At our 39-week appointment, Dr. Pascuzzi informed my parents that, although he respected their wishes for a natural childbirth, he did not feel comfortable allowing the pregnancy to continue beyond 41 weeks. With apprehension, they agreed to an induction on July 27.
They decided to begin natural induction techniques the weekend of my due date. On July 18, they walked in the morning, they walked in the evening, and they pulled weeds in our front yard. Mommy drank two cups of Raspberry Leaf tea and began using Evening Primrose Oil. Tatie Monique and Mommy played Mario Kart until 11:30; and after she left, Mommy went to bed.
At 1 a.m., Mommy got up to use the bathroom, and when she lay back down, she had her first contraction. She had been worried that she wouldn’t recognize a true contraction when it came, but there was no mistaking it. She smiled to herself with a little excitement and settled back into the bed to try to fall back asleep.
Before she was able to fall asleep, however, she had another contraction. She thought that it was strange to have another contraction so soon, so she tried again to get some rest. At that point, they had to be coming every five minutes or so; so she got up and went to the kitchen to prepare a bowl of cereal and drink a glass of milk. She didn’t want to go walking at midnight, so she opted next to try the shower. Nothing provided any relief, so she finally went back to the bedroom to wake Daddy up about 1:45. She nudged him and said, “I think we are go,” but he barely moved. She nudged him a little harder, and he told her to go back to sleep. If they really were in labor, he reasoned, it would be a long day ahead of them. She told him that they were coming too fast for her to rest.
Daddy reluctantly got up. Mommy lay down in the side relaxation position and tried unsuccessfully to get comfortable. Daddy tried to keep her calm, got her water, and sat on the bed with her; but he did not begin timing her contractions.
After forty-five minutes or so, Mommy went to the bathroom, and her mucous plug came out. Mommy told Daddy to call Miss Deb, but he argued that it wasn’t really Mommy's mucous plug. He was in denial about what was really happening. Mommy got online and looked up pictures of mucous plugs to confirm what had happened; and She even left the mucous plug on the sink in case someone needed to see it later. Daddy finally called Miss Deb at 2:45.
Daddy told Miss Deb that the mucous plug had come out but there was no bloody show. Miss Deb thought this sounded promising and suggested some things to do to keep Mommy comfortable. Daddy also began timing contractions. As they started timing contractions, Daddy told Mommy that we must be doing something wrong. The contractions were lasting about a minute and coming every three minutes or less.
Daddy got Mommy out of bed to try to slow the labor, so they danced and Mommy labored on the birthing ball. Daddy drew a bath for her, and she lay down in the tub hoping to find some relief. It felt good to immerse herself almost completely into the water, with just her face above. She was so thirsty that she turned her head to the side and drank the bathwater… she didn’t even care at that point.
However, all Mommy wanted to do was be in bed. At the next bathroom visit, she noticed bloody show. By this point, she was in complete misery and almost unable to relax.
The contractions were coming very quickly. Mommy made Daddy call Miss Deb back. She was asking him questions about Mommy's labor, and rather than answer, he would then relay the question to her. Mommy vaguely remembers him asking about her contractions and her snapping, “I’m having one NOW.”
Around that time, Daddy told Miss Deb that there must be something wrong because my last contraction was a minute and forty seconds long and less than 3 minutes apart. It seemed as though she would have a strong contraction and then a weaker contraction. She was unable to relax at this point: she tried to avoid crying out by clapping her hands. The pain was unbearable, and she told Daddy she couldn’t do it any more.
Shortly thereafter, the contractions stopped, and Mommy was able to get out of bed. She went to the bathroom, got something to drink, and rested. Time seemed to stand still. Suddenly, waves of an indescribable sensation began to come over her body. As these contractions began to peak, Mommy felt an overwhelming urge to go to the bathroom. She went into the bathroom and labored on the toilet, in case she had an accident. Daddy stood in front of her and rubbed her back until each contraction passed; it felt so good to Mommy. She went back to the bedroom to see if she could resume the side relaxation position, but she couldn’t get comfortable.
Daddy then suggested that she take a shower; and it was there that it dawned on her. She was finally able to use the bathroom but got absolutely no relief. In fact, she thought to herself, “Perhaps I need to tuck my chin,” and she suddenly realized that she was trying to push the baby out. She told Daddy to call Miss Deb and that they needed to leave immediately.
All her plans for delivery day were gone. She did not make brownies for the nurses. She did not fix her hair. She did not put in her contact lenses. She did not finish packing. They got into the car and began the trip to the hospital. Thank goodness we were only a few minutes away! Daddy was speeding, of course, and all Mommy could do was yell at him to slow down. She was trying not to push in the car, but it was so difficult.
