Joshua Douglas's Birth

Well my due date came and went uneventfully. I went to RV to do curriculum work, cleaned, ate Chic-Fil-A for dinner, and baked chocolate chip cookies. I think I did some laundry too. Doug worked on his final paper, while he did that I did some little exercises on my yoga ball. We settled into bed and put on The Wonder Years. Doug asked Joshua for one more day to work on his school work so it would all be done before he came. As we drifted off to sleep I felt a few contractions, I didn't think it was anything since I'd been having plenty of them here and then, I especially didn't want to say anything to make Doug worry without reason.

At 4:45 I woke up and felt my PJs were wet. I went to the bathroom and fluid just gushed. So ok my water broke. I told Doug, then I got in the shower. At this point there was a catch 22. Dr. Mack said if I wasn't getting an epidural I should stay home as long as possible, but because I am Strep B positive, once my water breaks I need to be on antibiotics to protect the baby. I decided not to call till 7 or 8. So Doug is all worried for 2 reasons, he wants me to be at the hospital in time, and secondly he needs me to edit his paper. So guess what I do before I call the doc? That's right, I went up and worked on his paper for an hour and a half (It was a 24 page paper that needed to be cut down to 18 pages).

I see my nervous husband, so I ask him if he would feel better if I called the doctor and we headed to the hospital. He said yes, so I acquiesced. It was 7 when I called so I got the answering service. Dr. C. called me back and said to head on to the hospital. I told her I am not interested in an epidural and not in too much pain, so she said I could wait a little but be there by 8:30.

Last shot with Joshua on the inside.

We met my mom at the main entrance of the hospital and they got me up to maternity triage, where the most annoying nurse in the world examined me to make sure it was my water that broke. The nurse put in my IV line and hooked me up to the monitor. At this point I was not in true labor and only 2 centimeters dialated.

We settled into our room and nurse Joan came by with the Pitocin and Antibiotics. I knew I would be getting anti-biotics, but I did not want the Pitocin. During our childbirth classes and from some other resources I read, we decided it would be best for me and Joshua if we did everything we could to have a natural birth. Only about 1 in 10 women do that, but I was willing to endure some pain for the safe delivery and health of our son. I'll avoid my soap box for a minute but this video clip sums up our reasons for natural birth...you could also add that moms recover faster from going naturally and babies breastfeed better and are less likely to have jaundice. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fPauJEy7fc&NR=1 **hopefully this works now

The nurse told the doctor I wanted to discuss the Pitocin before she started it. Dr. DiJoseph came in and explained why medically Pitocin was recommended. We didn't want the baby in there too long with my water broken because of exposure to infection, and being that I was a first time mom and not in true labor, there's no telling how long my labor would be. I explained that I wanted a natural birth and the ability to move around (not be strapped to a bed), no epidural and no pitocin if it could be helped, but I also want to keep my baby safe. At this point my mom jumped in....let's just say she's getting friskier as she gets older. She explained her labor and how walking helped, the doctor said that's not medically proven. Finally I asked if he had seen other women deliver with pitocin but no epidural. He said a few but he doesn't like to see it because they are in soooo much pain. I asked to walk for an hour and see if I made progress, if I didn't we could reconsider the pitocin. He said you're the patient, you're the boss.

At this point I was a little upset and my blood pressure spiked. They make me take a pee test for Preeclampsia. It was negative of course.

The hospital was very busy that day so I got more than an hour of walking in. I believe we had that discussion with the doctor around 10:30. They made me go back to the bed once an hour for 20 minutes to monitor the baby and my contractions. Joshua's heartbeat stayed consistently between 135 and 140. My contractions were getting more regular. The doctor finally checked me again at 4. Because of the Strep B, they check my cervix as little as possible. At 4PM Dr. DiJoseph checked and I was 4 centimeters dialated. He looked at my mom and told her he would eat humble pie. He said maybe we would have a baby by midnight.

I continued to walk, but now just in my room. When I had a strong contraction I got Doug to massage my lower back which helped immensely. I am guessing around 5 PM I got in bed and didn't get up again till after Joshua was born. The contraction were coming closer together. I can't tell you how close because I kept my eyes shut to help me focus. There were a few techniques I used to overcome the pain. There was a relaxation method from the childbirth class we had where with each breath you imagine a cloud descending over your body relaxing portions at a time. I repeated to myself in my head until the very worst part when I started saying it aloud "This is only temporary." I reminded myself the pain would let up. I also meditated on some Bible verses. Hebrews 12: 1b-2 Let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. I learned that verses in AWANA ages ago and I often recited it to get through the worst part of a workout. I also thought of the first chapter of Joshua. Since we decided to name our son Joshua, I've reread that chapter a few times. Here's a portion from verse 5 and 6 that I reminded myself of while I labored: As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage...

Even with all this at 6 PM I was in so much pain that I told myself the next time the nurse comes in I am going to talk to her about Staydol...I did not think I had it in me to go through this for 6 more hours (to get to midnight when the doc said the baby might be born). Well little did I know that there were 3 others getting close to deliver, I did not see my nurse at all. I kept focusing and squeezing Doug and my mom's hands, and I made it. Sometime between 6:30 and 6:45 I felt the urge to push. I went with it. I did not say anything to my husband or my mother because I figured we had 6 more hours to go this can't be anything. I finally turned to my mom and asked "When did you start to feel like you needed to push?" Her response was "At the end." I told her I felt like I needed to push. She remembered I still had panties on so I could walk around and told me I better take them off. She looked at them and saw blood which she knew meant I was about to deliver, she went out in the hallway and got the first nurse she could find.

The charge nurse, Peggy, checked me. She asked what number baby this is for me, I said "the first." She said something to the extent of "Well I'll be. You're fully dialated." She told me what station he was at too but I am going to have to ask my mom if she remembers what the nurse said~I asked mom today, I was at a +3 station, she could see the Joshua's hair at this point. The doctor was delivering someone else at that point so they tried to get me to wait to push. The nurse said she could deliver if it came to that. I basically ignored instructions not to push, I did what my body was telling me...really I had no choice in the matter.

Around 7, maybe 7:10 the doctor came running into the room. They broke down the bed and let me push. He said, "You have been proving me wrong all day!" I began to really push. Amy had just gotten there. The nurse kept making her do stuff because they were short staffed. When I was pushing she came over to help Doug hold my leg (He got a little leary when I was pushing and grabbed my thigh instead of my foot LOL). At 7:20, We met our son.

Happiest Moment of my Life

A good set of lungs!!

Weighing in at 6 pounds 11 ounces. 20.5 inches longWe're a family now!!
Grandma

Aunt AmyGreat-grandma and Uncle John




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