An Impatient Baby

What a week! On Sunday, November 25th at 1:06 AM, little Moises Omar decided to grace us with his presence, no matter that he was only 34 weeks old...he obviously was in a big hurry to see what life was like on the outside. I suppose I must have made it look more attractive than my nice warm uterus :-) Here, I will try to briefly recount the happenings of that day.

Warning: Reader Discretion Advised. There may be details about labor that you may not want to know!

At about 8:30 PM on Saturday, November 24th, I started to feel a sensation of pressure in my pelvic region. This was not necessarily a new sensation--I had felt pressure especially around my bladder before. I didn't think much of it, until I started to notice that it took a very rhythmic tone. I joined my family (my mom, dad, and sister were in town for thanksgiving) in watching a movie, but I just couldn't seem to get very comfortable. I can't say that I was in pain...it really was more of a discomfort. After a few hours, I noticed that this heaviness was getting to be every 2-5 minutes, and realized that heaviness=contractions. Still, at this point, I wasn't really THAT uncomfortable, so I decided to call my doctor. I must have sounded very calm on the phone because she, too, doubted that I was in full blown labor, and we decided to have me lay down and drink plenty of fluids over the next hour. I fully expected this feeling to go away; but instead, as I lay down and drank glass after glass of water, the heaviness became much more intense, causing me to moan a bit here and there, and they came more often--about every 2 minutes. Still, I thought, surely I'm not really in labor. We decided not to wait the full hour and with my mom in tow (with Dad and Valerie watching Enrique), we headed to the hospital. Now, looking back at those few hours at home, I find myself smiling as I decided, "hm...maybe I should pack a bag for the hospital, just in case." And just that day, my sister had helped me wash all of the baby's clothes, organize the nursery, and get everything ready for his arrival. Little did we know that this would spark his coming...

Anyhow, as we approached the hospital, I was really starting to feel it now. Stubborn as I am, I insisted on walking myself to check in. As the nurses handed me the gown I was to change into and looked up my file, everyone remained calm and collected. I could tell that they likely thought that I was either in early labor or not the "real deal." As I dressed in the bathroom, the intensity of my contractions just escalated. I finally made it out and onto the examining table. The nurse had me lay on my back and placed the belts to monitor the baby and my contractions around my belly. As the contractions came stronger and stronger, I would bend my knees and bring my legs up. This would mess up my monitors, and this did not please the nurses, although they were nice about it. "You need to keep your legs straight, dear, or we can't hear this baby."

About this time, my primary nurse came in. "Hello, my name is Valerie. I am going to check you and find out how dilated you are so we can stop this labor."

As she checked me, she commented, "oh, the baby is very low." However, she could not seem to find my cervix. She had me bend my knees, place my hands under the small of my back, and seemed to really be searching. "I bet your cervix is so thinned out that I'm running my fat little fingers right through it. I'm going to do something a bit unusual..."

(as an aside, please don't tell a lady in labor that you are going to do something unusual. This conjures up all kinds of weird images, from voo-doo to Frankenstein and does not inspire your patient to relax)

"I am going to have another nurse check you as well."

By this time, I realize that something is odd. If the baby is low, why can she not find my cervix?

The next nurse comes in and checks...and immediately, all the bells and whistles are activated. A wheelchair is brought in to whisk me to the delivery room. My doctor and the neonatologist are called. I think they would have flown me to the delivery room if they could have. I can feel a sense of urgency...but all I can do is just try to breathe and cope with the pain that has now hit its peak. No one has told me how dilated I am, but I'm imagining that I must be past the point of no return, or they would not be acting so quickly.

As I am transferred to my delivery bed, I notice that 3 nurses now have joined me. I'm also noticing how intense the pressure feels. The nurse Valerie asks me, "What kind of birthing experience were you thinking of having, natural or with medication?" At this point, I'm thinking, GET ME AN EPIDURAL, but Jose and I had talked about it quite a bit, and I had expressed my desire to try unmedicated childbirth for as long as I could tolerate it. Jose chuckled and said, "she wants to try natural childbirth." Valerie replies, "good, because that is what you are going to get, my dear."

Next thing I know, Valerie the nurse is at my left side, trying to start an IV. After two failed attempts, she decides we'll just have to do without one. "You must be a bit dehydrated," she comments. To which I reply, "How far along am I?"

"Sweetheart, you're complete--fully dilated and +2 station," replies Jodi, another nurse, who became my focal point during the experience. "You have been that since you got here, and as soon as the doctor gets here, you're gonna push and have this baby."

If I hadn't been in so much pain, my jaw would have dropped. After 3 hours of labor, I am ready to have this baby? It's too early! He's too young! We're not ready!

I think she could sense my apprehension because next thing I know, she has grabbed my hand. "Look at me. I need you to breathe like this. " And as she took one long breath, followed by three short breaths, I found myself doing the same thing...almost involuntarily.

My doctor arrived shortly thereafter, but it felt like an eternity. I wanted to push so badly, and it was hard to resist the urge. Gown on, gloves on, okay, now push...

I could hear it like a deafening gong--the slowing down of my baby's heartbeat. My doctor calmly asked the nurses to place the oxygen mask on my face, but I knew that I had to act fast. Grabbing behind my legs and trying to curl myself up around my belly, I pushed with all the might I had, and after pushing with 3 contractions, my doctor placed my beautiful boy on my chest. Small as he was, he was crying, which I took to be a good sign. Jose was able to cut the cord, and after about a minute or so, he was taken to the warmer where the neonatologist worked on him a bit. Unfortunately, he decided to grunt and work a bit hard to breathe, so he was transferred to the NICU, which happened to be at another hospital. The NICU transport team was great--they brought him by and let both myself and Jose hold him for a few minutes before they whisked him across the river to the NICU.

And that is how our baby boy came into this world.