No Induction Necessary (Gabriel’s Birth Story)

Gabriel Septimus Alejandro
b. February 10, 2009 6:55 AM
9 lb. 3 oz 20″ (short and fat)
I was due to be induced at 7 AM Tuesday morning. It was my due date and since I have gestational diabetes, it is protocol to not let mothers go to far past due. Nevertheless, I was nervous. I didn’t want Pitocin, I didn’t want to deliver in a hospital…basically I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of coping with labor pain.
Since we were able to plan a date, we dropped the four youngest children at my parents’ on Monday night and my husband scheduled to take his vacation starting Tuesday.
I woke up a little before 4 AM, which is not unusual. I went to the bathroom, went back to bed, and a few minutes later realized I had a contraction. Again, nothing unusual, but this one felt rather strong. I figured I should keep track this time. 11 minutes later another one. I dozed off, but 8 minutes later…I was sooo warm and cozy and sleepy, I rather would have waited to get up. But by 10 of 5, I was looking at 5-6 minutes apart. So I woke my husband up and told him I was in labor. “Are you kidding me?”
I asked him to not rush, but get the last bit of my stuff together, and we should go. We told the two older kids we were going, so to make sure they didn’t ignore their alarm clocks and get themselves off to school.
We got to the hospital at about 5.30 AM. We didn’t call ahead. I figured we were due there in an hour and 1/2…The L & D nurse asked me what I “thought” was going on. I said at 4, I woke up with a few contractions that seemed different. She asked if I timed them, and I said not exactly, but they were a few minutes apart. I didn’t want her or my husband to know the last couple were 2 minutes apart. More my husband, because on the 2 minutes drive over, he was doing that nervous “my wife is in labor” drive, and I didn’t want to alarm him.She looked at me skeptically. I told her we were supposed to be in in an hour and a half. She said good because this was their last open room. It was teeney. No room for a water birth tub. Groan.
She told me to put on the fashionable hospital gown, get checked, and get hooked up to the monitors. I got changed and all the while wondering if I jumped the gun and if this was another false alarm. When I came back out, she wanted to check me, but I asked her to wait because another contraction was starting. Then my water broke. No false alarm I guess. I was 6 cm. This was going by pretty fast, which was good and bad. Good because it would be over soon. Bad because this was about to become unbearable. And it did.
First they insisted on putting in an IV. They blew 5 veins before they got it right the sixth time. All I can say is the contractions were so strong that concentrating on them poking the veins in the back of my hand was a comforting distraction from the contractions. After they got a line in I was at that point we women usually get at when we decide to go medication-free: “what the hell were we thinking?” So I asked “can I get a shot of something?” I knew the answer though. No, I was too close to delivery. But that was a comfort as well. Over soon.
I don’t know where I was at that point or how much longer. But the contractions did that thing where they drifted into one large contraction, and they seemed to take forever to convert to the “pushing type”. I know she checked me and said I was fully dilated and told me some nonsense not to push. I was locked into my own world and I didn’t push at that point because I knew it wasn’t the right time. She also told me the doctor is going to want me to move on my back. Again, I would have said something along the lines of “screw you” but I couldn’t move, I couldn’t speak, I was just in incredible pain.
The doctor came in at some point. I gave a push and he was half way out. I heard the nurse “Daniella! Daniella! Move to your back! ” I couldn’t move, but I managed to and one more push. Two pushes in all, and he was out. Relief.
It was quick, but it was a hard labor. I have had a few two hour labors and oddly, they are always more painful.
We’re home now. The kids are fighting over him. All he likes to do is nurse. I am anxious to get back into the swing of things with our new family member.

“My cheeks are so fat, I rarely open my eyes!”