Birth Story 4

This is the last birth story until fall! Aren't you glad?! This one is two stories in one-a high speed police chase and a birth story! Sorry it's a bit longer than the others.

This pregnancy had some interesting circumstances, too. Shane had been in a car wreck on the way to work when Bethany was three months old. He had a severe concussion and wasn't allowed to return to work for a few months. Once he did, he only worked a few weeks when he found out his number was up and he and many coworkers were being laid off. He was offered a retraining opportunity and decided to take it. This is how he ended up in law enforcement, but first he had to go finish his degree, so off to college he went.

I had been working on losing weight with his graduation as my goal. I had worn a little black dress to one of our first Galas and wanted to wear it again to his graduation-but I'd have to work for it! Then at work one day, I decided to do a pregnancy test after everyone left. I had a tiny idea I might be pregnant but didn't really think so. I started the test and then went on about my work. I went back to check on it and was shocked to see it was positive. I went home and informed Shane the little black dress would be replaced by a maternity dress. I was due a few months after his graduation.

I had no insurance coverage until half way through the pregnancy so I had to apply for Medicaid. I had to change doctors to accommodate the insurance change. I was sad to leave the doctor who'd seen me through all the previous pregnancies. There was a new doctor in town and she'd joined our pregnancy center ministry so we thought she'd be a good fit. Dr. Smith was my new doctor and we had decided to try a VBAC.

I really wanted a midwife at this point, but with VBACing Shane said "no way." Dr. Smith was great to go along with much of my natural plan. She did want me to have an epidural in place since at that time the hospital didn't require the anesthesiologist to be on site. If he were eating dinner with his family a half hour away, and they needed to do an emergency C-section, then I'd be in big trouble. I understood but was bugged by it. Why did I have to change my plans because the hospital wouldn't provide what was needed (they do now, thankfully)? I am the paying patient and it wasn't unreasonable. I don't think patients should have to have extra procedures to make up for a lack of services the hospital should provide. I begged Shane to reconsider the midwife...

When I actually told Dr. Smith I really didn't want an epidural, she said that was fine and she'd request that the appropriate people be in house should they be needed. Whew! I was so glad!

Jaybird was due July 12. At the end of June, Dr. Smith started telling me I probably wouldn't make my next appt. But I did. And the next one. And the next one. Her due date came and went. I had a false start, even called Shane home from his new job at the Sheriff's Office but by the time he got home, it all stalled out. I've never called Shane at work except for 3 times-the false alarm, one more false alarm when I just put him on standby, and then the real time. I was so nervous calling him at work. The last time I called him I had to talk to the same officer I'd talked to before...once again saying, "Everything's fine, I'm in labor (again)". I felt like a fool but what could I do besides pray I'd go into labor on his night off? Which I did, but it didn't seem to work :(

So, the night it was for real, I made myself dial the SO with trembling fingers. I called him and he couldn't come home right away. Lots of officers were out with training and vacations. He had to make calls to see who could cover him. He can't just leave, it can be a felony to just walk out and leave the jail understaffed. So, he calls his brother to come get me. Shane works half an hour south of here, in the same town as the hospital. He thought if his brother could get me to him, then by the time I got there, he'd be able to leave.

I was a mad momma! I did not want his brother to see me breath through contractions! He had some nerve! I wasn't about to push or anything, he could have just waited. Meanwhile, while I'm steaming and packing last minute items into my bag, his brother gets a panicked call in the middle of the night. He jumps out of bed at the word "labor" and with the speed of lightening, drives like a madman the 10 minutes to our house. He didn't know it, but a serious crime had just been committed near the highway he was now speeding down. The police see him flying and assume they've found their criminal. Shane's brother sees the lights behind him in the distance and assumes Shane had called his buddies out to escort him to me. Ha! He had two very irate cops from different departments to deal with when he pulled up to the house!

I had just gotten out of the shower and was in the dining room with wet hair and PJs when a big burly bald officer burst in the house to see if I'm having--get this--heart pains. "No, I said, I'm just in labor and waiting for my husband to be able to leave the SO." I was so confused...what in the world...why didn't Shane just wait and come home himself!?

