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Week by Week

Three Births

I enjoyed reading all the birth stories - they were helpful, funny 
and sometimes very emotional.  I thought perhaps someone else might 
enjoy hearing about my birth stories - I have three stories to tell.

I had an easy first pregnancy, with a moderate weight gain of about 30
pounds.  I felt pretty good, except for back aches and heartburn.  I 
was due on June 24, and had been making weekly ob visits for the last 
month.  On Tuesday, June 23 I had a doctor's appointment in the 
afternoon.  Going in to see my doctor, he informed me he was going on 
vacation at the end of theweek. I was about 1 cm dilated, but not 
effaced at all. Did I want to be induced?  Being a novice at childbirth 
and being very eager to get this pregnacy thing over with, I and my 
husband jumped at the chance. This is one of those things I would take 
back if I knew then what I know now.  

We went out for a celebratory steak supper at our favorite place.  I 
was so nervous I don't think I tasted much of it.  My folks were called 
and they said they would start out to our place in the morning (at that 
time they lived about 10 hours away).  We got home called the hospital 
and they said they had a room for us, so at about 9 pm that night we 
went in.  They did a suppository gel to get the cervix going, and we 
settled in.  They had terrific recliners that my husband loved.  He 
slept there all night.  I had little contractions all night long, just 
enough to bother me, but not very productive.  I loved hearing the 
heartbeat on the monitor (the belt part of which I would soon learn 
to hate as it moved around on my belly).  At about 6 am, my doctor 
breezed in (this was to be the last time I saw him all day) and he 
informed me that he was going to break my water.  I had read that 
this was a painless procedure- I suppose it is for some women, but 
not for me- it hurt !  My first labor pain really.  So, after that, 
he left and I was experiencing lots of fun with leaking amniotic fluid 
all over.  I tried to walk like we had been encouraged to in our Lamaze 
course, but I just didnt feel good, gushing fluid all over the place.  
I still had some dignity at this point.  

The nurse moved us to the labor delivery room, which was huge, and 
decorated very charming.  I didn't make much progress, as I stayed 
dilated to about 2 cm all morning, but I certainly did have contractions.  
I never practiced any of the breathing from my class, so I was lost as 
soon as my contractions got even mildly painful.  The nurse who examined 
me corrected me on my breathing several times and finally got me going on 
a breathing pattern that worked for me.  First lesson learned - don't be 
afraid to try things or change things to make them work for YOU.

I had all my labor pains in my back, which suprised me.  The nurse who 
examined me told me I was experiencing back labor because my baby was  
facing up and her spine was right next to mine - ooo, very painful.  
Another nasty side effect of the presentation I have since learned is 
that it causes some labors to be prolonged.  This was true for me also.  
By noon, I was pronounced a three.  Second lesson learned - internal 
exams are a drag and can really depress the mom if nothing seems to 
be happening.   The nurse and my ob decided via a phone call to put 
me on Pitocin.  I had a terrible experience with the IV - it hurt 
even after they were done with putting it in.  They proceeded to begin 
the slow process of giving more and more pitocin on the half hour.  My 
contractions began to increase in intensity.  By late afternoon, I was 
to a four.  My husband was trying hard to be helpful, but I was getting 
tired and not handling the contractions well at all.  I would lose track 
of my breathing and end up moaning through the contractions or crying- 
not helpful in the least. During this time period, the ob floor had a 
bunch of visiting nursing students, who all trooped in one after 
another to "feel the contractions".  This was kind of fun at first, 
but after student nurse number 7 or 8, I was wanting to be left alone, 
but unfortunately really didn't have the capacity to tell the nurse so. 
This is when your support person needs to be attentive.  At around 3 or 
so, I did get some demerol which did take the edge off the contractions, 
but I sure could tell when it wore off.  I continued to get demerol a 
couple more times.

