Joel Maddux Payne was born on Tuesday, March 18, 2008 – two weeks before his due date. I was admitted to Labor & Delivery on Tuesday morning to begin an induction, and he was born Tuesday night at 11:15 p.m. He weighed 6 lbs. 10 oz. and was 19.5 inches long. Here’s our story:
Because I was induced with my first son for fear of Intra-Uterine Growth Restriction (IUGR) I was monitored closely with my second pregnancy. The doctors performed the traditional 17 week ultrasound, then another 6 weeks later, and then one every two weeks after that. Each time, everything seemed fine. (I kept begging the doctor to just leave it alone and declare everything normal!). But alas, an u/s at 36 weeks revealed that my amniotic fluid level had dropped significantly. The number is supposed to be 11 or 12 (of what unit, I don't remember! I think maybe ccs?), but my number was 6.5. I had to go have a non-stress test (NST), etc to make sure the baby was okay (he was). The doctor then ordered twice weekly u/s and NSTs (just when I thought I was going to get her to leave me alone!). My fluid level stayed at Low Normal for three appts. By this point I was 37 weeks. The doctor told me she wanted to induce by 39 weeks no matter what. I started praying that my body would go into labor on its own. On the Friday before Joel would be born, my tests revealed that my fluid level was down to 5.5. The doctor first said induce, then changed his mind b/c everything else seemed to look so good. (The back and forth was killing me by this time! I was driving 30 minutes there and back to the hospital twice a week while Ed watched Samuel). My last test was Tuesday morning - what would end up to be Joel's birth day.
My test on Tuesday morning showed that the fluid level had dipped below 5. I was 37 weeks and 6 days pregnant. The tech called the doctor and then put me on the phone. She said she really wanted me to walk down to Labor & Delivery and check myself in. I agreed. (I really wish I would have stopped at the cafeteria and eaten something at this point b/c I was STARVING by the end of the day). I called Ed and told him to call my parents in Indiana. They would make the 3.5 hour drive to Chicago to take over watching Samuel so that Ed could come to the hospital. I was alone for the first 4 hours as they hooked me up to the pitocin and got things going. I was already 2cm dialated when I checked in, so at least my body wouldn't be starting from scratch like it did with Samuel. The contractions weren't bad at all in the beginning, so I mostly just watched TV and waited on Ed to get there. He came at lunchtime and hung out with me until dinnertime. I was still fine with the contractions. After he went to get something to eat, my contractions started to pick up. We walked and walked all afternoon/evening to keep things going. Finally at about 8pm I decided I was ready for an epidural. I was still breathing through contractions fine and debated going all the way without the epidural. But I remember that I enjoyed Samuel's birth with the epidural and I knew that my body was progressing fine.
I got my epidural about 8:45/9:00. It didn't take!! It numbed me from the thighs down, so I couldn't go anywhere now!, but it didn't relieve any of the pain from the contractions. I laid there for another 30-40 minutes and breathed through the contractions while we waited on the anesthesiologist to return. He gave me a booster shot (I don't know what else to call it) and I finally felt relief. By this point it was about 10pm. Ed and I rested for an hour, and then the attending came back in to check me. (Oh, did I mention that I was at a teaching hospital, so I had various students/attendings come in and chat with me, check me throughout the day?). At 11pm I was fully dialated and ready to push. My doc arrived and I began to push. (Something awesome - I was in a practice of 8 docs, but I just saw one of them through my pregnancy. I moved when I was 7 months pregnant and was being closely monitored, so I stuck with one doc. Wouldn't you know she was the one at the hospital when I gave birth!) I pushed through about 4 or 5 contractions and Joel was born!! Another beautiful baby boy - we were SOO excited.
Looking back, I wish I could have been given more space to allow my body to go into labor by itself. I wonder if the fluid thing would have been discovered at all if it weren't for Samuel's low birth weight. But God is loving and wise and I am confident that He worked it all out for a reason. I still pray that God would allow me to go into labor myself one of these times. I am glad that I chose a medicated birth for both boys. Having said that, I may still try an unmedicated birth just to see what it's like. :) I pray every day that the Lord would bless us with another child - they are such a blessing from the Lord.
5 comments:
One thing I have learned from having 4 children is the regrets I feel with each birth. What if I was able to do or did this different. Just always remember you did great and that time giving birth is exactly what God had planned for that child at the beginning of Creation. Enjoy it no matter what birth style or medicated or not you did. You have a beautiful child to enjoy now.
It was fun to read your story again! I had to laugh at the end, though...I had those same thoughts (wish I would go into labor on my own...maybe I should do just ONE w/o meds, etc....) Be careful what you ask for!! :)
I would NEVER do it w/o meds again...I would rather have an epidural slow my progress than ever do it w/o medicine!!! And I still pushed Trevin out in just 10 minutes. It seemed like an eternity compared to my usual 2-3 pushes w/an epidural! And, I don't know if I told you, but after he came out I was still in so much pain that I didn't even want to hold him! How sad is that?? Just something to think about :)
OH, and my "labor" from the 1st contraction to delivery was only 3 1/2 hours...most people would LOVE to have it that short. Again, I would take a longer labor any day w/an epidural!
It was fun reading your story since our boys are all about the same age :) I remember afte Samuel was born and you had him up at the Seminary. I couldn't wait for Luke to be here after that :)...if you remember, I was induced with Luke (blood thinner required during pregnancy, so I had no "choice"), and the induction itself was no fun but once the actual labor started it was not slow and it was fun. David was even faster!!! A couple of hours of labor... Three pushes and he was out!!! It is so fun to read how different everyones story is and to remember that everyone's likes, dislikes, and results are so different!
This is a test comment. :)
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