birth story

Almost 2 months later, here I am. The baby came on May 21 at 3:18am. 7lbs 14oz and 21.5 inches of love. We named her Jane Rose Nestojko.

My birth story. It was Thursday night and I was going on 2 weeks overdue, scheduled to be induced on the following Monday. I decided to take someone's advice to have a beer with some spicy pizza, and I went to bed relaxed and happy. A strong urge to pee woke me up at 2am. I went to the bathroom and my water broke in the toilet. Didn't realize that was what it was at first, but then became pretty obvious. I said "Dan, my water broke." He said "Are you sure?" and turned on the lights. I remember being giddy and excited as I got ready and on the drive to the hospital. It was all happening!

We got to the hospital before 4am and got checked into a nice room in the back of the labor and delivery unit. I was having manageable contractions. We ate breakfast and I drank tons of water. Contractions got worse after breakfast and were pretty intense until lunchtime. The midwife said she had a call in for our volunteer doula. During a contraction, the only thing that sounded good to me was bouncing on the exercise ball. Being in bed during a contraction was not an option; it made the pain so much worse. So Dan would stand behind me and hold my shoulders and help me breathe through them. I had the remote (telemetry) fetal monitor belt on so we could hear the baby's heartbeat and watch the intensity of the contractions print out. Jane tolerated the contractions very well, no signs of distress.

Around noon, I was feeling pretty thin, especially after I realized I was only at 4cm. I asked the midwife about pain options and she reminded me I could get some IV pain medication, as a first option before going to the epidural. Nubane for pain and Fenergan (sp?) for nausea, and I'd sleep for awhile. They gave me the drugs when (I think) our parents were all in the room, at least the moms were there. As soon as the drugs hit me, I fell asleep. Dan slept next to me on a fold out cot. About 2 hours later, I was up again. The contractions were back, not quite as strong, but they built up as the drugs wore off. From 2pm - 5pm, we labored hard. I was told there were no volunteer doulas available. I was throwing up. I didn't scream or moan. I had read about "finding your monkey" meaning, to get primal and tap into that energy during labor. But you just do what feels right to you, and to me, being quiet and bouncing felt right. Eventually I threw up green bile. Intense pain. But Dan told jokes and kept me laughing. He said he wanted the epidural. And that I'd better hurry up or he'd miss his tee time. When they checked me again around 5pm, I had only progressed a tiny bit, almost to 5cm. I looked at Dan and said, "I think I want the epidural, is that okay?" Not sure why I asked permission. We had agreed that I'd try to go natural, drug-free but hadn't ruled out drugs. I mean, who knows what it's going to be like when it's your first time? So I asked the midwife for the epidural. The nurse who was with me was so sweet and really rushed the anesthesiologist in there. The whole experience of putting it in was easy & painless. Maybe 5 minutes. He told me I had a curvature in my spine. Within a few minutes, I was numb from the waist down and my legs felt like dead trees. It was a huge relief and I wanted to hug the anesthesiologist.

More to come...