The Birth Story

As mentioned, Katherine joined the party on the 11th, just 4 days before her due date! 

The whole week prior to her arrival was soaked up with me finding any and everything to do to keep my mind off the fact that my entire world was about to be changed. It involved lots of napping, visits with friends who stay at home with their babies, and a random 6:30 AM trip to the grocery store when I couldn’t sleep one morning. (That’s actually the best time to go, FYI.) 

The day before her birth was my laziest day yet. I slept a lot and watched lots of Netflix. That evening, Thomas came home and mowed the lawn. I felt so stir crazy that I picked up twigs in the backyard (to put in Thomas’ new fire pit...his stir crazy project) and rolled up a garden hose. Both were things that I probably shouldn’t have been doing, but I had the energy and was sick of being alone in the house. It was unseasonably cool that evening, maybe in the low 80s, so I coerced Thomas to go with me on a walk through the neighborhood after he finished mowing. I had plans to go on walks for the rest of the week, too! 

After the walk, we got ready for bed, but I had a harder time settling than usual. I slept fitfully for an hour or so before waking up feeling off. I hurried to the bathroom to have my suspicions confirmed—my water was breaking! Telling Thomas was a bit amusing, as I had to wake him from a dead sleep all the way from our bathroom. I didn’t want to shout and scare him, but I also couldn’t speak in a normal voice and have him actually hear me. I ended up shouting and when he finally heard, he sat straight up in bed and sprang to life. In that moment, I was glad we had all our bags packed because it made our lives easier. Within 10 minutes, we were out the door and on the road to the hospital. It was about 1 AM at this point. If I would’ve known what my day held, I would’ve lobbied to stop for food...

We got to Labor & Delivery admissions a short while later, alleviating my fear that I’d need to get to the hospital in the middle of rush hour traffic and have it take forever. To the contrary, there was NO traffic at 1 AM! Also, the fact that I had preregistered for my visit expedited the admission process. I was a sight to behold in my pajamas and Birkenstocks (aka the only shoes I’d been able to fit on my swollen feet for the last trimester). I contemplated looking a little more presentable but decided that I’d end up leaking fluid all over myself and would end up in a hospital gown fairly soon, so comfort won out. 

Walking to my room while leaking fluid was every bit as awkward and uncomfortable as it sounds. And of course we went to the farthest room possible. I had never stayed in a hospital to that point, so I was entering uncharted territory. By that I mean that I was about to say goodbye to every last bit of modesty I’d ever have in my life. Getting set up in the bed was annoying because I was covered in a tangled mess of fetal dopplers, contraction monitors, a pulse ox that was taped to my hand, and a port for the variety of things they injected in my body. All while I was still leaking fluid and feeling like I peed my pants. On the upside (?) we had access to local cable at 2 AM, which is every bit enthralling as one would think. I think we either settled for Seinfeld or the extra early version of the Today show. From this point on, I have never envied Thomas this much. 

I had to sit and wait. They told me to sleep, which is funny since I really hadn’t been able to sleep for the past few weeks, so joke’s on them. And hospital beds are incredibly uncomfortable minus the fact that they reclined, making sitting up in bed easy for the first time since January. I eventually rested in fitful bursts, often interrupted by nurses checking my vitals or telling me to use the bathroom. I was also informed that I was officially NPO (nothing by mouth) until I popped my child out. They informed me I was BARELY dilated (won’t go into those gory details), so I would start a Pitocin drip to augment labor. I finally figured out what contractions felt like, which were surprisingly lesspainful than when they checked how dilated I was. Also less painful than when they gave me my first dose of antibiotics via IV. Slowly they ramped up in intensity, but I think that had more to do with them upping the Pitocin flow. A few hours later, we found out I had progressed by 1 cm, making me 2 cm dilated. After about 4-5 hours on Pitocin. Oh joy. I was becoming increasingly uncomfortable, so that’s about when they brought in the anesthesiologist to administer my epidural. He was a welcome sight, despite the inordinate pain leading up to it taking effect. Thomas was in and out of the room getting food at that time (lucky jerk...). I was settled in on a sporadic diet of ice chips, heavily monitored by my nurses who made sure I didn’t have too many, for whatever reason. 

