birth story

here is the full story.

i woke up around 1:45 am on friday morning thinking i felt a funny release of water. sure enough when i went to the bathroom there was a gush of water and then later more trickles. i knew my bag of waters had broken. i was completely freaked out. i was only 34 weeks pregnant. this was too early. i called miles in the office/garage and asked him to come inside the house because i thought my water had broken. i was in such denial. i kept thinking no, this is wrong. this can't be right. it is too early. the baby can't come yet. i was so scared. it took me a while to get my thoughts together enough to pack my bag for the hospital. miles had rushed inside and called my doctor. my doctor said to go to the hospital right away. i asked him if i should wait to see if more water came out and be sure that it really broke and he said "no, you should go to labor and delivery right away." i called my mom and asked her and christina to come get mason and dahlia. i knew it would take her an hour to get here. i wasn't feeling any contractions like with dahlia so i knew i had some time.

mom and christina came and took the kids around 3:00 am. miles and i left 10 minutes later and checked into the hospital around 3:30 am. they admitted me right away and got me into a bed. when they checked me i was 3 cm. dilated. they hooked me up to an iv with fluids and antibiotics. then they gave me a steroid shot to help the babies lungs develop. the shot takes 24 hours to be effective and a full 48 hours to really be effective. it needs at least 12 hours to do much at all. the doctor wanted to slow down or stop my labor long enough for the steroid to work. he had them give me a shot of terbutaline. this drug is a muscle relaxer that should slow the contractions. it makes you feel really jittery like you just had 3 shots of espresso. they kept telling miles and i that if they could stop the labor i could stay here in that room for a week until the baby was 35 weeks. giving the baby more time to develop. we were so surprised. we thought that once your water would break that you only had 24 hours to deliver. we never even thought that the doctor would want to stop the labor. i remember thinking. oh my god am i going to have to stay in this bed in pain with water dripping out of me for a whole week. i couldn't even imagine making it to 48 hours.

i was feeling guilty because i was thinking "he's fine. just let him be born. i don't want to sit here for a week." i am terrible. so selfish. the terbutaline didn't do anything and i continued to have contractions about 6 minutes apart. they gave me another shot of the same drug and we waited to see if it would work. they told me to try to sleep, but there was no way i could sleep. my contractions did slow down for a while, but then picked up again. they were getting closer and stronger. they decided the next thing to try was to put me on magnesium sulfate. this drug is much stronger than the terbutaline. they put it my iv. it burns like hell when it goes into your veins. it makes you feel very hot, like you are laying on a heating pad. my face got flushed. it is supposed to relax you. they also had to put a catheter in me at that time because i would not be allowed out of bed. this whole process just sucked. i really just wanted to be able to have the baby. i hated all the drugs they had pumping through me. the worst part was that none of it was working. my contractions kept getting stronger and closer and i just knew that i wasn't going to last long. i think sometime around 9 am. i asked for some pain medication. i did not want an epidural, i just wanted something that could take the edge off the pain. they took a long time getting me something. the nurse wanted to check me first to see how dilated i was, but my doctor didn't want her to. she gave me demerol. it was so nice. it doesn't stop the pain of the contractions but it does make you feel better in between.

miles was so great during all of this. he held my hand during the contractions and told me to breath. i really did do the breathing techniques this time. they worked. they really did help. i was surprised. i broke down and started crying at around 11 am. i just couldn't take it any more. i was in so much pain and it didn't seem like it was leading to anything. they were all trying to prolong the labor and it felt like i was being tortured. my nurse was so sweet. she came in and saw me crying and decide she was going to check me even if my doctor didn't want her to. she thought i was ready. sure enough i was 9 cm. dialated. she called the doctor and started getting everything ready for me to give birth. thank god. i was so relieved. soon my doctor came in and there was a whole team of NICU nurses and doctors that all came in for the birth. there were at least 6 or 7 people in there. i don't remember any of them, but miles, my nurse, and my doctor. i had my eyes closed for most of it. i was trying to focus on pushing. i kept thinking of my sister jen. when she was giving birth she was so good about not swearing or making a big scene. i was trying to stay in control. i did so much better this time than with dahlia. i did not swear at all. i did yell out that i was dying and it was killing me. the babies head was stuck right at the opening and it was burning like crazy. it only took about 5 contractions of pushing to get him out. he was born at 12:04 pm. 5 pounds 1 ounce. 17 inches long. my doctor said "open your eyes sherry. look at your baby." he looked perfect. he started crying right away. thank god. they let me hold him for about 30 seconds before they rushed him away. he was making a wheezing noise and they were worried about his lungs. they said he was in distress. miles said later that he was fine. he just had a little fluid in his lungs that he was trying to get out. i was so shocked to find out that i didn't need an episiotomy this time. i didn't even tear. hurray. the baby looked much better than i thought he would. he looked like a perfect full term baby, only smaller. he ended up getting 8 hours of exposure to the steroid so i guess it was good that the doctor slowed down my labor.

wow. birth is such a crazy experience. it really is like an emotional roller coaster. you just feel shocked for days. i am finally starting to feel like myself again today. i am sure the hormones only add to the confusion. well. there it is. the birth story of our last baby. such drama this boy.