Daniel's Birth Story

For Daniel’s first birthday, I decided it was time to do the long version of Daniel’s birth. The days leading up to it are somewhat reconstructed from emails and conversations. We didn't know if we were having a boy or girl.

Countdown...

Thursday, January 17 50% effaced, 1 cm dilated. The doctor thinks I am close, so I think all that means is by this time next week I’ll be holding a baby. Last night we walked around Wal-Mart and I was having contractions every 20 minutes and then around 1 pm gave a re-birth to my dinner, and felt much better. After that, I think I slept off the contractions. Each night they are getting stronger and more frequent

Friday, January 18 I came unplugged. When I have Braxton-hicks, my belly looks like a shrink-wrapped baby. It’s pretty tight in there! They are calling for snow over the weekend! I get nervous about making it to the hospital.

Saturday, January 19 was the women's conference at church (which I had decidedly planned on not attending) I sat at a table with several other women and had strong practice contractions every 20 minutes or so. They’d take my breath away, but they weren't painful. I started practicing my breathing during these so I’d be prepared.

Sunday, January 20 contractions start to become more painful and regular. Throughout the day they progress towards 7 minutes and then down to 5 minutes. I called the doctor and went to the hospital and was 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced. I walked around for an hour, but labor didn't seem to be progressing, they gave me the option of going home, which I did. I really didn't want to end up on pitocin to advance labor, which would have happened had I stayed.

Monday, January 21 I am home! I am trying to hold off labor as long as I can so that when I do go in, I am really in the midst of it and don't have to stay there too long. Home is so much homier! The refrigerator repair man comes (finally) and I am in the other room having contractions and talking to my mom on the phone... well trying to. I am boohooing about how I didn't want pain meds but think I will need them. Mom can tell the baby is coming soon so she and dad plan to head out of town after he gets off work.

Around 4 pm, the contractions are 5 minutes apart again, so Joe and I go to the obgyn's office to get a checkup. While I am there, they slow down again. The doctor tells me that I could try and sleep it off again and gave me a prescription for ambien to help me get some rest. On the way home, they get so much stronger and waiting for the prescription I am NOT having fun. When we get home, I take a shower, a pill and hop in bed. The ambien makes me really drowsy, but every time I am nearly asleep, I get jerked awake by a contraction. So every four or five minutes I am moving from the bed to the bathroom and sometimes having Joe put pressure on my back.

It's Time!

At 4 am, the contractions are definitely 4 minutes apart, and I am pretty sure the baby is coming soon, so I tell Joe it's time to go. He jumps in the shower to wake up for the drive to the hospital. Right when he hops out, we both here a POP! Fortunately, I am sitting on the toilet (which was the most comfortable position for me during labor up to this point). As my water breaks, I see that there seems to have meconium in it. I call my doctor who tells us to come on in.

On the road, I give mom a call. It’s about 4:30 am and they've just arrived at their hotel down the road from the hospital. I have a couple contractions while on the phone and many more on the way to the hospital. I’m leaning on the dashboard groaning and breathing, while Joe is driving with one hand on the wheel and one fist digging into my lower back.

We get to the hospital and have to check-in AGAIN... and I have a couple contractions meanwhile. They bring out a wheel chair and wheel me to my room. We had left the suitcases in the car, and didn't pack any music or anything... so it was me, and Joe, and some attractive hospital gowns. The nurse is really sweet. I have two nurses at different times, but I only remember Alyson because she has the same name as my sister. I am 7 cm dilated. She and Joe help me get through the contractions. Joe remembers the spikes on the contraction monitor being much higher than those in the doctor’s office. I ask about an epidural, and she tells me that it takes about an hour to get it set up and we could visit that option. However, she encourages me that I am handling it really well and doesn't think I need one. (Yay for encouraging nurses. She had been all over and her favorite hospital was Seattle or Portland where many of the women opted for more natural births). She is supposed to go off shift soon, but stays with me through the entire labor.

An hour later, I am 9 cm and just about ready to go. Dr. Sidel arrives and I push for an hour and a half. At one point, Daniel is starting to crown, and Dr. Sidel has me reach with my right hand to touch his head. It is wrinkly, soft and hairy. I say, "That's so weird!" and he and Joe laugh. I am pretty funny the whole time. At one point, frustrated that Daniel seems stuck, I tell Dr. Sidel, "Let me know what I am doing wrong and I will fix it." He actually has to leave the room and laugh because he thinks it was so funny. He says he's never heard anyone say that before. Apparently I had some angles wrong and was pushing in the wrong direction... evidenced by my swollen spotted face and my eye that is blurry for several days afterwards. I think I was trying to push him out the top of my head, and looking back, squatting would have remedied this. Once I change my technique, I can feel the difference and the progression. All the while, Joe is helping me hold my legs and giving me ice water.

Daniel has been crowned for what feels like a long time. His heart rate is dropping to around 40 or 50. We are all at the end and ready to meet Daniel, so I make a deal with Dr. Sidel, "If I get the head out, will you take care of the rest?" Laughing, he agrees to help. I push with all my might, but I am totally exhausted at this point and can tell my pushing is weakening. We were all concerned about Daniel’s low heart rate. The doctor gives me shots of litocane and an episiotomy, which I have been thinking I probably need for several contractions. A couple more pushes and Daniel is out. It is 7:53 am on his due date under a full moon. He is purpley blue with the cord around his neck three time and is followed by a lot more water. Dr. Sidel asks Joe, "Are you going to announce it?" Joe says, "It’s a boy!" The moment of joy is frozen as I wait to hear Daniel's cries.

Nurses swarm in and suction out his lungs and belly, which later I was told they keep him from crying until the lungs are cleaned out). Joe and I press our heads together asking God to give our baby life. When we hear Daniel’s first cry, it is so incredibly beautiful and we are so relieved. I really want to hold him, but they are still monitoring his heart beat and breathing. Dr. Sidel continues to help me deliver the placenta and stitches me up, which I isn't painful at all. I am amazed by how long the cord is! During this, Joe runs out to the car for our suitcases and camera and stops in the waiting room to let mom and dad know we are all okay.

Next, Dr. Artman, the pediatrician comes in. It is only 30 minutes since Daniel’s birth. When he is finished examining Daniel, I ask, "Can I hold my baby? I haven't held him yet!" He gladly places Daniel in my arms. It is so strange looking that little boy in the face. He is so beautiful. He has dark hair and the most amazingly elongated head from crowning for so long, a heart-shaped angle kiss on his forehead, an angle kiss on his right eyelid, and a folded down right ear. He nurses pretty quickly without too much trouble.

Within an hour or two we decide on Daniel Stone Puckett for his name. Daniel means "my judge is the Lord." Stone is for the altars that the Old Testament people of faith built to honor the Lord and remember His provision.

We soon have family in and they later move us to another room where we stay until Thursday. Driving home from the hospital was really funny... Joe has never driven so SLOWLY or carefully in his life.

Afterthoughts.

Yeah, I am proud of myself for doing this - proud of not using drugs, proud of keeping my sense of humor, and proud that Joe didn't pass out. Would I do it again? Absolutely! Would I consider giving birth at home? Sure. Will I end up using the hospital again? Probably so. I had a great supportive team. I felt like I was in control, I felt encouraged, and I felt loved. I wish Daniel had immediately been placed in my arms, and I wish we had a quieter time with more rest in the hospital. Even though our birth experience isn't exactly how we planned (no music, etc) it is our experience and we love that we did it together.