From Water Broke to Hospital Stay | Birth the other view

Baby, its 5am havent been able to sleep yet , its impossible I think, in the next few hours we are likely to forget all these little details, Im watching you sleep in a hospital bed staring at the dimly lit empty infant incubator behind you

Its 9:45PM your standing in the Kitchen.

You: "I think my water just broke or I just peed myself"

Me: " Okay, I'll go get the mop....(gets mop, looks for something to mop..doesnt find anything) nah, thats not that impressive, I dont think your water broke"

You: (From the bathroom) "Yes, My water definitely broke, call the doctor"

Me: "Number is on the fridge, right?"

You: "Yes !!!!!"

Since we had an appointment today and we both know your only 1cm dilated, this is a bit of a surprise, I dial the number on the card...

"You have reached the nighttime service of blah blah blah ... please stay on the line if you are experiencing complications, unusual pain, contractions ..blah ..blah ..etc. etc. Please do not call for prescriptions or general advice ..please stay on the line ..blah ...blah ..blah"

Ring ,Ring , Ring ..........

Phone Voice: "Hello, Blah and Blah Associates, how can I help you?"

Me: Well my fiance's water just broke and this is our Doctors number.

PhoneVoice: Her name please?

Me: ( I told them your name )

Phone Voice: Doctor Blah (never heard of him!) is on call tonight, he'll call you back within 20 minutes.

Me: Baby, I called! The doctor will ...

You: (Interrupting) Call back , I know , make sure you tell him, no contractions and only 1cm dilated at todays check-up. Get my hospital bag from the closet, the red pillow and the other one in there go to... and dont let me forget my Panaway, its in the dropper on the kitchen table.

Your father stopped by for a relaxing visit around 9:15, you got to visit for a moment ..but the whole relaxing concept was quickly crushed, oh well...

Your Father: Im guessing these bags need to go to my car?

Me: Yes, plus this Panaway stuff

Ring, Ring, Ring.. (Only about 5 minutes have passed)

Doctor: (He said he was calling to return your page, he knew your name..he had a really cheery voice - perfect demeanor for the moment) " So her water broke ... Your sure?"

Me: Yes, But, no contractions and according to todays visit only 1cm dilated.

Doctor: Well then time to head on down to the Hospital then.

Me: Right now?

Doctor: (still very cheery) Yes, head on down to the ER for admissions, I will let them know your coming and we will get your room ready in labor for an evaluation.

Me: Ok, we are only 15 minutes away.

Doctor: Great, see you soon then (still cheery!)

Me: No rush, but we will be ready for you and we can give you an assessment

_____________________________________________________________

So we are off to the hospital, you are in the bathroom - pretty much telling us how your grossing yourself out.

Im off to collect your hospital gear and grab some stuff for myself in case we are overnight bound - your 11 days early as far as Im concerned and didnt have a grab and go bag.

Off to feed the rabbit , give her a scratch behind the ears.....now , quick, what next? water for the dogs - fill their food bowl for tomorrow morning, will have to get someone to swing by and put the bowls on the floor.

Ok, damn - cameras might not be charged - hurry and go plug in new digital video camera purchased just for today, mp3 is plugged in to charge and regular camera all set to go - make sure a cards in there ...ok , what next ..hmm..tell facebook what going on! ;;keep it short

baby time!

Your Father and you are off to the car , I wrap up the electronics, stop by the bookshelf - hit a couple of lights and run out the door - hide a key in case we have to send someone over for dog care or a place to stay.

And we are off!

Easy , breezy - learned the big attachments on the wheelchairs are to keep people from sticking them into their cars!

(note Doctor uses an iPhone app to track fetal movement and various other measurements in conjunction with the fetal heart rate monitor)

It was fun to watch your father check facebook and message the family on his iPhone while the doctor used his iPhone to track and enter your chart.

Around 12am, the nurse really wants you to relax and sleep. The contractions are coming every 5-6 minutes but you are still only 1cm dilated. I can feel your whole stomach clench into a tight ball -you can see it if you look closely, it must be amazingly painful.

