Charlene's Story

This is the story of our daughter Elizabeth's birth. The pregnancy itself was pretty average, not too much weight gain (about 20 lbs). I was already overweight so my body didn't need the extra! We attended an early pre-natal course in about the 4th month that talked about nutrition, exercise etc. The actual 6 week pre-natal course started when I was about 6 1/2 months along. Our hospital had 3 birthing rooms so everything would happen in one spot. We were encouraged to have a back up support person as sometimes 1st time babies can take so long. We planned on my mother. Unfortunately, my mother became ill quite quickly and died 6 weeks before the baby was born.

This new stress was a concern to everyone and did cause a rise in my blood pressure. I had to take 1/2 a baby aspirin every morning for about a month. In my last month we found out I had gestational diabetes. I had to check my blood 4 times a day which was a real nusiance but it was easy to control. I saw a local OBGyn because of the diabetes, he was not a very friendly man and quite rough, I much preferred my family doctor who would be doing the delivery.

As my due date approached everything was going fine, then the date passed! 2 days later, I was sitting on my couch when I heard a 'popping' sound, instinct told me what it was and I rushed to the washroom. Fortunately, our house was small and it was nearby because my water had broken! Now we are not talking a small trickle here, we are talking a gush! Finally I was able to call my husband at work and ask him to come home. We only lived 5 minutes from the hospital so it was no big deal.

When we arrived at the hospital they checked us in and then checked me over. I wasn't even dialated at all yet!! Very mild contractions started a couple hours later but they were pretty minor. As evening wore on, the contractions didn't seem to do much. The Dr decided she would hook up a Pit drip in the morning if I wasn't in labor by then. I was given a sleeping pill but that kind of made it worse. I would fall asleep between contractions but they were just strong enough to wake me up when they occured. The end result was that I was always in discomfort when I was awake! There was a comfortable chair there for my husband so he spent the night!

The next day we expected things to get moving. To make a potentially long story short, I spent 12 hours on the drip and never dialated past 3 cms! I took showers, had a Tens machine hooked up to my back, had demeral, they even did an x-ray to see if the baby was in a wierd position. Finally, at 8 pm they turned off the pit drip and gave me a shot of demeral. The OBGyn told my husband that I could wake in the middle of the night in full labor so the poor guy stayed another night! I will never forget his words to me earlier in the day.....

"Never, in my worst nightmare, did I think it would be like this!"

Unfortunately, I did not wake up in full labor! The next morning they started the drip again and by noon I was in agony!!! But still not dialating! At that point I started asking for an epidural but my nice DR had already ordered one! It was a little painful getting the spinal but the results were oh so wonderful! They increased the drip but still no luck, finally at about 10 that night, my baby's heart started going into distress so they decided to do a C-section. This was a tearful time for me simply because I knew my husband would not be allowed in (the OBGyn's and the Pediatritian at this hospital do not allow it under any circumstances!)

At 11:05 PM, 57 hours after my water broke, my beautiful daughter was born. I was able to see her for a moment before she was wisked away to the nursery. I found out later she was 9 lbs 14 1/2 ounces! And boy did she have a big head!!!

She was put in an incubator, an IV was inserted in her belly button and a feeding tube in her nose. The poor thing......

We were not allowed to hold her until she was about 36 hours old - the pediatrition was VERY strict! She never did end up breast feeding but turned out just fine! Though the birth was traumatic for all involved, we had no doubts about doing it again 2 years later - but that is Emily's story and must wait for another day!

Elizabeth is a happy, active 5 year old eager to start school this fall!

Thank you for reading my story, I hope you enjoyed it. No matter how a child is born, they are a joy for ever!