Carter's birth story

I have been wanting to post this for a while and I thought, what better time than Carter's birthday. SO here it is!


I had been on bed rest since March 30 for high blood pressure, so I thought I would meet Carter much sooner than his due date, May 5. As it turned out, the bed rest helped my blood pressure (I really think it had to do with my quitting work), and so I was scheduled to be induced May 3.
On May 2, I packed up all of my things and waited anxiously for Kris to come home from work. We were supposed to be at the hospital at 5:30 to begin the induction. I was SO excited to meet my baby boy! As we pulled away from the house it was so hard to believe that we would be coming back with a baby! As we drove to the hospital I felt very nervous. Not only about all the medical procedures, but also because of the dark, looming clouds outside. Anyone who knows me knows how I feel about inclement weather.
When we finally got inside the hospital a passerby said, “Are you going to have your baby?” They must have noticed my 2 pillows, overnight bag and camera bag, plus my bulging belly!! We made it up the elevator to labor and delivery where I felt as it I was signing my life away with all of the paperwork. Then the nurse lead us into a nice room (I really wish I could remember the room number) complete with a tiny newborn bed! As Kris was putting my things down I felt a quiver of excitement as I looked inside the bed with the pink and blue hat and aspirator. I couldn’t believe that was where they were going to put MY BABY! The nurse gave me a lovely gown to put on. When I was all dressed (in the gown I was going to deliver my baby in-eeks) she put the pink and blue bands around my belly to monitor contraction and the baby’s heart rate. I loved the sweet sound of the heart beat! The monitor showed that I was having some contractions, but I sure couldn’t feel them!
Then came the fun part, the IV. The nurse had trouble with my IV (it was my first one ever) and apparently (I had my eyes closed) blood started going everywhere all down my arm. It was at this point Kris turned pale, and had to get up and go to the bathroom to gain his composure. This worried me a little (as to how he would do at the actual birth, which I was sure would be much more graphic) but he returned looking better. After the nurse got the IV in, she gave me some Cervidil to help soften my cervix. At his point I was still only dilated to the 1 cm I had been 3 weeks ago! She said this might cause cramping, or may start labor. She said I had to lie on my back for an hour. At this point I told her I needed to use the restroom, and she said she could get me a bedpan. I told her I could wait! Anyway, Kris and I hung out and waited for my mom. She was going to spend the night in the hospital with me so that Kris could be rested up for the next day. Well, the clouds outside kept getting darker and suddenly the sky opened and started pouring buckets of rain. The TV stopped regular programming warning of flash floods and tornadoes! I called my mom in a panic and she was in the middle of it all! I was so scared. All I could imagine was how traumatic the story would be: my mom on the way to the hospital gets in to wreck, or she gets sucked up by a tornado! I just sat and prayed hard that she would get there! She called me and said she couldn’t find the hospital!! She had missed the turn because she couldn’t see because of the rain! What a nightmare!! When she finally arrived, she was soaked!
Kris left pretty soon after she arrived so he could go feed the dogs, and comfort them too. They don’t like storms either! My mom and I started watching America Idol (the bald guy whose wife had a baby during the auditions got kicked off- my not remembering his name tells you how successful he was after Idol was over). My sweet nurse Paige even watched some the show with me! She said it was a slow night for deliveries, but she was sure it would get busier with the crazy weather. As we were watching the show, Austin called and said that he had locked his keys in his car- typical! My mom was going to go and save him, but I begged her to stay- hey, the Cervidil could put me into labor…so she convinced my dad to take him to his car with the extra keys. For some reason his car was in Carrollton…I can’t remember the entire story. Anyway, my mom had my dad bring me “my last meal” because the nurses said that I couldn’t eat anything after midnight. My dad said the closest place was Wendy’s so I had him get me chicken nuggets, fries and a frosty. I wanted to have a good last meal! Austin brought my dinner up and my mom and I watched some more TV, sadly I can’t remember what it was. Then I asked the nurse for an Ambien that she assured me wouldn’t harm the baby so that I could get some sleep. The Ambien did it’s job and I quickly drifted off to sleep for my last night not being a mommy!
