First time in labor….

So, I had been laying in the labor room for about 7 or 8 hours, water broken, monitor over my bulging belly, regular contractions. Lamaze class had said that we could get up and walk around and that would help. Doctor said no and made it seem like the baby would die if we didn’t obey, so we shut up and did what he said. (Can you tell I wasn’t pleased with him?) So the hours went by and I had Demerol and snoozed a little. At some point I turned to Dennis and said, “so, have you thought about adoption?”  He kept telling me not to yell, but to breathe! Later I told him not to ever tell me not to yell in labor again.  🙂  We were in an ugly little green room because the good rooms were under construction at Chestnut Hill Hospital http://www.chhealthsystem.com/Pages/Home.aspx– we could hear the drills and saws next door throughout the day, in fact. So much for a birthing suite and mirror and yada yada yada. After 11.5 hours the doctor said that if something didn’t happen soon, we’d have to think about a C section. I am certain our son heard him, because almost immediately I had the urge to push that little guy out! Dennis told the doctor who didn’t really believe him and said he was on his way to get a Pepsi first. Surprise! Hey, the first timer actually knew what she was talking about. What does it feel like to want to push? Well, think of it this way – you’ve been doing it all your life – this is just bigger and more painful, but it feels the same, essentially.

Well, after 30 minutes, on my back (against my will) in the delivery room (due to construction) with my feet in the stirrups (doctor’s insistence he guilted me into) there was an episiotomy (because the doctor insisted – against my will) and there came our first little son (which the doctor had guessed all along would be a girl.) We actually got into a discussion and almost an argument about abortion while on the delivery table, though I don’t remember what was said now. That last half hour was painful but it didn’t seem so bad because I knew the baby was almost there and the endorphins kicked in. We didn’t know the gender, so that was exciting too.  All in all it had been 12 hours and apparently other women down the hall were really jealous because theirs was longer.

He was amazing. He was ours. I remember looking at Dennis holding him while I was being “worked on.” 1 minute after midnight – after learning the gender – the next question was, “what day is it?”  🙂 Dark hair, blue eyes (that later turned to hazel.)  David.

more to come….