My mom shows up to watch the three children still asleep and she tries to calm the officer down who's outside yelling at my BIL (who doesn't hold back anything, by the way. I'm not sure how he didn't get arrested). The yelling officer was her next door neighbor...oh well, it didn't work so she came in to check on me. Great. More people to watch me labor, just what I wanted.

Baldy kept asking me if I needed an ambulance. No, I'm fine, really. Where would the local ambulance take me? Our hospital doesn't even deliver babies. Finally, they leave. I'm on the phone with Shane and he tells me I have to ride with his brother at least to his house (between the our town and my destination) so I climb in and have hard contractions all the way there. Shane met me and took me on to the hospital. I was relieved but oh so mad!

I forgot a change of clothes for Shane (no, not on purpose, really) so he had to help me labor in his uniform, which I find great, but he feels is dirty after a shift. We get to the hospital at some horrid hour of the morning, I think around 3:30. The nurse set me up for monitoring and said they'd see if they would keep me (I was 11 days overdue!) after an hour. I was at a 4. Well, in 30 minutes she was admitting me. I had my standby Stadol and rested between contractions. The contractions hurt across the C-section incision, each contraction, not just some. It felt like my hips were going to explode, the pain was so bad. I wondered if my uterus was about to rupture. The pain was so bad I informed Shane I would have an epidural if I didn't have a C-section. My contractions had seemed sporadic and short, so I knew I'd not made much progress. I couldn't endure hours of this pain. I hoped Dr. K, who was on call, would insist on a C-section.

Surprisingly, at 6 am, I was an 8 or a 9. Wow! I can do this! I'm not having a C-section if I've made it this far! Dr. K agreed but still said a C-section was the safest route. He left it up to us after double checking my c-section records. When I said go ahead with the delivery, he said that although it'd add some gray hairs, he's supportive of the decision. He broke my water.

About 7am, Shane started calling people saying we'd have a baby before 8. I still laugh when I think of him on the phone between contractions. I had to hold his hand in a particular way, have him squeeze back at the peak and not a moment before-I was high maintenance! At 7:30 am I was ready to start pushing. Being so experienced, I decided to just do a couple little pushes with each contraction.

Here's what my journal says about the next contraction: "Then I had a killer 60 hour long contraction, it just wouldn't stop. I probably should have pushed through it, but I couldn't even keep focused. Shane held my feet together in one hand while holding my hand with the other." I still think of this contraction and dread delivering this baby!

Shane went out and told the nurse it was time to push and the nurse at the desk casually answered, "Okay, I'll go find Wendy (the nurse)." Shane said, "No, like right NOW!"

Wendy came in and I pushed once. She saw the baby's head and grabbed Shane's hand to hold the baby back. She told me, "Stop while I get Dr. K!" She didn't even leave the room, she yelled out my door. They didn't even break the bed all the way down, I pushed once more and out popped her head. There was old meconium in her amnio fluid... I waited forever...Andrea came in the door (on her way to church. I had no idea I'd deliver so quickly!).

Out came Jaybird (not her birth name, lol) with her very long, knotted cord. Andrea said while cleaning her up, "God saved your baby. " I didn't understand at the time, then they explained her cord was knotted, tightly at the time of birth (delivering the old tired placenta probably pulled it tight). God did protect her indeed. Wendy said in all her years of nursing, Jay was only the second knotted cord with a good outcome (lived).

I was in such shock that I delivered with two pushes, not an hour's worth. My brain couldn't wrap around it at first. Andrea had the baby up to me trying to get her to latch on, Dr. K was doing whatever drs do between your legs after you give birth and Shane was beaming beside me. I was so overwhelmed. I kinda freaked and Wendy saw it and offered the Stadol she was going for before delivery. I took it by default, but only needed time to recover. What a ride!

Then I blinked and I'm pregnant again. Jay will be 2 this summer, on my Dad's birthday. This baby is due the month of my Mom's birthday...I was just trying to be fair :)

Check out her hair! It was about 2-3" at the longest point, right on top of the back of her head. Beth was sure her permanent hairdo-total Alfalfa hair, was Andrea's fault because Andrea spiked it at birth...and it wouldn't go back down. Thankfully when she was six months old, it did lay down. Here's a picture of our Texas Haired Child now: