Thomas' Birth Story

I have been meaning to complete Thomas' birth story. The last three months have been a little crazy and finally I got it done! You don't have to read it all but if anyone is interested here it is. Happy 3 months Thomas!

On Tuesday, June 14th I went to my scheduled doctor appointment. I would be 37 weeks the next day. My Dr. told me that if I was dilated to a 5 I could go to the hospital and have the baby. They could help me with some petocin since I would be full term. The doctor checked me and I was indeed dilated to a 5. He decided to hook me up to a monitor to watch the contractions for an hour and then check again. If I changed we would go to the hospital. I got all hooked up and no contractions were showing up. At this point I had had so many contractions and been in so much pain that it was hard to tell what pain was what anymore. I was so upset by the idea of again going home to wait for who knows how much longer that I completely lost it and bawled my eyes out. They went ahead and unhooked me since there was nothing to see. The doctor said to "give him a chance" and let him check me again before I left. The second check was about 40 minutes after the first, and lo and behold I was dilated to a 6! I was shocked and didn't understand. The doctor said that the monitor probably wasn't picking up the contractions simply because my cervix was way back behind the baby's head. He told me to go to the hospital and he'd meet me there! I can't even begin to explain the sense of relief that came over me.

Since Brian met me at my appointment straight from work, we drove home to drop off the work truck and then drove to the hospital in our car together. During the car ride my contractions really started to pick up and I was ready to get to the hospital and get some drugs. I checked in at about 5 pm. It took a little while to get all checked in and get the IV going. The nurse burst a vein twice trying to get it in… ugh! I was really impatient waiting for all of the IV fluid to enter my system so that I could get an epidural. There was a shift change an hour or two after I got there and when my nurse walked in I looked up and said, “Oh, I know you. I like you. Good.” She smiled and said thanks. Her name was Dani and I had spoken to her on the phone for about twenty minutes and had her as a nurse a week or so prior on one of the nights I went in to try to stop contractions. She felt like a sister and was very laid back. I was so relieved to have a good nurse for the actual delivery.

By the time the anesthesiologist came up and gave me the epidural, I was really hurting. It wasn’t as smooth and painless going in as it was when I had Maybrie, but it wasn’t bad either. During the first half hour after receiving the epidural, I thought I could feel it starting to kick in. But I soon realized that it was only in my mind. I was having extremely intense concentrated pain on my left side with each contraction. I found myself singing “I Need Thee Every Hour” in my head each time a contraction came, focusing on the words to push through. I was actually quite amazed with myself and the fact that those were the words running through my head instead of profanity (which entered my mind during a few of the other painful moments of the previous weeks). The nurse kept giving me more medicine through the epidural until I was maxed out and it was pretty clear it wasn’t working. We tried laying me on my left side to see if the medicine would drop over onto that side. It didn’t work. The anesthesiologist came back up and said he was sorry it didn’t work on the left side, but that there wasn’t anything he could do. I was livid!

Around 10 pm or so, the doctor checked me and I was still just staying dilated at an 8. By the way, can I just say how much I loved Dr. Maganito and the fact that he was there at the hospital checking in throughout the whole process. He was so awesome! So, he said that the position of the baby’s head was preventing my cervix from dilating completely and that we had to get the cervix moved up to the front. I was feeling so much pain and pressure to push already at this point. The doctor talked me through some pushes while he actually reached in and moved the cervix himself. It was crazy and painful. Once it was in position he said that he would come back and check on me in an hour and see if I was ready to push.

About ten minutes later I had the craziest feeling ever and told Brian that I thought I was going to poo or something and that I couldn’t stop my body from pushing. He tried to calm me and then stepped out to get the doctor. Dr. Maganito walked in pretty calmly with the nurse trailing behind, saying he would take a look and see if I had changed. When he moved around to the bottom of the bed everything turned into a humorous scene from a movie. He said, “Whoa! We’re having a baby!” Gloves and papers started flying as he started re-positioning the bed and foot rests to deliver. All kinds of order were being shouted out, and he even managed to poke his head out the door to Marcia (my mother-in-law) and say “The baby’s coming!” The doctor kept telling me not to push yet and I was thinking, “Are you nuts!?” He said don’t push or you will tear, and believe me I was doing the best I could! With Brian and Dani at my sides and the doctor at the end of the bed, he talked me through two really good pushes. It was the most horrible pain I’ve ever felt in my life. It was all totally foreign to me because I didn’t feel any of it with Maybrie. The next thing I knew there was crying and Thomas was lying on my chest. It was 10:45pm. I was in shock and disbelief. I was so exhausted I could barely even process the whole event. I remember he looked so big to me and I couldn’t believe that I had just pushed him out of me! A few minutes later, while the nurse was cleaning up Thomas, I told the doctor I was sorry but I was going to poo. He laughed and said, “Oh no. That’s the placenta!” Another shock… I didn’t know how any of this felt because I didn’t feel it when I delivered Maybrie.

Thomas weighed 6 lbs. 12.9 oz. and was 19 inches long. He was born at 36 weeks and 6 days, a day before full term, so he is technically considered pre-term. Thomas was kind of making a purring sound. The doctor and nurses were concerned that he was working too hard to breathe. They kept checking and re-checking him all through the night, but everything was normal. I was floored when I found out that there is no nursery at Yakima Memorial Hospital. I was so looking forward to the nurses taking Thomas and getting a good night sleep. However, without the nursery Thomas stayed in my room and his soft purring kept me up all night, not to mention I had the most uncomfortable bed ever. Due to the fact the nurse was concerned about his breathing the first night she did come in and check on us a lot. I had some help changing diapers and getting the things that I needed. However, the next night was a completely different story. I had to change Thomas’ diapers and didn’t get any sleep. The nurses actually seemed annoyed when I asked for help. I was so exhausted and upset. I couldn’t wait to get home and be with Brian so he could help. The hospital food wasn’t the greatest either. Brian enjoyed it but it just didn’t hit the spot for me. Overall, I was extremely disappointed with the Hospital and service. On the other hand, I LOVED my doctor and both Thomas and I were all right.

I couldn’t have been more thrilled to have him out of me. He couldn’t be more beautiful. I feel truly blessed to have delivered a healthy baby. The wait was worth it.