Derrek's Birth Story

Sorry this has taken so long but we have been a tad busy lately! If you get quezy at the thought of blood, bodily functions and gore and birth, reading a birth story containing a c-section may not be the best read for you!

On Wednesday evening, October 21st, I started to notice a kind of pattern to some back pain I was having. I also felt some contractions, but only like one an hour. Still, it got my attention enough to keep an eye on it. Not too long after that, my sister called. We were chatting about all kinds of stuff, and I mentioned around 6ish about the back pain and contractions. She stayed on the phone with me, and at 8:00 I started writing them down and she helped me with timing them.

My poor sister stayed on the phone with me until 10:30ish, when Ray got home from work. I also tracked down my friend Erin on facebook. I remembered her birth story and how she didn't realize she was in labor because the contractions were not textbook. I picked her brain a bit as well and decided that at the very least, when Ray got home, I was going to call the hospital and see what they said. At this point, contractions were about a minute or so in duration and about 10ish minutes apart.

Ray walked in the door from work, and I said to my sister, "thanks for staying on the phone with me." Ray gave me a funny look and said that was an odd comment. It was and odd comment and I informed him I had something very interesting to show him and to come over to the sofa with me. He did, and I handed him the contraction timing list. He got this very cute and very funny smile on his face. Oddly enough, he STILL has that look today...LOL!

I called the hospital and they suggested that since I had been drinking water constantly since 6ish, to come in and get checked. Ray got our stuff together, made sure the animals were good and off we went in the pouring rain to the hospital. Good thing it was rainy though....otherwise our normal 40 minute trip to the hospital may have been more like 20.

We arrived, they took me to a labor and delivery room and started the intake. I had to pee sooooooooooo bad, so she let me go. Oddly enough, there was some bloody show. First time I had seen it at all. I immediately went on monitoring. Remember when I said I had timed my contractions to be like 10ish minutes apart? In reality, they were 2-3 minutes apart and I was only physically feeling about a third of them. I was totally fascinated with the monitoring strip. After 30ish minutes, the nurse finally checked my cervix and it was only dialted 1 cm and was about 45% effaced. No big deal. They called my doctor and he said to not admit me yet, but hook me up to fluids and monitor for 90 minutes. Check my cervix again after that and call him back. They inserted the IV around 1:00ish am. They also did an unofficial ultrasound, and stubborne little Derrek was still in full on breech, but doing very well with the contractions.

Fast forward 90 minutes later.....by this time, contractions were 1-2 minutes apart, I was feeling every one and laying in bed hoovered!!! They checked me, and I was 85% effaced and "one and a wiggle" cm dilated. The nurse left the room to call my doc and give the update. She came back in dressed in surgical scrubs. "Dr. Gibbens said to have you ready in 30 minutes. You are having your baby within the hour."

Huh? WHAT?????

So, surgical prep started. I got poked by the lab gal, shaved, got to wear my uber fashionable surgical cap and was being talked to by anestesia on the way to the surgical room. Ray stayed in the labor and delivery room until after my spinal/epidural was put in and all was ready to go. They gave me a combo spinal/epidural. The spinal meds covered the surgery and right after. I kept in the epidural for pain relief for a little over 24 hours. I was more scared of the epi than I was of the surgery I think. That fear was misplaced. Once I relaxed, the epi/spinal went in like butter and I started feeling very little.

Ray came in and sat by my head and they put up what they call "the tent." Doctors started working, and while I felt them working, I did not feel any pain. Well, I didn't feel pain right away anyhow. Let me just say that anyone who says that women who get c-sections are cop outs or not real women or don't have real births have obviously never had a section. It does hurt! A lot! Not so much the birth part, but the repair part afterwards. I dealt with labor, although a short bout of it and then dealt with the section. I paid my dues!

Derrek was pulled out rear first.....appropriate for being a full breech baby and he cried right away. Being born at 37/5 was no problem for him. 6lbs, 11oz and 18.5 inches long. APGAR 8/9/9. He was full of vernix but beautiful with a ton of dark hair on his head. They showed him to me quickly, but then rushed him off to the warmer on the other side of the room. Ray went with him and the anesthesia gal stayed with me and talked me through it all.

Did I mention how much the repair part hurt???? She had given me all the meds she could at the moment including pitocin to help get that uterus shrinking back since I could not breastfeed right away as well as nausea meds. I am still amazed that I did not throw up on the table. That's how much it hurt. And, I have a pretty high pain tolerance. At the end, the doctor asked if I wanted staples or stitches. I told him whatever is faster. I wanted it to be over sooooooooooooooo much! At this point, Ray had Derrek all swaddled up and had brought him over to help me get my mind off the doctor's working. He was so sooooo cute. And, he was quiet. Besides some initial crying as he was pulled out and then maybe for about 4 minutes, we heard very little from him. He was just that content and wide awake too. I had to keep asking if he was still in the room.

I was rolled into a recovery room, and Ray, Derrek and I got to spend our first quality time together as a family. The nurse took some pictures of us at that time. After that, it was time to be moved as a family up to the maternity floor. Finally...!!! Some rest.