Mountain Mama

Ben turned 6 weeks on Wednesday. This week, he started smiling his first real smiles! I snapped a bunch of pictures, trying to capture one, but it’s hard because his facial expressions change so fast! Here is one of the better ones. His eyes are open all the time and he loves to look around. He really likes looking at the lights, and he has started looking at the “toys” hanging above his chair. This evening, he followed Tim with his eyes as Tim walked back and forth across the room. Later, his ryes followed me as I crossed the room! On Wednesday, I had a meeting at the CAC, so Tim got to take him and show him off for an hour. Everyone thought he was so cute!

Ben’s Birth Story

October 17, 2007

Warning: slightly graphic

On the day Ben was born, I woke up just after 5:00 am to get ready for work like normal. It was a Wednesday, and Ben wasn’t due until the next Monday (10/22/07). I was getting very big and uncomfortable, so I was hoping he would come early! My friend Becky, my Grandma, and one of my 6th grade students had all predicted he would come on the 17th, but there were no signs of impeding labor. The only change I had noticed was the day before, Ben’s movement pattern changed. Instead of feeling lots of movement in the upper left-hand side of my belly, I felt most of the movement on the upper center part of my belly.

Warning: too much information ahead…When I went to the bathroom at about 5:15, I heard and felt a pop in the right side of my back as I was peeing. At the time, I thought it was a kick from the baby, but looking back, it definitely felt different than a kick. I peed longer and stronger than usual, but then I stopped suddenly. I had a fleeting thought that my water had broken, but since it stopped suddenly, I discounted it. However, the water in the bowl wasn’t clear yellow like “normal” – it was cloudy. I told Tim I was going back to bed until 6. He was in the kitchen making coffee and didn’t hear what I said. He came to the bathroom and said, “what?” As he got to the bathroom door, I felt a strong gush of water. I sat back down on the toilet and sure enough, water was rushing out! Tim didn’t realize what was happening at first. I said, “my water just broke!” He just said, “really?” We could hear the water hitting the toilet and it sounded like I was just peeing. I said, “I’m not peeing, my water broke!!! That isn’t pee!” At that point it dawned on Tim and he said, “wow, this is it!” At some point I said, “we’re going to have a baby soon, because once your water breaks, they like to deliver within 24 hours.” I also remember Tim saying, “I guess you’re not going to work today.”

I sat on the toilet for about 10 minutes, as water drained. Tim called my parents and told them the good news. They were really excited. I must have been in denial, because I told them not to take off work! Luckily, they didn’t listen! Then Tim called his mom and told her the good news. We decided not to “rush off” to the hospital right away. I got up and emailed Becky at about 5:30 to tell her she may be right about Ben coming on the 17th! After that, I decided to get a shower. When I first got in the shower, I felt what I thought was a contraction. Halfway through the shower, I felt what was definitely a contraction and yelled at Tim to start timing. As I got out of the shower, I felt another contraction. This one was painful. It was about 4 minutes after the previous one.

At 6:00, I called my principal on her cell phone. She must have had my number programmed into her phone, because she answered by saying (in an excited voice), “are you going?” I was still very calm, cool, and collected as I told her what was going on. We checked my suitcase and decided to head to the hospital since my contractions were so close together. I grabbed a banana on the way out.

The ride to the hospital was very interesting! Almost immediately after getting into the truck, the contractions got very painful. I do not remember what I said or did, but I do remember noticing that Tim was driving 90 mph on I-68! Apparently, at some point along I-68, my contractions changed from 4 minutes apart to 2 minutes apart! When we got into Morgantown, I remember being surprised at how heavy the traffic was, even before daybreak! Tim, of course was cussing at the traffic and at the crossing guard directing traffic in front of the hospital! As we turned onto Easton hill, I thought I was going to be sick. Tim told me to roll down the window and lean out of it- I don’t think he wanted to stop. He even passed cars on the Mileground, using the turning lane! I didn’t realize it at the time. Luckily, I wasn’t sick in the truck!

We got to the emergency room and they checked me in quickly and took me upstairs. When we got to the 6th floor, they put me in a little “triage” room. A nurse told me to undress from the waist down and give a urine sample. As I was trying to do that, a resident walked in and introduced herself. I immediately recognized her, but I wasn’t sure from where. She said, “you two look very familiar.” Then I realized that she had been a bridesmaid at our friends’ Sarah and Brad’s wedding. Then she remembered us, too. Her name was also Sarah.

Once I got into the little triage room, things got very painful very quickly, and as a result my memory is a little hazy. Throughout this time, I was hooked up to fetal monitors and checked occasionally. When I first got there, I was dialated 4 cm. I was absolutely starving but they wouldn’t give me any food! My midwife was on the floor and the nurse got her permission to give me “clear fluids.” They brought in a little tray and I got to have a some frozen orange ice. It was SO delicious! At the time, it was the best thing I had ever had to eat! I only had a little before my next contraction came and I couldn’t stand to eat anymore. Tim fed me spoonfuls between contractions after that. I remember that a stupid cartoon program was on the TV and we never turned it off. One of the character’s names was Timmy, which I thought was funny. Then SpongeBob SquarePants came on. It must have given me something to concentrate on besides the pain because it didn’t bother me. At one point, the phone rang and a nurse answered it. It was for me! It was Becky calling to wish me luck. At another point, Tim’s cell phone rang and it was the worst sound in the world to me! I couldn’t stand the sound and made him turn it off. At some point I felt sick again and luckily, Tim found a trash can in time. Up came the banana and the orange ice!

