So I was inspired by one of my facebook friends who posted about her baby's birth so he could have all those memories available to him, to jot down a few of my own from my 2 babies births. Granted her baby is a few months old and mine are 6 and 4 years, but who cares...
Greyson William Speckhart
I had been pre-eclamptic with him and had been taken out of work a week before at 36 weeks. I was at church and as we stood for closing prayer, I had my first real contraction. I knew it was different than all the others. I was set to be induced the next day, memorial day because of my blood pressure. We went out to eat, then on to my best friend's daughter's birthday (Kelli). When I told her I was in labor, she said she wasn't going to share her birthday with him! We went home and hung out a while, with the contractions getting to about 7-8 minutes apart. We called the doc and asked if he wanted me to come in because of my blood pressure. He said yes. So off to Rex we went. After I got there and settled in, of course my contractions slowed and I kinda stalled. He still is a shy little guy. I got started on Pitocin and it seemed to be working wonders and I was from 2 to 4 cm in about an hour. The nurse and the doc thought that this would be a quick labor. My Granny and my best friend (Kris) came to be with me. I was still at 4cm. I stayed at 4 cm for EIGHT hours! They kept turning up the Pitocin and the contractions kept getting worse and worse. I was adamant that I did not want an Epidural. (I have seen the size of that needle) This went on from about 9pm till about 4am. I was so wore out. My best friend was right there beside me the whole time. Darren was too, but he kept falling asleep. He was so tired, and I felt like he needed to sleep, but when a contraction came along, I had this irresistible urge to slap him as hard as I could to wake him up. Thankfully Kris was in the way! Finally about 4am the doc came in and I had a nice long chat with him. I knew that if I labored all the way to 10, I would be too exhausted to push, and would end up with a C-section, which I did not want. I relented and opted for the epidural. Now, maybe it's because I'm a nurse, but call me crazy, I like to actually meet the doctor who is working on me. The Anesthesiologist who came in said over my shoulders, after I was already positioned, "I'm Dr. (fill in the blank), I'm going to do your epidural, now you may feel a pinch..." Pinch did not describe it. Let me say it was the single most painful thing I have ever endured in my life. My legs were shaking uncontrollably and he kept telling the nurse to keep me still. Darren was allowed to stay in with me and he sat there holding my hand and he was crying. That torture was finally over, and the epidural began to take effect and I dozed for a few minutes between contractions. I slowly began to move to 5, then 7. After change of shift at 7am, my nurse had used to work with Granny and they had old home week for a few minutes, then the nurse helped me re adjust in the bed, when she did, the epidural line pulled taunt. We caught it, but apparently it was just enough for the line to pull out of place a hair. Soon I could feel the contractions on my left side, and my right leg was heavy and my left wasn't. So my greatest fear had been realized, I would go through all the pain of and epidural and it would only take on one side. I kept telling Granny that my left side wasn't numb any more. So finally about 11am I had made it to 10. So I really had to do this now, I had to push him out. I looked at Kris and said "Guess I've got to do it." She laughed and said "yes you do". So I began to push. When I did, the baby's heart rate would go up. It was just into the 160's to 180's at first then as he started crowning, it would go into the 200's to 220's. Finally I heard the doc say " if this baby's heart rate doesn't slow down it's going to make me tachycardic". That is when she said it was time to help me along. So, out came the vacuum extraction. In just a few minutes with that and a few pushes, I felt the relief of his head coming out. My next thought was "Now I have to push the shoulders out!" We found the reason his heart rate kept going up, the cord was wrapped around his neck. Usually that causes the heart rate to slow down. So Dr Fischer pulled it over his head and all was well to push him all the way out!. With one big push he came out. What a relief !! The special nursery team from NICU took him just to check him out since he was in distress during the birth. His apgar scores were 9 and 9. Darren and I had knew the middle name was going to be William after both of our Uncle Bill's ( Darren's had just passed away a few months before and mine would never have any kids). We had narrowed the first name down to 4 and Greyson was the last choice. Darren was holding him and said "Greyson William" I looked at him and said "really?" and he said " wait till you see him." Sure enough, when I saw him, he was defiantly Greyson. When I got home I remember having such a hard time sitting up straight. My abdominal muscles were so sore! Darren lost Greyson the first night (but that is a different story).
