Birthing stories

I was going through a few birthing stories in n@w and a few bloggers in n@w as i was bloghopping. It made me feel a little sad because I never really put my experience down and now my daughter is 4 years old and my son is 2 years old. But for my own OC mind's sake...hehehe

Moira's due date was supposed to be on January 9, 2001. The pregnancy had been fairly uncomplicated - except for a move from Los Angeles to San Diego on my 8th month requiring me to look for an ob-gyn, pediatrician and hospital a month before my due date - everything went well. Unlike my mom, I was not one who enjoyed being pregnant. Oh, I loved the idea of having our baby inside me, growing and loved it when they moved and enjoyed the "being". I just didn't enjoy how cramped, uncomfortable and tiring pregnancy was.

We decided not to find out what we were having in our first pregnancy. We liked the idea of being surprised, and we also didn't have a preference so for us as long as he/she was healthy, we would be most grateful. As the days leading to the due date, I started gaining a pound a week. I had a slow weight gain, and in fact, lost weight on my first trimester. I made up for it in the second trimester, especially when I traveled to Manila for two weeks, I think I gained 10 lbs. when I was there - my doctor had to make sure I didn't have gestational diabetes.

On our last doctor's appointment, I had gained 30 lbs. It was the heaviest that I had ever been at 132 lbs. and I was unhappy. I waddled instead of walked, couldn't sleep at night as the baby kicked, moved and adjusted ALL night, I was tired all the time, slept for hours during the day and had headaches but couldn't take any of my pain relievers because it would be bad for my baby. The worst was my scoliosis that just hurt all the time. After the doctor examined me, she said I was about 1 cm dilated, but not yet began effacing - which wasn't a big deal anymore at this point since I had been that way for weeks now.

Initially, we had thought we would have our baby early, since history (Brian's mom and my mom) showed a penchant for delivering early babies. Our doctor said because of the weight gain I was showing, she was concerned that I would end up having a CS rather than a normal delivery since she felt my hips too small to accomodate my baby. If my due date came and went, we were to call them and they would arrange for us to come in the next day to be induced.

January 10, at 7am we were at Scripps Memorial Hospital, bright and early with my mom and Brian's dad. I was nervous, excited, scared, happy, relieved, terrified all at the same time. We had gone through Birthing Classes, Breastfeeding classes, Parenting classes but when you're confronted by the reality of what you're really about to do - no amount of coaching, training, or video is going to prepare you. The best thing that those classes did though was give me information on what can 'potentially' happen - these prepared me for what may happen. The one thing I realized, every birth is different.

After signing in, getting an LDR room (LDR - labor, delivery and recovery), and everyone settling down. The nurse connected me to an IV (after several tries and a warning from me that I had very thin veins and they tended to collapse), I gave her my birthing plan, and then injected the pitocin - this would allow me to start my contractions.

People who know me, know that I cannot STAND pain...I am a huge wuss. My threshold for pain is so stupidly low, I refrain from mentioning it. Suffice it to say that the needle on the IV was a huge pain factor for me. That being said, this was actually the first thing I told our nurse the first time she asked me about my birthing plan. She gave me a sedative and told me that I would be given an epidural a little later in the day to avoid slowing down my contractions.

So what this sedative did was knock me unconscious only to wake up at the height of my contractions. And it was PAINFUL!!! I don't know how often I woke up in intense pain, but I do remember there being several times - and my husband's face completely crunched up in worry, fear and just general concern for me - before I fell asleep again. At some point in the afternoon, I was starting to wake up - it was time for the epidural. While it was explained how it was to be administered, the whole logistic of it was something I never really completely understood. How does a woman 9 months pregnant bend forward and protrude her back? Do they not notice the big bump in front of the women? After so much pain though, I didn't care if I was bent over backwards and hung upside down just as long as I had no more pain. Once the epidural was done, I was fine.

So fine, that when the nurse came in with my doctor for the nth time and then said, we're ready. I actually asked, "ready for what?" It was 5pm, I was 10 cm, 100% effaced and baby was in 0 position - it was time to push. I still remember what I was thinking when they told me it was time to push...I don't feel anything below my waist - I don't know if I'm pushing or not.

Apparently I was because at 5:26pm, about 10 hours after inducing, I gave birth to Moira Marie Rausch - 7 lbs. 5 oz. 19 3/4 inches long.

To be continued...