Birth Story

I finally got enough sleep last night that I was able to write Quincy Kai's Birth story...

So for months I have been imagining how my labor may begin. I was hoping I would sleep for 8 hours and labor would begin at day break. The following events were not quite what I had imagined. At 2 pm on April 2, 2009 I had my 39 week checkup with Dr Klikoff. I had been feeling funky since Monday, making jokes about how I should be on bed rest as I was running errands around town. I was feeling very puffy. My ankles were gone and my toes were like little sausages. I had gained 4 lbs in a week after zero weight gain in the previous two weeks. My blood pressure was high 144/90. I was also another cm dilated. Dr Klikoff was worried about preclempsia, so she called Sutter birthing center and scheduled me for a cervadil induction for April 3, 2009 @ 5pm. What a shock!!!!!
Cervadil was definitely not my first choice for starting labor. From the parking lot we called Celi to try an acupuncture induction. I have been doing acupuncture throughout pregnancy for allergies and at 36 weeks had started treatments for ripening my uterus. Celi met us at her office and treated me from 4:30-6:00pm, while Walter played with her two boys. The treatment was amazing, just a few needles being stimulated continuously while Celi rubbed my belly and sang beautiful laboring songs. Truely magical. Walter and I then headed to Joscelyn’s, our doula, house for a visit. She recommended a few homeopathic remedies for lowering blood pressure and for positioning the baby ( Sulphur & Pulsatilla). I headed home and Walter headed to the store to buy an amazing amount of food for labor.
On returning home, I got into bed and called my family to let them know the plan. A few contractions were starting. Walter got home and made us a chicken spinach salad. We then got organized for the hospital. At 9:30 we were packed and ready. At this point our thoughts diverged on what should happen next, Walter being concerned about my and the baby’s health thought we should go to sleep. I on the other hand thought that we should do a belly cast. In the end I won the debate and Walter made an amazing cast of my belly from 10:30 till 12:30. My contractions continued to get stronger during this process. Being trapped in plaster of paris is not the most ideal way to go into labor. At 12:30, I hopped in the shower to try to rid my torso of petroleum jelly. I then tried to sleep from 12:30 till 2:00am, running to the bathroom ever 10 minutes in pain. At 2 am, Walter realized that this was it and cuddled up next to me for a few minutes before I jumped out of bed again. Walter got up and began to time my contractions and they were regular, every 4 minutes lasting a minute. Walt called Jocelyn @ 2:30 and Sutter @ 2:45 and we left the house at around 3:14am. I will never forget how cold it was walking to the car. My teeth chattered all the way to 5 mile.
We arrived at Sutter at the same time as Joscelyn and headed past the beautiful oak tree and up the steps to the triage room. Luckily my contractions didn’t skip a beat, coming every 2-4 min. I filled out all of the paper work and had a vag exam at 3:42am I was still 2 cm, but I had made some progress I was 75% effaced and the baby was at -1. In most cases they would have sent me home, I love insurance companies, but luckily I was scheduled for an induction anyway that evening so really I was supposed to be there anyway. Lorraine let me have the last room with a bath. The idea was to let me labor and see how things progressed after a few hours and then we would decide whether to go home or stay. I didn’t even get a bracelet.
Walter & I headed for the tub. Laboring in the tub was great. With each contraction, I made a low ohh sound, which I never thought I would do. It is interesting how each contraction was different, some super intense, some mellow, some in rapid succession. I really hated the double contractions, even though I knew they were causing me to dilate. I even managed to sleep between contractions. At some point Walter headed to bed, while Joscelyn helped me labor. I eventually headed to bed from 5:30 to 6:00 am wrapped in warm blankets to try to get some rest. I rested a bit before returning to the tub.
At 7:45, Julie took over as my nurse and another vag exam was in order. I remember preparing myself for no progress but luckily I was now 4-5 cm dilated, 90% effaced and the baby was now at -2. Wiggles needed to rotate, he was facing my right side not my back. So now with each contraction I was trying different positions in the tub, on my right side, on my left, on my hands and knees and out of the tub.
At 9:05 I was complaining of rectal pressure. Another vag exam found me 6cm dilated. Wiggles was still facing the wrong direction and my water bag was bulging in front of his head. I also labored on the toilet and leaning over the cloths hamper. I remember how good it felt to feel the water evaporating from my skin. Focusing on the other sensations of my body kept me sane. Walter & Joscelyn kept me hydrated. They were constantly offering me water and recharge. I ate a nectar bar at some point in the morning.
At 10:00, I returned to bed so that Dr Klikoff could do a vag exam. I was still 6 cm dilated so Dr Klikoff decided to break my water @ 10:10. I was a little shocked at this intervention but my labor had stalled and we needed his head against my cervix. The calming sensation of the warm water rushing out was soon replaced with the weight of Wiggles on my cervix. So now was a critical time to get Wiggles facing the right direction, not that I realized this, I was too preoccupied by how much more pain there was with each contraction with out my water balloon pillow protecting my cervix. Joscelyn kept me out of the tub rotating my hips and squatting to the right and left between contractions with one leg up and then the other, very painful but necessary. I also was taking Pulsatilla, a homeopathic remedy for proper baby positioning.
