Labor & Delivery

It's hard to believe that Mallory was born one week ago today. I wanted to blog about Mallory's labor and delivery because the birth of my children are two of the most precious moments of my life. If you don't care to, you don't have to read this. I did my best not to be too graphic.

My last OB appointment was on Tuesday, January 6th. On my way to pick-up Isaiah afterwards, I started having very, very mild contractions that were every 3 minutes apart. They weren't labor pains, but I did think it was very strange that they were coming so regularly. Then again, my Braxton Hicks contractions were a lot more frequent with this pregnancy. (I didn't have any at all when I was pregnant with Isaiah.)

The next day, the contractions continued at work until about lunch time. They were noticeable, but not painful. I just felt a little uncomfortable when they would come. The length of time in between began to spread out over the course of the day. I went to choir practice and youth that night at church, and the contractions started to come more frequently. They were also a touch more intense.

When we got home from church, Tim and I talked about my concerns about being at work (an hour from the hospital) and going into labor. I didn't want to stop working early and feel stupid, but I also wanted to be safe and not stupid. We decided about 9:30 p.m. that I would begin my maternity leave immediately. It was just not safe for me to be driving the long distance through contractions, and it was certainly hard to concentrate on teaching!

Fast forward to 2:00 a.m. I woke up feeling pretty uncomfortable. I watched about an hour of TV, and when I tried to go back to bed labor offically started. The contractions were coming very strong every 5 minutes. I had called the nurse from work the day before to see how I would know when it was time to go to the hospital. She told me that if I could not walk or talk through the contractions, then it was time. Well, it was time. All I could do was try to breathe through the contractions and hunch over in pain. (Sounds lovely, doesn't it?)

We called Isaiah's overnight sitter, and we were on our way to the hospital by 4:00 a.m. Thank goodness I had packed my bag! When we arrived at Theda Clark they noticed the frequency and intensity of the contractions. The nurse said that I definitely would not be sent home. I was 5 cm dilated and my water was about to burst at any moment. (Tim is so glad that this didn't happen in his car.) The nurse checked me again an hour later, and I had dilated another 3 cm. We had left the camera in the car, and I asked the nurse if Tim would have time to run down and get it. She didn't think he would have time. Things were moving very quickly! Lucky for us, Tim has a camera on his Blackberry.

I was given an epidural (such a BEAUTIFUL thing - ahhhh), and was able to relax for a little while. The doctor (not mine, an on-call, but a GREAT doc) broke my water and I started pushing around 7:00 a.m. Mallory's heartrate started dropping during my contractions while I was pushing. It was so scary because she was not recovering as quickly as the doctor wanted. I was even aware of the slowing down as I listened to the monitor. If it happened again, the doctor would assist the deliver with forceps.

It happened again. So, time for the forceps. Let me tell you, this was not the best time for the epidural to stop working, but it did. Ouch! The great drug doctor (I can't spell his official title, but you know what kind of doc it is. :-) came up and gave me some stronger meds. Ahhh, relief. When Mallory was born, she was "sunny-side up" which explained why I had so much difficulty. She was given oxygen for just a little bit, but there were no great concerns.

Mallory did have some nerve damage from the forceps. She had a bit of paralysis on the right side of her face. It was most noticeable because her right eye would not always close on its own and the right side of her mouth was a little lazy. This is already almost completely gone! She will recover completely. My recovery has been a lot slower because of the assisted delivery, but I'm feeling better every day.

This experience was completely different from Isaiah's birth. They were both scary in their own way, but I'll never forget any moment of either experience. The first cry, the first time I held them, the first time we looked at each other and felt the bond of parent and child...

Tim and I are truly blessed with two beautiful children.

- becky