By 5 pm, my parents had arrived - no baby yet!!  My mom stayed with me 
for awhile, and my dad took my husband out to get something to eat and 
to take a break.  Having your mom there helps, even though you think 
you don't need her around, it's amazing how mom knows what to say.  I 
managed to hang in there until around 6:30 or so, and then I just lost 
it.  I was at about 5 cm dilated and needed some relief. I had been 
going with pretty strong contractions for 12 hours and only had 3 cm 
to show for it.  10 cm seemed like it would never occur.  This is when 
my ob stuck his head in the room.  I told him I could'nt do this any 
longer, but he said " oh yes you can, and you will.  I won't do a 
c-section until you've been in labor at least 24 hours"   This did not 
help my mental state. In retrospect, I really wouldnt have been happy 
if he'd said ok, lets take the baby c-section, but it sure seemed right 
at the time.  

At this point I looked at my husband and said "do something" in a voice 
that came from some other person and he promptly left the room.  I 
don't know what he did when he left the room, nor did I care.  All 
that Iknew was he was gone and I knew he was going to make it all 
better for me.  Thank heavens he did.  The nurse came in after that 
and hung some new drugs on my IV, and I remember absolutely nothing 
from 6 until 10 pm.  When asked about that time period later, my 
husband remarked that I just pretty much laid there and would moan 
from time to time.  Whatever drugs they gave me, they helped me by 
letting me relax and my husband could relax.  I needed them.  I don't 
know why no one suggested an epidural, but I suppose since the labor 
was already so prolonged, they didnt want to drag it out any more, 
since epidurals can do that from time to time.  What I think now is 
that if they had done an epidural, I would have relaxed and dilated 
quicker.

At 10 pm I awoke with a start.  I yelled at my husband to get the nurse 
because I felt like I had to go to the bathroom and I didn't want to 
have an accident on the bed.  Well, of course, I had finally hit 10 
cm - it was time to push, but I didn't know that was the feeling that 
told you so.  Suddenly the room exploded into activity - the bed end 
was lowered, I sat up, the curtain was pulled to reveal the bassinet 
and other equipment.  "Wow, I really am going to have a baby " was the 
thought that hit me.  What I had been thinking the last 9 + months was 
just a mere whiff of this reality!  They had me sit up, and informed me 
that my doctor was still driving to the hospital.  The irony of this 
being, I had agreed to be induced in order to have this doctor present! 
Next lesson learned - your choice of doctor is all important for the 9 
months of your pregnancy, but by the time it comes to labor and deliver, 
the nurses are really the ones who do the major work.  The weirdest part 
of the whole delivery is that there was no pain at this point - only lots 
and lots of pressure. So, they tell me not to push for a couple minutes, 
which I try to do.  Finally, someone stands in front of me, and tells me 
to push, so I did. I think this man introduced himself, but I couldnt 
tell you for sure.  Anyhow-I feel totally okay with having such a 
crummy long labor, when I only had to push for as little as I did. 
The person standing in front of me quickly gives me a shot as I begin 
to feel the baby crown - and then I hear a snip as they give me an 
episiotomy.  At the start of labor, I really didn't want one, but no 
one asked and at the state I was in, I no longer cared. I pushed once, 
and the head came out.  The cord was around the baby's neck.  My doctor 
suddenly arrived and took over from the person who I then learned was 
his ob partner.  The cord was cut quickly and then my ob said push again, 
so I did.  My first born, Paige Elizabeth, slipped out so easily.  It was 
the best feeling I have ever experienced.  The doctor held her up, 
proclaimed "its a girl", to which I said, "you're kidding!"  I had 
thought all along I would have a boy, but I secretly was wishing for 
a little girl to dress in pink and lace.  She weighed in at 6lb 13 
ounces and was kind of sleepy from the drugs I had taken, but she 
perked up later on.  Her daddy was the proudest father- holding 
her and cooing all over her.  Today she is the wonderful big sister 
to my second and third born.

