The Birth Story

We found out that Katie Grace was breech when I was 37 weeks pregnant. We were given the option to try and physically turn her by having a doctor push on my belly until she was head down. After doing some research and talking to people who had this done, we decided this wasn't the route we wanted to take. So, we scheduled a c-section for Friday, August 28. Well, Miss Katie Grace decided she wanted to enter the world before then.

It was about 2pm Monday, August 24, and I was at home hemming a pair of pants for Matt. I felt a gush of something warm, and I immediately ran upstairs to discover that I had passed my plug. I had read that women can pass the plug several weeks before they go into labor, but I decided to call my doctor's office anyways since we knew the baby was breech in case they wanted me to come in. After talking with a nurse who talked to the doctor and then called me back (you all know how that goes), I was told to just come to my regularly scheduled appointment on Wednesday and then they would do the c-section on Friday unless I went into labor.

This is me at the hospital waiting to be put in a room.

Well, as the afternoon turned into the evening, I started getting contractions. At first they were very spread out and not very strong, but by about 7pm they were getting closer together and getting stronger. So, we decided to page the doctor at about 9pm. We waited 45 min and didn't hear anything, so we called again and were told if we didn't receive a call back within 15 min to call again. We were just about to call a third time when the docotor finally calls us back and tells me to go to the hospital and they will monitor me. It was between 10:30pm and 11:00pm when we were put into a room. Labor and delivery was extremely busy the night I went in so I was put in an overflow room. They checked me around 11:30pm and I was 2cm dialated. They hooked me up to the contraction monitor and said they would be back in an hour to see if the contractions had stopped or were getting worse. Well, 2.5 hours later they came back and I was having very strong contractions and I was 3.5cm dialated. So, they finally decided we would be having a baby that night/early morning.

Everything is kind of a blur after that. Anesthesia came in and explained what they would do. Then, they wheeled me off to the operating room and started hooking all these things up to me (later I found out this is standard procedure anytime some one is going to have an operation). It would have been nice if they could have explained it all to me. It was all I could do not to go into panic mode. I just had to sit on the side of my bed and breathe through my contractions and keep telling myself everything was OK. They brought Matt in right before they started the surgery. I felt more at ease once he was finally in the room. He kept me posted on everything they were doing. We heard the sweet cry of our baby girl just a few short minutes after they started the surgery. I immediately began to cry (and I'm not a crier). Matt just kept talking about how much hair she had. He brought her over to me, and shortly after that left to be with her in the nursery while they finished putting me back together.

The combination of the anesthesia and whatever else they gave me made me extremely nauseous for several hours. They gave me phenargan and zofran, and that didn't phase it. Finally, they gave me a drug that is typically used for pain medication but sometimes helps naseousness, and I started feeling better.

One thing I didn't realize is how often the nurses have to come in and check on you during the night. It seemed like everytime I would fall asleep or Katie Grace would fall asleep they would come in and wake us up. Luckily, these visits became less and less the longer I was there. Overall, I think I had a good experience. I was glad I was able to experience contractions so that I know what to look for if we are blessed to have another child.