Link's Birth Story Part II: The Worst and the Best

We arrived to the maternity floor and checked in.  I was immediately taken to triage where  it was to be determined if I could be admitted yet. I was given a thin gown and hooked up to a monitor to see my contractions.  The nurse was very nice, got me some water, and then said she would be leaving since it was 7 and change of shift.  The next nurse was very young and not very nice.  She just seemed sort of put out to be there bothering with me.  After swabbing she said that it could not be confirmed that it was amniotic fluid, she tried to convince me it was either pee or left over lubricant gel from my appointment that morning. I'm pretty sure I can tell the difference between gel and flowing liquid that (TMI) came from my vagina, not my urethra where I had just FINISHED peeing.  I kind of got into a little argument with her.  Hey, I'm nine months pregnant and IN LABOR.  Don't tell me I peed on myself and didn't know it.  She checked me and I was 4 cm dilated.  This wasn't enough to admit me however, apparently. She said she would have to do a cervical swab.  Seriously? Out came the huge speculum.  I asked her if she really had to do that.  She said yes.  I still don't really believe that.  It hurt.  I was really unhappy and uncomfortable at this point.  But I was allowed to be admitted.  Hallelujah.

We were taken to the delivery room which was huge and right outside of the nurses' station.  At this point it was 7:30 and not only were my contractions getting steadily worse, but we were absolutely starving.  We ordered some food but they said the kitchen closed at 7 so it may be a while.  I was doing a lot of leaning over and heavy breathing.  I had told the nurses my goal was for a natural delivery - no pain meds or epidural.  This was a personal decision that wasn't about ego, I just didn't want to worry about side effects to me or the baby and I felt that I could do it, I was made to do it.  I could actually hear the nurses outside figuring out who was going to "take this one, she wants a natural birth." It seemed none of them really wanted to help with a natural birth, one of them said she thought every woman should have an epidural (I wouldn't want to deal with screaming women at work everyday either, I get it, but hey, have a little respect).  Overall, at this point I felt pretty unsupported by the hospital staff.

But, luckily, I felt extremely supported by my wonderful husband, who never left or pulled away even when I was screaming in his ear.  We went and walked the halls.  While out there we were stopped by a very pretty woman in scrubs.  She asked if my name was Staci, and I said yes, of course.  She introduced herself as the doctor on call who would be delivering me.  I was a little sad my doctor wouldn't be there, but she was lovely and I actually liked the idea of having a woman doctor.

I was getting uncomfortable enough I didn't want to be in the hall, so we went to the room.  To be honest, we were most disappointed that the food wasn't there yet.  It was around 8:30 when I decided to try laboring in the tub.  The tub felt nice but at this point the pain was excruciating, and I would have been able to handle it better if there had been some breaks in between but I swear they were almost right on top of each other.  Seriously I maybe had 5-15 second breaks between.

The nurse came in and checked me around 9:30 and I was 6.5 cm dilated.  I felt a bit defeated by this.  In reality that pace was pretty good, but the contractions were only getting worse, I wasn't sure if I could do this for several more hours.  Meanwhile our food came, but I was not able to eat at that moment.  I told Chris he could go eat but he stayed next to me in the tub.  At around 10:30 the nurse said I should get out of the tub because it can slow down progress and I might move along faster out of it.  This was easier said than done.  I think I had like five contractions just trying to get out of the tub and another three while Chris tried to dry me off.  I made it to the toilet and we probably sat there for a good 45 minutes because I just could not get up.  I finally made it to the bed so she could check me and the baby.  It was 11:30 and she said I was a 9!  I was so relieved.  By midnight I was a ten and ready to push. (Looks like he wouldn't be born on our anniversary after all.)

While I was getting into a good position, the doctor was getting ready and the nurses ready it was actually around 12:15 when I started pushing.  It felt good to push through the contractions, but it was hard to get him out and very painful.  I remember just saying "it hurts!" as I stretched and (TMI) tore, it felt like intense burning.  The nurse was completely in my face yelling at me to push.  I seriously wanted to punch her or tell her to shut the f**k up, and I might have if I had been able.

Finally I could feel the head coming out, and then everything else just seemed to fall out and I felt the first instance of relief I had had for several hours.  They placed this tiny little warm body on my chest and I couldn't even believe he was here.  He was absolutely beautiful with a whisp of hair and dark steel gray eyes.

Link William Kennedy was born on Tuesday, July 23 2013 at 1:23 in the morning, weighing in at a healthy 7 pounds 4 ounces and 20.5 inches long.  Perfect.

 This was RIGHT after he was born, hence I look like hell.