Noah Yorrick is 7 months old! :)

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My Birth Story...

PREGNANCY

Well, December 18^th was my expected due date for meeting the little man growing in me. Every day closer to that December Tuesday was another day of anxiousness and about a dozen or so other adjectives that could describe a pregnant lady in her final days of incubating. And why shouldn’t I be anxious? Heck, the docs made it sound like he would be early, and with the holidays approaching and family flying in for limited days, I really wanted him here to share in it all.

After a few weeks of “false labor,” meaning contractions that never led to any regular frequency, much less a birth, and two prenatal visits where they “swept my membranes,” there was still no baby. In case you’re wondering what that “sweep” is all about, it’s where they basically reach in (yep, that’s pregnancy for ya) and run their finger in between the bag of waters and cervix to stimulate hormones and hopefully labor.

My due date appointment was my second time receiving this natural induction. I had walked into the doctor’s office feeling way too well physically to think I would be having the baby any time soon. We also talked about an induction date for the following week, which I wasn’t overly thrilled about, but at least the end was in sight. After the appointment, I went to Watertower Place and walked around for a while. That evening, Marty and I went out to dinner, and I had myself a nice meal of curry glazed salmon, hoping the spicy food would do some good. Then, we went to bed…

LABOR

The next morning, I awoke shortly before three in the morning to contractions. Since they were strong enough to wake me up, I started timing them. They were about 6 minutes apart at this time. Since I’d had so many contractions in the past that led to nowhere, I decided not to wake up Marty until they were 5 minutes apart. About an hour and a half later, I woke him up. By this time I had been breathing through them for about an hour, and they were 5 to 6 minutes apart. I rested in bed through them until about 6:30 a.m., when we started to take things more seriously. Marty got up and walked the dogs. I got up and went downstairs to check my e-mail and make time pass. While sitting at my computer, I got sick and made good use of my trash can a few times. The contractions were definitely getting stronger by this point. When Marty came back from the walk, I went upstairs and took a shower and laid back down in bed. By this time, they were 3 to 4 minutes apart, and we decided to call the doctor. She was paged and when she called back, I had to hand the phone to Marty because another contraction had hit. She told him to go on in to the hospital. So, I put on my favorite sweatshirt, comfy pants, and packed the remaining items for the hospital bag.

By the time we left, at about 8:00 a.m., we ran right into rush hour traffic. Contractions in the cramped car were not fun, and I was closing my eyes through them at this point. We made it to the hospital, Northwestern Memorial Prentice, and I insisted on walking from the parking garage to the door. We only had to stop a few times so that I could “get through” the contractions. I was first checked into triage, and they had me change into a gown and strapped me up to monitors to view heart rate and contractions. They said I was 4.5 to 5 cm dilated at this point and that the contractions were regular- in short, I was staying! It was sure nice to know that all this pain was going to get me a baby. They soon walked me to the elevator to go upstairs to the labor and delivery room. I was put onto the bed and the I.V. was started. To lessen my nausea, they also started anti-nausea medication, but it failed to stop the puking from happening. Soon after I was placed in this room, one of my practice’s doctors came in and broke my water. After that, the contractions came faster and stronger. My plan was to go natural, and it was getting much harder. I decided to try the shower, and Marty helped me into the bathroom where I could barely stand and soon found myself on all fours. My back felt like it was going to break in half, and I started to vomit during my contractions. This was the last straw, and I asked for the epidural for not the first time. (Marty and I had agreed that I would only receive the epidural if I asked for it a few times.)

The anesthesiologist showed up quickly, and they kicked Marty out of the room for a half hour and started the procedure of administering the epidural. I was shaking so much, and a kind nurse, Theresa, was holding my hand and helping me through the contractions. I don’t know how long it took, but the anesthesiologist apologized for it taking longer than usual. I was just relieved to feel the warm numbness creeping down my back and legs. Marty was allowed back into the room and was greeted by a much calmer wife. Still the shakes kept coming and the epi made me itchy, but I was smiling at this point.

My main doctor came into the room, and I was so happy to see her. I didn’t think she’d be delivering my baby since they work on rotation, but that day the cards were in my favor. She checked my dilation, and I was at 7 cm, so only 3 to go before pushing.

BIRTH

I relaxed for a few hours, talking to Marty and listening to relaxation music. My shakes and nausea were too intense to allow me to sleep. When I was next checked, I was 10 cm, but they wanted me to feel the urge to push. They said it would feel like I needed to have a bowel movement. Well, I’d feel it about once every 5 to 10 minutes, but it was never constant like they wanted. After about an hour of feeling it this way, the doctor decided to have me push just to “see what would happen.” They explained the correct way to push, and I followed their instruction, which resulted in them exclaiming that the head was right there! They broke the bed, threw on the lights, inserted the catheter, and I braced to meet my new baby.

They began by telling me when to push, and I pushed with all my might. The epidural was working pretty darn well, so it didn’t hurt, but I could feel pressure. I also began to feel when to push, so I’d tell them, “Okay, time to push again.” At one point, they asked if I wanted to feel the head, and I wasn’t so sure so I started to move my hand slowly down. They grabbed it and put it on the head, and I was in shock! It was so cool but so weird! During another point while pushing I opened my eyes and looked down and saw a head coming out of me. Talk about freaky! I exclaimed, “Oh my God!” Of course, they all laughed. After 19 minutes of pushing, Noah Yorrick was born into this world at 4:10 p.m. He weighed in at 7 pounds., 9 ounces. He was placed onto my chest, and I was in such awe, all I could think to say was, “Oh, my baby! Oh, my baby! You’re so cool!” The feelings that ran through me were immense and out of this world. I just knew that this was the beginning of something amazingly spectacular!