Birth Story

Monday April 2, 2012

I didn’t sleep much Sunday night because of pain in my pelvic area and lower abdomen, but I figured it was the same type of pregnancy pain I had been feeling since I was about 28 weeks pregnant. I woke up many times in the night upset that I wasn’t sleeping, and hungry. Finally at 9 am I gave up and stopped trying to sleep. I had a scheduled induction appointment for 8 pm that night, so I called the hospital to confirm my appointment and make sure there was a room available, just like my doctor told me to do. When I called they said that every room was taken and that I needed to call back at 6:30 PM, and if there still wasn’t a room available then I would have to make another appointment. I was devastated.

I made some blueberry muffins, and started getting ready for my doctor’s appointment. At 10 am I told RJ that I thought I was in labor. He told me to call the doctor, which I did. They asked me a few questions and then told me to come into the office. Luckily I had an appointment was at 10:20 am, so I didn’t have to wait long to see him.

When my doctor saw me he confirmed that I was in labor, and told me that I was dilated to a 3! I was so excited! He said that since I wasn’t in active labor, though, that I had to go home and come back in a few hours. I went home and immediately started having severe contractions. I went to my room, laid down on the bed and started timing them while Lola cuddled up next to me. At 11:30 RJ went to McDonald’s for my last pregnancy meal, and I was very grateful for it.     

We ate at noon, then took Lola to the park so I could walk around and hopefully progress enough to be considered active labor so they would admit me into the hospital. We walked around till almost 2 pm, and then went back to the doctor’s office. When I saw my doctor he told me that I was dilated to a 4, and that I should head over to the hospital. I was so excited! My contractions were strong at this point, but I was able to breathe through them.

We went straight to the hospital, I checked in, and then they showed me to my room. I got dressed in the hospital gown, which actually wasn’t too terrible, and settled into my bed. The next hour was spent being hooked up to IVs and answering a thousand questions. This was the first time that I have ever had problems with a nurse finding a good vein for an IV and for drawing blood. They tried first in my left arm, but my veins kept bursting so they moved on to my right arm and finally found a strong vein. It was awful. As soon as they hooked up the IVs the nurses brought Jell-O and flavored ice chips to my room, which was amazing. I was already starving at this point, and since I could only have liquid-based foods it was nice to have a flavor with it. 

My contractions were getting stronger and stronger, and although I was able to breathe through them I decided to ask for an epidural. Before going to the hospital my doctor reminded me that the epidural would cost the same being dilated to a 4 and being dilated to a 9, so I decided not to wait. The anesthesiologist came into my room about 10 minutes later and explained the whole process to me. Right when he was asking me to sit up so he could start the process, my doctor came in with his two interns to break my water. He asked Jeff, the anesthesiologist, if he could break my water first because it would only take about 30 seconds. Jeff put up some fight saying that I would be more comfortable with my epidural first, but my doctor assured him it wouldn’t take long. Wrong. Turns out Blaine did not appreciate my water being broken, or maybe it was the fact that my body was being used as an example to the two interns on how to break a bag of waters. As soon as they started attempting to break my water, Blaine’s heart rate started to drop because my contractions were coming so hard and fast that he didn’t have enough time to recover between them. They had to interrupt trying to break my water to insert internal monitors, which were attached to the top of his head so that they could better monitor him. When they shifted their focus back to breaking my water the interns were having a difficult time because of Blaine’s position in the birth canal. After about 15 minutes I started to block everything out and concentrate only on my breathing because the process was so painful. RJ was on my left side saying positive little affirmations, and my mom was trying to keep my mind off of what was happening but it was very hard for them to be there. The whole process took just over an hour, and at the very end the anesthesiologist came back in for my epidural. It was the first time that I had cried, and my nurse, Bonnie, and RJ were on either side of me calming me down and holding me still so that my epidural could go in smoothly. I couldn’t even feel my epidural entering, because I was too disgusted by the icky process of my water leaving my body. Bonnie and RJ helped me back down into my bed so I could lie down, and Bonnie fed me a little bit of ice chips. 

The epidural took only a minute to begin working, and I was very grateful for the peace that followed. My mom and RJ went to the cafeteria to get dinner, and I drifted off into a light nap with the help of the epidural.

At this point it was 7 pm, and I had progressed to only a 5. The nurses turned up my pitocin. RJ kept laughing because my contractions were going off the chart, and I was feeling absolutely nothing. My doctor came in to remind me that the possibility of a c-section was high, and that my lack of serious progression was another sign that a vaginal delivery was not possible.

