I was 8 days overdue when we had our last doctor’s appointment on Wednesday, June 9th. The doctor peformed a non-stress test and an ultrasound to make sure baby was doing alright and to insure there was enough amniotic fluid for him to thrive. All tests were normal, but doc wanted to get things moving by Tuesday if I hadn’t gone into labor on my own by then. He also asked that we get another non-stress test and ultrasound on Saturday to make sure baby was still alright. Since the doc’s office is closed on weekends, we were to go to triage at the hospital for these tests.
We woke up Saturday morning to the most beautiful day of the year so far. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping and it was nice and warm. We had breakfast and talked about going for lunch and a long walk when we were done at the hospital. I remember as I was stepping out of the shower I said I wouldn’t mind if the hospital decided to keep us and get things going that day. Little did I know……
We had the non-stress test and the ultrasound and anxiously waited for the results to be read by the doctor. When we finally talked to her, she said the fluid levels were low; baby’s way of telling us he needed to come soon! I got my wish…our baby was coming! I can’t even explain the emotions I was feeling at that moment. I remember my eyes started watering and I looked at Sam with what was probably a look of total panic on my face! He looked the same way. We were scared, excited, overwhelmed and totally lost. We had no idea what to expect or what was going to happen. All we knew is that we wanted baby to get here safely.
They weren’t screwing around when they said baby needed to get here! Within 5 minutes they had my shoes and pants off, and were inserting a Cook’s Catheter. (You can look that up if you want details!) The catheter was to stay in for 12 hours, then they’d check my progress. Needless to say, we were in for a long day. This was at 12:45 pm, so we knew nothing was going to happen until almost 1:00 in the morning!
We were tranferred to a tiny little room where I was hooked up to a machine to monitor the baby’s heart rate and my contractions. After a while, the nurse noticed baby’s heart rate would drop during contractions. Not every contraction, and not enough to cause huge concern just yet. Of course this isn’t something we could brush off, thus the worrying began!
We managed to entertain ourselves for the next 12 hours, and the doc finally showed up to remove the catheter and check my progress. Nothing. Zip. Zero. Nada. I’m pretty sure I have the most stubborn cervix in the world! Since I hadn’t progressed at all, it was time to move me to a birthing suite and start an IV of pitocin. I was really apprehensive about getting pitocin since I’ve heard the contractions can be brutal once it’s started. I was hoping to go natural for this birth, but I decided it was time to be flexible about that!
They moved us to a birthing suite and started the IV around 3:00 AM. I woke up a couple of hours later with some really uncomfortable contractions and I was really having to concentrate on my breathing to get through each one. I managed to fall asleep between them, but they were starting to happen about 5 minutes apart, so I wasn’t getting much rest. At one point I sat up to get out of bed and walk and I felt two pops in my belly. My water had broken, and suddenly those contractions were twice as intense! Around 7:30 or so, they were getting stronger and closer together and I was in a world of hurt. Seriously, I’ve never felt any pain like that in my life. It took every ounce of strength and courage I had to breathe through each one of them. I was starting to lose my resolve to go natural and within the hour, the anesthesiologist was there giving me the epidural. Oh sweet relief! I can’t even explain how much pain I was in. The contractions that come with induced labor are something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy!
I managed to relax after the epidual and I think it helped me progress quite a bit. They checked me after a couple of hours and I was dilated to 5 centimeters. Unfortunately, the baby’s heart rate was starting to drop again with my strong contractions. (turns out the cord was wrapped around his neck, but they wisely didn’t inform me of that until after he was born) Each time this would happen, they’d have to turn of the pitocin drip so my contractions would mellow out. It was pretty discouraging, but I was still making progress….slowly but surely. Since my water had broken, there wasn’t enough fluid to cushion the baby. They started a catheter of saline solution to pump into the womb to keep him safe. By this time, I had so many wires, catheters and monitors hanging off of me, I couldn’t move without getting tangled up! Sam stepped out to get some air, and while he was gone the baby’s heart rate really took a dip. Within seconds the room was full of doctors and nurses and I was being given oxygen. Poor Sam; to walk into that after just stepping out for a few minutes. He didn’t leave my side again for the rest of the time!
They were determined to get the baby moving as soon as possible, as they weren’t liking the heart rate issue. I was so scared I wasn’t going to make progress fast enough and would have to get a c-section. However, baby had other plans and the next time they checked I was dilated to 9 centimeters! The nurse asked me if I was ready to push soon, and started readying the room for delivery. I couldn’t believe it was finally happening. I was scared, excited, happy….so emotional that I just broke into tears. By 2:40 PM it was time to push. They had me push for 10 seconds, three times in a row, every time I had a contraction. Luckily, I could feel each one even with the epidural. They were right on top of each other. As soon as one would end and I could lay back and rest, another one would come. I knew I had to get the baby out as fast as possible to keep him out of danger, and that was all the motivation I needed. I’ve never worked so hard in my life! I didn’t care if I blew a blood vessel or popped an eyeball out, I pushed with everything I had. Lemme tell you, pushing like that with an oygen mask on and nothing to drink but ice chips all day really sucked! I’ve never been so thirsty in my entire life. It’s funny, I remember saying how thirsty I was over and over. I remember Sam asking for the mirror so I could see baby’s head and know that I was making progress. I remember him telling me over and over how much he loved me and what a great job I was doing. I even remember joking around with the staff between contractions. But what I really remember is hearing the most beautiful sound in the world; my baby’s first cry. After pushing for only 40 minutes (told you I was determined!), I had our amazing baby boy in my arms. I’ll never forget that moment for as long as I live. The moment they laid his warm little body on my chest and I laid eyes on his face for the first time. I’d dreamed of what that face would look like for over 9 months, and it was even more beautiful that I imagined. He was perfect.
Welcome to the world little man. We can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives with you.
Lucas Samuel Williams
Born 6/13/2010 at 3:18 PM
Weighing 7 lbs. 11 oz.
20.5 inches long