Approximately 13 months after Paige was born, I started feeling like 
my baby was not such a baby anymore and got that baby urge.  So, 9 
months later, I was ready for baby 2 to enter the world.  Since our 
first was born, we had moved and this town has a small hospital that 
doesnt offer a lot of frills.  So, I was a little nervous about the 
quality of care and my labor experience.  This pregnancy had gone 
fairly well, except for the fact that I was enormous!!  This is not 
an exaggeration.  I had gained about 25 pounds up until the last month, 
then suddenly started putting on lots of water weight, like 3 or 4 
pounds every 2 weeks.  Suddenly I had gained about 40 pounds, all of 
it in my legs.  My thighs, calves and ankles all were the same size - 
yuck.  I was very uncomfortable the last few weeks, not able to sleep 
much at night and having difficulty moving around.   My blood pressure 
also started to be a bit of a problem.  My due date came and went.  I 
was in for an appointment and my doctor told me I was dilated to maybe 
1 1/2, so I got a few points for reenlisting in this baby thing.  He, 
my husband and I decided it was in my best interests to have this kiddo, 
even though I really didnt want to be induced again.  I was not interested 
in having Pitocin at all.  So, again we got ready for the hospital.  This 
time we had 1 1/2 year old Paige to drop off at her grandparents.  I 
kissed her goodby and felt those nervous pangs about what was to come, 
but this time it also included how my little girl's life would change 
with our new baby.

I begged my husband to take me out to eat, but we ran out of time 
before we had to be at the hospital.  So, supper-less I checked into 
the hospital.  The nurse greeted me with a wheelchair, but I said I 
did't need it  since I was being induced.  I walked up to the ob floor.  
The nurse checked me in and weighed me - egads, I was huge.   The doctor 
came in and got me situated with a prostaglandin suppository.  This time, 
since I was already somewhat dilated, it managed to make me start 
contracting almost right away.  I wanted to walk this time, instead of 
being trapped on the bed.  So, after the gel was placed on my cervix, 
my husband and I walked around the hospital.  SO boring.  And, my 
contractions stopped.  The nurse and doctor (who wanted to be at a 
party that night) both suggested that I take a break, sleep and start 
again in the morning.  This actually was a pretty good suggestion, as 
I was tired and my husband was still trying to recover from having a 
horrible cold.  So, my husband went home to sleep and I got a sleeping 
pill.  

This whole experience was like deja-vu. No progress during the night, 
basically I was about the same 1 1/2 dilated, maybe 2.    At about 6 
am, my doctor came in and wanted to break my water.  This time I said, 
no let's wait.  So, instead, he did more gel on my cervix and I walked.  
I had pretty good contractions all morning, but the monitor (which I 
hated again) showed  that they were not very strong or intense.  The 
nurse also told me that the baby was posterior (again).  By noon, I 
was stressed, thinking that I was in for an identical delivery like 
my last one.  Wasnt the second baby supposed to be easier?  My doctor 
was called and told that I had made no progress.  (Again, those 
internal exams were so depressing, I think they slowed me down 
even more)  The nurse came in, and told me that if I didnt make 
some progress, the doctor wanted to send me home.  Send me home?  
I was so upset - here I had been so miserable all last night and 
all morning, just to be sent home?  Well, the nurse said to wait 
an hour and then see what happened.  Finally I did have some progress.  
As I was laying in bed (being monitored) I felt this big pop inside of 
me- it actually hurt- and I felt the fluid running out of me.  My water 
had broken on its own.  

Suddenly my contractions were off to the races - by the time the nurse 
came back, I was on my left side, breathing with my little system of 
puffs that I had practiced this time.  So, I did not get sent home.  
Instead I was moved to the labor room.  As you can see, this is a 
little hospital, where you labor in one room and deliver in another.  
But, I must say, my care in this hospital was so very personal and 
warm- I was the only one in labor that day.  In the labor room, I 
bent over the side of the bed and proceeded to concentrate and 
breathe through the contractions.  My husband was on the other side 
of the bed, basically looking like he wished it was all over.  I don't  
think he knew how much I needed him there just to be my communicator, 
even though I did all my breathing solo, with my eyes shut for 
concentration.  I did ask  the nurse for a shot of demerol to help me 
maintain my concentration.  I did get that shot, but at the same time 
she wanted to start me on pitocin.   I absolutely refused to have it- 
because I was afraid I would have the same horrible experience as my 
first labor.  I labored on to about 4 pm and was checked again, this 
time, I was at 6 or 7.  This was good news, but it didnt feel like it 
to me.  My labor pattern was almost exactly the same as with my first.  
Very slow progress.  Suddenly I started having some really heavy duty 
contractions and after about 30 minutes of that, the nurse checked me 
again- this time I was at an 8.  Hooray !!  

