Tomorrow I'll write more about Cooper at four years old, but tonight I feel like looking back, plus I want to have his birth story recorded here on the blog, so here goes... the story of Cooper's birth.
I had a doctor's appointment on the 5th, for an ultrasound to check Cooper's fluid levels since I as overdue. That morning I had contractions exactly 10 minutes apart while I was getting ready and on the way to the doctor's office. His fluid levels were fine, and I was fine, so the doctor said I really have no reason to induce you - you will probably go into labor on your own tonight or tomorrow. Chris's Aunt Nelta had passed away the day before, and we knew that her funeral would be in the next day or two. I really did not want him or his family to be put in the position where I was in labor during Nelta's funeral, receiving of friends, etc. So I told Dr. R about all of that, and he said, well let's just head to the hospital now. Chris and I both thought he was kidding, but he wasn't. So we went to the hospital, and they started cervadil about 12:00.
By 2:00 PM I was having contractions several minutes apart. At 5:00 my water broke and my contractions felt like they were constant, but they were about 2 or 3 minutes apart. I had a lot of back labor and it felt like there was never any relief between contractions. At 7:00 I got my epidural - at only 3 cm - and less than two hours later I was at 9. 30 more minutes and I was 10. The nurse suggested I wait another hour or so for the baby to drop because I was feeling no pain with the epidural and that would be less pushing for me.
So we waited a while and then I started pushing. My mom, Glenda (Chris's mom) and Chris were with me. It was the neatest feeling to be in the process of delivering our baby. Chris was a rock during the pushing and I remember just staring into his eyes the whole time. I pushed for 2 1/2 hours and Cooper's head would not come past my pelvic bone. They could see his head when I pushed, but he would not descend any farther. Dr. R used the vacuum twice, but it didn't work. The last hour or so of pushing my epidural had worn off and I was in a lot of pain and exhausted. Dr. R said he believed I could push all night and the baby would not come out. He thought my pelvic bone was narrow and Cooper's head was big. So we decided on a c-section.
When we got to the OR they gave me more medicine in my epidural and started. I was fine, could hear everything and was talking to the doctors and Chris. Right when they said, you'll feel a lot of pressure - just breathe through it, my epidural wore off. I thought it was just the pressure and everyone else felt that too, and I just needed to deal with it. I must have looked paniced because Chris said, "Just breathe through it." I said, "I can't breathe at all," and started to cry. Then I felt someone touch my foot and I said, "Somebody touched my foot, and I felt it." Everybody looked at me, then I don't remember much after that. I had two anesthesiologists there, and they told Chris they could not give me any more medicine until after Cooper was out because the medicine would go to him until they cut the cord. I screamed several times (not that I remember, that's according to Chris) and passed out from the pain. It took a long time for the doctor to get Cooper out because he was wedged against my pelvic bone from all the pushing I did. He had to push him up and then pull him out. As soon as he was delivered the anesthesiologists put something in each IV line and also in my epidural so I passed out again. Cooper was not breathing when he was born and his first apgar score was 3. I cannot imagine how terrified poor Chris was for me to be passed out and Cooper to be in distress. Soon though, at the 5 minute apgar score, Cooper was doing fine and scored a 9. Chris took him to the nursery while they sewed me up. After he got back I sort of came to and was asking the same questions over and over like, what time was he born, how much did he weigh? Dr. R later told Chris he won the husband of the year award for answering the same few questions 300 times.
When I woke up in recovery my labor nurse was there with me. I started crying and saying how I wish I had done better pushing. I really felt like I had not done something right. She said I had done all that I could, was doing a great job pushing, that sometimes babies just won't come out the way they're supposed to. Cooper did have a big head and still does, plus he was transverse and 23 inches long, so I think all of those things made it more difficult to deliver him. Anyway, I was bawling and told the delivery nurse that I didn't even get to see him so she went running and found me a picture the nurses had taken of him. When Chris and Mom and Daddy came in, I was holding the picture and crying. My mom had been told by Chris about how awful everything was, so she was crying too. The nurse told us that in the OR when I felt someone touch my foot, it was her trying to help the Dr. R get Cooper out. She said that when I said that, they all looked at each other and she freaked out because they knew I was no longer numb. Dr. R worked as hard as he could to get Cooper out fast, but it took a long time because he was so stuck.
Later that night when my mom was leaving, she rode down the elevator with a nurse who happened to be in the OR when Cooper was born. Mom said, "Was it as awful as I'm imagining it was?" The nurse said, "Worse." She told my mom it was the worst thing she had ever seen. Dr. R said if every delivery he did was like that, he would never deliver another baby. He said my delivery was the worst he had ever been through and he would quit tomorrow if they were all that way.
So the c-section itself was definitely not a good experience, but I healed quickly and bonded right away with Cooper. When the nurse brought him to me, I couldn't even put my thoughts into words. I was amazed at the fact that all of sudden, I was a mother. I had loved Cooper while he was in my belly and done my best to take care of him, but holding him in my arms and seeing his sweet face made me realize what a precious gift God had given me, and just how powerful the love between a mother and child is.
No comments:
Post a Comment