PREGNANCY

Tracy's Baby Story continues in blog format!
Click here to follow along as Tracy chronicles her first year with daughter Anna Katherine.

Our Birth Story
March 27, 2006

The call finally came at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 7. It was time for us to go to the hospital for our induction. We had been waiting all day and Sean had already packed the car, so all that was left to do was take a deep breath and go have a baby!

It was a busy day in the maternity ward and very little happened for the first couple of hours. We were ok with the wait; Sean and I played cards (he was kicking my butt), listened to babies being born all around us (“Push! Harder! Harder!”) and, of course, discussed what we would name the baby. Just after seven, the doctor broke my water, which hurt more than I had imagined. I was hooked up to a pitocin drip to help kick start my contractions and they were three to four minutes apart right away, but not too painful. Our anticipation grew with each one, even though our nurse, Marianne, warned us that it was going to be a long night.

At about 10 p.m. Marianne became concerned by the baby’s heart rate, which was becoming erratic. She called in the doctor. They turned the pitocin off and re-adjusted the fetal monitor to see if that would regulate things. Shortly afterwards, they decided to insert a wire that attached to the baby’s head as a more accurate way to monitor the heart rate. I hated the idea but was told that this would help them understand – or at least rule out – what might be causing the irregularity. This was the first time a caesarean section was mentioned as a possibility, but my doctor said they would see how things progressed. We tried to stay positive and take things one moment at a time.

At 11 p.m., they turned the pitocin back on, but the baby didn’t respond well, so it was turned off again. Without the pitocin, my labour wouldn’t progress. With it, the baby’s heartbeat was becoming more of a concern.

My doctor presented us with the facts. She explained that labour was stressful on babies in the best of circumstances and the fact that our baby was showing signs of distress before labour got rolling was not good. There was no definitive way to determine what was causing the fluctuation and my blood pressure was escalating in the meantime. Her recommendation was that I have a caesarean section, because labour could put both of us at risk.

Ever since my high blood pressure was diagnosed a couple of weeks before, I had worried about having to have a c-section. It was the last thing I wanted, but at that moment, the decision was simple. Putting the baby at risk was not an option and Sean and I quickly agreed to the surgery.

An hour later, it was all happening. I felt like I was on ER, staring at the ceiling as I was wheeled down the hallway, people in scrubs bobbing around me. I kept scanning the faces for Sean, but he was suddenly gone. They put a cap on me and sat me on a table in the operating room. It felt like an eternity that I sat there, watching the nurses prepare for my surgery – counting out instruments and chatting about their day. I started trembling. Marianne asked if I was cold, but I wasn’t. I was scared. She wrapped a blanket around me and hugged me for several minutes to try to calm me down. I asked where Sean was and they said he couldn’t come in until they were ready to begin. His arms were the ones I wanted around me, but I would have to wait.

The anesthesiologist arrived and Marianne held on to me as he administered the epidural in my back. I felt a needle go in and then a sharp jolt that felt like the needle hitting a nerve. They quickly helped me flat on my back before I lost control of my limbs. Then the sheet went up and I couldn’t see anything going on below. I was still shaking like a leaf and clenched my teeth together to try to steady myself, but it didn’t work. I asked again, “where is my husband?” and finally, Sean was there. He was dressed in green scrubs with a mask on his face, but his eyes were smiling and he reassured me that we would get through this. What I felt during the surgery is hard to describe – it was as if my skin was rubber and I had sensations of things going on enough to imagine what they were doing, but no pain, just pressure.

At 12:52 a.m., Wednesday, March 8, I heard the words “It’s a girl!” followed by “It’s a little girl!” and a cry escaped from our daughter which made it all hit home. Our baby was here. I was amazed and I could see the joy in Sean’s eyes. They immediately took the baby to be checked over and I strained my neck to try to get a glimpse of her as Sean got the camera and took pictures. She was just six pounds, two ounces, nineteen and a quarter inches long, with a full head of hair. Sean brought her over to me and I just stared at this little bundle and couldn’t believe she was really ours. Someone asked “What’s her name?” and Sean and I looked at each other and said it was Anna Katherine. And it felt right.

After they finished putting me back together, the nurse put Anna in my still-trembling arms and they wheeled me to the recovery room. Sean held the baby and soothed her cries as I waited for the feeling to come back into my legs and a close eye was kept on my blood pressure. They put a heating blanket on me and eventually, the shaking subsided. I nursed Anna and she latched on right away for a few minutes. By three a.m. the three of us were taken to our room – a new little family.

One of my friends asked me if I felt “cheated” because of the caesarean section. When I think about the weeks leading up to Anna’s birth, none of it went as I expected it to, but how can I have one moment of regret about any of it? It culminated in the arrival of our healthy, beautiful daughter. And besides, it was all good preparation for motherhood – you can plan all you want, but kids often have very different ideas about how things will play out.

How have the first weeks been with our little one? Amazing, exhausting, wondrous, challenging – life-changing in every way. Check back soon for the whole story as I continue my Baby Story throughout Anna’s first year.

37 Weeks: Ready or Not...
March 7, 2006

Well, this is it - I'm being induced today. Our bags are packed, our home is ready and we're just awaiting the call from the hospital to tell us to come in. Yesterday I started feeling headachey and a bit nauseous and at my doctor's appointment, my blood pressure was still high. The results of the ultrasound were at the "high end of normal," meaning that my blood vessels are starting to constrict, which reduces blood flow to the baby. While all is fine for now, my doctor felt that nothing good would result from waiting any longer. Plus I'm starting to dilate on my own and the baby dropped over the weekend, so it seems that medicine and mother nature are in agreement that it's time for our baby to make his or her grand entrance.

Last night I was a jumble of emotions, but this morning I'm feeling pretty good. I was able to get a half-decent night's sleep and we're trying to stay relaxed. Sean gets this huge smile on his face when he looks at me - neither of us can really believe that we're having the baby today (hopefully labour doesn't carry on until tomorrow!) but I think we're as ready as we can be.

Wish us luck and fast labour vibes!

Originally published in Todaysparent.com, September 2005