Now it was off to the delivery room.  So they moved my bed into the 
delivery room, removed the legs and set up the stirrups.  It was about 
4:30 or 4:45.  Then, things just sort of ground to a halt.  I made no 
progress for the longest time.  The nurses asked me to get up and walk
 - I almost sat on the floor and cried at that request.  I tried 
different positions and nothing much seemed to help.  It was at this 
time that I heard some grumbles from the nurses about refusing to have 
Pitocin.  I think that this was fairly good evidence that the nurses 
and doctors use Pitocin as a matter of convenience, an attitude of 
"get this done" rather than letting nature do it for you. This is my 
only real complaint about my care from the hospital staff I have 
encountered. After what seemed like an eternity, but what was probably 
only 1/2 hour, I made it to 9 cm.  During this time period, I managed 
to throw up on my husband.  He was very sweet through this all.  Of 
course the other thing that was going on at this time is that I was 
asking for medication to relieve the pain, but I was so disorientated 
that I didn't realized I couldnt have anything so close to delivery.  
Unfortunately, the hospital staff decided to tell me they would be 
getting me something, which just strung me along.  Every time someone 
came near me, I would ask if they had something for my pain. I honestly 
believe if they had just been truthful and said "honey, it's too late" 
I would have been okay with it.  Finall at 5:30 my doctor shows up.  I  
heard him scrubbing up outside the delivery room.  I yelled to him 
"I want some drugs" and he just laughed at me and said "you dont want 
any drugs".  Boy, was he wrong!!  Anyhow,  I think he thought I was 
kidding, but of course I was not.  He came it and did an internal.  
He said I was at 9 (STILL) but that he thought he could push the lip 
of my cervix aside.  Well, I had never heard of this being done, but 
I was willing to try anything.  So, he reached inside, and through the 
next contraction, I pushed like crazy.  Yes, it hurt a lot.  But, the 
result was that I finally could push this baby out.

They sat me up and started to instruct me to push.  I was really 
excited, because I knew from my first baby that this was the easy 
part.  Again, nothing seemed to hurt which was so amazing.  Just lots 
of pressure . Here is where my delivery stopped being like my first.   
The baby was not moving.  I pushed and pushed, nothing was happening.  
The doctor decided to use the vacuum extractor.  I watched, almost 
detached from my body, as he yanked my little baby's head out of me.   
I thought "good, the heads out, it's easy from here!"  Suddenly, the 
room was filled with people.  My baby's shoulders were stuck-something 
I have since learned is called shoulder dystocia.  It can't be 
predicted in any way shape or form.   I had no idea how serious this 
was.  People were grabbing my knees and pushing them to my chest.  My 
husband could see, but I couldnt.  He later recalled how the doctor 
was twisting the baby's head in a corkscrew manuever to try and get 
the shoulder free.  This seemed to go on forever.  Suddenly I looked 
down and the doctor had hooked a finger under the shoulder and an arm 
popped free !  At 6 pm, she finally slid out of me - Meredith Kay - 
all 9 lbs 5 ounces of her, and she was blue.  That terrific feeling I 
remembered vanished in a heartbeat.  She was whisked to the bassinette, 
where two doctors worked on her, slapping her feet, and giving her 
oxygen.  I kept asking to hear her cry.  "Is she okay" I said about a 
thousand times.  I made my doctor stop attending to me.  This time 
instead of an episiotomy, I ended up with a little tear.  Finally, 
the doctors removed her oxygen mask so I could hear her cry.  Her 
initial apgar was a 2 , but she popped back to a 7 at the next check.  
She was finally handed to me - what a huge baby!  No wonder I had 
gained all that weight.  Since I'm not very tall, she had spent the 
majority of her time with her knees folded up to her chest.  Those 
little knees didnt come upbent until about 3 weeks later.  I had to 
send her daddy home to get bigger clothes to bring her home in, the 
newborn stuff was all too small.  

The next day, I finally began to realize how serious the situation was 
in the delivery room.  2 of the doctors who rushed in to help with the 
delivery came back to see how she was- this made me get scared almost 
24 hours too late.  I'm grateful it ended happily.

