for it. God provided with a shift change.

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful (and scary) story! I'm so glad there was a happy ending!

You had me cracking up over the kidney shaped bowl. I always wonder how those things are supposed to be helpful in the least!

Teresa said...

Ah yah, the kidney shaped bowl has met my mouth in labor many a times. I have a VERY GOOD friend who once held it for me. I'm not sure I could have done that for anyone. She gets my kids when I die. Not sure if that's a good way to repay someone for that or not but...

Thanks for sharing your story! I love a good birth story too. I posted mine a long time ago on my other blog that has since been deleted.