|
Maxwell's Story By Nicole J. |
 |
 |
 |
|
Birth Stories -
Hospital Birth Stories
|
|
Thursday, 12 February 2009 13:25 |
My story begins a bit differently than most. Eight months after my husband Mike and I were married I found myself in the doctors office for some tests. I hadn't been feeling right for a few weeks and thought that I had better get checked out. I was on the pill, as Mike and I had decided to wait about 2 years before trying for a baby, so pregnancy didn't even cross my mind. As I was getting ready to leave after my tests, the doctor's nurse flagged me down and told me that the doctor wanted to see me. I was getting a little worried as I sat in the small exam room. Just when I thought the anticipation was going to get the best of me, the doctor came in and said, �so were having a baby are we?� I nearly hit the floor.
After the initial shock wore off excitement set in. We had planned on waiting the regular 3 months to tell everyone, but my growing stomach beat me to it. By the middle of the third month I was in maternity clothes and had heartburn that nearly killed me. I felt like I had no time to get anything ready, 9 months was not very long right? Wrong! The next 6 months were the longest of my life.
When I was 17 weeks I had my first ultrasound to rule out twins. Thank goodness it did, and I found out that I was having a little girl. Now I had a goal; buy every pink thing imaginable. My husband was surprisingly supportive and even offered his opinion on a few of the frilly outfits.
When I reached the 6th month I was given another ultrasound due to some bleeding that turned out to be nothing and was again reassured that I was indeed having a little girl. The name game began shortly after and my husband and I narrowed it down to Hanna or Cierra. These were the last happy memories I have of my pregnancy.
As my 7th month neared the end I began to have terrible itching in my stomach. It was far worse than any pregnancy itch that I had had in the past, and one night after making my stomach bleed from scratching, I headed to labor and delivery to have it checked out. The doctor on call decided that I was just a whinny pregnant lady and sent me home. After another week of sleepless nights and painful itching. I headed in again. This time my doctor was on call and diagnosed me with Cholestasis. This is a pregnancy induced condition that causes bile to leak around your uterus, which in my case was extremely painful. My new focus was getting this baby out.
I was scheduled for an amnio but it could not be preformed because my placenta had spread across my whole stomach. The doctor decided to wait another 2 weeks before inducing to give my little girl some more time to develop. I was mortified, but stuck it out anyway.
On the morning of September 27, 2000, almost 3 weeks before my due date, I arrived at the hospital at 7:00am for my long awaited induction. My doctor placed the gel on my cervix at 8:00am and I had instant cramping which kept me toppled over and breathing deeply. I was moved into a delivery suite with my husband, best friend and sister. I was only 1 centimeter dialated and had no effacement, so I knew I would be there a while.
At noon my doctor came in to break my water (much to the horror of my husband who thought this was the worst part of the whole day!) and told me that the real labor would begin. I was still only 1 centimeter and a little discouraged. I was surprised by the relief of the contractions. They at least came with a bit of a break in between. My contractions lasted about 1 � minutes with about a 15 second break in between. (This didn't change all day)
At 3:00 the doctor came in to check me again and I had made no progress. He recommended an epidural to try to relax me. I was ready for anything he wanted to give me. It was almost instant relief from the pain and now I just waited. At 6:00 I had made it to almost 3 centimeters, but the doctor wasn't impressed with my progress and warned that if I didn't dialate by midnight that he would probably want to do a c-section. Panic set it and I was determined to have this baby naturally.
At 8:30 I had a contraction that almost sent me flying. My epidural wore off and they couldn't get it working again so from here on out it was all natural. I felt a lot of pressure about 15 minutes later and asked the nurse to check me. I was at 7 centimeters so they decided to call the doctor. About 5 minutes later, as I nearly clawed my husbands arm off, I told the nurse that I felt like pushing. She checked me again and I was at 10. I began pushing before the doctor got there and the nurses started to panic asking me not to push anymore, but as any women who has had a baby knows, once you start there is NO stopping. I pushed about 3 times and the doctor came flying in the room, no scrubs, no nothing. Three pushes later, at 9:27 my little one was born. As soon as the baby came out the doctor started to laugh, I found this a bit inappropriate until he announced, �IT'S A BOY!� I laughed a little and recall telling him that he wasn't funny, until my husband assured me that we indeed had a son.
Maxwell Gregory Jensen was 6 pounds and 18 inches long. He is now a happy six month old who we love more and more every day.
|
Hospital Births 
if you have any questions or comments!