Chloë's Birth

Here I was once again with a 5 month old baby and wanting another one. This time, though, I also had a 20 month old baby too. I wanted lots of kids and I was getting started. It took me a couple months to convince my husband, Reg, but once again it took only one month to concieve. I was still breastfeeding Sandy but my cycles had been back for a few months and were regular.

I didn't take a test as I was never late. I also started throwing up bile after getting out of bed in the morning like I always do between 5 and 20 weeks. After looking back at my last experience with my OB who followed me for my second I decided to go back to my first one. I was no longer a student so I would have had to travel anyway. For my second I was a student and used the college dr. I made the appt and started my prenatal care. My due date was June 30th.

I had 2 u/s but she was shy and kept her legs tightly crossed and we were going to have a surprise again. We bought our first car during my pg. Reg was still in school but the idea of traveling anywhere with 3 kids under 3 made me want a car. At least I didn't need to ride the bus downtown during my second half of pg. There was a closer hospital but I worked there as a nursing student and there was no way I was delivering there! Besides I really liked my first dr.

As the pg progressed it became painful for me to walk. I had separating pelvic joints and every moment caused them to hurt. Reg tried doing everything around the apartment and go to school at the same time. It started to get hot outside and then my feet swelled up making it even harder to walk. I joked that I only walked from my chair to the fridge or the bathroom.

My BP started to go up but this dr didn't make me feel like something terrible was going to happen as it never got high. I gained lots of weight but he just said it would be hard to lose afterwards. Wow what a big change from my last dr.

My due date came and went. My dr apologized for not being able to induce. The nurses were on strike and I would have to wait. For my first we thought the baby came since I did sit ups and went shopping. Maybe it was the walking. It hurt to walk so we didn't walk much with the shopping this time. Nothing happened. A few days after my due date I started getting real contractions. They were regular and coming every 8 minutes. The kids were asleep so we called my MIL. As soon as she arrived they stopped! She offered to sleep on the couch. Nothing happened. The next day she took Kristy, our oldest to her house for a visit.

A few days later on Friday night I started having contractions again. This time I wasn't sure what to do. Reg was scheduled to work that night. After having that false alarm a few days ago I didn't want him to stay home so off he went to work at 11 pm. I went to bed but the contractions kept me awake. After lying in bed for 5 hours with contractions I started to get nervous. I called Reg and asked him to come home. He figured since I hadn't called earlier that I fell asleep. He warned his coworkers that he might leave so they were prepared. He came home and the contractions continued. Phew!!

We finished packing our bags. Kristy was visiting my MIL still so we just had Sandy to bring to the sitter's house. I called and then we left to her house to drop him off. All this time I'm having contractions but the aren't very painful. The car ride was hard with the contractions. I got out and talked to my friend a bit. I had a very strange sensations of a water balloon hanging out of me. I told Reg that we better hurry a bit so we went on our way.

We arrived at the hospital. I walked up to L&D and that water balloon feeling got worse. My contractions didn't though. The were coming irregularly but about every 8 minutes. My dr was standing at the front desk of L&D. He said hello and asked what I was doing there. I was having a contraction so I told him it was starting to hurt a bit. He said ok and that I would get checked.

I was shown a room and given a gown. Reg took a picture of me. The nurse said something like well that they didn't know if I was staying. Then said to Reg oh well that I probably was so why not get me registered. She sent Reg downstairs. She hooked me up to the monitor. I was getting nervous and my contractions were still only every 5 to 8 minutes. She wasn't very impressed by my slow and obviously not very painful contractions. She left and my dr came in.

He checked me and I was 8 cms! He then said he would break my waters which were bulging. Well I knew that! LOL. If a dr ever tells me I'm 8 cms and wants to break my water I'll say NO WAY!! I was so happy to be at 8 cms and not have painful contractions. Well that didn't last long. The dr left my room and the next contraction hit and was painful. I sat there scared and hoping my dh would hurry back. He came back and asked if we were staying. I told him the news. I asked him to help me up to go to the bathroom. I delivered my first with a very full bladder and didn't want to do that again.

I got to the bathroom ok but while there I had a horrible contraction and I started to scream. Reg tried to get me to go back to bed but I couldn't move. The baby had descended and was stretching my pelvis. I had bad pain from just walking so being stretched like that was really awful. I let out another scream. The nurse came in asking where I was and my dr was right behind her. The 3 of them got me up and back to bed. I let out another scream. The stupid nurse tried to tell me that it couldn't hurt that much so I screamed in her ear. I had gushed amniotic fluid all over the floor and we were all slipping in it. They got me back on the bed. The nurse reconnected the monitor. I screamed. The dr was mopping up the floor telling my dh that sometimes that was part of the job. I screamed some more. I was checked and was 10 cms.

They rolled me out into the hall towards the delivery room. My dh was told to put on his scrubs and disappeared. They didn't know what delivery room to put me in so I was left in the hall alone. Finally I was rolled into the delivery room and put on the steel table.

The nurse told me that I could push with the next contraction. I didn't have a strong urge to push and was still getting contractions irregularly about every 5 to 8 minutes. I did not feel like pushing as it was a long drop to the floor! My husband came into the room just then and so I give a little push. The nurse then yells to the dr to hurry. He was washing his hands with the med. student. He came in and told me to give another push. Then he tells me to stop so he can suction her. One more push and she is out! This was 20 minutes from the time I started screaming in the bathroom.

They lay the baby on my tummy and clamp and cut the cord. They take her to the warming table to clean her up and check her. Her apgars were 9 and 9. I felt like I have had boiling water dumped on me and my dr wants to check for tears! I think after all that screaming nobody is listening to me anymore and he checks me anyway. I get told to give another push and out comes the placenta. The dr then gives me 2 stitches.

I laid there feeling stunned. I was totally unprepared for the sudden pain I felt. They say you forget the pain which you do but I remember how I described it though.

I was given the baby to hold and I smiled for the camera. I nursed her and she was taken to the nursery. I was transferred to the recovery room and was told she weighed 9 pounds 9 ounces. I thought she looked small. She was compared to her brother and sister but she was really big for a newborn.

Reg went to get Sandy. I was transferred to my room. I again asked to leave early and went home after a couple of days. Chloë was a good nurser. She was my only baby that had colic. We joked that she never gained weight. She started out the biggest but was much smaller than her brother and sister when they were all at 3 months.

And then there were 3.

I consider this my worst birth experience. I had thought if the contractions didn't hurt that giving birth would be easy but not so. The painful part only lasted 20 minutes but it was extremely intense. It took me longer to get attached to her and to get over how bad the pain of the birth was but I did get over it. I was ready for another less than 2 years later. Chloë is 10 and a half as I write this and I'm still really happy I have her.

Catherine (mabear)

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