I don’t think I woke up at all that night, but around 4:30 I was wide awake! That’s the problem with sleeping pills, once they wear off, I am wired! Anyway, I woke my mom up talking. She was a good sport about it. I was just SO excited! When regular television came on (no more infomercials) we watched the news and I thought about everyone going to school, going about their day while I was having one of the most important days of my life! Around 7 nurse Paige came in and took my vitals and then took out my Cervidil and said I was about the same! Bummer, it didn’t work! She said she was going home, her 12 hour shift was over, and that she hoped I had had the baby by the time she came back ay 7 pm.
Thirty minutes later, my new nurse came in. I don’t remember her name, but she was the same nurse that I saw when I was hospitalized for high blood pressure. Anyway, she flushed out my IV, ouch, and then started my Pitocin. I was ready for some action. I was having contractions that I couldn’t feel since the night before and now I was ready for some real ones! Around 10 Erica showed up, but there still wasn’t anything exciting happening. She was happy she hadn’t missed anything! Kris got there around 10. I told him to make sure he gotten a good nights sleep, it would be his last one for a while! We hung out and watch TV, read magazines, nothing too exciting.
Then around 11:30, since nothing seemed to be happening, Erica and my mom went to get some lunch. They were so kind as to not eat in front of me. That is when the excitement began! Dr. Petrovski came in to check on me around 12. She checked me and said that I was at about a 2. Then she did something that opened the floodgates- literally- she broke my water. That was pretty uncomfortable, but defiantly bearable. It all went downhill from there. Literally minutes after she left the contractions started. I have heard contractions described all sorts of different way. The best was I can describe them is as severe gas pains. I am not sure how long each one lasted, or how many I experienced, but it only took a few for me to tell the nurse that I wanted an Epidural! She said that I had to finish the IV fluid before I could get one! She instructed me to point my hand to the ground to make the IV go in faster. She left and said she would be back to check on me soon. Each time I had a contraction- they came one after the other- I would put my hands in my hair and cringe. Kris kept trying to make me laugh, but that wasn’t the time! I tried to listen to my IPOD songs that I had chosen for labor, but that wasn’t helpful either! Finally the nurse said that it was time for the Epidural!!
From the time I found out I was pregnant, I was dreading the moment I would meet the anesthesiologist who would put that huge needle in my back that I had seen on Maternity Ward all those times! My back still tenses when I think out it! The anesthesiologist came in as happy as ever, and said he was going to make me feel much better. He then had me sit up on the bed, and hug a pillow. They said that Kris had to sit beside me, so he just held my foot. It was at this point that I became best friend with my nurse, whom I though was grouchy before. Man, I hung onto her for dear life while he was applying the cold cleaning stuff onto my back as I was having to sit up and having contractions all while preparing to get that HUGE needle in my back! First he gave a me numbing shot that stung pretty bad. I’ve heard people compare it to a bee sting, which I have never had, but all I have to say is it was less than pleasant. Now remember all this time I am still having PAINFUL contractions. Then he goes to put the HUGE needle into my back. I closed my eyes and cringed the whole time. Then suddenly I head him say “Oops, I missed the spine, and am going to have TO START AGAIN!” The nurse said, “That is a very rare thing to happen”. Lucky me, so he started all over again. New needle, me still having contractions. Finally I felt him threading the needle into my spine (surprisingly this wasn’t painful) and then I suddenly felt a warm tingling go down the left side of my body. Yea, it worked! So, the nurse laid me back on the bed, and asked how I felt. Suddenly I started to feel a terrible pain on the right side of the body. I told her that I thought that I could still feel the contractions on the right side! She said, “oh, that would be really rare for it to numb one side and not the other, lets give it a minute.” So, we all waited and I still had complete feeling on one side of my body. What are the chances? So, what did we have to do? You guessed is, they had to sit me back up, have me hug the pillow, and the nurse, and start over again. The doctor was even chuckling to himself about how this “never” happens. Finally after the third attempt I had a good epidural and I was feeling great. The nurse then had do give me a catheter (yuck) and I was finally comfortable. They showed me the neat little button that gave me more meds- yea!
