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Fulton's Birth

category: baby very late, water broken artificially, nubain, no episiotomy, no epidural

I wasn't really in a hurry to have this baby, though he was 17 days late when he came. I had stopped going to work at the newspaper because I was tired of hearing "You're STILL pregnant? How do you FEEL?'' I tried all the things that are supposed to get the contractions going: sex, jogging, jumping jacks, etc. None of that worked. I had a 6:30 a.m. appointment to be induced. At 4:30 a.m., I felt a contraction. So on the way to the appointment, my contractions already were 10 minutes apart. This baby knew the gig was up. I'd had a great pregnancy, very little sickness, was able to jog all through it, and only gained 18 pounds. God, I was so thankful I didn't have to be given Pitocen! They still wanted to do it, just because it was on my chart. ... At 8 a.m. my doctor broke my water to speed things along. Little did I know it'd be such a long day; my son wasn't born until 7:45 that night. I was determined to go drug-free. I'd read every book I could, though I hadn't gone to any childbirth classes.

I was delivering at a great hospital here in Southwest Florida. The nurses were great, and they have birthing suites. No stirrups on the bed, none of that. They even have ""whirlpool'' bathtubs in each room. The baby stays in the room with you the whole time, and they have big double beds so your husband or partner can sleep with you. Everything was going fine. The techniques I'd learned to work through the pain were doing the job -- until back labor began. I was having some horrifyingly strong contractions. I avoided watching the digital monitor because I didn't WANT to know. ""Squeeze my hand so it hurts!!'' I'd tell my significant other, to distract me from the pain.

My doctor was tied up in surgery at another hospital. I was about 4 centimeter dilated. When they told me it'd take another 6 hours, I thought I'd cry. The pain had gotten so bad I couldn't stand up. I kept looking at that plate-glass window, thinking of jumping out! "Drugs! I need drugs!!" My lower back hurt so bad I was screaming. Bob, my boyfriend, was nearly in tears himself trying to help me. But there was no relief. They said I couldn't have an epidural because I hadn't signed up and watched the film and all that. So they gave me Nubain. I felt good for 15 minutes. But they only give it every 2 hours. What a joke.

I didn't think I'd survive this pain for much longer. Then the baby's heartrate dropped to 56. They started turning me on my side, which was killing me. I was in so much pain I couldn't comprehend what was going on. They got the heartrate back up, and I continued to scream and yell. A midwife heard me from a few doors down and came in to check me. What do you know, I was 10 centimeters dilated. No wonder it hurt so bad! "Do you feel like you need to push?' they asked. "No! All I feel is pain!' I said. Thank the lord, once I started pushing, that back pain was relieved. The pushing only took an hour, and they set up a mirror so I could watch. My doctor finally showed up for the last 20 minutes.

Bob acted as my left stirrup and my couch, telling me to enjoy the pain. Ha.

They had me breathing oxygen for the baby, because of his heartrate. My doctor was in a rush to do a cesearan, too. So they grabbed a suction thing and helped pull the baby out. At the last second, I stopped pushing to avoid a tear, and the baby just popped out. OH! Bob pulled him out by his head. He was purple. Had the chord around his neck. And he was shaking, and his fingernails were long and bent over. What a sight! And when I finally heard that little voice, that cautious cry, that was real beauty. And my love affair with mothering began.

Fulton's Mommy