You often hear from women that their labour and delivery did not go according to their \u201cbirth plan\u201d, and that was certainly the case with my birth plan! I was planning to have a natural birth: no narcotics, no epidural.<\/p>\n
I noticed on Thursday, April 7, that I was having more cramping than usual starting in the afternoon, and by the evening, when Neal and I went to visit some friends who had just had a baby, I was starting to have a few mild contractions. I didn\u2019t think very much of it because I had had so many teaser contractions. They were a little stronger than usual, but still nothing that made me think we would be going to the hospital in a few short hours.<\/p>\n
Neal and I came home and watched a show we had DVR\u2019d, and then started getting ready for bed. The contractions were continuing, and by midnight, they were in full swing and very painful. It\u2019s true what everyone says: you know when it\u2019s labour. Still, we waited a bit to see if they\u2019d go away. They didn\u2019t; although they were still somewhat sporadic, they were close together and very painful. We called the birth center at the hospital and they encouraged us to wait it out a little longer; after all, it still could have been false labour.<\/p>\n
As the contractions continued, however, and grew more intense, I wanted to just go to the hospital because I was starting to dread the car ride. Then I went to the washroom and there was a little bit of blood (\u201cbloody show\u201d, as I learned), and then the pain started to get so bad that I threw up twice. It was definitely time to get to the hospital.<\/p>\n
We were admitted around 2 a.m. on Friday morning, April 8. After the early assessment, we were shown into our labour and delivery room where the nurse had filled the tub with nice hot water. I spent quite a bit of time in there, but I was so tired \u2013 I hadn\u2019t slept since Wednesday night \u2013 and I was dozing off but I didn\u2019t feel comfortable doing so in the tub. Neal helped me out and I got into bed.<\/p>\n
The pain was so much more than I had expected and I wasn\u2019t able to get any kind of rest. The nurse came in and offered me a \u201ccocktail\u201d of morphine and gravol, and much to my surprise, I accepted. The pain was still there, but it took some of the edge off.<\/p>\n
Hours passed. The nurses kept coming in to check me, but I wasn\u2019t dilating very much despite the painful contractions. I have to say that I really liked all of the nurses we had over the course of our stay at the IWK except for one who was there during the day in the labour and delivery room. She wasn\u2019t terrible, but she did keep insinuating that she was going to recommend that I be sent home since my labour was taking so long and my water had not yet broken. The last thing I wanted at that point was to get back in that car, drive over those bumpy roads and go home.<\/p>\n
So Neal and I went for walks around the hospital to try to get things going. We went to the cafeteria to get some food (I was still allowed to eat at this point), but I only ended up eating a quarter of my French toast before throwing it up. In fact, throughout the early part of labour, I couldn\u2019t keep anything down, even water and popsicles.<\/p>\n
Finally, after going for what I think was our second walk, I felt a small gush of liquid. I told Neal that either my water had broken a little bit or I had just peed myself. We went back up to our room and buzzed for the nurse. It was so little, however, that she couldn\u2019t tell. She called in a doctor who took a sample; neither of them were terribly convinced that my water had broken, but not long after, the nurse came back in and confirmed that yes, it had broken. Thank god! Now they couldn\u2019t send me home because I was GBS-positive and therefore needed to have antibiotics from that moment onward.<\/p>\n
But still, I wasn\u2019t dilating very much. My doctor came in to see me and it was decided that I would be given Pitocin with the hope that that would push things along because now we were looking at something like twelve or so hours. I knew by then that I was going to get the epidural because I was just so exhausted, but I avoided getting it for awhile as epidurals can sometimes slow labour down, and I certainly didn\u2019t need that! I managed to hold off for a few more hours, but then I decided that I just didn\u2019t want to cope with the pain anymore. <\/p>\n
I had been pretty nervous about the prospect of getting an epidural because I know you have to hold very still, which is pretty difficult when you are having contractions. But it really wasn\u2019t so bad. I joked with the anaesthesiologists that I had planned on having a natural birth and so far I had had a narcotic cocktail and was now getting an epidural, so I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if I ended up getting a C-section.<\/p>\n
Once the epidural started working, it got much easier. I was able to sleep better \u2013 for more than the 2-5 minutes between contractions which was all I could manage all day. I was still woken up very often as the nurse had to check my blood pressure quite often, and I had to continue adjusting my dose when the pain started getting to me.<\/p>\n
Morning came along, I was checked and I was still only dilated to 4 cm. It was becoming more and more obvious that things were just not going to progress so some doctors from obstetrics came in to discuss a C-section. I had, by this time, accepted that this was going to be my fate, so I agreed immediately. The plan was to take me off the Pitocin for an hour and then I would have the surgery. All of a sudden though, that changed. The baby\u2019s heart rate was dropping so I was given some oxygen \u2013 this didn\u2019t worry me because I had had that a couple of times in the night and the nurses had explained that sometimes it\u2019s necessary to bring the baby\u2019s heart rate back up and that I shouldn\u2019t be concerned about it. The room filled with people, and in the commotion and my sleep-deprived state, I didn\u2019t hear what people were saying except that I was being brought into the OR right away. Although it seems silly to have thought so now, at the time I thought it was just that there was an opening and that was why Neal was being thrown into scrubs and I was suddenly being wheeled out into the hall.<\/p>\n
Er, no. The baby\u2019s heart rate was still dipping and the oxygen wasn\u2019t bringing it back up. I\u2019m glad I didn\u2019t know this until after it was all over.<\/p>\n
I had been pretty calm about the prospect of having a C-section when we discussed it with the doctors earlier, but suddenly the reality set in as I was being wheeled down the hall and I started worrying about having major surgery and whether I would have a panic attack. I really didn\u2019t want to be put out because I wanted to be awake when my baby came into the world and cried for the first time.<\/p>\n
I was filled with anxiety throughout the surgery. One of the doctors offered to give me a mild sedative which she promised would not put me to sleep. I was so exhausted though that I thought she might be wrong, so I said I wanted to try to hold off a little longer. Neal was sitting by my head the whole time, holding my hand. When they were reaching in to deliver our baby, Neal was allowed to stand up to look over the screen to see it (I have to say that I\u2019m glad I didn\u2019t have that opportunity!). They pulled her out and not long after, we heard her first cry.<\/p>\n
Throughout the entire labour, with all of that pain, and the surgery which was so frightening, I hadn\u2019t shed a tear. Particularly with the labour, I think that the pain was just too much to allow me to cry. But when I heard Claire cry for the first time and I felt some release, the tears came in earnest. They cleaned her off and gave her to Neal to hold, then they let me hold her while the doctors finished closing me up.<\/p>\n
I know all parents say this, but I can honestly say that she is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen in my life. And every time I look at her face, I know that all of that pain, the long labour, the C-section, all of it was worth it.<\/p>\n
I am very excited to introduce our daughter, Claire Elizabeth Guthrie born on Saturday, April 9, 2011 at 7:42 a.m.!<\/p>\n
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<\/a>7 lbs, 4 oz<\/p><\/div>\n
You often hear from women that their labour and delivery did not go according to their \u201cbirth plan\u201d, and that was certainly the case with my birth plan! I was planning to have a natural birth: no narcotics, no epidural. … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/andromeda.qc.ca\/guthrie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/IMGP0867-300x225.gif\" "\\"IMGP0867\\"")
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