Cattastrophey: Liam's Birth Story

Posted Tuesday, September 02, 2008 1:42 PM

"When they placed him on my chest, I was so happy I thought I was going to burst..."

Planning baby's arrival 

Our son was due July 2, 2008, but that day came and went with no contractions or baby. We were hoping he'd come July 7, because that is not only my birthday, but DH's as well, and we thought it would be cool to have a triple whammy! But it wasn't until Wednesday, July 10 that Liam finally made his appearance. 

At my 40 week appointment, my O.B. scheduled me to be induced at 41 weeks and 1 day, because DH and I were going to be going on a 12 hour car trip to Pennsylvania for our best friends' wedding that we were both in, and I was determined (come Hell or high water) that I would be there for them!

The hospital

So on July 9 at 4 p.m., my mom drove me to the hospital to check in for the night and DH met us there from work. All was going fine until my nurse came in. We'll call her Carol. She was a nightmare! She didn't believe I was married and when I finally convinced her of that, she asked if our son was an "Oops baby"! I was livid and told her no, we had planned to have him! She went on to ask if I had any STD's and when I said no, she repeated it and asked if I was sure. She also gave us grief when we said we didn't want the Hepatitis B vaccine. When it came time to put my I.V. in, my h ands and arms were so swollen that she kept making fun of t hem. Now, I'm petrified of needles and all three of us told her that repeatedly, but all she did was tell us horror stories about needles and things. I was crying and so scared! She was able to get the needle in the first time, so thankfully I didn't have to be poked all over. We were grateful when her shift ended!

Around seven, my O.B. came in and put the Cervidil in because so far I'd been 2 cm for three weeks and 50% effaced. My mom left around 8 and my DH and I spent a very uncomfortable night in the hospital. They had me hooked up to the monitors so I couldn't get out of bed to go to the bathroom. The one time I called the nurse in to go to the bathroom, she said she'd be right back and then never came. DH got ticked and was there for me the rest of the night when I had to go.

Around 5:30, they came and got me up and let me take a shower, which felt great because I'd been having mild contractions all night. They were supposed to start Pitocin at six, but didn't until 7:30 and my O.B. was really mad when she got there and found that out. At seven, that horrible nurse was back to work. She came into my room, hugged me, and told me how she had called on her way to work to make sure she got me that day! DH and I were horrified! My parents got there around 8:30 and actually pulled my O.B. aside and told her the issues we were having with the nurse. My doctor said they had had issues with her before and sent her home! Then we got the most wonderful nurse in the world -- Della. I don't know what we would've done without her! Around nine, my O.B. checked me and I was four centimeters dilated, so she broke my water. The contractions started coming really hard so they started me on Nubain, which made me feel a little better. But it also made my eyelids feel like lead, even though I wasn't sleepy.

The waiting game

At 10, I was hurting so bad that I finally got an epidural. I felt so much better after that! I rested but couldn't sleep at all. At 11:15, I was checked and was six centimeters and was told it'd be supper time before DS made his entrance. By 11:30 DH and my dad were getting restless and decided to go down the road to Target for a bit. At 12 I told Della I was hurting and needed to push, so she checked me and I was fully dilated! She said DS was still way up in there, though, so they were going to wait to have me push and let the contractions bring him down further. Plus, we had to wait for my O.B. to get there.

So  I called DH (I was a bit loopy from the drugs) and told him I was fully dilated. He flipped and was like, "We need to come back?!" And I was like, "Yeah... I guess. We're not going to push yet..." And I proceeded to proceeded to mumble jibberish. So they got back in record time of five minutes.

The delivery 

Della told my mom and dad that we were going to get down to business! So they had to leave the room. So at the 12:15 Della and DH held my legs and had me push with each contraction to get DS to come down further. And it was really hurting! I didn't realize at the time that my epidural had worn off and the only thing I couldn't feel was my right thigh! So I'm pushing and DH is being wonderful. I knew he was scared to death and didn't want to see my in pain. Della kept telling him to look, because you could see our son's head coming and he was so happy! My O.B. got there and I pushed about ten more times and the head came out. His shoulders were so twisted so she had to adjust him and that was the only time I screamed. Then he came right out -- after 45 minutes of pushing! So at 1:05 p.m. on July 10, 2008, our son Liam Seth was born. He was 7 lbs., 5 oz. and 20.5 inches long. With red hair on his head, just like Daddy!

When they placed him on my chest, I was so happy I thought I was going to burst! DH just kept looking at him, amazed. He was so pink! Not all purple-red like I thought. He was just beautiful. He was crying some, but mostly looking at me and all around the room. They took him to clean and I got stitched up. I had three tears; all were first degree, but still very painful. As they were cleaning him up, my O.B. saw that they were about to give him a shot and she was like, "Whoa! What are you giving him!?" And they said the Hep B vaccine. She got very angry and said, "They do not want that!" It turned out that nurse Carol had written down that we had wanted it. We're pretty sure she got in major trouble.

After I was stitched up and everything was checked, my O.B. was leaving and passed my parents as she was leaving. She said, "Y'all have a beautiful grandson!" They both just looked at her like, "What?" Apparently, they hadn't understood the nurse earlier when she said we were getting down to business, so they had just gone downstairs to get lunch! What a surprise! But at least they got to skip the whole waiting room ordeal.

Taking Liam home 

Our little Liam and I checked out Saturday morning. He had lost a little weight and was 6 lbs., 13 oz, and was a bit jaundice, but he is all good now and has gained over a pound. He's sleeping great and wakes up about four times a night to eat (He had a bit of trouble latching on at first, but now he's a pro!) And he was in a wedding at only nine days old! He is the sweetest and most precious thing in my life.

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> Want to share your birth story? Email it to kstanford@theknot.com.