Today, Meredith is perfect and shows no problems from her delivery.  
She is our wild child, and we love her every minute. She also has 
become a terrific loving gentle big sister to our third baby...

After the scary delivery of our second child, I really wasn't up for 
trying again very soon.  But my husband finally talked me into baby 
three during the spring of 96.  This time I was determined to have a 
labor where I felt  in control.  No suprises this time - I call all 
the shots. I decided to switch doctors to an OB recommended by my 
doctor who delivered our last child. I wasnt unhappy with my doctor 
that delivered our second child at all, as a matter of fact, he 
continues as our family doctor. I just thought it best to be doctoring  
with someone who spends all their time delivering babies , in order to 
be as prepared if problems occurred.

This pregnancy went well, except for some pretty serious nausea in the 
first trimester.  I lost almost 15 pounds because of it, but that was 
okay, since I am overweight.  As a result, I only gained back the 15 
pounds throughout the pregnancy and felt really good.  No high blood 
pressure problems this time, and no water retention.  I could even 
keep my rings on this time.   The whole winter of 96-97 was horrible.   
Continous snow and ice storms kept me house ridden for most of my 
pregnancy.  I went to work and came home and that was it.  I was 
getting more than a little stir crazy.  My two daughters, ages 2 and 
4 also were getting very tired of it.  Thank goodness we had Christmas 
as a distraction. Unfortunately, Christmas day I ended up getting the 
flu, and was in bed for a whole week.  I was coughing up blood at the 
end of the week and finally crawled to my ob for medicine.  He told me 
that I could be in the hospital if I wasnt careful.  Apparently 
pregnant women are more susceptible to pneumonia.  Fortunately, I 
improved after that.   By the middle of January, I was getting really 
hyper, since I hadnt been able to do much shopping for the new baby.  
The bassinet was on layaway,and my layette was still to be washed.  I 
was getting tired of being pregnant.  I was having some difficulty 
sleeping and getting rest with the two girls was really not possible.  
They love their daddy, but why do they always yell for mommy at 2 am?   
The weather finally did break a little and I got to go out on my own to 
shop.  It felt great and really put some spring in my step.  I felt like 
I could actually make it another month being pregnant.   A couple weeks 
passed.

My husband has an auction business and we had been joking all along 
the month of January, that the only day I could not go into labor was 
Super Bowl Sunday, since there was a huge auction scheduled for that 
day.  Well, since I had been induced with my last two pregnancies, 
going to my due date and beyond, I didnt think that would be any 
problem for us. (Insert laughter here!!)   As a matter of fact, my 
ob and I had already decided that he would induce me 1 week early 
based upon that fact that I was measuring a bit big and we didnt' 
want to end up with a 9 pound baby again that might get stuck.  The 
morning of the auction, January 26th,( Super Bowl Sunday)  my 
daughters were in their pj's eating cereal in the kitchen.  I was in 
the basement pulling together a couple items we planned to sell at the 
auction.  I was walking up the stairs when halfway up, I felt a sharp 
pain in my abdomen.  It was sharp enough to make me stop, but when you 
are 9 months along, you get so many little pains that you kind of just 
ignore them.  I walked upstairs and went to the kitchen.  As I stood 
by the toaster, I felt a little trickle running down my leg.  "Uh oh"
I said out loud.  My husband, who had his coat on ready to leave said 
"What?".  I briefly debated mentally the wisdom of lying to my husband 
so that he would not worry and would be able to leave for work.   
I shelved that thought and said "I think I may have a problem- I think 
my water broke."  My husband started grabbing little girls and shouting  
"let's go,let's go" to which my daughters promptly began crying "we want 
to eat our coco puffs!".  So, this was not going to work.  Fortunately, 
I had asked a girlfriend to be "on call" just in the unlikely event I 
did go into labor today.  So, I called her up and my husband, shaken 
up, went to the auction.  I called the hospital letting them know I 
thought maybe my water had broken and I would be up to get checked 
in a hour or so.  I really wasnt sure my water had broken, since I 
was only having a few minor cramps.  Also, I was in major denial. 
On the phone with my girlfriend I told her that I didnt think this 
was anything, but that I had been told to come in and get checked 
anyhow.   My girlfriend was wonderful - she came and helped out 
with my 2 daughters, while I showered and got dressed.  I really 
took my time, since I was having no contractions.  I also was still 
in denial.  So, we all piled in the van and dropped off the girls 
with my girlfriends husband.  They were going to watch the girls 
while I was in the hospital as had been previously planned.  Of 
course, being in denial, I figured I would be back to get them 
in a couple hours.  Ha Ha.  

