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Quincy's birth story: Let's start with conception. I had been taking birth control until I decided I was ready to become pregnant. When I stopped, I had 3 cycles in 5 weeks. The last one started June 9th which would give us a due date of March 17th. But when I went to the doctor, they said he felt "big" and they did an ultrasound which measured him as being due a week sooner, March 10th. There's no way of knowing now when I actually conceived but I was testing every few days and I did not get a positive until July 6th. Also my mother has a history of large babies (I was 10 pounds at birth) and most of her 7 babies were 2 or more weeks past due. So I believe March 17th was more accurate than the 10th. And it's likely he may not have been ready until 1 or 2 weeks later. When I was still pregnant past when the ultrasound had calculated as the due date, I got a nice lecture about how going past due was bad for the baby - the placenta could break down and I could kill my baby. What a thing to say to a first time expectant mom! So the doctor said we should schedule and induction ~ on a day convenient for her. I went into the hospital in the evening on March 15th. They inserted Cervidyl which is supposed to soften the cervix and help get labor started. In the morning on the 16th, they started pitocin. It was very painful but by dinner time, I had not dilated at all. They gave me the option of a c-section or try to induce the next day. My original plan had been to have an unmedicated delivery and I certainly did not want a c-section. So I opted for trying another day of Pitocin. They inserted the Cervidyl again that night but it was too painful. They removed it and gave me a shot of Stadol to help me sleep. On the 17th, I had Pitocin again. And more Stadol. At one point I woke up to find an oxygen mask on my face and my doctor standing there looking over me. The Pitocin was causing my baby's heart rate to drop. It turns out he was not even near my cervix so each induced contraction was just pushing him up towards the top of my uterus instead of pushing him down to open the cervix. All day I was limited to staying in bed - not really an ideal position for getting a baby out. But rules are rules, right? By 4:00 pm my cervix was still completely closed. The nurse called the doctor and she said she was doing a c-section. I really wanted to just go home and wait until my baby was ready to come out. But that was just not an option. I started crying. This was not at all how I wanted it to be. The nurses were not very comforting at all. They were not able to understand why I should not be having a c-section. There was nothing wrong. I was healthy. My baby was healthy. He just was not ready to come out yet. But I was trapped. I was drugged on pain killers and they were not sending me home with a baby still inside. At 5:23 pm, Quincy was delivered by c-section, on his original due date. There was a blue paper sheet in front of my face so I didn't get to see anything. My husband was able to take pictures for me though so at least I got to see later. After hearing everyone say how cute he was for about 10 minutes, as I lay there saying "why cant I see him?", they finally brought him to my head for a few seconds to let me see him. Just as quickly, they took him and my husband away so they could stitch me up and send me to the recovery room. There I was with another no-so-nice nurse who refused to get my husband for me so I could at least know everything was okay. I lay in that room alone with her for over an hour. Finally they took me to my room and brought Quincy in. They had tested his blood sugar and it was low (go figure - he was taken out before he was ready and not given a chance to nurse!) It was 7:30 pm before he got to nurse. That was a nightmare experience too - some nurse who did not bother to introduce herself handed me my baby and said if you're going to breastfeed you need to start NOW and she reached over and grabbed my breast! I was quite offended by that. One of my friends was there to help me get started and I really prefer someone I know to help me position my baby on my breast. After that, they took Quincy to test his blood sugar again. When they brought him back, they said it had still been one point below the acceptable level so they had fed him a bottle of sugar water. I know I have a beautiful son and I am thankful for that. But his entry into the world could and should have been nicer. So many things were not the way they should have been. I wish I had known then what I know now. But at least I was able to learn and I was able to deliver my second baby in a more natural way. |
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