A Perfect 10: Jace’s Birth Story, Part I

I decided to split this post into two parts.  Check back this afternoon for the exciting conclusion!  Oh, and typical guy warning: if words like “cervix” and “dilation” offend you, we’ll see you tomorrow for Josh’s album review where no reproductive terms will be mentioned.  Thank you.

The morning of Monday, August 10th, 2009, started out pretty rough.  The week before Jude and Josh came down with a stomach bug that had them both yacking: Jude was down for a good two days, Josh was plagued for one.  I was nervous at the time that Jett and I would also get sick.  Taking care of one sicko was tiring enough for me to call in for backup.  It was sad to me to have to ask for help before the baby arrived.  It was my due date – yet the baby was not at the forefront of my mind.  Sleep was.

Back to the morning of the 10th.  I woke up and didn’t want to get out of bed.  I felt so sick to my stomach.  I just knew I had come down with whatever the boys had days earlier.  Luckily, it was Josh’s scheduled Monday off – he took care of the kids and I tried unsuccessfully not to throw up.  In case you were wondering, vomiting 4 days after one’s due date is worse than vomiting at any other time.

Morning turned to afternoon and it was clear that I wasn’t recovering; in fact, I was still unable to keep anything down.  My mom and dad again came to the rescue and made arrangements with Josh to take the kids for me so I could be sick in peace and quiet the next day.  When Josh got back from dropping the kids off with Dad, Josh said that they were going to keep the kids until I gave birth.  I almost started researching weekend vacation packages because I was sure it was going to be quite some time before my little boy would arrive.

As the day progressed, I started feeling contractions – not painful contractions, just the same type of contractions I had been experiencing for weeks on end.  Except these were more frequent.  I chalked it up to being dehydrated.  Since being unable to keep liquids down, I knew I wasn’t taking in enough water to make my body & baby happy.  The contractions persisted much of the afternoon.  They weren’t painful nor progressing – just annoying.

It was about 9 pm or so when I realized that I hadn’t felt baby move for awhile.  At my last appointment, the midwife made a point to tell me if I couldn’t get the baby to respond to call their office.  She said that by drinking or eating or even poking him from outside my tummy, I should be able to get baby to move around.  Since I was still very nauseous, I didn’t try the eating or drinking thing, but I did try to poke at him to get him to move.  I took a warm bath and waited.  Nothing.  I called the office around 10 pm and told the midwife on duty what was happening.  She had me lie down on my left side, being very still and quiet with my hand on my belly.  If I couldn’t feel any movement for one hour, I was supposed to call back.

The test began.  I parked my big self on the couch in the front room, Josh kept track of the time, and we both waited.  Nothing for 15 minutes, then 20, then 30, then 45.  Finally at the 50 minute mark I felt one very slight movement.  I waited out the rest of the hour and called back.  My midwife, Sea, said she wanted me to go to the hospital to make sure everything was ok with baby.  We gathered our stuff and headed to the hospital.

When we got to the hospital it was midnight and all my nausea had passed and I started feeling baby – really, it was the best I felt all day.  I was asked to rate my pain, to which I replied, “Zero.”  I almost got up then and there and sent myself home.  The non-stress test showed steady contractions and baby’s heart rate at normal levels.  The nurse checked my cervix and I was dilated to a 5.  That was quite a surprise to me!

I was admitted right away, and we settled into our room.  The nurse started an IV port in my hand, couldn’t get a vein, so she tried my other hand – no luck there, and finally found a good spot on the inside of my right wrist.  This, my friends, was far worse than 90% of my contractions.  That needle stuff really doesn’t bother me under normal circumstances, but for reals – I started feeling a little woozy after the 3rd attempt.  Keep in mind, it’d been 24 hours since I’d last eaten and I’d been sick all day.  Are you still with me, Grandma Bonnie?  Good.  There won’t be any more needle talk going forward.  I promise.  Because of dehydration, I was started on one bag of IV fluids right away.

I was checked again and I was at 6 cms dilation.  Nice!  I honestly wasn’t feeling pain.  The contractions were there, yes, but they were NOT painful and had been just like I’d experienced so many times leading up to that day.  In fact, I’m glad in a way that I noticed the reduced baby movement and went in for that reason, because there is no way I would have gone to the hospital for those contractions.

Although I was dilating nicely, the baby wasn’t dropping.  Sea (remember, that’s my midwife’s name) suggested we walk around for awhile and then she’d check me again an hour later.  We walked around until I started feeling a little weak in the legs.  I knew I’d need some strength and energy for later, so we parked awhile in our room and awaited the next check.  I was still at a 6, but the baby dropped slightly, enough for Sea to be comfortable with breaking my water.

Continue reading… Part II