Not too long after that ordeal Erica and my mom got back from lunch at Chick-fil-a and brought me some pretty flowers. Erica was bummed that she missed the whole thing and vowed not to leave me room the rest of the day! My dad arrived not too long after that, along with Kris’ parents. My labor continued to progress the rest of the day. I dilated about a cm and hour. After school was out Austin, Colt, Tolson, and Sharon came up to visit. And before long there was quite a crowd in my room. Around 5:30, I started to feel bad again. I felt like I had to go to the bathroom bad. I had MAJOR pressure on my bladder. I had the nurse come and check me, because I felt like the baby was about to come out. She checked me and I was like a 9. She said the baby was getting lower, but I started to panic that I was going to deliver him right then. She assured me that that was not going to happen! Like 20 minutes later I called her again, I was in pain. I was pressing the button for more meds continuously, but I still felt terrible pressure. So, she called the anesthesiologist back in and he gave me what he called “a margarita for my back.” It was w weird sensation for feel the cold liquid going into my spine! It was awesome at first. The pain went away immediately. Then I started to feel weird. I started shaking really bad. The nurse said it was okay. My teeth were chattering and I was so numb, I started feeling a little freaked out. I couldn’t feel myself breathing, and I was in sort of a trance.
Sometime around 6:30 the nurse checked me and said I was a 10 and it was time to start pushing! This was the moment I had been waiting for. (At this point everyone had moved into the waiting room except Kris, my mom and Erica) My legs were so numb that I couldn’t even begin to move them. The nurse had Kris grab one leg and I tried to hold the other and I started pushing. The nurse that that I was doing good, but the baby’s head was turned to the side. She had me get into different positions and push to try to turn it down. After about 10 minutes she called Dr. Petrovski and after not too long she was there too! It was official baby time! I am not sure what time it was at this point, but it must have been around 7, because my favorite nurse Paige was back! She told me how sweet it was for me to wait for her to have my baby. So, Kris grabbed one leg and Nurse Paige grabbed the other. The nurse had to tell me when I was having a contraction because I couldn’t feel anything! Dr. Petrovski couldn’t believe how well I push without being able to feel anything. During one of my pushes, I heard a scary sound. I head Carter’s heartrate drop. It slowed way down and then sped back up. The doctor said that was okay to do……after a few more pushed, it happened again. The Dr. Petrovski told me that if she hears 2 more decelerations in the heart rate I was going to have to have a c-section- yikes! She told me to push like I never have before. She said I was having trouble because the baby’s head was turned the wrong way (as the nurse had mentioned earlier). She worked at trying to turn it down. She then decided that she was going to have to use the forceps to try to turn his head the right way and to get him out quickly! After a few more pushes at 7:09pm I felt a gush and he was out! Dr. Petrovski said that his cord was around his neck and then he was a little “stunned.” (that was code for- not breathing). Before I could see his precious face he was whisked to the table and given oxygen. The doctor kept telling me that he was fine and I think I was so drugged up that I wasn’t panicking like I normally would. After a few minutes I heard his little cry. It was like music to my ears. The nurses took him to the NICU I think to work on him some more, and I still hadn’t seen him. I told Kris that he could go with the baby, but he said he would stay with me. The doctor stitched me up for a while. I remember at one point I heard Tolson on the other side of the curtain and I told her not to come in!! After the doctor was done with me, Kris went to go see the baby- no fair- and I had some visitors. Shawna and Gage, Tolson, and Erica all came in and told me how beautiful and alert he was. I was kinda getting upset because everyone had seen him, but me! I just had to tell myself that they were doing what was best for him, not for me! I vaguely remember someone telling me he was 7 pounds 8 ounces and I started making phone calls. I also told everyone, “I’m never doing that again! Next time I am adopting a baby girl from China”
Finally around 9:00 while I was on the phone with Joanie, I saw the nurse wheel the little bed in. I was SO happy!! The nurse proceeded to go through 3 pages of paperwork that was not necessary. I was dying to see my baby’s face. She made me sign several papers and then finally said it was time for me to see him. She lifted him out of the crib, then hesitated and said, “I’ll let dad hand him to you.” I was going so crazy I was about to leap out of the bed and get him myself! When Kris handed him to me I just started bawling. I couldn’t control myself. I had been waiting so long for that moment and my baby was absolutely perfect. I still tear up thinking about it. I just sat and stared at him through my tears and he stared right back at me. I took off his tiny cap and saw a head full of reddish hair. It was perhaps the happiest moment of my life. Nine months of hoping and anxiously waiting coming to an end with absolute perfection.