The First Three Birth Stories, Cassidy First

The fact of my current pregnancy has given me a desire to chronicle the birth story of each of our three children, mostly for their knowledge and personal history's sake.  It will not be graphic per se, but it will be skippable for those who don't enjoy birth stories.

Cassidy

Cassidy was due July 16th.  As a first time mom, I thought there was no way I could hope to deliver early, so I had no qualms about traveling 5 hours away to a family reunion at a dude ranch in Antimony, UT from June 30-July 2.  My certified nurse midwife had cleared me to go, and said I had no worries even though I was 38 weeks and dilated to 3 cm.  I laughed when my dad told me they went a few minutes out of their way on the way down to locate the hospital in Castledale . . . but I didn't tell him I was dilated either.  :-)

The day after we got back I had an appointment at the clinic (Monday, July 3rd) and the CNM agreed to strip my membranes.  A little cramping afterwards, but nothing exciting.  Bummed, but oh well.

Independence Day was a Tuesday.  Nathan and I had plans to go for a picnic dinner and then see the rodeo in Oakley with Grandpa & Grandma Toone and Nathan's parents and siblings.  We got up late that morning, had a leisurely cereal breakfast, and sat around.  During the sitting around, I decided that 'this had gone on long enough.'  We had a Top Five list of girls' names pretty much the entire pregnancy, but had never settled on one.  I informed Nathan that our inde

cision was bordering on ridiculous and we should pick one already!  I mean, our baby was to be born in a week or two, and we'd had plenty of time.  So we did what any thinking parents would do, and put all five names in a hat.  (Yes, a real hat, not a figurative hat.  I believe it was a baseball cap.)  Now, keep in mind, I REALLY liked two of these names, pretty much liked one, and was not at all sure what I would do if we drew the other two . . . Luckily the first pick was a winner, and our unborn child was to be Cassidy Dawn.  Whew.  I went to get in the shower.

I got out of the shower, dried off, and dressed.  It was a very hot day, and even though it was 11:15 or so, it was over 100 degrees already.  So I thought I was sweaty.  Abnormally sweaty.  Wait a second - I hadn't yet been outside, and my very pregnant self had made darn sure that the air conditioner was set to frigid.  Hm.  I felt stupid not knowing (because I'd heard of people who didn't know, and how can you not know?) but I suspected my water had broken.  I had Braxton Hicks contractions throughout the pregnancy, and wasn't having any that were different to speak of, but --

I called the office, and Karen, the big Amazon-looking scary CNM I had hoped wouldn't be there for my delivery was on call.  She said to come on down and she'd check me over.  We got there around noon and she couldn't decide if my membranes had ruptured or not.  She suspected a high leak, but said I was dilated to 4 cm now.  I had been retaining lots of water throughout the pregnancy, with +4 pitting edema in my legs (for those who don't know what that is, just file it under super yucky and something you never want to see.) so she suspected (but didn't tell me until later) that I might have pregnancy induced hypertension, so she checked my blood pressure.  It was 152/98, which is way too high for safety, so she said, "Well, I don't know if your water's broken or not, but either way, you're having this baby today!"  And off to the hospital we went, arriving at 12:30 p.m.

I got situated and they started me on Pitocin.  My mean labor nurse named MaryAnn came in with a lunch tray said, "Here's lunch," and then left.  Well I was hungry, so I dug in, and Nathan left to go get fast food at a nearby restaurant.  While he was gone, MaryAnn came back in to check my IV, saw me eating lunch, and said in a snide voice, "Well, now that you've eaten you won't be able to get your epidural for at least 12 hours," and walked right out!  I panicked.  I put down my fork and burst into tears.  Nathan found me sobbing upon his return:  "I can't have natural childbirth.  I don't know what to do.  I didn't take Lamaze . . wail . . . " and he went straight out to get Karen.  She came in, gave me a hug, and told me not to worry about MaryAnn because she was grump who takes it out on her patients.  She said, "You can still have your epidural, and if anyone asks when you ate last, we'll just say a couple of hours ago and be vague."  Now I felt guilty for thinking she was a scary Amazon woman.

I contracted for a couple hours without feeling too much.  Nathan and I played Phase 10 for a while, and then at about 2:30 Karen broke my water.  She asked if I wanted to get up and walk the halls for a little while, and I thought, "Walking helps labor progress.  And since it's my first baby and I'll be in labor for quite a few more hours, that is great idea."  Well, I about 40 feet down the hall and had my first Real Contraction.  All of a sudden these babies were doozies! Doubled over in pain, I inched my way back to the room.  I felt like an elephant was doing a dance on my abdomen.  I'm pretty sure I was in tears.  As soon as I got within talking distance of the nurse's station they asked if I wanted my epidural, and I vigorously assented.  I remember wanting to call for my mom to come save me and then stopping myself because I was too old to call for my mommy.

As I waited through probably a total of 7 contractions for the Epidural Man to come, wonderful no-longer-scary Karen talked me through my pain and used guided imagery to help me patiently wait . . . for the man who I eventually pledged my undying love for.  The Anesthesiologist.  As the epidural began to take effect I asked him if his wife was jealous of how many other women offered to kiss him daily.  He laughed and said no.

Now feeling great, we played some more Phase 10.  After an hour and a half or so I began to feel some weirdness.  I had a walking epidural, so I could still move my legs and feel some things, but no contraction pain.  I called MaryAnn in, and she said we'd need anesthesia to top my epidural off.  He came in and after poking my giant belly with a pen and rubbing some ice on it, none of which I could feel, proclaimed that I needed to be checked instead of topped off.  Well, it was 5:00 p.m., and in saunters MaryAnn to reluctantly check me.  She was annoyed until I saw her eyes open wide - "Ummmmm, you're complete."  And she rushed off, unprepared, to get the delivery cart set up.  (Ha.  Serves her right.)

I pushed for 30 minutes and then decided I was tired and they were going to have to figure out another way to get the baby out, because I was done.  Karen got right in my face and said, "You can't give up now.  You're almost there.  Just a few more . . . " and Cassidy was here!  Exactly 5:30 p.m. - five hours after getting to the hospital.  We were so surprised labor was so short.  She was 12 days early, 19 inches long, 7 pounds 4 ounces, and perfectly healthy!  We were so pleased, proud, excited, and . . . oh no!  They're going to send her home with us all by ourselves???  Scared.