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Birth Stories
Slater MacIntyre
Hi everyone!! Here’s little Slater MacIntyre’s story….from the perspective of his mommy and daddy. Enjoy!
The week before my due date, I visited my ob/gyn 3 times. Each time I showed up, I knew I was going into labor. Each time I showed up, they shrugged and sent me home. Nobody tells a woman who’s 39 weeks pregnant “no”, especially not some skinny little 102 pound co-ed who partied and stayed up late and loves her skinny jeans. But I digress. I had been walking around 80% effaced and at 4 cm for about a week, and everyone I told got this look in their eyes as if they were going to have to catch the baby as it fell out. I had also really packed on the pounds. I gained quite a bit of weight with my first son, Xander, and Slater was intent on surpassing his big brother. At 5’3” I was almost 200 lbs! YIKES!! My ob/gyn was pretty confident that quite a bit of the weight was water retention (she was right), but boy was I uncomfortable, especially when Ms. Skinny Jeans asked, “where are your ankles?”
After I backed over her with the car, I felt much better.
On Friday, September 28th (the day before Slater’s official due date), I went to bed around 10pm. My 3 year old normally sleeps through the night, but he woke up about 11:20 with a bad dream. Daddy went to comfort him, and I went downstairs to sleep on the couch and eat a bowl of Cookie Crisp, which should be renamed “Pregnancy Crack” or “This is a Good Substitute for the Sex You Gave Up.” I sort of slept, sort of contracted, sort of spilled Cookie Crisp down my shirt. Again, I was 40 weeks, so stop judging. You could probably shave your legs and fit into your normal shoes, while I was hairy and in bad footwear. Anyway, after suffering through contractions for just over an hour. I took a bathroom break and noticed a slight tinge of pink when I wiped. I learned later that this pink is an indication of “cervical change.” It’s also known as “get the hell to the hospital unless you want your husband to deliver you and your three year old to help you do choo-choo breathing. So, I called the doc and explained what was happening. Because we live in Hanover, and were delivering at St. Mary’s she encouraged us to come on in. My husband (Tom) and I called in the reinforcements (Uncle Pat and PawPaw) to stay with the 3-year old. I also called my dear friend, Tina, who is a Labor & Delivery nurse at Johnston Willis. She was able to get off of her shift early and join us at the hospital. Tina was there for the birth of our first child, and I so wanted her there for Slater. I understand why people get doulas…having that calming, strong feminine force (like Tina or a doula) makes such a difference!!
By about 1:30 am we were on the road. The contractions continued in frequency and intensity. (Thanks Leslie…I remembered you talking about the 3 aspects of real labor.) And boy did they hurt. I was having back labor again…just like I did with my first boy. Those of you who were in class with me know that I refer to it as “ass labor,” because that’s where I felt the pain. It was as if I had to make a big movement, and not of the Martha Graham beautiful to watch variety. Ugh. While we were in the car, the contractions began coming 5 minutes (and less) apart. According to my nurses, Jessica and Heather, it’s not uncommon for contractions to come more frequently while mothers are in the car. Tom drove the speed limit and I gently encouraged him (aka yelled) to drive faster. Once we were at the hospital, my contractions spread out again.
While I have much respect for mothers who wish to deliver naturally, I know I’m not that kind of girl. I let Heather know that I was already pretty far along, and that she could feel free to line up an epidural for me. By about 2:45am I was settled in my room, hooked up to my iv, and was on my way to an epidural. Whew. Tina walked in just after I had received it, and I was all smiles. There is a picture of me from 15 minutes before where I look like I was going to take the %$#@&^%$ camera and shove it where my husband could take pictures of his own colon. But after the meds, I was just fine.
My nurses were fantastic and checked me on a regular basis. I was progressing pretty quickly. At one point, Jessica checked my cervix and said I had just a small lip remaining on the right side. My first thought was, “My right or yours?” How ridiculous. It’s not like it mattered or I could control it. I shared my goofy thought with the room and we all got a good chuckle. After the picture episode, my husband may have been laughing out of fear, I’m not sure.