We (Your Mother, Sister and I ) are supportive of the medicine. We (me and you) were as anti-drug as possible , but the Nurse is pushing for Stadol, so you can sleep and have full strength tomorrow , I have my laptop and the Hospital has open wifi - so I google it (what a world we live in - fiance in labor and Im on a laptop! ) I read a few dozen forum threads of mothers who had experienced the effects of Stadol and some top ranking authority sites for the term. Im supportive of relaxing you and Stadol seems very low risk , it was the pain med suggested by our specialists, we are supposed to trust them?

After some jokes about how pain meds had turned your sister into a bit of a space cadet and some cajoling from the nurse , you acquiesced.

What is Stadol? - Pain Medication during Labor? ( I will find  a link later)

You were a little freaked out about the feeling of the Stadol - your Sister and Mother left around 2am in order to catch a nap at the house and to be able to watch the dogs, feed them in the morning.

Truthfully, The Nurse, Lis, kind of shooed them out .... I held your hand and we stayed that way until you slept ... it was during the time between when your eyes closed and you awok ein pain that I was able to start drafting this...sleep was impossible...

Your awake and obviously feeling the contractions , Ive been bringing you sips of water and playing calm music ...while typing this, not sure if ill be able to finish this tonight , or if the details will be remembered come morn ...but I guess I should try for some sleep.

Dont worry, I got lots of photos of you sleeping!

Your Stadol is long wore off - the pain of the contractions is keeping you from sleeping, but your pretty groggy from the medicine, the nurses have changed shifts - they appear right after you click the big red button.

We help- you to the bathroom and prepare the jacuzzi bath for you. Your in the bath now - you seem content.

The family is arriving - your managing to relax and sleep again its 7:22 am - but you occasionally will cry out..we have rubbed the panaway on your lower back - the smell i sthick in the air, Ive been putting pressure on the accupressure points in your hands, it seems to work very quickly ..Im also trying reiki - it may work but then again that could just be the lull between contractions.

You requested that we put in a movie for you.

Im laughing aloud, that you have decided that Supertroopers would be one of the movies you would bring. So now we are watching Supertroopers in a hospital room - This is great I wonder what the nurses will think?

8:45PM Thursday Water Breaks

2am-ish Friday Stadol given after 6 hours of contractions - you sleep for 3 hours

6am-ish Friday You awake - in great pain - jacuzzi tub soothes you a bit

9am-ish Friday After 10 hours of contraction you are given an epidural

3PM - Friday - Active Labor Begins

6Pm friday - after 3 hours of full pushing , you are exhausted and losing hope (I laughed and cried)

7pm - Friday - the Doctors slow your contractions and consider a vacuum assist or c-section

8;35 - w/o any further techniques and a short rest you deliver naturally (you got a couple of tears here too)

Cant pronounce the words - everything has been stunning success in the eyes of the doctors. But,no baby yet.

Horrific .. in my eyes, I guess the beauty comes when there is a product?

They say your doing a great job - you just got a short respite via anesthesia - your not allowed to push.

You have spent 3 hours in active labor already.

I can sit now.

i could collapse ..can not imagine what it must be like for you

Perhaps delivery will be catching?

Never thought the sounds of infants shrieking could seem like a blessing

Will we be trying a vacuum assisted delivery, will we be going with a c-section?

Risks of vacuum assisted delivery

You really didnt want a c-section - but, really, does anybody?

Doctors calmed you down to pause labor so they could make a decision based on your strength..not sure If im liking this waiting game.

But, you took 24 hours yourself to come into this world and were only at 21.5 now.

<Insert Final Jeopardy Theme>

... I would trade if I could

She was born naturally! no c-section , no vacuums - no damage to anybody - no stitches or anything - approx 24 hours after the water broke

( At this point I have been at the Hospital for 36 hours - 2 nights of chairs and floors has taken its toll, I will revisit and add what I can remember...in the end everything was exactly as it should be)

She was 6lb 9 oz when she was born and 19 inches long - she will be 24 hours old as I write this addition - she rarely cries, roots automatically and is easy to calm. Ive never knew true beauty until this day