The Birth of Matthew

It took me awhile to commit to writing this post. I didn't want to be all negative nelly scare the crap out of everyone. I also didn't want to relive everything so quickly. I needed space to make it seem not so bad so that maybe in a few years I will do it again. I honestly miss being pregnant. And this amazing little boy is fabulous. I can't imagine not trying to create another amazing baby so he has someone to grow up with and has a family.

On April 4th, we awoke in the wee hours of the morning to pack up the car, take the dogs out and head to the hospital. I was scared to death. We arrived at 6am to be induced. I had been having some contractions and pressure but was only 80% effaced and no dialation.

We had to wait about an hour before they took us to our room and started the preperations. By 10 am I had my IV's, monitors hooked up and Cervidril was administered. So now it was a waiting game. My contractions picked up and came evenly about 5 minutes apart all day but they were barable. After 12 hours, I was still not dilated but they felt I was more effaced and decided to go with Pitocin.

The contractions picked up intensity and were every 2 to 3 minutes but still pretty barable. However, by 6 pm the next day (tuesday the 5th) I was still not dilated any further. My Dr. (Dr. M) who was on duty decided to stop the Pitocin and do a round of Cytotech which is what he would have done in the beginning had he been there. So we took a 2 hour break and I was finally able to eat and wash up and stretch my legs. After two days of Pepsi and Orange Popcicles, that 6" subway sandwich was the best thing on earth. I wanted to eat a 12".

The nurse also switched my very painful IV to the other hand. The first dose of Cytotech went in at 8. Second dose a little after midnight. That was probably the most restful night we had in the hospital. I was by this point, swollen from the multiple bags of fluid they were pumping in to me, my back was aching from the uncomfortable bed and contractions but that night they let me go without the fluid bags and I managed a little sleep.

At 4a.m. I started having bad cramps that woke me up. I tried to doze through them but they were getting increasingly worse. At 4:30a.m. one hit me really hard and I decided to get up and pee. As soon as I sat up I felt a dribble and didn't think I would make it to the bathroom. When I stood up I felt wetness run down my leg and I thought I was peeing on myself but I stared at the clear water around my foot in the dim light and thought ...hmmmm. I made it into the bathroom before my water completely broke but I did leave a nice water trail across the room and a nice large puddle on the bathroom floor. I have to admit, it scared me. I was dazed from sleep, and as soon as I sat on the toilet contractions started coming hard and fast. I yelled for DH. He woke up and ran for a nurse. Everything happened so fast right in there but yet it was the longest day of my life.

They hooked me back up, checked me, and I had finally dilated to a one. The contractions were so hard that they didn't need to administer Pitocin. I was in full blown labor. I got the Epidural by 6a.m. The epidural was no picnic. Don't let people lie to you. It hurts for a few minutes but is much better then the contractions. The numbing is very disconcerting. That was the hardest part for me. Feeling my legs like dead tree stumps and not being able to move them. Trying to roll over or move at all was horrible because I couldn't do it myself. From there, everything stood still. I couldn't feel the pain anymore so the day drug by with little improvement. I was checked repeatedly through the day but made little progress. By 9 or so I was 4cm dilated. By 2pm? Still 4cm dilated. By 6pm? Still 4 cm dilated and they started talking csection.

I cried. I wanted to avoid that at all possible costs but I was on my third day. My water had been broken for over 12 hours AND I had had an EPI for that long as well. I knew in my heart, I didnt have a choice. My bloodpressure had been dropping and they were dosing me with meds to get it back up. My body was exhausted. I cried harder than I've ever cried in my life. By 9pm my husband had finally convinced me to say yes even though the staff had already determined I was getting a c-section anyway.

The anesthesia team came in and gave me the meds for the csection through the Epi. As they were fixing to transfer me to the bed to go to the OR a call came in. They had an emergency and needed the OR and anesthesia team so they didn't lose a baby. My baby was fine and under no distress so I got bumped.

An hour later my entire EPI had worn off and I was screaming in pain. Another hour after that, the anesthesia team came back in and dosed me up. Things finally started to fly. I was half concious. I was so tired at this point that I was barely there. I remember my husband in his "bunny suit" ready to go to the OR. I remember my mom and sister and dad being there and taking pictures.

I remember being scared as they moved me from table to table to table because I had no control of my body at all. My husband came in and stroked my head and held my hand. I was scared but calm. My nurses were awesome and we talked about retail therapy. There was a ton of pressure. I said OW even though it felt more wierd than painful.

At 3:32a.m. April 7th, I heard them say "call time....3:32" and then I heard the most wonderful sound in the world. My baby's cry. I couldn't see him but my husband gripped my hand. They asked my husband if he wanted to cut the cord but he said he wanted to stay with me.

When they finished weighing him and cleaning him up they brought him to me and laid him next to my head. 7lbs 3 ounces, 20 inches long. I was able to kiss him, (snot all over him with my tears) and touch his face. He was the most amazing beautiful thing I had ever seen. They handed him to my husband and he sat with me and held our son for the next hour. I faded for a little a bit towards the end. (blood pressure and meds as I learned later I had started bleeding out and my blood pressure tanked, they drugged me up).

I do remember them tranferring me to another bed and rolling down the hall with my husband following me pushing the baby. I was wheeled into recovery and they wanted to take the baby to the nursery so I sent my husband with him.

As I lay in the room, I kept drifting off and everytime I did the alarm would wake me up because I would quit breathing and my blood oxygen levels would go to 0. They finally put an oxygen tube on me. About 30 minutes later my husband came back. He had left the baby in the nursery with my mom standing guard outside the window crying her eyes out.

As we talked I became more alert and my blood oxygen levels improved so they finally sent me to our room and wheeled my little boy in shortly after. Finally, our little family was together and alone. It was now 7a.m. and the sun was shining in our window. I had lost all since of time.


They told me that my recovery would be harder than normal because I had labored so long and that I would never be able to have a vaginal birth and if I want to have another baby they recommend a scheduled csection. I wasn't quite prepared for the recovery of a csection but that's another post for another day. This post is simply about the hard 4 day road we traveled to bring the most amazing little boy in the world out for everyone to meet.

He's beautiful and perfect and as hard as it was, I would do it all over again the same way just to see his face.