Addyson Faith Speckhart
Greyson had left me with a permanent present, high blood pressure. I was monitored closely because of it and was on medication. I started having a headache at 36 weeks and I was in the hospital over night and tried all kinds of meds. Finally it started to go away with some meds. The baby had been breech the whole pregnancy and Dr Fischer that delivered Greyson said just not to worry, that if she didn't turn, we could schedule a C-section. I really didn't want that, but I knew she was big enough that she would not turn on her own. Dr Feldman who saw me in the hospital asked about trying to turn her externally. I knew some ladies that this had worked well for and even though I knew this would hurt, I wanted to be able to say that I had tried everything I could to avoid a C-section. Dr Feldman is a skinny minny lady, and she tried her best to get the baby to turn. I could feel the baby's head go up by my ribs and over to the other side and she would just stop. Poor Dr Feldman was sliding on the floor trying to push harder. Finally we all gave up, and I had to rest for a while before they would let me go. I kept having contractions and I kept telling the nurse and doc that I was in labor. They kept saying, "no, It's just uterine irritation". After a few hours and some fluids, it was still continuing. Darren went down to get dinner. I was having contractions about 7 minutes apart and lasting about 30 seconds. Darren went down to get dinner, and was gone about 20 minutes. When he came back they were about 2 minutes apart and lasting about 1 minute. The pain had gotten much more intense. The doc had told me to have a C-section I would have to show some "forward progression" (dilating). I begged her to check me and sure enough I had gone from 2 to 3m. So we were having a baby. We could never decide on a name and had a list there with us. To keep my mind off the contractions, Darren started talking to me about names, and we got Addyson and Faith together. We still did not pick it, but while everything was going on around us it was in the back of our minds. The Anesthesiologist came and introduced himself and talked through what he would be doing. I told him of my experience with Greyson and he said he hoped I had a better experience. I told him that since I actually saw his face, it was already better. As I went into the OR to be prepped, Darren had to change into scrubs and wait in the daddy waiting room. He later said it was and eternity to wait. I met the anesthesiologist and the nurse anetheisist, and had my spinal done. This one was a one shot wonder. The needle was much smaller and this doc and I were cracking jokes. He told everyone in the OR about my epidural with Greyson. They were all like "We know who that is". So when I was ready, Dr Feldman came in and made sure I was ready. Darren had arrived and was sitting on a stool beside my shoulder. I kept saying I wanted a mirror set up so I could see the C-section. No such luck! Suddenly I was so nauseated. My blood pressure which had been borderline high, was low. I told the NA that I needed an alcohol swab, and Darren looked at me like I was nuts. Luckily the NA knew what I was talking about (the smell of an alcohol swab helps take away nausea). I even had to get some meds to bring my BP up. A little after 8pm, the baby was born. I got to see her briefly before she was taken to be checked. Darren and I were talking about her name, and Darren said that waiting in the room, he kept thinking that we had to have faith that things would turn out OK. We agreed that her name should be Addyson Faith. I didn't get to see here again for a few hours after she was born. I missed all the closeness that I had with Greyson. At first I fell not very connected to her like I had Greyson. I spent the first night after having her being nauseated and throwing up from the spinal. I was near the nurses station and I was calling Darren trying to wake him up to get me a cool cloth, and the nurses heard me out there and came in and checked on me. (and woke Darren up when they turned on the light.) When I got home a few days later, I had such a difficult time getting up off the couch and sleeping. I had to wake Darren up the first night home to help me turn over. Finally the next day or so, I went into her room and just held her. That's when we got our bonding time.
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