If you're just tuning in to this post you need to start here (Charlie's Birth Story: Part 1) . I've been working on writing Charlie's birth story over the last few weeks, so the posts have been a bit spread out. Thanks!
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Sometime not long after my IV was started and they had broken my water, our friend Josh came by. He had just finished sitting in on a delivery for another lady that had an epidural. He checked to see if I was ready for my epidural and we came up with a plan for at what point I would call for him. I was currently only at about a 2-3 on the pin scale and I felt like I could make it to an 8 before I would call Josh. He said he completely understood, but also explained it was better to get it sooner rather than later since things could move very quickly as I got closer to 10cm. With all of that being said Josh headed downstairs to take care of some other patients that needed him, and I continued to ride out the contractions.
All the while JD was still in his suit and quite hungry. There were also things that we knew we would need from the house that Allison hadn't brought. Alyce assured us that since we lived so close to the hospital JD would have time to run home and get back before things got too intense. At this point it was 4:45 and I told JD he had one hour to get back.
During that hour I had to answer a lot of questions for Alyce and Teresa came in the check me again. Dr. Yarborough also came by to check on me when she finished at the office. I thanked her and Teresa for coming in for me because I didn't realize it was actually both of their scheduled days to be on call! They had both always told me they would come in for me even if they were off, so I just assumed that's what happened. I was so thankful for how God works things out! My sweet boy was being born on the day that my OB, midwife, and anesthesiologist were all already at the hospital!
I watched the contractions on my monitor and they slowly started to come more frequently and increase in intensity. They were still several minutes apart and only going up to about a 4 on the monitor. I also had my first experience with using a bed pan at this point. Since I had the internal monitor on Charlie I wasn't able to get up to go to the bathroom. Yet another reason I hadn't wanted an internal monitor... I'll just say using a bed pan was one of the most humbling experiences of my life! Everyone assured me all was going well and that they would be in the hall if I needed them. I settled in and decided to give my parents another call.
When I talked to Mom she said they were on the road and were going as fast as they could. Unfortunately they were leaving right in the middle of Atlanta rush hour traffic. I spent some time walking Mom through the events of the day and just talking about anything and everything to keep my mind occupied. While we were on the phone my Pitocin drip was increased and the contractions were closer and more intense as well. I had one contraction actually jump up to a 10 while talking to my mom and she had to talk me through it as I breathed it out. I could tell she was having a hard time with not being there!
We hung up after a while and I called to check in with JD. Sosha had come by the house while he was there because she was still planning to feed our dogs and bring the bags to the hospital. I talked with her briefly before she left and I had to walk JD through the last few items to bring. I'm so glad that I was as prepared as I was because I was able to tell JD exactly where my packing list was and it was detailed enough that he had no problem knowing what to bring. I also urged him to hurry back because I didn't want to be alone now that the contractions were picking up.
Not long after, Alyce came back in and asked me to get on my left side and to wear an oxygen mask. I don't remember getting told a lot of details, just that Charlie needed a little extra help. Ok. No big deal, but boy were these contractions picking up. At this point I think I described it as the worst period cramps ever. I called JD again to insist that he get back up there. Thankfully he was just in the parking lot.
We spent some time just talking and riding out contractions. I never screamed or cried when one came on. I just got very quiet and focused. I'd squeeze JDs hand and breath it out. I think I had JD turn my hospital playlist on at some point, but I honestly don't even remember hearing it. I had to humble myself again and use the bedpan in front of everyone. I was really dehydrated when I checked in so they had me on a steady fluid drip. It was certainly getting the job done!
I was definitely in a bit of pain now and started asking about where Josh was. Alyce said that he was still working downstairs, but she'd go ahead and page him. I asked if I could get a dose of Fentanyl in the mean time. She went ahead and started getting the process rolling, as well as increased my Pitocin again... Oh joy.
JD was manning the phones the whole time and our parents were both now around halfway here. It looked like they were going to make it in time for the delivery! I was only about 4cm at this point and well past the hour and a half mark that my mom and granny had for their labor. We had hoped for a quick delivery like both of them. I guess all that endurance training at the gym was going to come in handy!
Josh got back upstairs and told Alyce to go ahead and give me the Fentanyl to help me out as he got prepped for the epidural. He walked me through everything he was going to do step by step by step. I really appreciated this since I'm such an information junky. I want to know anything and everything that's going to be happening! I'm also glad that Josh let JD stay in the room with me. Alyce got him all set up on a stool sitting right in front of me and she kept one hand on my shoulder while JD held my hands.
Josh told me every single thing he was doing as he was doing it and really kept me calm. It was not that bad at all! Don't get me wrong. It was no walk in the park, but it wasn't as bad as you'd think, especially knowing how long that needle is! The worst part of the whole thing was the numbing shot. I just stared at JD and breathed through the whole thing. Still no tears! I'm proud to say JD did well with it too... He's terrified of needles!