At 11:30 my contractions were 2-6 min apart, I was still 6 cm but Wiggles finally facing the right direction. At some point I could no longer make the ohh sound but Walter could and did for every contraction. I spent a lot of labor with my eyes closed. I couldn’t deal with any extra stimulation. Walter was especially amazing when I wasn’t in the tub, hugging and supporting me during contractions. He also helped me to move around the room.
At 12:15, I was now 6-7cm dilated; the baby was now at 0. Wiggles head was well applied to the cervix. Something interesting to note about hospital births: You have to keep dilating if you spend 6 hours at the same cm, then pitocin is given. I had till 3pm to get past 6cm. Luckily I didn’t know this at the time. Over the next two hours my labor was really intense as I dilated to 10 cm. I don’t remember much except that it hurt and they wouldn’t let me back in the tub. I was also obsessed with the fact that I wanted to poo but couldn’t. I eventually asked for an enema but it was too late. There are too many labor words that start with E for example epidural and episiotomy, neither of which would be a good thing to ask for. Walter escaped for a few minutes to eat lunch. From 1:30 to 2:00 I got to get back in the tub.
At 2:10, I was completely dilated except for an anterior cervical lip. This means a small part of the cervix was trapped between Wiggles head and my pubic bone. Julie thought she could push the lip over Wiggles head as I pushed. Yeah!!! I finally get to push and the nurse is going to help. What could be better? So out of the tub and onto the birthing stool, after 4 pushes Julie determined I needed to return to the tub and relax, so that the lip would go away.
This was the beginning of the worst part of my labor. I remember how happy I was to get to go back to the tub. I imagined I would relax and the lip would dissolve away and soon I would have Wiggles in my arms. But my body wanted to push and I wasn’t allowed to push. With each contraction, Walter oohhed and I tried to breath and relax but at the peak of the contraction screamed out in pain. This is the part where I cursed or screamed with each contraction. Between contractions I said that I wanted to die, go home or just forget about having a baby. With each contraction I tried to pretend they weren’t happening. I also had some kinder moments where I talked to Wiggles and tried to let him know this would all pass. Walter escaped once again to go to the bathroom.
At 4:07pm, Susan came on duty and did another vag exam. The lip was gone. YEAH!!! Back out of the tub to the birthing stool. I tried to pee but couldn’t. At 4:20 the lip is back. I was very sad and frustrated. Susan tried to push the lip over Wiggles head during the next few contractions but it didn’t work.
At some point Dr Klikoff arrives and by 5:10 pm, I was flat on my back. A catheter emptied my bladder. By 5:24 Dr Klikoff finally gets the lip over Wiggles head. I am exhausted and can’t seem to hold my legs and push the way everyone wants me too. Lying on my back is very painful. With each contraction, I try to hold my breath and push sucking in a little air between pushes but by the end of the contraction I scream out in pain instead of focusing my energy on the push. With each push a little poo comes out which is good. At least something is moving.
At 6:10 Wiggles and I are not doing well. Wiggles heart rate is slowing and then racing. I am put on oxygen. I am forced to drink a PEPSI. We try to have me on my side which causes sciatic pain. The other side isn’t much better. Walter can see Wiggles head with each push but then it disappears between contractions. At 6:33 pm, I move to the birthing stool. I am way better at pushing on the stool. I can use my whole upper body to help as I grab onto the stool and pull up. Walt thinking I look like an Olympian weight lifter. At this point Dr Klikoff realized that the heart rate of 156 is mine and not Wiggles. We need an internal monitor for Wiggles which takes forever to unwrap. It is screwed into Wiggles head, falls out and is screwed in again. At this point I think that Wiggles is dieing, I am on oxygen, pushing on a birth stool, there is an internal fetal monitor and the doctor keeps saying we need to get this baby out. So with each contraction, I push as hard as I can. I am really scared. Dr Klikoff and Walter sit at my feet with a flashlight. Susan is standing to the left and Joscylyn is to the right. I can feel Wiggles hair still inside me. With each push I ask if the baby is out. Finally I push the head out. It is a very strange feeling to have a baby half in and half out. I am in a panic that I won’t be able to tell when the next contraction is happening. I hear susan say here comes a weak contraction. With that I bare down and Wiggles is born and is handed to me. I look to see that Wiggles is a boy. I scoot up into bed.
Soon I am looking down at my baby’s beautiful face. Strange how familiar his face is to me. He is absolutely beautiful. I rub his head and back and arms and fingers. He appears to have all of his parts. Walter is crying, tears streaming down his face. We are both so happy to be alive with our beautiful baby boy.
While we just gaze at our baby, Dr Klikoff gives me two stiches. I have to push so that the placenta can be born, which feels good. After the cord stops pulsating, Walter cuts it. I am given a shot of pitocin and my uterus is massaged. Wiggles gets a shot of Vit K and has his APCAR test and his mouth squeegeed. So much goes on while Walter Wiggles and I are consumed with love.