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Isaac (stepson) Sex: boy Born: 29 July, 2004 Age: 3 years & 298 days Birthday in: 67 days Starsign: Leo Biggest achievement so far: -

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Michael Andrew Sex: boy Born: 14 April, 2008 Age: 0 years & 38 days Birthday in: 327 days Starsign: Aries Biggest achievement so far: -

Michael Andrew’s birth story:

We arrived at the hospital for our induction at 8 a.m. on Monday, April 14, nervous, excited and not knowing exactly what to expect. (I think I maybe slept two hours the night before. Patrick slept like a log.) The first hurdle we had to cross was the IV… the nurses had to try to start it three times before succeeding. OUCH. My arms now look like those of a heroin addict. The doctor came in to examine me and found my cervix was 3 cm dilated and 100 percent effaced before we even began, so we got a bit of a head start. She broke my water at 8:30 a.m. with a big tool that looked exactly like a plastic crochet hook. Didn’t hurt a bit, I just felt her pulling on me inside and all of a sudden gushing warm water coming out.

I started having mild sporadic contractions right away, but they weren’t bad at all. After a few hours, the nurses suggested we walk a few laps around the ward to try to get things moving. I still had gushes of fluid coming out and felt like a waddling duck! By 11:30 a.m., I’d only dilated one more centimeter. Since we were committed to a shorter time frame after breaking the water, the doctor said we should start pitocin. I didn’t have any trouble or reactions to it, and it did help bring the contractions on. They progressively got stronger, more regular and more painful. They never got unbearable, just felt like really bad menstrual cramps, but they did start getting strong enough to make me catch my breath around 1 p.m. and I figured it was a good time to start asking about the epidural. I was 5 cm dilated and proud I’d waited to that point, as I’ve heard the epidural can sometimes slow down labor progress if started too early.

I was really nervous about the thought of someone sticking a needle into my spine, but surprisingly, getting the epidural was one of the easiest parts of the entire day. The anesthesiologist who did it was VERY good, I didn’t even feel a stick from the numbing needle before he put the catheter in. The catheter insertion was all over in about 3 or 4 minutes. When he shot the pain medication into the catheter, it felt exactly like someone pouring a cup of cold water down my back – a very odd feeling, but again, no pain at all and no adverse reactions. Within 15 minutes, the cramping and labor pains were gone. I could still move my legs and feet, but they just felt a little prickly, like they do when they fall asleep and you get the pins and needles sensation. For me, the epidural was easy as can be and I would highly recommend it to anyone who’s on the fence about having one.

The nurses predicted we’d probably be ready to start pushing around 6 or 7 p.m., so we all were caught by surprise when they checked me at 4 p.m. and I was completely dilated! We got set up and started some “practice” pushes. I tried to push, but couldn’t really feel whether it was working or not and kept asking if I was doing it right! I have heard stories about women who have their babies after only a few pushes and I hoped I’d be one of them, but no such luck. Everyone kept telling me I was doing a good job, but my pushing wasn’t very effective, as the baby’s head was having trouble getting past the pelvic bone. The baby’s heart rate would drop after pushing, so they gave me an oxygen mask to put on. We pushed three or four times per contraction, about every 5 or 10 minutes or so for two hours. By then I was getting worn out, so the doctor decided to give me a little resting time to regroup. We started trying to push again at 6:30 p.m. The nurse brought in a towel bar to set up at the end of the bed – I braced my feet on either side and pulled up on a sheet tied around it to increase the traction. This worked much better and I could feel more pelvic pressure building with each attempt.

Things get a little blurry at this point… the last 10 or 15 minutes of pushing got VERY intense. I was really getting tired and I kept praying that the doctor would tell me how many more pushes I had left to go so I’d have a goal to shoot for. My stomach muscles started getting sore and I was starting to worry I’d need a c-section if the baby’s head couldn’t get under my pelvic bone, but I knew that the only way to get through it was to keep going. I’m not sure what kind of noises I was making, but I know I was grunting and groaning. I heard the doctor ask for a numbing shot and I knew I was in for an episiotomy. She didn’t say a word to me about it though, and I was glad because I just didn’t want to know what was happening down there. I got to the point that I just squeezed my eyes shut and gave it everything I had to get that baby out.

