We were scheduled to be induced that morning so I called Labor and Delivery at 6am and we were told to arrive at 7 or so. Woohoo they were not full so we were good to go. I made a quick phone call to our neighbors (the Js who just so happen to have had a baby 2 months prior so mommy E was home on maternity leave) to let them know the induction was a go. They were kind enough to watch/ take care of J and E while we were at the hospital. We got all our things ready, gave the kids kisses, and were off.
Once we arrived at the hospital we checked in and I got all hooked up. They started Pitocin and we were expecting things to progress quickly. We were wrong! After about 3 hours of Pitocin they finally called the doctor in because N ‘s head was so high they could not break my water (for fear that the cord would slip down before her head and cut off the life supply to her). My doctor finally broke my water around 11 and once again we expected things to pick up. I was contracting and labor felt like it was progressing but her head was not low enough to work on dilating the cervix. Eventually I dilated to 9.5 cm and we were ready to go. This is where her story gets good.
I pushed a few times (15 minutes or so) and her head was almost out and then panic set in. My doctor (who has 30+ years of medical experience was almost *sleeping* [old hat for him]) jumped off his chair, the nurse who was assisting me jumped on top of me and ripped the emergency cord out of the wall. My delivery room was FLOODED with medical personnel. Once N was born she was moved to the other side of the room and surrounded by nurses. My doctor was trying to get me to stop bleeding (sorry if that is TMI) while keeping a close eye on N. I vaguely recall him asking if the baby was moving. I was so out of it I just kept asking if the baby was a boy or girl? (We did not find out ahead of time!) And then I told T to go and take pictures! (Typical mommy I guess) He said he was going to stay out of the way. I got a couple shots in my leg and finally was able to sit up. And eventually see my baby GIRL from a distance.
I did not get to hold her or even get a good look at her before they rushed her off to the NICU. That was a scary moment for me because I had no idea what was going on! I was finally able to see her at about 9:30 or 10 that night when I hobbled down to the NICU so I could at least touch her on the day she was born.
So what went on during my state of absentmindedness? Over the course of time I learned what actually happened… N had SEVERE shoulder dystocia (Her shoulders were too big to come out). Our doctor had to make a split second decision: break her clavicle and have her born right now or push her back in and perform an emergency C-section within minutes. I guess that is what happens when the baby weighs 9lbs. 11ozs.! N was in the NICU for about 24 hours and then we came home the next day. After doing a bunch of research, after the fact and now that T is in medical school, we have learned more details that I am glad we did not know at the time. This could have been very dangerous and possibly deadly for N and/or myself. I guess that is one of the many reasons I went back to my OB doctor. He is fantastic!
So that is the condensed version of how ‘little’ N came into this world.
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