Alton's Birth Story

This is long. If you want to see any of the pictures click on them to make them bigger.

Like everyone else on the board, I thought I would have my baby early. My husband was born two weeks early; and never mind that I was born two weeks late; I was convinced Alton would make an early appearance. My due date came, and went. Thursday morning at 5 AM, four days past my due date, I lost my mucous plug and there was bright red blood on the toilet paper. Because I had two previous abruption episodes, I was convinced this meant another one had occurred and I would be having my baby that day.

Travis and I went to the hospital and I was sent for a NST and fluid check. The told me that both the baby and I were fine. I had an OB check-up later that morning, so we went from the hospital to Dr. Lynch’s office. The news was distressing. I was only 90% effaced and a finger tip
dilated. Because I had convinced myself that today was baby day, I asked her to induce me, even though we took Bradley training and it went against our birth plan. She informed me that I was “not a favorable candidate for induction and that it was not likely that I would be going into labor over the weekend. She scheduled another NST and fluid check for Monday morning. Since I would be 41 weeks and one day on Monday, she also scheduled me for an induction on Monday evening. I cried and went home with Travis.

Monday morning came. We packed up the car, kenneled the dogs, and went to the hospital. We were convinced we had done all of this in vain and that we would be returning home that night.

Alton passed his non-stress test with flying colors. Travis and I discussed it and even though I was soooo tired of being pregnant, we decided to wait until Thursday to let Dr. Lynch induce me. We thought that surely by then, I would go into labor.

They sent me downstairs to get my fluid level checked. We went down and chatted back and forth about what day I thought I would go into labor… they hooked me up to the machine and the tech started making noises as she scanned Alton. They sent me back upstairs and we were fully expecting to go home. Instead, the nurse handed me a hospital bracelet and took me to a room. We told her that we had decided to postpone the induction. Rae Ann (the triage nurse)
told me that my fluid level had only been 3 mm and my doctor had instructed her to begin an induction. Travis and I were both startled, and I said, “But we haven’t even fought about that!” Because even though I’d said I wanted to wait until Thursday, I really wanted to have
my baby sooner.

We called Maggie who had to come up from San Diego and I changed into my hospital gown. The placed the Cervadil and hooked me up to the monitors. Because I was being medicated, constant monitoring was required.

Alton hated all of the ultrasound equipment, especially the contraction monitor. I hated it because it meant I couldn’t get up and walk around to try to stimulate labor naturally.

Maggie and I decided to send Travis home. They weren’t going to start Pitocin until 1 AM. Maggie figured that the chair that unfolded into a bed wasn’t long enough for Travis and my real labor wouldn’t start until morning anyway. At about 11, Alton ’s heart started to race. It remained high for a while, so they removed the Cervadil and his heart rate returned to normal. Once Alton ’s heart had normalized, Travis went home to get a good night’s sleep.

They started the Pitocin at about 1:15. I had to get up to go to the bathroom about every 30 minutes. I was unable to get the solid sleep I wanted to get before labor hit. The pitocin contractions never got very strong; in fact, I’ve had worse period cramps. Then about 5:30, Alton ’s heart would decelerate after every contraction. The nurse came in and told me that she had called my doctor, and stopped the pitocin. I thought she would tell me that my doctor was coming in to break my water. Instead, when I came back from yet another trip to the bathroom, she had a razor in her hand.

I asked her, “What is the razor for?”

“They told me to prep you for your c-section.”

“My what?”

She shaved me and left the room. A new nurse came on at 7. By this time, Maggie was awake and aware of what was going on. We asked the bright eyed nurse, “When will my c-section be?” She said likely around 9. We called Travis and then Maggie left so that she could pick up her daughter Hannah who was staying at our house with Trav’s Aunt Laurel. She had to take her over to my friend Roxanne’s house so that she could watch her during the day.

While both Maggie and Travis were gone, the nurse came back in and gave me some NASTY sour tasting stuff. She said it would neutralize the contents of my tummy. Still no Travis. She unhooked all of the monitors and then left. She came back and said that there had been a cancellation and that my c-section had been moved up to 7:15, which was in 20 minutes. Travis came in just before they wheeled me off to surgery. Dr. Lynch came in and we asked her if Maggie could come into the room with us. She said it was okay with her, but not up to her, we
had to ask the anesthesiologist.

At this point, the reality of my situation set in and I started to cry. Every pregnancy book I read had a chapter on c-sections. I ALWAYS skipped it because I was going to have natural child birth. On the tour of both hospitals we toured, I would get the chills whenever they would show us where c-sections occurred. I always told myself, “it doesn’t matter, I am having natural
childbirth.”

As they wheeled me into the overly lit operating room, I started to shake. I cried even more. The anesthesiologist introduced himself and had me sit up. He missed 4 times!!!!!!! On the fourth miss, he hit a nerve and it sent pain spasms through my entire body. He FINALLY inserted whatever it was he inserted for my spinal block. I heard him tell the nurse, it was MY fault he missed so many times because I was so overweight. I was about to get upset and say
something, but then the spinal started to work. It was the most awful sensation.