The idea was that they gave me an epidural early on so my body would relax and dilated like it’s supposed to. Let’s fast forward a few hours and cut to the chase. By 4 PM NOTHING, and I mean absolutely NOTHING had changed. And I was admitted at 1:30 AM. And I hadn’t eaten since 10:30 PM the night before. My doctor was slowly getting concerned, so we started considering that a regular birth might not happen. When Thomas reiterated to my doctor how long I’d been there on Pitocin, my doctor slightly freaked out and decided that a C-section was on deck for me. He was concerned that there was a reason Katherine wasn’t descending like she needed to and wanted to keep me comfortable/safe. He was also worried about me losing strength since it had been 16 hours and counting since I last ate. So, a C-section it was. 

At this point, Thomas went to inform his parents (who had dutifully waited in the lobby since about 8:30 or 9 that morning). I also called my mom, who hadn’t made it to Dallas yet due to situations beyond her control. Mom and I had a moment in which I realized that mom guilt never goes away. I thought I had some time before the C-section, as there were supposedly 5 women on deck already and it was looking like it could be about 8 PM before I could go. Apparently my doctor rallied hard and bumped me to the front of the line since I’d been there so long. Before I knew it, a swarm of nurses came in and started getting me ready for surgery. I’m not entirely sure what that entailed besides them upping my epidural dosage, and I’m okay with that. About the time they finished that process, Thomas was allowed back in the room and was given a set of scrubs to put on over his clothes. 

They wheeled me back to the OR. It was quite the surreal feeling. Then my OR team shifted me to the operating table. THAT was a weird feeling, especially since I was numb from the neck down. I loved my nurses in there. Their first order of business was figuring out what music I like so they could turn it on the overhead speakers. They used one of my workout playlists that contains lots of 90s and 00s throwbacks. I wish I could remember the exact song that was playing when Katherine was born, but I can’t. There’s a decent chance it was a Salt N Pepa or Missy Elliot song...ha! 

The procedure was a surprisingly quick process. I think it took 20-30 minutes from start to finish. My doctor kept the mood light. Also, he had a med student shadowing him for the day, and I gave her permission to witness the birth. (Anything for education, right?) 

Before I knew it, my world changed forever. At 5:28 PM, Katherine was pulled from my womb and breathed her first breaths in the outside world. Meeting your child for the first time is surreal. I was shocked by how much hair she had and the sound of her cry! I was not shocked by the fact that she weighed 9 pounds exactly—I knew I had a big baby! Soon after we were wheeled back to my room where they finished measuring Katherine and I was finally off anesthesia long enough to be able to hold Katherine without fearing I’d drop her. (My arms were previously numb...)

We spent the next bit of time skin to skin. It was magical holding her in my arms at last. Then my nurse gave the best news I’d heard all day—she was bringing me food! I ate 2 graham crackers and a red Gatorade. I think that was the best meal I’ve ever had in my life, no lie. Shortly thereafter I was given a crash course on breastfeeding. It amazed me how my body knew what to do even though I had a C-section. I wish I could say that part was magical, but not so much. So it goes. 

We eventually moved to the postpartum room where we spent the next 3 days. Steve and Diana quickly joined us. Soon after, Jean and Jay came up to visit. Jay was heading back to NYC the next day, so she came in the nick of time! Mom and Dad finally made it to the hospital around 11:30 that night. Everyone who came immediately fell in love with Katherine, especially my dad. He apparently didn’t believe that I’d actually have a girl, so seeing that he had a granddaughter in the flesh melted his heart. He decided to call Katherine his kitten. Anyone who knows my calloused farmer of a dad will be equal parts shocked and not shocked that he was such a softy for his newest grandchild. My heart was happy for that moment!

We FaceTimed a lot with Elizabeth, who was stuck in STL taking a gross anatomy class for her PT program. Being away taking a terribly difficult class during all the excitement was her personal hell, no doubt. Thank God for technology that kept her connected to us! 

More visitors came through the coming days, but I think I’ll end the birth story here. More excitement has since followed, but that’s for another time.