Tuesday, August 3, 2010

The Bean Birth Story: Part Three

Sweet heavenly sleep. I was finally able to get the rest I needed. I slept through most of Sunday morning and afternoon while the pitocin drip increased the strength of the contractions I could not feel and my favorite black clogs made their appearance behind the curtain. I was overjoyed to know that my wonderful doctor would actually get to be there to deliver the baby we had excitedly watched grow for the last nine months. It makes me teary now thinking about what an amazing doctor I have and the bond that we created. I'm saddened knowing I won't get to see her every month now.

It wasn't until 5 in the early evening that the pain once again became existent. It surfaced as quickly as it had disappeared and did not subside until we welcomed our sweet girl.

I distinctly remember the pain and uncomfortable pressure that took over from that point. It was powerful enough to overrule the effects of the epidural and the constant pressing of the button I could control. Two distressing hours later, I told my doctor I was ready to push.

This was the beginning to our happy ending.

Over the next three hours, we tried five different positions in order to aid the descent of our bean- on my back, one my side with one leg up, with my feet on the bar, pulling myself up using the bar, and my legs elevated at different levels. I huffed and pushed to the point where I could almost not do it any longer. Whatever pain the epidural had masked earlier in the day, was now definitely present. I believe now that it had probably worn off or the dose was not high enough (especially since I felt a lot of pain while my doctor repaired a small tear afterwards). Our doctor, nurse, and hubby could see the amazing progress (or so they said over and over again) I was making and once we reached the end of the third hour, which, passed unbelievably quickly to me, we were all wondering if there needed to be an intervention. I worked so hard by pushing up to five times during each contraction because I could not wait to see my little girl. Yet, there came a point when I announced, while on the verge of tears, that I needed some help  because of the immense pain and what I felt at the time was not enough progress. My doctor then suggested suctioning our babe in order to assist my efforts. In a flurry, a large number of nurses and pediatricians entered the room as they prepared to suction and receive our little miracle. Three pushes later, our beautiful Amélie was welcomed to the world with a bubble on her nose and a cheer from everyone present. She was quickly examined by the pediatricians and surprised us all by being a lot smaller than anyone had predicted, but still perfectly complete and healthy.

I was instantly in love.

1 comment:

Maggie said...

Oh wow, pushing for three hours with pain! Poor thing! I'm glad that everything turned out well in the end. Hope Mama and baby are enjoying their time at home together!