Well… it has taken me exactly 18 months to write my son’s birth story. Better late then never right? My due date was February 19, 2010. When the date had gone and past, I was pretty upset. I wanted my little bundle of joy to make his grand debut. I was also sick-and-tired of being pregnant. Dr. Larsen kept telling me that I could go into labor any time. I had been experiencing Braxton Hick’s Contractions for weeks off and on and sometimes they would last for hours. At my 41-week check-up I had my membranes stripped (the first attempt of stripping my membranes at my 40-week check-up was an epic fail,) and “Bump’s” heart rate was monitored for thirty minutes. Dr. Larsen told me that the baby’s heart sound great but he wanted an ultra sound done to check my fluid amount and to see what position the baby was in. Before leaving to the hospital we discussed that on Monday morning (if I had yet to go into labor on my own) that I would be induced. He hoped that I wouldn’t go into labor over the weekend because 1.) He was out of town for a romantic get away with his wife and 2.) Labor and Delivery was going to be busy with thirty patients having their babies.
Trev and I made our way across the street to Saint Peter’s Hospital. We got checked in and waited in the waiting room for the ultrasound technician. Just in case, we kept both of our bags and the babies diaper bag in the car. I was feeling antsy as we waited for over an hour. When she finally came to get us it was almost eleven o’clock in the morning and I had to pee like a racehorse but couldn’t because she needed my bladder to be full. I got settled on the table and couldn’t help but smile when she asked us if we knew the gender of the baby. She was the same technician that had told us at our 17-week check-up that she was 75% sure that we were having a boy. She asked us if we wanted to know the gender for sure this time and we said yes. While on the table I was starting to have contracts but I ignored them and let her do her job. When she finished what she needed to do she asked us to wait in the waiting room and she would call Dr. Larsen to see if he wanted us to come back to his office or go home. We waited… and waited… and waited. We waited for a whole hour until a nurse came over and told us that we needed to go the Labor and Delivery now. Trev and I looked at each other and started walking to L & D without any questions. We had no idea what was going on. Thankfully, I had taken care of the hospital registration in January and all we needed to do was get checked in. We headed into Exam Room 2 and waited for one of the nurses. We still had no idea what was going on and neither did the nurses. Trev left to go outside and call Betsy to let her know that we were in Labor and Delivery and that she should come as soon as possible. My contractions were starting to get a little more intense; I was more worried as to why we were sent to L&D in the first place. I didn’t get an explanation until an hour later when Dr. Larsen called to tell the nurses that I had 1 centimeter of fluid and that I was going to be induced tonight. Panic started to sink in. My doctor wasn’t going to be there to deliver my baby! Thankfully he assured me that I was in good hands with his colleague. I had Trevor call my sister Sheila so she could make arrangements to head up to Olympia and to call Randy who was down in Portland for a recruitment event for the college.
Around four o’clock I was moved from the exam room into one of the delivery rooms. I somehow magically persuaded Dr. Larsen’s colleague (I can’t remember his name now) to let me eat. I was starving and seeing as I wasn’t going to be given any pitocin until later that night he didn’t see a problem with me having something to eat. I ordered the most delicious salmon fettuccine and gobbled the entire plate up. It was yummy.
By ten o’clock I was in labor and the pain was horrible. Every time I had a contraction it wrap from my stomach all the way around my back. Because they needed to monitor the baby, I had to be lying down and let me assure you, I did not want to lie down! I wanted to stand up or lean over the bed because it eased some of the pain. I had experienced pain before, but never to this extent. Noting compares to it. I’ll take a 65 mph fastpitch to wrist again over labor any day. I kept telling Trev that I wanted to rip my spine out or cut of one of my limbs cause it would distract me from all the pain by causing pain somewhere else. I was dead serious. All I felt was pressure from his head lowering into the birth canal and every time I had a contraction the pain in my lower back got worse and worse. The nurse had to give me medication so I could get some sleep but it made me super nauseous. I ended up purging salmon fettuccini all over the floor! Gross…
amnioinfusion. For those of you who do not know what an amnioinfusion is, it is where they pump fluid into the amniotic cavity through a long tube that has been entered transcervically and goes into the uterus.
All I remember is that time went by really, really, and I mean really slowly. I remember just staring at the T.V. (can’t even remember what was on) while Trevor tried to rest on the other side of the room. Around four the nurses rushed in, followed by my doctor. They changed my position, told me to remain on my left side. I don’t know how many times they had to do this… laying on my left side was soOo uncomfortable. The baby was in distress from labor and his heart rate kept doing a bowl affect that concerned them. Eventually they decided to do a Cesarean Section to delivery him quickly and safely.
I had never had surgery before and all I remember thinking was that I was scared shitless but that I was in good hands if anything was to go wrong. I vomited up whatever they had given me before the surgery and I remember feeling sad and helpless because my heart was set on a vaginal delivery and I wasn't going to get that. =(
They prepped my for surgery (which felt like forever) until they let Trevor come into the room. I remember them asking me lots and lots of question but I was so out of it due to fatigue and all the anesthesia they had given me that I could barely even answer. I just remember telling Trev that I couldn't wait to meet the little person that had been kicking me for 9 months! I could feel them tugging and pulling, which creped me out because they were touching my insides! The Anesthesiologist ended up giving me morphine to calm me down a bit. It worked of course.
Ten minutes after my surgery had started Amari James Durant was born at 5:51 p.m. at Saint Peter’s Hospital in Olympia. He weighed 8 pounds, 13 ounces and was 21 inches long. He was absolutely beautiful with all his raven hair and cute little birthmark the size of a beauty mark on his right foot. Trevor was right when he told me he was gorgeous. He was the most beautiful boy that I had ever laid eyes on and I loved him instantly.
Amari James Durant
10 minutes old.
Exhausted Mommy & son.
<3 <3 <3
Our family of three.
=D
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