We drove to the hospital, and along the way, my girlfriend asked how 
I felt.  I told her I felt kind of silly going to the hospital, since 
I wasnt having any pains and there didnt appear to be any more fluid 
leaking.  We got to the hospital at about 10:30 am, and at the check 
in counter, I actually had a small contraction.  My security bubble 
of denial was slightly dented.  We walked up to the OB floor since I 
felt fine.  The nurses there greeted me, and I saw that again, I was 
the only one in "labor" at that time.  The nurse took me back to the 
labor room, and asked me to change into a hospital gown and robe. I 
asked her if she minded if I just kept my top on, since I would 
probably just be sent right back home.  Major denial.   She said 
that'd be fine, but I think she knew that I wasn't going anywhere 
but in that bed.  So, they checked me and yes, my water had broken.  
My bubble of denial burst totally.  Suddenly, I realized that I was 
in the hospital, having a baby and my husband was several miles away, 
doing an auction that was definately going to last until 8 or 9 pm 
that night.   The nurses started all the prep work to get me settle 
in.   My mind started to race as I thought of people I needed to 
call - husband first and foremost.  I got ahold of him and let 
him know that I was definately stuck in the hospital, having a 
baby.   He didn't sound remotely suprised or upset.  I was a mess 
however, and wanted to stall this labor as long as possible until 
my husband could get there.  I knew from my previous labors that I 
probably wouldnt get going until a few hours from now, but every 
labor is different.  What if I suddenly had this baby and my husband 
couldnt get there on time? From my exams of the past week, I knew that 
I did have one thing in my favor - my cervix was very soft and I was
dilated to 2 1/2.  

After having my initial check in work done, the nurses came back, and 
let me know that the doctor on call, my OB's partner, had ordered 
Pitocin.  I freaked out.  My husband was not there and they wanted 
to start me on Pitocin to hurry things up?   The nurses were wonderful 
about my anxiety - they held off until  the doctor came in to see me.  
I had met him the week before at my checkup, and he was very nice.  
I told him my objections to the Pitocin which he listened to, but then 
he kind of scared me into taking the Pitocin by talking about the fact 
that my water had broken and infection could set in.  I didn't much 
appreciate the scare tactics, but I could see that I was going to 
have the baby either real quick or it would be a long affair.  So, 
I agreed to the pitocin.   Since my husband was only a few miles away, 
I knew that if things got happening, he could make it to the hospital 
pretty much in time. (I hoped)  The nurse came in to start the IV.  
She was very sweet, but had a lot of trouble with the IV.  I think 
part of it is my veins, because it always seems to be very painful.   
She ended up poking me about 4 or 5 times in one hand, then went to 
the other and poked another 3 or 4 times.  She and I were getting 
pretty tense.  She felt awful about all the sticking, I could tell, 
but I almost passed out from her digging with that needle.  My 
girlfriend tried her best to distract me.  Finally, she got a 
smaller needle and things improved after that.
They started the pitocin and I walked the halls with my girlfriend 
and another friend who we called to let know what was up.  They were 
terrific, keeping me company all afternoon.  I had done a lot of 
reading on the Internet since my third pregnancy began.  I read alot 
of books on labor and methodology, so I finally felt like I really had 
a handle on what was happening. I felt in control.  I had decided to 
follow the method of slow breathing and concentrated imagery a number 
of labor methods talk about.  It made sense to me.  They encourage you 
not to begin working with the contractions until you must- so I walked 
and walked and walked, dragging that dumb IV pole with me.  I tripped 
on that thing so many times.  The rest of the day was spent very 
pleasantly, chatting with the nurses and walking.  My husband even 
managed to break free for about 45 minutes in the afternoon.  No one 
pushed me for doing internals since I was only having minor 
contractions and they were easy to handle.  By the end of the nurses 
shift, which was 7 pm, the nurses went ahead and did an exam.  I was 
at 4 cm.  By this time, both the nurses and I had pretty much come to 
the conclusion that my bag of water had only torn a little, probably 
up real high, and that was why I didnt have major gushing or 
contractions. Amazingly enough, my husband managed to sneak out of 
the end of the auction and was with me at this time. He had actually 
been there since about 7:30 and got to do a little hall walking with 
me.  We sat in the family room and watched the end of the Super Bowl, 
and I rocked in the recliner. I was getting pretty tired by this time 
and my OB's partner came in about 8 pm to check on me.   The doctor 
suggested that we turn off the pitocin and let everyone get some rest.  
It was at this point that I pleaded with the new nurse to let me eat 
something.  In order to get any food, I basically promised that I would 
not throw it up. So, I got some cereal and toast. I got settled into my 
hospital room, and sent my husband home to sleep.  I went to sleep with 
a sleeping pill.  

