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Kaylee Rose's Birth Story By Adrienne Chahin |
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Birth Stories -
Birth Center Birth Stories
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Wednesday, 11 February 2009 10:33 |
by Adrienne Chahin
On Friday, November 3rd, I told Sal..."This is it...we are having this baby THIS Weekend"! I was determined. Sal had picked up more Primrose Oil for me as well as Castor Oil. I started taking the Primrose Oil every hour or so. On Saturday morning around 4 a.m. I took about an ounce of the Castor Oil in a glass of Apple Juice. Kinda gross....but at this point I was doing everything I could to have this baby! Diahrrea started around 5:30 a.m. Cleaned myself out pretty good and aggravated my hemerroids in the process (dumb...regretted that during pushing phase). Helped Sal rake the leaves in the morning, took a walk afterwards with Heather for 20 minutes or so.
My sister Kim came over around noonish. My good luck charm! Once she came my contractions started! Sal, Kim, Heather and I all went out for the afternoon. First a run to storage, then we went to New York to buy some Millennium Million lottery tickets. We stopped at Burger King for some lunch. I was having contactions the whole afternoon...anywhere from 4 to 9 minutes apart. I thought for sure that labor was starting.
When we got home, Kim decided to go home, and I decided to lay down for a while. Contractions stopped while I was laying down, so I figured it was just another day of false contractions. More Castor Oil around 4 p.m. No diahrrea though...nothing left to poop! Nothing happened after I got up, so I called Kim and told her it was probably just false labor. I'd call her back if anything else happened. The rest of the evening was uneventful.
Went to bed around 10:30 p.m. Around 11 p.m. I was "readjusting" myself in bed, when I felt a pop and a gush. Hmmm....I think my water just broke! I waited 5 minutes or so before I got up. Another gush. Checked myself, and sure enough...my water had broken. I went downstairs and told Sal. Called the Birth Center, and spoke with the Midwife on call. She said we could come right in, but I told her we'd wait a little while until I started feeling more regular contractions. Didn't take too long. Contractions started coming very regularly right away.
Called Kim at midnight at told her "It's time to roll!" Woke Heather up and we left. Got there around 12:30 a.m. Kim came a few minutes later. Contractions were 3 minutes apart and 35 seconds long. They put Kim and Heather in another room so we could all relax and get some sleep before "the big event". The Midwife checked me and I was 80 % effaced and 1-2 cm dilated. What! I hadn't dilated more??? I was kind of bummed.
The girls slept in their room, and Sal slept in our room. I tried, but I couldn't fall asleep. I was too uncomfortable laying down, so I stayed in the rocking chair, timing contractions. The Midwife suggested that I get in the shower and try some nipple stimulation to get the contactions going stronger, and get me dilated. We didn't want a stalled labor.
The shower felt great and it dulled my pain. I stayed in a bit too long and got overheated. I had to call Sal to help get me out, and even then, I couldn't move. The Midwife and Nurse came in and applied cold compresses, which totally revived me. They got me out of the shower, and onto the bed. I relaxed for a little while longer, then went back to the rocking chair.
The contractions were getting really stong now and lasting much longer. The Midwife checked me again, and I was only 3 cm dilated. WHAT!!!! ONLY 3!!! If I felt like this at only 3 cm, how was I going to make it throught this all? I asked if I could get in the tub, but the Midwife said it was too soon. They don't usually have people get into the tub until they are 5 cm dilated, otherwise it might slow the labor down. I asked for something to dull the pain. They decided to give me a shot of Demerol "to take the edge off".
After the shot, I got back in the shower, but was promptly removed because they were worried that the Demerol would kick in, and they didn't want me to fall or something. They recommended that I walk the halls for a little while to help bring the baby down. Sal and I strarted our walk, with me stopping and leaning against the walls to breathe through the contractions. 3 cm, and they were overpowering!
We stopped by Kim and Heather's room for a little visit. Heather was sleeping, so Kim joined us for the rest of our walk. We got back to the room, and Kim went to get Heather. I was in agonizing pain by now, and I told the Midwife that I felt like I had to push. She decided to check me again, and said that it was time for me to push. WHAAAATTTT!!!! I was 3 cm 1/2 hour ago, and now I'm 10! I want to go into the tub!!! No can do. It would take 20 minutes just to fill the tub, and Kaylee was ready to come now! Kim took Heather out of the room, while they got ready to deliver Kaylee. They had me push for a few minutes, and then Sal climbed behind me to help support me while I pushed. I feel bad, I kept pushing the nurses and screaming, but HELL...it HURT!!! They kept commenting on how polite I was because I kept apologizing between contractions. I said "Don't forget about Kim and Heather". They said they would bring them in when Kaylee started crowning. A few more pushes, and she was coming. They got a full length mirror so we could see it all happening. Her head started coming out more with each push. They let me touch her head (so cool).
Finally, they had Kim and Heather come in. Heather climbed right up on the bed next to me (so sweet). A few more pushes, and Kaylee's head was mostly delivered. She got a little stuck by her jaw, and I ended up tearing delivering the rest of her head. The Midwife was massaging my perineum, which felt BIZARRE...I told her to cut it out! A couple more pushes and Kaylee was out! My beautiful 8 lb 6 1/2 oz baby girl was placed on my chest all bloody and sticky, and Heather reached right over to touch her hand. The most beautiful gesture I have ever seen. My two sweet Angels.
With a little manuvering, they managed to have Sal cut the umbilical cord. Then we all sang "Happy Birthday to You" and sat and bonded while I delivered the placenta and they stitched me up. The Demerol had me pretty doped up by now, so everything from thereon in was pretty surreal.
After I was stitched up, they took Kaylee to be weighed and measured. Sal, Heather and Kim went with them. The Nurses cleaned me up and changed the sheets, while I just lay there like a bump on a log. It took a few hours for me to snap out of it. I just watched everything happening around me, like I was watching a movie. I ate a little bit, and had something to drink.
Kim took Heather back to Granny and Paka's house to give us a few hours to recover. Sal, Kaylee and I relaxed for a few hours in bed. We decided we would be ready to leave at around 5 p.m. the same day. So Sal finished filling out all the necessary paperwork, the Pediatrician visited and gave Kaylee a clean bill of health, we packed our belongings and headed on back to Granny and Paka's house, where Heather was anxiously awaiting our arrivial.
When we got home, Granny was outside waiting to greet us. I gave her Kaylee, and she headed back into the house, where she handed Kaylee straight into the awaiting arms of her big sister Heather. Heather is so in love with her baby sister. It makes me so happy!
Kaylee Rose Chahin
Born: November 5, 2000
Time of Birth: 9:00 am
Height: 20 inches
Weight: 8 lbs 6 1/2 oz
All in all this was a wonderful birth experience, in spite of the fact that I never made it to the tub! I am happy that Sal, Kim and Heather were all there to welcome Kaylee to the world. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way!
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