At about 11:00, they moved me into a “real” room. I remember being horrified that I had to walk there, because I was in so much pain (it was just down the hall). When I first got to this room, I was about 6 cm dialated. I don’t remember much about this room for the first hour or so. I was in so much pain I couldn’t open my eyes. It really was absolutely blinding pain! Tim tells me I told him, “get out there and tell them I’m dying!” Apparently I was very insistent that I was actually dying. I remember a doctor came in and tried to talk to me during a contraction and I ignored him and screamed. My arms went numb and my face started going numb and I got very scared. I felt like I was passing out. The nurse told me I was passing out and needed to slow down my breathing. That was something I could not do. At that point I asked for some pain medication, so they gave me Nubain. It relaxed me enough that I could open my eyes a little and it took the edge off of a few contractions. However, I was soon in a lot of pain again. At that point I asked for the epidural.

As soon as I received the epidural, it was like someone flipped on a light switch. I could open my eyes again, I could hold a conversation again, etc! I was like a different person! I couldn’t believe it was noon already! In another strange coincidence, the anesthesiologist who supervised the epidural was the very same anethesiologist who anesthetized me for the IVF embryo retrieval in January! I recognized him immediately. He said this was the first pregnancy he had been involved with from conception to birth (besides his own kids)! He also joked that we could show our gratitude by naming the baby after him: Richard. Umm, I didn’t think that would be a good idea, given our last name!

After recieving the epidural, I was able to sleep for about an hour. Tim got some rest as well. A little before 1:00, the midwife came in and checked me… I was 9.5 cm dialated! Soon it would be time to push! The midwife said that since things had moved quickly all morning, we would probably have a baby soon! They wheeled in the baby warming pod that they put babies on after they’re born. Right around that time, my parents and grandparents arrived. Just in time for the action! At about 1:00, they asked my parents to step outside so they could check me again. I started pushing right away.

I pushed on my back, while Tim and a nurse held my legs, but my epidural was mild enough that I was able to move to a squatting position to push so I did that for a while. It was a LOT harder work than I thought! I pushed and pushed as hard as I could! At one point I felt sick. Tim didn’t get a trash can in time and I tried to hold it in… bad idea. I threw up juice all over my face and my hair. Tim told me later he thought I was throwing up blood since there was red stuff all over my face! In yet another coincidence, a new labor nurse came on duty- she was the aunt of 2 of my students. I threw up again a little while later, but this time they got me a trash can in time.

After a while the midwife brought in a mirror so I could see the baby’s head. I could just barely see it. I pushed while looking in the mirror but he didn’t get any closer… At about 3:00 (after 2 hours of pushing), the midwife said she would give it about another hour, but usually if babies are going to come “naturally,” they do it in 3 hours or less. That last hour was the most frustrating time. I was getting more and more exhausted but I felt like I was “under the gun” to get the baby out. The closer it got to 4:00, the harder I tried to push but the more exhausted I was. I really felt like my eyes were going to pop out of my head. At 4:00, the midwife said I could keep pushing if I wanted, but she really felt a c-section was necessary. At that point I was so utterly and completely exhausted I didn’t think pushing any more would be effective. I found out later that, instead of facing my back, he was turned almost completely towards my front (“sunny-side up”), making it harder for a “natural” birth.

Once the decision was made to go ahead with a c-section, things moved very quickly. My parents, grandma, and Tim’s mom came back in and visited for a few minutes while they made preparations. Tim was given scrubs to change into. They wheeled me into the operating room and the anesthesiologists came back to get my epidural up to a surgical level. Before I knew it, the operation had begun! Dr. Holls and Dr. Cuppett were the surgeons. When I found out they had begun cutting me open without Tim, I was upset, but apparently that is customary because the first part takes a little while. Finally, Tim got there (in plenty of time). It was frustrating not being able to see what was going on, even though I know why they put the screen up! I heard a commotion at one point and later learned that Dr. Cuppett had burned her finger with the little iron they use to burn the blood vessels closed! Tim held my hand but also stood and watched the operation. When it came time to pull the baby out, he was stuck! The midwife had to push his head up to help him come out, since he had gotten pushed partway down!

Finally he came out! Tim got very excited watching this and actually squeezed off a picture! I heard a little squeak and I knew my son was born! It was 5:08 pm, almost exactly 12 hours after labor had started. They showed him to me for about 2 seconds and then took him back behind the curtain. After that, I didn’t hear anything and got worried that something was wrong. Everything was fine- they had taken baby Ben to another room to clean him up and weigh him, etc. Soon they invited Tim to come with Ben while they sewed me up. I got very cold and shaky right after the birth. I also got sick again! After a few minutes, Tim came back and showed me some of the pictures on the camera. I told him to go back to be with his son while they finished me up.

After what seemed like an eternity, Tim brought Ben out to me. He was bundled up in a white blanket and he was wearing a white hat with a little blue pom pon at the top. I immediately burst into tears! I said, “he’s a real baby!” Tim held him up to my face so I could kiss him and I cried some more.

That night, I stayed awake, staring at my baby boy. I didn’t sleep longer than 15 minutes at a time. I couldn’t stop staring at my beautiful baby.