Friday, February 15, 2013

Andrew's birth story part 2

We arrived at the birthing center at a bit after 6 in the morning. I was so glad that I had gone into labor on my own and that I would be able to have the baby there. It was so nice to be able to put on my soft meditation music, diffuse some essential oils in the air and most of all not being hooked up to anything. I could move in any position I liked. The student midwife would come and check the baby's heart rate hourly to make sure everything was okay with him but other than that there was very little intervention. At around 9:30 things started to change. I started into transition labor. I remember telling Jonathan at this point that if I had access to an epidural I would take it. I remember also feeling and thinking thoughts I had never had before. I started praying fervently for help. I wanted to be able to do this but I knew I needed some divine intervention. About this time as the contractions were at their worst, I heard a voice that said "Melanie look at the contractions as a bolt of electricity coming through the top of your head, going down through your body and out your cervix. Don't hold it in. Let it go out your cervix." I remember thinking that is a great idea because before, I could feel myself holding onto the contraction instead of letting it go. I also had some other profound thoughts more around Christ and the atonement. I thought " I am in so much agony right now and I am doing it for this little one. I just can't imagine what Christ went through for me." I had gone to a place that I had never been before. I had experienced pain like never before and it really helped me gain a greater appreciation for my Savior and what he must have gone through.
About this time I started feeling a great urge to bear down. They checked me and I was at an 8. They suggested that I get in the tub that it would help relax me and if I could rock back and forth it would help me to dilate faster. Well, that was absolutely true. About 10 minutes later I felt the absolute most overwhelming feeling to push. It wasn't something I had ever experienced before. I couldn't do anything but just push. Even when she told me to wait so she could check me, I couldn't. I literally could not wait. I was still in the tub and had pushed Andrew's head out but they told me not to stand up until we got the rest of him out. So, Andrew was born in a big jacuzzi tub. I was able to grab him an hold him on my chest for about 20 minutes. He was born at 10:38 But, he was having problems breathing. He was struggling for breath. So they took me out of the tub and we went back to the bed. It was a bit scary for me as I was still holding him and saw his struggle. As we were in the bed, they were trying to detach my placenta without any luck. I didn't think much of it as all my attention was on my baby. All of the sudden the midwives got serious and said they needed to hook me up to an IV because I wouldn't stop bleeding and they needed to get some Meds in me. So they gave me pitocin with no luck. They tried a few other things and than the next words were "call an ambulance I can't get the bleeding to stop." They also had forgotten to cut the umbilical cord. So, Andrew was still receiving blood from the placenta. because it was still attached to me.

2 comments:

Suzy said...

That sounds like quite an eventful birth experience. I'm so glad you were able to get medical care for the bleeding. When was Aubrey's baby born, and were you able to be there for that, too?

Jen and Allen said...

I know what you mean about getting ot know christ better through child birth. He is amazing and it is such a blessing to have that connection to the atonement.