At 8 pm I was checked again by one of the interns, and I was dilated to a 6. He told me that at this point I would be able to have a normal delivery, but that I had a long night ahead of me. I was thrilled! I had been preparing myself for a c-section for about a month, but I desperately wanted to deliver my baby. I started to cry again, but this time out of sheer joy. My mom decided to take the time to go home and check on Lola, to feed her and take her out; however, as soon as she left my sensors started beeping, the nurses placed and oxygen mask on my face, and they called for my doctor. RJ and I began to panic, he called my mom who (thankfully) hadn’t left the parking lot yet, and my doctor came running in. They immediately shut off my pitocin when they realized that the baby’s heart rate was suffering because of my strong contractions. I was only dilated to a 7, but the baby still hadn’t dropped into my birth canal. In fact, I hadn’t made any progression with how low the baby was in over a month. Dr. Evans told me that his suspicions were correct, and that I wouldn’t be able to have a normal delivery. He said that the option was up to me, and I could still attempt a delivery but that he did not recommend it because if they ended up doing a c-section once I was fully dilated it would be very dangerous to the baby and me. He was also concerned with how the baby was reacting to the stress of labor and contractions. After he finished expressing his concerns he gave RJ and I a minute to ourselves to decide what to do. We prayed about it, and decided to trust his professional opinion and move forward with a c-section. Outside in the halls my fabulous nurse told Dr. Evans that his intern had promised me a natural delivery, and she told him how excited I had become. When we called him back in he came in alone, apologized to us, and then told us what was going to happen from that point. After he finished explaining, Jeff came in to administer my spinal, which made me numb from the armpits down. After Jeff left, while we were waiting for the operating room to be prepared and the nurses to get ready, RJ and one of the doctors gave me a priesthood blessing.

At 9:30 pm they wheeled me out of my labor and delivery room and down the hall to the operating room. RJ walked down the hall with them until he was pulled aside to get prepped to be in the operating room with me. At this point I was saying over and over again in my head, “Heavenly Father, please let this baby be okay; please let this baby be okay.” I was so scared that something was going to be wrong with the baby, and that is why he wouldn’t drop down into the birth canal.

By the time I got into the operating room, though, I was so looped up from the spinal that I couldn’t really focus on anything. I couldn’t feel my body from my armpits down, and my arms were strapped down to the table so I wouldn’t move them. I knew they were prepping me for the c-section, but I had no idea what was actually happening because there was a big blue sheet covering my stomach. All of a sudden I realized that RJ was standing next to me. I asked him what was happening, if they had started the c-section, and if he could see the baby yet. I couldn’t really tell what he was saying, so I kept asking over and over again if he could see the baby. Finally he had this huge smile on his face and he told me he could see the baby; then he yelled, “It’s a BOY! And he’s….he’s peeing on you!” I couldn’t believe that this sweet baby would come out into the world like that, so I yelled, “WHAT?!” and RJ just responded with laughing and he told me again that it was a baby boy who was born peeing on his mom. The doctor held my baby up over the curtain for just a second and then whisked him away before I could even really see him. RJ asked if it was okay that he go with the baby, but he told me that he would stay if I wanted him to. I said I wanted him to go with the baby to make sure that he was okay, and I’m glad I made that decision. As they were finishing my surgery RJ kept coming back in forth from the NICU room and the operating room, which was only separated by a door. He was yelling things out to me like, “He’s 9 lbs!” “He’s 21 inches long!” “He has blonde hair!” 

It seemed to take forever for them to finish with my stitches and staples, and I was convinced that they were never going to let me see my baby. When they finally let me go into the recovery room I was shivering so bad from the anesthesia that I wasn’t able to hold my baby, so they still wouldn’t bring him into the room. Finally, about 2 hours after he was born, they brought him to me and I was able to nurse him for the first time.

Delivery was not what I thought it was going to be, but I am so grateful for this beautiful baby boy who looks just like his father. Heavenly Father has given me such a wonderful gift in this sweet baby, and although being a mother is the most physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually exhausting thing I have ever experienced, I would not trade it for the entire world. I am so grateful that my loving husband and wonderful mother were able to be by my side for the labor and delivery of Blaine. I love this sweet little boy.

Roger Blaine Evershed III

April 2, 2012 at 10:58 pm

9 lbs, 21 inches