The Baby Times (Megan Edition)

Front Page 

Headline: Megan Marie Arrives at 12:22 on October 7, 2010

Synopsis: After a surprisingly short first labor, Megan Marie arrived.  I’d been having contractions since 1 a.m. on Wednesday morning.  So I hadn’t slept much since then.  And all day Wednesday, it wasn’t clear whether I was in labor for real or not.  In the evening, though, contractions started coming again every 10 minutes.  Then at 9 p.m., they dropped to 5 minutes apart.  We waited for my parents, who were already on their way, and we headed to the hospital about midnight.  I was only dilated about 2 cm, so we walked for a couple of hours.  By 4:30, we were only barely at 4 cm, but my contractions were twice as long as normal (80-130 seconds vs. 60-80 seconds).  So they decided to admit me and break my water.  That was accomplished about 5:30 in the morning, and by 8:30, I was still 4-5 minutes between contractions.  But they were still “mammoth” as one nurse told me.  And I had dilated to 6 cm.  By then, and compounded by the lack of sleep, lack of food, and having my water broken, the intensity had increased beyond what I was able to manage with any semblance of grace.  So we did a full epidural, and by 9, I was much more comfortable.  I could still feel them, but they didn’t hurt.  And I could rest.  So I did.  By 10:30, I was fully effaced and dilated, and she had dropped into position.  We labored down for a bit and started pushing about 11:15.  After just over an hour of pushing, out she came.  She was face up (which I was told was the hardest way to push a baby out, other than breech, I assume), and we were very happy to have her join the family!

Health and Wellness Section

Headline: Contractions hurt.

Synopsis: Contractions hurt. 

Op-Ed Page

Headline: A Successful VBAC

Synopsis: So a lot of discussion was had before Megan’s birth about repeat c-sections vs. VBACs.  I am very glad I tried the VBAC.  And I’m very glad it worked for us.  The c-section is not a big deal, especially if you have no choice.  Which I did not for the twins.  But letting my body just do its job this time was so much better for us.  The hard work came before Megan was born (they call it ‘labor’ for a reason!), but the healing went, overall, much faster.  The c-section was easy on the front end…lie there and let someone cut you open!  But the recovery was a lot more work.  So if we ever do this again, I am pretty sure I’ll opt for another VBAC, rather than a c-section.  In the end, it was the best thing for us. 

Headline: Things I Learned from Nurses

Synopsis: When Pam, my labor nurse, took me up to the postpartum floor, she went over my labor with the nurses who were taking over my care.  They kept talking like I had done some really amazing things.  Like the fact that I even tried a VBAC.  Or that my labor was spontaneous, not induced.  Or that we used not pitocin at all during labor.  Oh, and the craziness of having 22-month old twins waiting at home was, apparently, impressive.  Perhaps that was just a nice way of them saying they thought I was nuts.  But it was nice to be applauded, especially because I didn’t go into labor intending to do any of that “impressive” stuff.  I just wanted to have a baby, as ‘normally’ as possible.  And since I came out with Megan, I think we accomplished exactly what I wanted!

Please follow and like us: