Wednesday, September 11, 2013

River's Birth Story Part 3


The midwife rushes in and I begin to push as she get everything ready. More people began to fill the room. I remember the anesthesiologist popping his head in. I probably was thinking at that point “you are worthless.” Also I remember the baby warmer being set into place. Pushing was painful and at times I felt scared. I knew the pain wasn’t going away so I gave it all I got. My mom was saying I was doing amazing. I think she would have said that no matter what. The midwife said I was crowning and asked if I wanted to feel his head. I replied no- HA! Just a few pushes later, the baby’s head was on its way out to which I heard STOP from everyone. I tried my best to stop because I didn’t know why they were saying that. Seconds later the midwife sternly says PUSH. River was then laid on my chest and I was stunned. I couldn’t believe he was real and mine.
A second later he was grabbed from me. Dave went over to the baby warmer while my mom stayed by me. Little did I know that the cord was wrapped around his neck. The nurses were patting his back and using a sucker object down his throat. At the same time the NICU team swarmed into the room.  My mom explained all this to me while I lay watching so I wasn’t scared. Eventually River let out a big cry. Those few minutes were the longest of Dave’s life. Since the nurses were so focused on getting River breathing, no one was talking to Dave. He didn’t know in those minutes if his son was going to live. River was put on oxygen temporarily and had an iv on his arm. Soon they laid him back on my chest. I was still in awe that he was my son.
            The next hour included family coming in, lots of shaking, blood pressure checks every ten minutes and baby gazing. It was nice that the doctor ordered him not to be held by anybody but Dave and I. This was so his breathing would stabilize.  I had a second degree tear and that was proof to me that the epidural did not work. I felt everything post birth. I begged the nurse to take out the IV and really that was the most reliving part of post delivery besides being able to take a bath. Lots of family came to see River. We barely got any sleep those days because of all the excitement. I was so grateful to the midwife for basically saving my son. Initially, I was somewhat annoyed that the midwife on duty was the one lady I had the least appointments with. I kind of judged her as being young therefore the least proficient at delivery babies. So in the end, I was very humbled that she saved River and I also learned that she was ten years older than what I suspected. Looking back, the only thing I would have changed is getting nausea medicine instead of the epidural. I didn’t know at the time that nausea medicine existed and the epidural didn’t even work for me. All in all I’m grateful for a healthy baby, an incredible husband, a loving family, and a wonderful staff at Methodist.  PRAISE GOD!!

No comments:

Post a Comment