After the epidural I was able to come off of my oxygen and lay on my back again. I started to feel the epidural kick in, but it really freaked me out, and honestly concerned me, that I was feeling it on one side more than the other, and in fact was barely feeling it on the other side as well. Josh assured me that it was all normal and would work itself out. I started to get the shakes really bad from the medicine. Everyone thought I was cold because my teeth were chattering, but it was really just the medicine!
Teresa came in soon after the epidural to start my catheter. Bless his heart. Josh was still in the room when they flung my legs wide open, so he just quickly turned his back to me as he kept talking to the nursing student. She had never seen an epidural before so he was talking to her about it. At this point all my modesty had gone out the window so I didn't even mind that he was still there. Josh stuck around long enough to make sure I was all set. He told us his shift was ending but that he would gladly come back for me if they ended up needing to do a C-Section and I wanted him to come back.
We rode out contractions for a little while longer. JD was his typical self cracking jokes and talking to everyone. Whenever a contraction would come on I'd get quiet and even told him to be quiet at one point! Fortunately the contractions started to get more and more dull as the epidural took over, but not before JD made a comment that was enough for me to tell him off! Ha! A particularly rough contraction hit and he said "Oh that only got up to a 6!" Only? ONLY? ONLY A 6?!? He was promptly told NOT to say things like that and that it was NOT helpful! Fortunately that's the ugliest I ever had to get with him. Eventually the contractions got so dull that I would ask if I was in the middle of one and JD would look at the monitor to see. Thank God for epidurals!
Over the next little bit Teresa explained to me that Charlie was having a bit of a hard time with labor. He was doing well in the beginning, but now he wasn't really responding as well as they would like. It's probably a good thing that I didn't realize they turned the monitor away from me. Apparently Charlie was having late decelerations. That meant that when I had a contraction Charlie's heart rate and O2 levels were dropping and not recovering as quickly as they should have. I had to go back in the oxygen mask and lay back on my left side.
Throughout all of this JD had been texting people and keeping them posted. One of those people was our trainer and friend, Billy. He had been expecting JD at the gym that night, so when he didn't show up Billy figured something was going on. JD had told him that he was hungry, so Billy offered to swing by for a quick visit and bring JD something. Billy eventually stopped by and brought JD two Snickers bars. Honestly I was pretty oblivious to him while he was there. I was more focused on getting through the contractions and worrying about Charlie. Like I said before, the contraction monitor was turned away from me to where I couldn't see, so I had no idea what was going on unless I listened to the nurses.
Sometime a little bit after 7:45 Teresa came back in and asked Billy to leave the room so that she could check me again. Thanks girl! Billy's a great friend, but he didn't need to see all of that! I will admit to being disappointed at hearing that I was only 5 cm dialated. I had now been in active labor for close to 4 hours and had only progressed 2 cm.
I don't remember exactly how it all went down after that, but everything started to move and happen very quickly. After hearing that I was only 5cm, Dr. Yarborough came in and explained that Charlie was really starting to concern everyone and he wasn't tolerating labor very well at all. I also wasn't progressing as quickly as they hoped. At this point she felt like the best option was to go ahead and move forward with a C Section to get Charlie out and get his oxygen levels up ASAP. Potentially laboring for 10 more hours was not an option for him. This was all explained very quickly and when she asked if I was ok with that and if I had any questions I thought my head would explode.
WHAT?! A c section?! This wasn't part of the plan! I knew nothing about c sections! What would that mean for Charlie? And why was he in such distress? Was he going to be ok?
"YES!! Happy heathy mom. Happy healthy baby."
That's all they needed. The room filled with people. I told JD to get Josh back on the phone and back upstairs. Everything was in slow motion as consent forms were thrust in front of me. New monitors were hooked up. JD was given scrubs to change. People scurried all around doing I'm not even sure what.
Josh got back upstairs after what felt like a life time, but was really only a few minutes. I was completely calm at that point. It was actually probably really a mix of shock and numbness. As soon as I saw a Josh though I lost it. He came and sat right by me and started walking me through everything that was about to happen. He reassured me everything was going to be ok and that I would be holding my baby boy soon. JD asked me if we wanted to let the parents know what was going on. JD's parents were just shy of an hour out and mine were about 30 minutes behind them. Josh said there was no way they would make it here in time, so I decided it was better not to worry them while they were on the road.
Josh got up to start adjusting stuff with my epidural and let me get one boost before we headed out. I also remember him asking if it was ok for the nursing students to get to sit in on my c section. "Sure. My sister in law is a nursing student. They need to learn." Honestly they could have asked if I would mind being wheeled through the hospital butt naked. I was crying and shaking so badly and in such a fog that I didn't really know or care about anything. All I knew was I was about to get cut open. I knew my baby was in trouble. I knew things were not going according to plan.
I knew I was about to meet my baby.
Jump to:
Charlie's Birth Story: Part 1
Charlie's Birth Story: Part 2
Charlie's Birth Story: Part 3
Charlie's Birth Story: Part 4
Charlie's Birth Story: Part 2
Charlie's Birth Story: Part 3
Charlie's Birth Story: Part 4
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