Then I started to panic. I COULD NOT BREATHE. At least, I couldn’t feel myself breathing. I told the nurse, “I can’t breathe.” She assured me that I could. So I started saying over
and over again, “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe.” The anesthesiologist’s response was to yell at me and to cram an oxygen mask over my face. This made me even more claustrophobic. I started to try to take the mask off, but my hands weren’t working. So I waved them in the air as much as I could, which wasn’t much because of the drugs. My head was turned to the side, and I saw my doctor’s purse as she walked in.

I heard him tell her, “she is very combative, I had to tie her hands down, we have to get this baby out of her.” I was still trying to move my restrained hands when they finally let Travis in.

At this point, I did not know, but Maggie had gotten back to the hospital just in time to see Travis going to the OR, and he was able to get her into the OR with us so that she could see Alton being born. The nurses had told her no, so it was lucky she saw Travis.

When he came in, I told him immediately about my breathing situation. Surely he could do something to overpower the mean anesthesiologist. But my husband just assured me that I could breathe. He informed that if I was talking, I could breathe. But in my head, my voice was getting lower and lower in volume. I was absolutely beside myself, but thankfully, my husband was able to lovingly stroke my head and relax me. I heard Dr. Lynch say that they were getting started….

When they opened me up, they were able to see the head, but he crawled up higher! Dr. Lynch’s assistant OB was Dr. Mendoza. She is a tiny, tiny 5 foot tall woman who might weigh 100 pounds when soaking wet. Travis was sitting behind the curtain stroking my head, when all of a sudden, he saw this tiny little woman flying through the air. She had to body slam the top of my body to get Alton to move down! Then she used her forearm to extrude my baby from my body. L

Thankfully, I was unaware of this at the time. It was a good thing they did the c-section. I had absolutely no fluid left at all. On A Baby Story when they do a section, you always hear them tell the mother that she will feel some pressure. I felt no pressure when they cut Alton out of me. I know it is silly, but I am sad I didn’t get to feel him leaving my body.

At this point, I was still completely out of it. Maggie took some great photos and the mean anesthesiologist somewhat redeemed himself and instructed Maggie where to stand to get the best pictures. I heard Maggie exclaim when they lifted him out, “Oh Jen, he is beautiful and he has dark hair!” Well she was half right, he is beautiful, but he ended up with Daddy’s red hair.

It was really important to us that we were the first ones to hold our baby; and we weren’t because of the section. But as soon as they had him weighed, measured and cleaned up, Travis
brought him over to me and placed him on my chest. They had untied my hands at some point and I was able to use one of them to stroke his tiny head. I just stared at him through my opium-like haze.

They took him away to go to the nursery. Travis went with him and I was wheeled off to recovery. I got the absolute worst itching from the morphine they gave me. I scratched my face and chest like I had fleas. They gave me some Benadryl to make the itching go away, but it too, put me into a catatonic state.

The whole rest of the first day is a big blur. I remember two candy stripers coming in and saying that they had something I knew I wanted;

“My baby is here?”

“No we just brought you some beautiful flowers.”

My disappointment was evident. I ended up waiting three hours before they brought him to me.

When Travis and the nurse finally brought Alton in, I was completely foggy from the Benadryl and the morphine. The nurse said he was hungry, so Maggie and the nurse put my bed into a sitting position. He latched onto my nipple immediately and began to suck. “My goodness, you’ve got yourself a little Hoover there!”

Then that night, Travis was in a bad mood and I still felt drugged out of my mind. We decided to send him to the nursery after I fed him at midnight. The nurse assured me that they would bring him to me to eat at 3. They never brought him!

I woke up at 8:30 yearning for my little boy and he was still in the nursery. I did not know any better and just assumed it was okay that he slept through the night.

The next night, the same thing happened. I woke up at 7:30 and decided to talk to the nursery and get him myself. They had told me that they would bring him in for a feeding at 5:30. I assumed that he was being cared for and just slept through. When I got there, there were four nurses in the nursery. One was taking care of a new arrival, but the others were chatting. I found Alton in a corner, screaming his head off. Not only was he crying, but his diaper was
soaked and poopy. He got diaper rash from sitting there in his dirty diaper. The nursery pediatrician was in there so I asked her if he had diaper rash. She looked at him and said he did. I found diapering supplies and changed him right then. While I was changing him, I found a note in his bassinette stating he should be brought back at 5:30 for a feeding.

I was crushed. I slowly wheeled him in his bassinette back to our room and fed him. I called my nurse into the room, but she did not know why he hadn’t been brought back for a feeding at
three and the nurse who had been in charge of us was off at 7.

He went on to continue to feed and sleep well. We came home from the hospital on Saturday with the crew for Bringing Home Baby. But that is an overly long story for another day.

There are good points to this story. My fluid level was non-existent when they got him out, so it is a good thing it happened when it did. He was already not responding well to the induction, so he never would have handled real labor. Both my husband and my best friend were able to be there to see Alton ’s birth.

Alton is in perfect health and eats and sleeps well. We all survived even when I was sure I wasn’t going to. If you made it all the way to the end of this, thank you for reading. J