A Baby Story

Ok...Henry is snoozing after his last feeding so I have some time to write his birth story (don't worry - I just woke up from a cat nap and am taking every opportunity to sleep when he sleeps).
Our story begins early early Saturday morning. Around 2am, I began having very intense contractions, lasting 30 seconds, 10 minutes apart. I had these the previous night and nothing came of them so I didn't make much of them. Around 4:30am, I was pulled out of deep sleep by contractions that were oh so painful and 5 minutes apart. I woke Travis up and after 45 minutes without ceasing, he decided that he had better get the car packed. An aside and praise to my husband - he made the bed, ran the dishwasher, cleaned the kitchen and took out all the trash before we left just because he knew I would want to come home to a clean house!

At 6am, we left for the hospital, even though I just knew that the moment we got to the hospital, they would say that this was false labor. On the way there, I called my mother and said, "Mom, I think I'm in labor." She screamed, "Ok", and then hung up before I could tell her anything else! When we got to the hospital, they checked me in and hooked me up to some machines that monitored Henry's heart rate and my contractions. The nurse said that I was 4cm dilated, 90%effaced with bulging waters - so basically this was the real deal!

Everyone asked me throughout my pregnancy whether or not I'd be getting an epidural. I always said that I would make up my mind when I got there. Well I can tell you that it is the most amazing invention on earth!! I applaud any woman who has gone through labor without any medication - I was no such woman. As soon as I got to 5cm dilated, they gave me that sweet sweet drug and I turned back into my lovely self :) Quicker than I realized, Mom, Dad, Kate and Adam arrived (around 10:15am) and we all just hung out in my birthing suite. Nurses would come in periodically and check my vitals and everything was looking pretty good. However, a couple of times whenever I moved to my left side, Henry's heart rate would go down so low that the nurse would run into the room and make me switch back to my right side and give me oxygen.

The doctor on call, Dr. Radpour, made his rounds and broke my water around 11am. At that time, I was 6 cm and 95% effaced. He seemed confident that things would progress quickly after that. And they did!

Around 11:45pm, the nurse came in to check my progress and said that I was a 7; the tone of her voice made it sound like I should be farther along and that we would probably deliver by late afternoon. As she was describing the difference between an emergency c-section and a c-section, Henry's heart rate dropped drastically. She called for Dr. Radpour. As soon as he got into the room and checked me, he said, "It's time to push, Lindsay." Not 15 minutes after the nurse made us confident enough to discuss having time to order lunch!

Everything moved so quickly at this point and I was so scared that I will probably have a different story than everyone else in the room (which was Travis, Mom, and Kate). He called for a shot of something that made my heart race so fast, it felt out of control. A nurse and Travis held my feet and I began to push (or went through the motions of what I thought it would be like to push because I couldn't feel a thing from the waist down). Ten minutes into pushing, Dr. Radpour mentioned an emergency c-section. Henry's head was not progressing as quickly as it needed to and his heart rate dropped with every contraction. I could tell that this was not going the way it should - everyone's eyes were darting back and forth and there were about 15 people in the room at this point, I guess waiting to wheel me into the surgery room.

I can't even imagine the horror and stress that these people rushing in and out of the room had on my father who was in the hall. I looked over at Katy a few times and she would give me this fake fake smile - like she wasn't freaking out completely.

To get Henry's head down, the doctor used a manual vacuum. When that didn't work, he got an even bigger electric one. With every push, he suctioned. Finally, he said, "If he doesn't come with this next contraction, we will do an emergency c-section." I pushed with all my might and felt a lot of pressure relief. His head emerged and looked so scary - it had this bulbous cone on top. With the next contraction, the rest of his body came out.

I can't tell you the sense of relief that both Travis and I felt. We looked at each other and sobbed. Travis cut the cord and then they took him to clean him off. I heard his first cry and that was amazing as well. A nurse brought him over and I got to kiss him. It was just so perfect.

Henry Cole Wright weighed in at 7 lbs 6oz and 21 inches long. He has Travis' dimples and well, Travis' face. I will post some more pictures as soon as Travis gets home. Sorry this took so long but I have something taking up most of my time now :)