I snuggled in to talk to Tom and Tina while labor progressed. Tina noticed an odd look on my face. The nurses had said to buzz them if I felt constant pressure. This wasn’t constant pressure. It was more like a tickle. Tina asked me to describe it. The best I could do was tell her that it felt like my lips were moving (nope, not the lips near my mouth). She suggested I call the nurse. I buzzed, and between the time I called her and she arrived in my room (30 seconds later), my water broke. That was pretty wild! A doctor broke my water with my first son. And I have to admit, it was convenient to have someone else clean things up. God bless L&D nurses!!
At about 4am I felt constant pressure. The nurses checked me. I was fully effaced and 10cm and I think I was at 0 station. Time to get the doc. It took quite a few pages to get her there. Ok, maybe only 2 or 3 (plus a trip down the hall to find her), but it felt like a long darn wait. My personal ob/gyn, Dr. Kaveski, wasn’t on call, so Dr. Wisgirda was there to play catcher. She came in, they popped me up in the stirrups and said whenever I was ready to push, I could. It was funny. I’m completely on display and the 2 nurses, the doc, Tom and Tina were all staring at the place where Slater would make his exit. Modesty wasn’t an issue. It was a pretty surreal time….not super emotional like with my first child. But, really really cool. Like, “All right. Here we go.”
I had 2 contractions, and pushed twice during each of them. Slater came out…he started out “sunny side up,” which explains the back/ass labor. But, Tina mentioned that he rolled over pretty quickly. (Tina also thought that Slater’s Sunny Side Up position was enough to slow down labor long enough to get us to the hospital and get settled.) It was a really fast delivery. One of the nurses actually caught Slater’s head because the doc was still putting on her gloves. I remember he was big and purple and hairy and wiggly. While the nurses took Slater over to the warmer, Dr. W. started to sew up my 2nd degree tear. (Again, I love the epidural.) I looked up, and noticed that Tina’s mouth and eyes were wide open. It takes a lot to surprise my friend, Tina. Seems they weighed Slater and he was just over 9lbs. Holy moly!! No wonder I felt so much pressure. One nurse said “That’s a big baby,” and another said “he looks like one of those tv babies.”
They brought him back to me and he was able to nurse on one side for about 20 minutes. Way to go little guy!!
The staff that I had at St. Mary’s over the weekend was phenomenal, and they took such good care of me and Slater. I was actually moved to the anti-partum section because post-partum was full. (That darn full moon.) I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get one of the fancy renovated rooms in the post-partum section, but the nurses were so good to me, that it was just fine. My husband hopes we get a discount.
I was scheduled to leave on Monday, but when my pediatrician came by to check on Slater, he threw up some GREEN mucus. Gotta give that boy credit, he’s got good timing. (He was born on his due date, AND he was able to show his doctor that he might have a problem.) She was concerned that it was green, so she ordered an upper GI. How scary. I really lost my mojo on Monday. I had new nurses. There was limited communication. And I was scared that my new little guy might have a serious health issue. I was like a caged animal waiting around in my room. After some phone calls to my pediatrician and working hard to build a relationship with the new non-weekend nursing staff, I FINALLY got the green light to leave around 4pm after I threatened several nurses, a surgeon, my pediatrician, and the hospital administrator. I had to ride my student nurse like a bronco and twist a few arms, but in the end, we got out okay. That Monday was a tough day. It was really a contrast to the care and excellent communication that I had received on Saturday and Sunday. Slater is fine, though we’re watching him in case reflux was the cause for the crazy mucus. I’ve also heard that fast deliveries (like mine), don’t squeeze as much amniotic fluid out of the baby, so that certainly could have contributed to the spit-up.
Slater is now almost 2 weeks old and is almost 9lbs again. I’ve dropped 30 lbs. (Most of it baby and water.) I’m still working on the nursing thing, but it’s going better. I had a big kid, and he gets hungry. We’re supplementing him with formula, but there doesn’t really seem to be any confusion. He’s certainly a “boob man.”
I’m looking forward to getting to a few post-natal yoga classes. I can’t say enough good things about the pre-natal program that Leslie and Mary Jo put together. You ladies have helped keep me sane and healthy through 2 pregnancies!! Thank you so much for doing what you do!! I’ve attached a couple of Slater pics: one from his first day, and the other from his first bath at home.
Namaste!!
Susan & Tom E.