Gretchen’s Birth Story

Sunday October 28^th at 12:11 AM I woke up to my water breaking, it took me a second to realize that this had really happened. I reluctantly woke Tyson up because I didn’t believe this was really happening, we were finally going to meet our baby girl!!! We waited for a half hour and then decided to call labor and delivery. They told us to get to the hospital right away (because of my water breaking they had to deliver the baby within 24 hours due to infections getting to the baby). Tyson quickly packed his bag while I threw together the last of what I needed for the hospital and we drove to the hospital. By this time I was having some contractions, they were getting strong enough that it was uncomfortable. The nurse took me to my labor room and they checked to make sure that my water had really broken, and yes it had. So, they hooked my belly up to a machine that monitors the baby’s heart rate and my contractions (it didn’t show how strong the contractions were, just when I was having them). The nurse let me know that my doctor was out for the weekend and that Dr. Benedict would deliver the baby. I made sure I was prepared for my doctor not being there to deliver my baby, it seems like it happens a lot and I was okay with it. So, the nurse checked to see how much I was dilated and I was at about a 2 and effaced 100%. A few hours into labor, I was ready for the epidural because my contractions were so strong that I could hardly handle it. Tyson was right there holding my hand the whole time, every time I’d get a contraction I’d squeeze his hand as hard as I could (I don’t know how anyone delivers a baby without any drugs). After several hours I couldn’t take the pain anymore so the nurse called in the anesthesiologist to give me the epidural, after a few minutes I couldn’t feel the contractions. Not long after, they hooked me up to the pitocin to get my contractions more frequent and stronger. They would check me about every 2 hours or so, and I was progressing, but very slowly. After I’d been on the pitocin for a while they upped the dose and then they had to take me off of it and put me on oxygen because it was putting stress on the baby. They did this off and on for several hours and I continued progressing very slowly. Finally around 5 PM they checked me again and I was only at a 5, by this time I’d been in labor for roughly 17 hours. They did mention that if this continued happening (switching from the petocin to the oxygen and not being dilated enough) that I would possibly have to have a C section. I was already scared to deliver the baby, but a c section???!!!! I was so freaked out. They called the doctor around 5, and he said that the baby needed to be delivered asap. So, they came and told me that I was going to have to have a c section in order to deliver the baby. I was so scared, all I could think was, “They are going to cut me open, what if I bleed to death” and other crazy scary things like that. The nurse told me that it wasn’t an emergency c section but it would feel like it because a whole crowd of people would be coming into my room to take my blood and the anesthesiologist had to up my epidural dosage so I was completely numb from the chest down. I’m sure Tyson was just as freaked out as I was. He texted my mom to let her know I’d be going into surgery, she texted back and asked if I wanted to talk to her. I couldn’t even say anything to Tyson; all I could do was nod my head no because I knew that I would start bawling. I really did want to talk to my mom because she had 6 c sections and she knows what it’s like and I wanted her to tell me that everything would be okay. Next thing I know is they are wheeling my hospital bed out into the hall and to the surgery room. Since I was totally numb there were a bunch of people that had to lift me from the hospital bed to the surgery table/bed (not sure if it was a bed or a table). It was seriously the weirdest feeling because I didn’t have any feeling but I could still tell that they were moving me from one bed to the other. They told me that it would take about 20 minutes to deliver the baby. Tyson was right there holding my hand the whole time while the anesthesiologist stood on the other side of me and let me know exactly what was going on and what I was to expect. It didn’t take long for them to cut me open, I could kind of feel that they were cutting me but it didn’t hurt. The next thing I know is they are pushing on my chest to help get the baby out. I heard her whimper/cry a little bit and they showed her to me and Tyson, and I thought, “She is the most beautiful baby I’ve ever seen”. They recovery has been a lot better than I expected and I’m grateful to have had so much help through it all.

Poor baby girl had to have an IV because
I had a fever while I was in labor.