My husband kept saying he could see the head coming out and then sucking back in between pushes. I felt like I was going to rip in half and just wanted it to be over with! I finally heard the doctor say the head was out and a shoulder, then she told me to push one more time. Everyone was cheering me on and talking at once, and it felt like I blacked out and left my body for a second. I just felt a mighty tug, I think I screamed and the next thing I knew, the baby was out and placed on my belly. He looked exactly like they do when they come out on “A Baby Story,” white and gooey with a big white cord hanging off of him. I couldn’t believe he’d just come out of me. The first thing my husband said was “Babe, it’s a boy!” but I’d already gotten a good glimpse enough to see the sex! I looked up and my husband and dad were both teary-eyed, but I was just so relieved to have him out that all I could do was smile and breath.

They let us hold the baby for a minute, then took him to the warming station to measure and weigh. My husband and dad both immediately jumped behind the curtained portion of the room and started making phone calls. This is where things took a bit of a scary turn.

I was lying on the bed being stitched up, which I could still slightly feel and called for more numbing medication. The doctor told me we were just waiting on the placenta to come out when I started feeling some incredibly harsh contractions. It started getting increasingly worse in a big hurry. I had thought once the baby came out, we were pretty much home free, so I couldn’t understand why I was hurting so badly all of a sudden. I started crying and getting really scared. The doctor told me to try to push to help deliver the placenta, so I did and the pain immediately went from bad to excruciating. I’m not sure if the placenta was halfway out at that point, or even out at all. The nurse kept telling me to try to relax, but I couldn’t. The pain was getting worse by the second and I started sobbing and gripping onto the bed rail for dear life. The next thing I knew, the doctor was telling everyone we were going to the operating room. Patrick and my dad were back at my bedside by now wondering what was going on, both looking terrified, and I was wheeled out of the room and down the hall to the OR. I was begging to be put to sleep on the way, anything to make the pain stop. I remember the anesthesiologist asking me a few questions and the next thing I remember, I was waking up in the hallway as I was being pushed back to my room. The clock said 8:30 p.m. when we got back to the room, so it had taken about an hour to fix me up. I just wanted to see and hold my baby, so I really fought hard to wake up.

The rest of the night was uneventful, except for me fainting when the nurses tried to get me up to use the toilet and having to have a catheter inserted to drain my bladder (another OUCH!). The doctor told us the next morning that what had happened was I had developed an inverted uterus. Apparently, it’s an very rare complication that usually only happens to women who’ve had multiple children or placental problems all along in their pregnancies. I was an extremely uncommon exception. In fact, my OB had only seen one other case of it besides mine during her entire time in practice, and most of the nurses had never seen one. What happens is instead of detaching easily from the uterine wall for delivery after the childbirth, the placenta stays stuck there and actually pulls the uterus out with it when it comes. Effectively, it turns the uterus inside out, sometimes even as far as into the vaginal canal. It can cause hemorrhaging and can be a life-threatening situation if not treated quickly. I’m not sure how far my condition got, but my husband told me later that I was bleeding a LOT when they were trying to deliver the placenta. In the OR, my doctor had to surgically detach the placenta and then manually position my uterus back into the right place. At the time, I was so pumped with adrenaline and in so much pain, I didn’t have any idea how serious it was, but for the next day or two, the nurses kept coming in with worried looks on their faces and saying “Wow, how are you feeling after what you went through?”

Through the whole thing, Patrick was absolutely wonderfully supportive, and so was my dad. I think they both felt relatively helpless about everything that went on, but they were both great to be there, and fared much better than I expected them to. Patrick was very involved in watching things as they happened and did great, but says that now when he thinks about it later, it makes him queasy!

But enough about us – the baby is doing well and that’s the most important thing. Michael Andrew is adorable with lots of dark hair and a cute little chubby face. Patrick, my dad and I can’t stop holding him – he only really cries every time we try to put him down! He’s getting the hang of breastfeeding fairly well, seems to sleep a lot, hates having his diaper changed, and likes to be swaddled tightly. I’m calling him my little burrito baby! He already has his daddy and grandpa completely wrapped around his little finger – both are so very attentive to his every peep! We are thrilled he’s finally here and look forward to the exciting journey ahead of getting to know our new little boy.

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