Hello Friends of So Wonderful, So Marvelous. Thanks for coming by to read today even if Michelle is a "tad busy". My name is Lisa, I blog as Mommy Lisa at Mommy's Nest. Today I am going to tell you the story of my Boo Boo La La - reference reading if you want to know WHY I call her that - Okay, so, Once Upon a Time....
I endured fertility treatments for three years. But this is not the story about that. There are many stories by people who told their tale along the way on blogs - and better writers to tell those stories. Me? I pick up my story for you August 5, 2005 at my doctor's office. It is the day we got a great ultrasound and found out that "Squirmin' Herman" was a girl.
She finally uncrossed her cute little legs so they could tell this would be our sweet daughter to add to my daughter and son-by marriage. Funny enough I was sure I would have a boy - and the kids WANTED, were DESPERATE, that their new sibling be a girl...
Time progressed and I felt TERRIFIC, except for that little car accident I was in at 35 weeks it was pretty uneventful. Passing all tests with flying colors, not gaining too much weight, sleeping okay - and the bonus of the car accident? I got to have EIGHT pregnancy massages paid for by my car insurance! Heaven. And my massage therapist is also a doula, so I got some great last minute advice and an offer to have a session of learning baby massage. *sigh* So awesome. Her best tip? Drink Emergen-C while you are in labor. Once every four hours a glass. She said it helps with your energy level and my OB/Gyn was totally cool with it too.
My doctor decided to schedule an induction for January 9, my sweet Boo Boo La La's due date. Mommy takes HBP medication so they didn't want Boo Boo in there any longer than necessary. We dropped the kids off at their mom's, ate some good Chinese food, and dropped the car off to get repaired. One last picture and we called the hospital to make sure they were ready for us! They were. We headed over to check in.
For those of you who have never been induced I need to explain that I was not dilated much when I checked into the hospital. They knew/expected that and the doctor had ordered medication to soften my cervix. I was told that very rarely this medication puts you into labor, I would have it twice that night, and in the morning they would start Pitocin.
We were watching television, still disagreeing over Boo Boo's middle name, and generally just trying to relax. We fell asleep. But I woke about 2 am feeling AWFUL. I went to the bathroom because I felt like throwing up, realized I was going to faint from the feeling I was having and PULLED THAT CORD to call the nurse. Yeah, they came RUNNING! It was crazy.
They hooked me up with some oxygen because the baby's heart rate got low from the commotion. I kept asking, "Am I in labor?" and the response they kept giving me was, "No, you are not having contractions." About 6:30 am I said, "If this is not labor you better order me some drugs because I am NOT comfortable." They said they would, but it was shift change so it would probably be a little bit before someone could get to me...
I waited.
I waited some more.
My dear nurse Shirley came in finally to say they had someone to hook up the epidural and the Pitocin. She just wanted to check how dilated I was first.
Now I need to tell you about Shirley. She was as no-nonsense as they come. That is her over there on the left. She was totally calm when she came to pull me off the bathroom floor and give me oxygen. She moved quickly and with purpose. But what happened when she checked my cervix probably caused a momentary panic in dear old Shirley. You see my water broke and immediately Boo Boo's head shot down the birth canal.
Her head popped up and Shirley said, "DON'T PUSH!" What do you mean "don't push" her head is right there isn't it? "Don't push." and she rushed out to the hall. At the desk the other nurse was on the phone with my doctor telling him they were getting me set with Pitocin and everything was going fine when Shirley rushed out and said that Boo Boo was on her way. She apparently likes to make her own entrance - Pitocin be damned - we wanted to be the RARE case!
They grabbed a random doctor in the hall and he came in and started talking. I sat up and said, "Wait, what was your name again?" "Doctor Block" he replied. I said, "Okay cool, let's go." and I was having a baby without drugs. Which was actually what I wanted.
T-bone asked me if I wanted him to get the camera, I probably scowled at him.
My regular doctor hit land-speed records racing from Edina to Minneapolis and got there in time to sew me up. The baby was already weighed, cleaned, checked, foot-printed and being held by Daddy. He looked at my when he got there and said, "You did good kid." The story of my birth was the gossip of my doctor's practice for a good couple of months. I know because when I went for my check-up six weeks later the nurse I saw said, "Oh YOU'RE the one." Shirley had even said that whatever I did to "...pop that kid out ought to be bottled and sold."
There are people who will tell you it takes FOREVER after your water breaks for the baby to be born...for me it was about twenty minutes from the time Shirley checked me to when we welcomed Boo Boo La La.
Here is to all birth stories everywhere...
p.s. I won on the middle name because I gave birth without drugs. Her middle name? Claire, after my Dad's middle name.
p.p.s. My Dad now LOVES his middle name.
Lisa is one of those people that if we lived closer to each other, I could see myself being great friends with. She is so sweet, funny, and she blogs with awesomeness daily at Mommy’s Nest. Go see her!
I love a good birth story! Even more, I love a mom that can make even the calmest nurses suffer a moment of panic - lol
ReplyDeleteThanks! I missed that it posted, but glad that you love my giving a panic attack!
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