One Year Ago Today (and tomorrow...)

It was a Thursday evening, shortly after 9. I was in my pajamas and on my way to bed, nine months pregnant and very tired. The Music Man was watching tv, likely baseball playoffs. I sat down with him for a couple of minutes until I felt a very strong urge to go to the bathroom. I sat on the toilet for a minute but nothing happened and the feeling passed. I sat back down in front of the tv. In a couple of minutes the urge hit again. This happened a couple of times before I realized that perhaps it was something other than the bizarre urge to poo. By the time we realized that I might be in labour it was feeling more like the way I expected contractions to feel, except not this strong and not this fast. By the end of the first half hour they were coming about every four minutes.

The Music Man phoned our doula and the hospital and they both said to wait a bit longer but if the contractions continued at that rate to go in right away. I was frantically busy doing the things that I was planning to do during the hours of labour at home. "It's your first baby," everyone said, "your labour will be long." I needed to pack food for the hospital (everything else was packed already.) I needed to shave my legs (in retrospect this was not a need, and I will skip this step next time if I have to.) There I was,in the tub, trying to shave my legs between contractions that were coming every three or four minutes. The Music Man chose some clothes for me to wear when I got out of the tub, and as soon as we could we were out the door.

By this time it was nearly 11 o'clock. It was very dark and very windy. The 15 minute drive to the hospital seemed very long and I had about five contractions on the way. When we got there we parked in the 15 minute loading zone and went inside to register. I was standing at the front desk trying to sign forms while having contractions. They asked me if I wanted a wheelchair, but I wanted to walk to the maternity ward. When we got upstairs we checked in at maternity. The first nurse we talked to asked when my labour had started. "Around 9:30, " I said. "This evening? And this is your first baby?" she asked, with a look that said, "What are you doing here? Go home, you've hours to go yet." They put me in an LDR room and told me to put on a gown, which I did with Music Man's help. Another nurse came in to strap the monitor to my belly. She was the nurse who had given us our tour of the ward during our prenatal classes. (I think her name was Corine)

After 1/2 hour Corine confirmed that my contractions were coming fast and strong. Another nurse came in to do a vaginal exam. She told us that I was 8 cm dilated but that it was a bum coming first. Corine checked and confirmed a breech presentation. Now we were facing a c-section. This was a possibility I wasn't entirely prepared for. We had a birth plan and a doula. We were prepared for birth and doing everything in our power to prevent any unnecessary interventions. According to my last appointment the baby was head down and ready to go. My doctor and the on-call obstetrician came in. My doctor confirmed breech, but the other doctor (a man) said, "No, that's a face." No one else agreed with him, but even if that had been the case they would've suggested a c-section. My doctor began to explain the procedure to me, stopping every minute or so to let me have a contraction. I was getting impatient and felt like saying "I can still listen while I'm having a contraction. Get on with it." Looking back, I am pretty sure that I was in transition at that time.

During all of my contractions The Music Man was amazing. He held my hand and sang me "Summertime" which was the song he sang to my belly before bed when I was pregnant. He got me through and I was able to breathe through my contractions, even when I was barely getting a break between them. I am confident that if I had been able to deliver vaginally we would have made it through labour with no medication.

They took me to the OR while the Music Man got his gown and mask on. The anesthesiologist was wonderful. He put me at ease as he prepared to give me the epidural. (He was the best doctor I dealt with through the whole thing.) The on-call obs. was the surgeon who performed the section. The Music Man was beside me holding my hand through the whole thing. I think he even watched a little bit. When they had the baby out they announced "It's a boy" and held him up for me to see. At which point I cried. (oh, and the women made "I told you so" faces at the surgeon when they saw that the baby was, in fact, breech.) Only they didn't hold him high enough, so the Music Man reached out to hold the curtain down for me to see. They started shouting "contamination" and threw an new sheet over where he had touched. It was hilarious, but I was able to see the baby. The Music Man went with the baby to the table to get weighed and wrapped up. They even left an extra bit of cord on for him to cut. When the baby was wrapped up the Music Man brought him over to me and I kissed his head. One of the nurses went to get a camera and took a picture of the three of us (which they printed and brought to us the next day.) Then the Music Man and the baby left and I had to get sewn back up. That seemed to take FOREVER.

When they were done they took me to recovery where the Music Man and Baby were waiting for me. Our doula was there too. She had moved all our stuff over from the LDR room and had gone to our car (still parked in the 15 min loading zone) to get our camera. She took pictures as we put the baby to my breast and he nursed for the first time.

Needless to say, it wasn't the birth that we had planned. In fact, our birth plan stayed in the car with our bags until after he was born. From the first contraction to his birth was just a little over four hours. It was a wonderful experience none the less. I am so thankful to The Music Man for his constant support and love. He sang me through, and I couldn't have done it without him.

Monkey
Born 1:37 am
Friday the 13th of October, 2006

I love you.