I slept about as good as a person can in a hospital bed, being 
excited about the new baby and having contractions through the 
night.  In the morning, the nurse on duty, a new one, came in 
and got my IV situated a little better and then the pitocin 
started again.  My contractions came on fairly strong but 
still pretty manageable.   My OB, who finally got in from 
vacation, came in to check on me about 9:00 am.  It was 
nice to see him, since he knew in detail my previous history 
with large baby, shoulder dystocia.  He did an internal and 
said I was at a 5.   I felt really good about that, since I 
had not had to really work very hard to get to 5, even though 
I had spent almost 24 hours in the hospital.  I think that the 
combination of walking, breathing slow and this being a third 
baby all helped.  He broke my water at this point.  This is the 
only thing I wish I hadnt agreed to, since it left me gushing 
buckets of fluid.  I just had to get used to it, because I didnt 
want to stop walking.  Every time I moved and sometimes with 
contractions, I would gush fluid.  I soaked a lot of pads.  
My clothes were pretty icky, but there was no point in putting 
on anything clean.  To walk the halls, I put on my robe.   At 
this point, they moved me to the labor room, but I continued 
to walk for the next half hour to hour.  My contractions were 
now strong enough that I had to stop in the hall and my husband 
would push his thumbs into my lower back on either side. It's 
funny how particular you get in labor.  During one contraction, 
my husband used his fingers to press on my back, instead of his 
thumbs.  I kind of jumped on him and said "don't do that!"  because 
it hurt instead of helped.  He switched back to using his thumbs.  
I continued slow in and out breathing through each contraction, with 
my eyes closed.  After about an hour, I moved to the rocking chair 
outside of the labor room.  The nurses were very accomodating- moving 
the monitor and belts out so I could sit up.  It was at about 11 am, 
that the nurse asked me if the pain was in my back mostly.  It was- 
which of course meant a posterior facing baby.  It was at this point 
that she recommended I get on the bed on my knees to encourage the 
baby to move.  This was an excellent suggestion as sitting up was 
getting too hard, and the contractions were getting closer together.  
I never timed how close they were or how long they lasted.  I just
breathed through each one and handled one at a time.  I spent the 
next 2 hours on the bed, with the bottom part lower, on my knees. 
 I lay my head on some pillow and gently moved from side to side with
 the contractions.  The nurse was so great - she watched my face for 
reaction to the pain and suggested some demerol to keep me relaxed.  
It was the right time for it.  I think my husband thought I was
 ignoring him or didnt need him, but having him right there was
 most important.  He brought me ice chips and changed the hot 
towels on my lower back as they cooled.  I was so into my slow
 breathing that I would actually fall asleep between contractions. 
 The nurse checked me and the baby via the external monitor .  The 
 only time she would have to bother me was to reposition belts.  
Finally, the contractions were getting too hard to track with the
 external monitor, so the nurse apologized but asked that we do an
 internal to keep  a handle on the baby.  So, I lay on my back and
 the internal went in.  Laying flat on your back for 2 or 3
 contractions is about the worst thing imaginable.  But, I 
lived and began to turn back over to my position that worked
 so well.  Unfortunately, the internal monitor slipped out. 
 I had to lay down and do it all again.  Believe me, the next
 time I turned over I was VERY careful.

