Daniel’s Birth Story*

*I will keep it as PG as I can. And it is long…

Now that I have time to think, mainly because I’m in a single hotel room where Daniel is sleeping in a dark corner which means I can’t go anywhere, it’s time to put into words Daniel’s birth story.  Yet again, I’m inspired to do so because of my friend Stacy who just had her baby boy and has managed to write hers down one week later.  She’s a rock star of a mom and has a very good point that the story will be forgotten the longer I wait. 

One other thing, I really need to make it clear that I had not yet decided Daniel was going to be his name.  I had to see him first to make any decision, but as he is here now, it is just easier to call him by his name.  So here it goes…

A few weeks leading up to Daniel’s due date I was having blood pressure trouble, thus I was put on mild bed rest as my blood pressure would go down to a reasonable rate.    If you’ve seen any pictures of me in my last trimester, you saw that I was huge.  Because of this fact and my blood pressure issues, my doctor ordered a sonogram for me when I was 37 weeks.  The sonogram measured Daniel at 9lbs13ozs give or take a pound.  It occurred to me to me that my baby boy was not going to be an easy delivery, and I was determined to deliver him the way nature intended.  As the weeks wore on, I was showing no signs of labor.  A few Braxton Hicks contractions every now and then but really no change was happening.  My cervix wasn’t softening or dilating, so my doctors suggested an induction to help the process along as they knew the baby was going to be big.  If I hadn’t been my usual stubborn self, I might have listened and avoided the following 36 hours…

Inductions have to be scheduled, and I kept getting wait listed until I got the message that on Tuesday September 27^th I had been approved for an induction.  There are only five slots for voluntary inductions otherwise one is wait listed.  Anyway, I got approved for my date and would report to the hospital the night before for something called Cervadil to be used to help soften the cervix for the next day.  I was terrified that night as I had no idea what to expect the next day.  A rather sleepless night followed, even with the help of some sleeping meds.

Tuesday morning arrived.  Around 10am, I began the induction process.  I was hooked up to all the necessary machines, and we began what would be a 15 hour process before the eventual c-section.  Usually labor progresses with an induction because all the necessary hormones kick in, but mine kept stalling.  The nurses would boost the Pitocin, I would have a few nasty contractions and then it would settle again.  I decided to go with an epidural.  I hated it.  It not only made me so nauseated that I was throwing up all the liquids I was allowed, but it also did not take to my body well.  My left leg had become a heavy tree trunk while I could still feel contractions on my right side.  At some point during the day, my Grandma Ruth and Aunt Toni dropped by to say hi.  That evening my mom arrived from TN and would stay through the wee hours of the morning to see Daniel.

My labor just wasn’t progressing and I was not doing well on the epidural.  The nurse gave me some meds that would put me to sleep for a while around 11pm.  When I woke up between 1 and 1:30am, what I needed to do was clear.  I was on the highest levels of Pitocin and nothing was happening; therefore, it was time for a c-section that I was surprisingly ok with by that point.  I must make it clear that Daniel had been moving around all day and had a steady heartbeat.  If for a second he had had trouble, then I would have had him out asap, but he was doing just fine.  Thus, I thought it was just a matter of time for him to come out.  All of the necessary pre-op measures were taken and off I went to the operating room. 

Now comes the part I just hated.  I was laid out on the surgical table, draped with the cloth, and the epidural made my entire body from the shoulders down numb.  It felt like I couldn’t breath, my arms were lead weights, and the epidural was making me feel nauseated once more.  I had been told that the procedure would take 30 min.  In the time before Michael was allowed in, I thought the next 30 min would be some of the longest of my life.  Finally the surgical team allowed Michael into the room, and I felt a little bit better. 

Before I knew it, Daniel was born at 2:38am Wednesday September 28, 2011.  Michael had the camera snapping pictures like it was going out of style!  In my drugged state, I made the technician with my baby prove to me that Daniel was indeed a boy.  I know I had seen the results on the sonogram machine, but I wanted to see it for myself on my baby.  Sure enough, I had given birth to a baby boy!  Once Daniel had been weighed, cleaned a bit, and swaddled they brought him over so I could meet him.  I started talking to him and he turned towards my voice and slightly opened his eyes as if to look at his mommy.  It was the most amazing moment of my life.  My baby knew me.