They pulled into the emergency room parking lot at 5:15 a.m., only 4 hours after beginning labor. Daddy was sure that Mommy was barely dilated and that we would be sent home, so he left the camera and all our personal items in the car with the exception of Mommy's pillow. Mommy sat down in the waiting area while Daddy spoke with the girl at the desk. As she had another contraction, the girl asked her if she could come over and sign some papers; she said no. The girl then offered to come over to Mommy. She slapped a signature and date on the form, and they were ready to go to the maternity ward. The girl told Mommy that she had to wait until they brought a wheelchair. She doesn’t really remember what happened next, but the girl said, “well, it’s procedure for you to be wheeled down there, but since you threatened me, I guess you can walk.”
The walk down the hallway from the emergency room to the women’s care center seemed never ending. She had two contractions as we went down the hall. She put her hands around Daddy's neck and pressed her back into the wall. A group of orderlies came by and asked if they could get her a wheelchair; She basically told them no and to go away.
When we finally made it to the maternity ward, the nurses were waiting to get her settled into the labor and delivery room. Daddy tried to explain to Barb, the nurse on duty, what her symptoms were as she went into the bathroom to have a contraction on the toilet. Barb asked if Mommy wanted to put on a robe or wear her own clothes, but they asked for an immediate cervical exam instead. Imagine their surprise when she told us that we were “complete.” Daddy looked at Mommy and said, “I guess I need to start making some phone calls.”
Barb called out, “I need a table and Dr. Pascuzzi!” Another nurse asked when we needed the doctor, and Barb yelled “NOW.” She asked if she could give Mommy an IV, but she asked for the hep lock instead. Then Barb positioned the external fetal monitor to get a reading on me. As soon as the hep lock and fetal monitor were in place, Barb told Mommy she could start pushing. However, she wanted to wait for Miss Deb and Dr. Pascuzzi to show up and fought the urge to push for a little longer.
Miss Deb and the doctor arrived around 5:40 a.m. Dr. Pascuzzi checked on me and then went to go get his coffee, and Mommy began pushing. Even though it felt so good to be finally able to push, she couldn’t remember what she was supposed to do. She forgot to grab her legs and had a tendency to raise her arms above her head; Daddy and Miss Deb kept reminding her to keep them down. Then, after having held her breath through the pushing contractions, she breathed too rapidly afterwards and was given an oxygen mask. Miss Deb asked if Mommy wanted to change positions, but she did not want to get off her back.
When Dr. Pascuzzi came back, we had made some progress, but my heart rate was not recovering quick enough after contractions. It was holding in the 80s. Mommy heard Dr. Pascuzzi say, “there comes a time when I will choose to intervene, and the time is coming soon.” Thinking that he was talking about a c-section, she put pushing into overdrive, pushing beyond what she thought possible.
Even though Mommy and Daddy had hoped to avoid an episiotomy, Dr. Pascuzzi told Mommy that if he made two snips, I would come out the
next push. Mommy remembers mumbling for him not to make promises in case it wasn’t really the next push. He used some local anesthetic before making the cut. In the background, Mommy heard Dr. Pascuzzi explain that after the head was out, Miss Deb and Daddy would need to move aside so that the nurses could push me out; and before I knew it, that’s what happened. Mommy pushed, she felt warmth as my head passed through, she had some realization that the nurses were on either side of her pushing, and then I was out and placed on her chest at 6:10 a.m.
They began administering pitocin through Mommy's hep lock to help start uterine contractions and stop bleeding. Since I had made it through medication free, Mommy felt it was okay to have drugs now.
Daddy cut my umbilical cord, and Mommy looked down at the most beautiful baby Mommy had ever seen. We had no camera in the delivery room, so someone went to go get Memaw to take some pictures. Meanwhile, the nurse put the drops in my eyes, gave me a vitamin shot, and took my temperature. I took all of this extremely well until it was time to get my footprints, and then I screamed my head off.
After only a few minutes, Dr. Pascuzzi told Mommy to give one more push, and the placenta was delivered. Happily, she never saw it at all.
It seemed like forever and yet just a few minutes when they came to take me away to the nursery. Daddy went to watch over me during all the newborn procedures; and Miss Deb sat with Mommy as she marveled in the wonder that was our 5 hour birth. Mommy finally had the time to fill out the hospital paperwork that she normally would have completed beforehand; and she was very anxious to see me again. As soon as she was able, she got up and walked to the bathroom with the aid of the nurse. After successfully going to the bathroom on her own, she asked to be moved into her recovery room, which they had not even had time to prepare. Like a champion, she refused the wheelchair and walked to our room where my entire family was waiting to welcome us!
