Becoming a father part VIII: The main event
The night of 12/10 started off uneventfully. We had gone to see the doctor the day before and La Leche League that night. My wife had written me from work to ask if her nose was spreading - a supposed sign of labor. That night we had dinner and settled down to watch some movies. My wife was a little uncomfortable, but nothing was unusual. She spent some time draped over our exercise ball and then when she got tired she took a nap in the divan. Shortly after midnight, the movie ended and it was time to go up to bed. I walked over to my wife and shook her arm and said loudly, "Wake up! We're having a baby." She opened her eyes and looked at me. "Time for bed. Come on upstairs." She blearily got to her feet and trudged up the stairs. She went to the bathroom and then went to lie down. And had to go to the bathroom again. By the time she got there, she was pretty sure that her water had broken because it HURT to sit down. We tried to see if walking would stop the contractions. Nope, this was the main event.
We went downstairs. I went to find a watch to time the contractions. She was walking around very gingerly. When a contraction hit, I said, "Okay, let me know when the next one starts." A minute or so later she took a breath and said, "Now." At this point I figured out that we were a good deal farther along than we had anticipated being at this stage in the game. If you think of the birth process as a hill with a long gradual slope that gets sharper towards the end and then levels off a bit, we were on the sharp part before the levelling. I called the doula and told her to come over to the house. A couple of minutes later I called the doctor and explained that the contractions were coming one on top of the next. He said, "It looks like you're having this baby tonight. Get cleaned up and head to the hospital." I called the doula back and told her that we were changing plans and heading to the hospital.
With the destination now set on the hospital, I flew around the house picking up everything we wanted to take with us. Camera. Video camera. Car seat. Clothes for us. Clothes for baby. Snacks. Belt for pants. [It turns out that I forgot our birth plan. Oops] I got everything to the car and then went back for my wife. We walked gingerly to the car. I helped her into the front seat. Then I ran around the car to the driver's seat. When I got in she was opening the door because it hurt too much to sit like that. Into the back seat she went on her knees draping herself over the back seat. And off we went to the hospital.
The drive there was odd. I was very careful. Idrove the speed limit the whole way and stayed in the far right hand lane instead of speeding to the left and passing what little traffic there was like a maniac. The hospital has two entrances and I missed the first one and got a little confused before finding the right building and parking. My wife noticed when we drove through the main entrance, but we were in the right place quick enough that I'm still here. After we parked we got out and took the elevator up to the entrance level. A security guard there looked up and smiled at us. "Two checking in. Three checking out, " I said. He pointed us to the elevator to go up to Labor and Delivery.
It was about 1:00 when we got to Labor and Delivery. They gave us the forms to start filling out. I asked if there was somewhere where we could go because my wife had to go to the bathroom. That got the nurses hopping and we were ushered into a room immediately. My wife turned to me and said, "If this is a 4, then we might need drugs." I nodded. We started changing her into the hospital gown. While I was helping my wife change into the gown I noticed that she had bled some into a pad (I know - thanks for sharing) meaning that we were probably pretty far along. A few minutes later Barb the doula showed up and helped us finish dressing my wife. When we finally got her examined, the nurse popped up and said, "Honey, you're at a 10. Let me call the doctor because you're ready to go."
The next hour or so is a blur. At some point the doctor arrived and sat quietly in the corner. My wife stood up for most of that time because that was the most comfortable position for her. I had my arms around her and when a contraction hit she would sag with it until it forced her to curl up into a C. When she started to get the urge to push, we moved her to the bed and got out the squat bar. Barb supported her on one side and I supported her on the other. The pushing stage lasted about a half-hour and ended with the birth of our baby. When the doctor first held him up I thought he was a girl, but I was quickly corrected.
We spent some time in the delivery room trying to get him to nurse and just being with him. As much as possible we kept him with us. Anything that could be done while he was on her tummy was done there. Anything that couldn't was delayed until later. It was our time - two becoming three.
We went downstairs. I went to find a watch to time the contractions. She was walking around very gingerly. When a contraction hit, I said, "Okay, let me know when the next one starts." A minute or so later she took a breath and said, "Now." At this point I figured out that we were a good deal farther along than we had anticipated being at this stage in the game. If you think of the birth process as a hill with a long gradual slope that gets sharper towards the end and then levels off a bit, we were on the sharp part before the levelling. I called the doula and told her to come over to the house. A couple of minutes later I called the doctor and explained that the contractions were coming one on top of the next. He said, "It looks like you're having this baby tonight. Get cleaned up and head to the hospital." I called the doula back and told her that we were changing plans and heading to the hospital.
With the destination now set on the hospital, I flew around the house picking up everything we wanted to take with us. Camera. Video camera. Car seat. Clothes for us. Clothes for baby. Snacks. Belt for pants. [It turns out that I forgot our birth plan. Oops] I got everything to the car and then went back for my wife. We walked gingerly to the car. I helped her into the front seat. Then I ran around the car to the driver's seat. When I got in she was opening the door because it hurt too much to sit like that. Into the back seat she went on her knees draping herself over the back seat. And off we went to the hospital.
The drive there was odd. I was very careful. Idrove the speed limit the whole way and stayed in the far right hand lane instead of speeding to the left and passing what little traffic there was like a maniac. The hospital has two entrances and I missed the first one and got a little confused before finding the right building and parking. My wife noticed when we drove through the main entrance, but we were in the right place quick enough that I'm still here. After we parked we got out and took the elevator up to the entrance level. A security guard there looked up and smiled at us. "Two checking in. Three checking out, " I said. He pointed us to the elevator to go up to Labor and Delivery.
It was about 1:00 when we got to Labor and Delivery. They gave us the forms to start filling out. I asked if there was somewhere where we could go because my wife had to go to the bathroom. That got the nurses hopping and we were ushered into a room immediately. My wife turned to me and said, "If this is a 4, then we might need drugs." I nodded. We started changing her into the hospital gown. While I was helping my wife change into the gown I noticed that she had bled some into a pad (I know - thanks for sharing) meaning that we were probably pretty far along. A few minutes later Barb the doula showed up and helped us finish dressing my wife. When we finally got her examined, the nurse popped up and said, "Honey, you're at a 10. Let me call the doctor because you're ready to go."
The next hour or so is a blur. At some point the doctor arrived and sat quietly in the corner. My wife stood up for most of that time because that was the most comfortable position for her. I had my arms around her and when a contraction hit she would sag with it until it forced her to curl up into a C. When she started to get the urge to push, we moved her to the bed and got out the squat bar. Barb supported her on one side and I supported her on the other. The pushing stage lasted about a half-hour and ended with the birth of our baby. When the doctor first held him up I thought he was a girl, but I was quickly corrected.
We spent some time in the delivery room trying to get him to nurse and just being with him. As much as possible we kept him with us. Anything that could be done while he was on her tummy was done there. Anything that couldn't was delayed until later. It was our time - two becoming three.
Labels: Baby, Fatherhood
posted by mypetrock at 9:10 AM
3 Comments:
You're a good writer!
Aww shucks...
I still think it needs some work, but I'm happy with the state it is currently in.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
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