Ask The Pros
Pregnancy Photos
Pregnancy Calendar
Birth Plans
Birth Stories
Bookstore
Boy or Girl
Cesareans
Chat Room
Complications
Doulas
Educators
Episiotomy
FAQs
Feeding Baby
Fertility
Finding a Class
Health
Interactive
Labor
Message Board
Monitoring
Newborns
Newsletter
Postcards
Postpartum
Pregnancy
Reviews/Awards
Search
VBAC
Week by Week
Who We Are

Thomas Alexander's Birth

This birth story is really late, but I know how much people like to read them so I figured I would post it anyway. I always looked forward to the day I got to post my story :)

I was due on 8/8/95 and on 8/9/95 my water broke at about 10:45 a.m. I was at home because I went out of work on disability two weeks prior. The disability was due to the pain in my hands and wrists caused by the pregnancy - I believe I developed Carpal Tunnel. Anyway, since this was my first I wasn't too sure my water had broken - I thought I might have just peed myself - because it wasn't this huge amount of water. I thought I had to go to the bathroom and I was on my way in there when it just started to come out. It wasn't bloody, it didn't smell, I wasn't sure. But a couple minutes later - LOOK OUT! :) I called the doctor's office and told them I thought my water had broken and they told me to go in to the hospital. So, I called my husband, he works 5 minutes from the house, and off we went. Man, was I scared!

I continued to lose my water in spurts for some time. It was really gross feeling and embarassing to be trying to walk into the hospital and my shorts are soaked. (I tried putting heavy duty pads on at home, but by the third time I changed withing a 30 minute space of time, I knew nothing would contain the flow! by the way, by this time I knew my water had broken :) ) We get checked in and brought up to Labor and Delivery. They hooked me up to the fetal monitor and I'm having mild contractions periodically (the contractions started at about noon) some stronger than others but nothing real consistent. My blood pressure was up so they kept me strapped to the fetal monitor and would only let me up every so often to walk around and see if we could get things going. I hated being tied to the bed!

It just so happened that 8/9 is also my nephew's birthday and we were supposed to be going to his birthday party that evening - so he and my niece came down to see me while I was in labor. They left around 6:00 p.m. I think, and I was still only 1 centimeter dialated and the contractions were still not consistent. I let the nurses know that I wouldn't be happy to be put on Pitosin - they called my doctor and she said if nothing was happening by 6:30 to put me on it. Well, needless to say, by 6:30 nothing was happening so they started me on a very low dosage of pitosin and BANG! Almost immediately the contractions were coming hard and fast. I think I lasted an hour before I asked for whatever it is they give you in the pump - Demerol? At this point I was 3-4 centimeters dialated. They got it hooked up and I can't say I could tell the difference. The timing was set for every 10 minutes I believe, and guess what I pushed that thing twice and then I was asking them what it felt like to want to push, because if it was like you had to move your bowels really bad then I needed to push. So they checked me and low and behold I was 10 centimeters - they took away the medication, what the hell it wasn't working anyway!

They said I could start pushing anytime. They tried with me holding my legs but I just couldn't hold on to them so they got out the stirrups. I got to tell you the pushing was the absolutely worst part of the whole thing. I just couldn't get it right, I kept pushing in the wrong direction - meaning instead of leaning into the push pulling your legs towards you I was pushing away from my legs. The doctor was yelling at me (she very quiet spoken so this was yelling for her) to think of the baby because his heart beat was going down with the contractions. His head was right there but man, I just couldn't do it. It hurt and I didn't give a damn about the baby I didn't want to do it. I was strangling my husband in between contractions (I didn't realize I had such a tight grip on his shirt) and I kept telling him, I can't I can't.

Finally his head came out and what a relief I felt (I hadn't felt any relief during the pushing which is what everyone kept telling me I was going to feel). Then the nurse says, okay here comes the hard part - what! what do you mean the hard part? wasn't that the hard part? oh my god! Well I thought all this to myself in that second and then I pushed and it wasn't hard at all - he came right out! My Thomas Alexander, born at 9:06 p.m. on 8/9/95, weighing 9 lb. 10 ozs. 21 inches long, head 14.5" (Ouch!) He scored 9 and 10 on his Apgar! AND HE HAD A FULL HEAD OF HAIR (and I mean a full head of hair!) He looked like he was wearing a wig! My beautiful little boy! The best thing I've ever done!

Now, here are some things I didn't tell you yet. First, throughout the pushing I was continually sh... myself - I was so embarrased and I was surprised because it had been 24 hours since I had had anything to eat. But they took it all in stride and when it was all done they never said a word about it.

I also had an extensive episiotomy - I was so rigid she had to keep cutting. My husband said everytime he looked down there she was cutting again, he was shocked. The doctor told me it was going to take a long while to sew me up and she wasn't kidding. She also told me I was going to be very sore. And, well, I never was! No really, I never had any real pain there. I kept waiting for it but it never came. I count myself VERY lucky. I stayed at the hospital for two nights due to the extensive episiotomy - the hospital told the insurance I should stay due to the extent and the fact I delivered at 9:06 and they agreed.

Now he's 7 months old and an absolute joy. I couldn't have asked for a child with a better disposition, although he has quite a temper when he's hungry. At this 6 month checkup he weighed 20 lbs. 2 ozs. and is 29.5" long - BIG BOY!

Debby
(MaMa to Thomas Alexander 8/9/95)