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Isaac Dennis Boyd Sex: boy Born: 26 December, 2008 Age: 0 years & 332 days Birthday in: 33 days Starsign: Capricorn Development: See the 11 months page. Biggest achievement so far: -

Birth details

Original due date: 12-24-08
Type of delivery: Cesarean section
Duration of labor: 26 hours
Weight @ birth: 9.1 lbs
Length @ birth: 20.5



I woke up on December 25th at 3:30AM with contractions. I walked around the house, used the bathroom and tried doing the things they recommend to rule out false labor. Nothing helped and the contractions seemed to be coming every 5 minutes so I woke Kevin up and we sort of went back and forth trying to decide whether or not we should head to the hospital. The contractions were regular and positively coming every 5 minutes so we decided we better go. Knowing that 1st babies don't usually come too quick I took my time getting ready and showered before calling the hospital to let them know we were on our way.
The nurses at the hospital were annoying (not just because of the pain I was in). I called to give them warning that we were on our way and the nurse on the phone seemed doubtful that I was in labor at all. When we got to the hospital she wasn't much better. She set us up on a monitor and asked me a few questions then sort of left for a while (I guess because her shift was ending...)
The next shift came on and told me that my contractions were regular and 5 minutes apart but not quite strong enough to cause my labor to progress. I was 2 cm dilated and 100% effaced. They sent me home it was about 8 AM.
We tried to make the most of Christmas. We played scrabble, exchanged gifts and visited with my parents who had driven down from Maine to spend the holiday with us but I was not comfortable. I had the worse pressure and found certain positions made the contractions so much worse while other positions made them almost stop. I didn't want either. I was excited but really nervous.
My uncle and his partner came over for Christmas dinner and just as we were sitting down to eat I asked my husband to PLEASE take me back to the hospital. My contractions were so much worse, I didn't feel I was getting any breaks between them and I had the worse pressure. So we left my family eating dinner at my house and away we went again.
We returned to the hospital around 6PM. I was again hooked up to the monitor and checked. I had progressed to 4cm and was on my way (or so I thought...)
I had hoped for a natural drug free birth but the pain was too much. I asked for something for pain and was told the oncall doctor would have to be paged...ONCALL doctor...where was my OB????Oh thats right its Christmas. So, we wait for what felt like an eternity and the oncall doctor orders Stadol for me which let me tell you did absolutely nothing but make me feel drunk and tired.
Once the Stadol wore off my nurse and my doula suggested a dip in the birthing tub. I sat in there for about 40 minutes then returned to my room cold and in pain. Sadly I had not progressed at all. I asked for an epidural. This is when all the bad stuff started to happen...
The anesthesiologist hooked me up and hung around to make sure I was ok. They also started Pitocin. The anesthesiologist said that the epidural should not take all the pain away because they wanted me to be able to feel when it was time to push. It was only in place to take the edge off. The only problem I was still having was the extreme pressure I had been feeling right along. It felt like I needed to have a BM or pee really bad. I asked to go to the bathroom but was told with an epidural there was no getting out of bed. So they offered me a bed pan which I was only able to squeeze a few drops into. I pleaded with them to let me sit on the toilet but no luck. They decided to insert a catheter.
I couldn't tolerate the catheter at all. They said the baby's head was pressing right on my bladder. I was literally climbing the walls. It only added to the discomfort I was having and while it did drain my bladder I continued to have extreme pressure and an urge to go. It was like nothing I had ever felt and I started to have an anxiety attach my blood pressure and pulse elevated, I was hyperventilating and my face was tingling and numb. The nurses became very concerned and my response to the catheter resulted in the need to have an EKG. The test came back normal and they realized my issue was a result of the catheter so they removed it and almost immediately my vital signs returned to normal. The bad news...still no progress. By now it was nearly 11 PM and I was getting so frustrated.
The next shift started and things continued the same way. I was in pain, feeling pressure and crying. I started to think the baby was never coming out. The nurse checked me and said I was 3 maybe 4 cm dilated and only 75-80% effaced. I was going backwards and had been in labor since 3:30AM.
I finally got to meet the doctor who would be delivering my baby at some point after midnight. By this time I was so frustrated with my whole situation I could hardly understand anything she was saying. I told her I was done laboring and wanted the baby out.
I wanted a cesarean section.
She explained the risks of the surgery to me and I signed consent forms. She called the operating room staff to set up and told me that there was a woman ahead of me who also needed a c-section so it would be a few more hours. She turned off my Pitocin and for the first time in almost 24 hours I was comfortable or exhausted enough to close my eyes.
They had to reinsert the catheter for the procedure which I still couldn't tolerate and had the same reaction to as earlier. I tried to keep my face covered with cool cloths and wait as patiently as possible.
They wheeled me into the OR around 4:45AM to get started but I was able to feel the sharpness of the instruments as they began the surgery so we had to wait longer for the medicine to work. The doctor was fast and my boy was born at 5:49 AM.
He is perfect and more than anything I ever imagined but I had a horrible experience with labor and childbirth so I've warned my husband to enjoy Isaac every minute because I don't know if I can put myself through it again.

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