I went on this way until about 1pm, and then an internal exam was
 done.  I was at 8cm. My doctor came in at this time and checked on
 me and then went on to a meeting.  I continued to have some pretty
 healthy contractions, but the baby wasn't moving down.  The nurse 
suggested I use the bathroom, since it had been awhile.  She thought 
perhaps the baby was being held up by a full bladder.  The trip to the 
bathroom was the worst part of the entire labor, because every time I 
moved, I had another big contraction.  Plus, I was wired for sound, 
with internal monitors, iv , tubes and everything else.  By the time 
I made it to the bathroom, I was at the end of my composure.  I told 
my husband "I can't do this anymore", to which the nurse responded, 
"I don't think you have to much longer".  Those words of encouragement
 were enough to perk me up for the walk back to the bed.  She checked 
me again - I was at 9.  It was amazing what one bathroom stop can do. 
 I looked at her and said "Look, this is my third baby, can't we just 
get going with this?"  The nurse agreed, and she gave me directions.  
Laying back on the bed, she held back the cervix and I pushed.  This 
hurt as much as I remember from the last baby.  She told me that I
 was 9 1/2 now,and they began dissasembling the equipment to move 
to the delivery room.  Throughout this last 20 minutes, I had a 
killer grip on my husbands arm.  It was the one thing that held me
 together.  As I was moved to the delivery room, I couldn't see that 
the door was not quite wide enough for me and him, and I about took 
his arm off as we went through the door.

They lowered the end of the bed and sat me up.  The nurses were telling
 me to blow and not to push.  So, I would blow but at the end of each 
blow, I pushed.  I figured someone would catch the baby if it moved 
too fast.  My doctor came in just in time.  My wonderful labor nurse 
was on my left and I had my killer grip on my husbands hand and arm.  
They started to coach me to push and suddenly my mind went blank.  How 
do I push?  I told my nurse "I don't remember how to push!"  She said 
to me "yes you do" and amazingly enough I snapped to, and got with the 
program.  I started to push, and realized that it hurt.  I felt that 
little baby's head every second - something I had never noticed with 
the previous two babies.  It was an incredible incentive to push 
really hard, because until I got that head out, it was going to 
keep hurting like crazy. I don't think I even stopped pushing 
once.  I just kept taking a breath, holding it and pushing.  The 
result was that they wheeled me into the labor room at about 1:35 
and I pushed her out at 1:44.   Sort of a land speed record, I think.  
She did get hung up just for a couple seconds after the head was 
delivered, but fortunately my doctor and the nurses were prepared.  
They pushed my knees back up to my chest and the doctor gave her a 
little twist and she popped out.   The doctor handed her to me and 
she looked up at me with her clear newborn blue eyes .  It was amazing 
how clearly she looked at me.  I said to her "I'm sorry baby, but I am 
so glad you're out" then I turned to my husband and said, "we don't 
have a name".  He just laughed and enjoyed checking out our third 
little girl.  She was perfect, weighing in at 7lbs, 11 ounces.  I 
think if we had gone to our due date, we definately would have been 
getting close to another 9 lb baby, so in this case early was better.
The nurses cleaned up the baby, and announced that she had red hair !!  
This was a first for us. The doctor checked me out - no tears, 
no episiotomy.  I felt pretty darn good, and it was only 2pm in 
the afternoon!  I got to go in with her while they checked her 
and weighed her.  I went back to my room and we tried to come 
up with a name.  My husband loved the name Peyton, so she was 
named Peyton Gloria.  They brought her in to me right away so 
we could do a little nursing and she did terrific right from 
the start.  Later on, as I called my parents to tell them the 
good news, she gave a little smile and I saw a flash of a dimple 
on her left cheek.  Red hair and a dimple- we are so lucky.
Peyton is almost 3 months old now and her big sisters are so 
proud of her.  Her parents are proud of all their girls - we 
may even think about trying for another little one in another 
year or two.