Friday, December 17, 2010

Mateo. The (unabridged) Birth Story.

This is a long post, but I don't want to forget any more details about the wonderful arrival of our first son.

Mateo Jacob was supposed to arrive on October 23rd. Almost a whole week had gone by and there was no sign of him desiring to meet his parents. On Oct. 28th I went to the doctor and was 1 cm. dilated (the same as the week before). I was convinced that baby would not come on his/her own, and I would have to wait until Nov. 5th to see if baby was boy or girl. But baby had other plans...

Dave and I went to sleep around 10 pm, after doing our Bradley exercises and hoping we'd get to meet our baby soon. At 1:15 am I woke up wanting to go to the bathroom, only to find out that my water had broken. When you read the books they say you may confuse the breaking of water with other bodily function... I had no doubts that it was my water breaking. I yelled at Dave from the bathroom: "My water broke!" To which he responded: "Hmm?" (and back to sleep he went). "Dave! The baby is coming!" I said. To which he responded by jumping out of the bed and calling the on-call doctor. The doctor told us to go to the hospital, but not to rush since it'd be a while before we'd get to see baby. We changed (I had to do it twice), got our things ready, got in the van, and to Holy Cross we drove. We arrived at 2:30 am.

By the time they took all my information I had no water left in me and my belly was half the size it had been for the last few weeks! Once the admission nurse saw my (wet) outfit she told me they'd get me a room right away. When all was set and done, it was 4:30 am before I was in my (lovely and fashionable) delivery gown in my own room. Our "plan" was to avoid drugs at all possible and work together to bring baby into this world. I had the best coach (Dave) and the best assistant coach (Jess Marc). Dave and I walked around the hospital aisles in hopes that gravity would do its job and push baby down. Unfortunately we couldn't do that much because baby's heart rate decreased after a 20 minute walk. Although I was having some light contractions, there was still no progress or signs of the doctor rushing in to see me. In fact the doctor (not the one I'd seen during the pregnancy) came in at 9:30 am to see me.

After checking me, Dr. Kator told me that I was (ta-da!) 1 cm. dilated! Yes. That's right. I had not progressed at all after 8 hours of my water being broken! So, the dreaded words came: We'll give you Pitocin. Things moved along and I started to have stronger contractions. Dave and Jess were amazing in getting me through them. At one point my mom said: "I thought those classes (Bradley) were a waste of time, but it does seem to help!" It sure did. By 11:30 I was at 2 cm. Yup. Pretty slow. But it was (some) progress.

And now for the part that my husband and mother absolutely hated. I got two strong contractions that caused me to get sick to my stomach. Puaj. After that, Dr. K. told me that the baby's heart rate went from 152 to 80-something. If that were to happen again I'd have to get a C-section with full anesthesia. So, given the choice (not really a choice actually) I got the epidural. I was a bit dissapointed about having to go against "my plans." But I knew that this was not about my plans but what was best for baby S. I have to admit that it was nice not having to suffer through every contraction, even sleeping for a little while since my labor continued to be long. It was not until 9 pm that I was ready to push. I told the doctor that I was ready to push, and she told me to "practice" a few times. I did and she commended me on my pushes abilities, but told me I would not push "for real" for a while. Mmm, thanks Doc! Here is the ONE thing you can do to stop the discomfort (aka pain) and she tells me not to do it!? So, I labored for the next two hours or so (I don't know what happened to the epi by that time) and called (read screamed) for the doctor, nurse, anyone! They both came a few times and told me "No, not yet." Are you kidding me? By then I could feel pretty much everything (I think, though I don't have anything to compare it to) and I knew I HAD to push! Sooo, by 11:30pm the doctor came and started to get ready for baby's arrival. Yay!! Well, not really yay, since Baby S. did not make his appearance until 1:05 am. I pushed A LOT. At some point they were very much ready to take me into the OR for a C-section and I got energy from I-don't-know-where (read God's grace) and pushed some more. Finally, Baby S. (a boy!) made his entrance.

Since he had been in the birth canal for a long time and with no water for almost 24 hours, there was a team of doctors waiting on the side to care for him. He did need the help since his cord was wrapped around his neck twice and had swallowed mecomiun (yuk!). Since I had just been pushing for almost two hours and was extremely relieved not to be in pain any longer, I did not know much of what was going on. I did know that they had not placed Mateo on my chest (like on the TV shows) and that Dr. K. was very quick in handing him over to the doctors on the side of the room. That and the fact that Dave started to pray "Lord, You are good, please help our child!" over and over again. As it turns out Mateo's first APGAR score was a 1 and he needed to be resuscitated. By God's grace, he was fine after the doctors put some tubes down his little throat and his 5 minute APGAR was 8. All this was harder on Dave than on me since he was the one who saw Mateo come out with the cord around his neck and not showing any "newborn signs." It was not until later on that morning that I realized all that had taken place. I am so grateful that God protected our little baby and that he is doing great, growing, and developing.

So, that was the story of Mateo's birth. I'm glad I got around to putting into writing before he turns 18! He is almost 3 months now and is such a blessing in our lives! Here are also some pictures from the day he was born. I looked REALLY rough before and after he was born (no glowing, new mom look here), but hey, that is part of the deal!

Jess and I smiling (I think before the epi!)

Dave and I. He was the BEST coach!

Mateo out! He was so tiny!

Like I've said I looked ROUGH! But, oh so happy!

One of my favorite pics.

Mateo getting acquainted with his dad.

Ready to go home.

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