Eva's Birth Day

Because I had tested positive for Group B strep in a past pregnancy, my doctor wanted me to have 2 doses of an antibiotic before the baby was delivered. I was dilated & effaced to the point that he said something about the baby "falling out" before I got to the hospital. Therefore, he scheduled me to come in at 6 AM Saturday morning (the next time he'd be at the hospital).

I could not fall asleep the night before, and David finally left our room so I would quit talking at 1-something.

During the night I heard the storms and even before I awoke (I actually popped out of bed and into the shower at 5 AM to scrub for the second time with a surgical wash) I was aware of having a bad, bad headache, but I wasn't allowed to have even water after midnight, so I didn't take anything.

When we got to the hospital, we were lost. The construction made what should have been an easy repeat trip for us into a maze.

Once we parked and went in, it was evident that we were in for a much bigger maze. We found ourselves in the recovery area of the maternity ward and asked someone to take us where we were supposed to be, and it's a good thing we did, because we were already late and FAR from where we were supposed to be.

In the labor & delivery room, a nurse told me it was about time for a shift change, and to just change my clothes and wait for the new nurse to come. When a nurse came, we had to answer a zillion questions. Even though I had pre-registered at the hospital, they didn't have any of my info in their computer. (And I had even received a confirmation from the hospital weeks ago.)
My doctor called and confirmed that he wanted the nurses to start the antibiotic. It was around this time that I learned that each dose would take 4 hours to administer. Because I had to have the IV, I was in labor on my back in bed from the time I got there, strapped to monitors, etc.
Contractions were already coming hours before I was induced but they weren't bad or very close together.

My headache was bothering me more, actually, and making me grouchy instead of excited. They let me take my Tylenol Sinus with ice chips, so I was able to sleep some, but they told me it made the baby's heart beat faster. ):


This is Angela, who took all of my info. She just started in December, so she's still learning. She used to be a 4th grade teacher, but didn't like it. Her husband also changed careers since they've been married; he was in the military, but now is a pilot (and he didn't get his training fro the military, unfortunately!).
This is Hope, who was showing her the ropes. We talked about her husband, who is a high school band director, and her daughter, who is in kindergarten, as well as the over-emphasis on TAKS.

Throughout the morning, we also talked a lot about baby names, since David & I still hadn't decided on one for sure.

I got an epidural at 10 and my doctor broke my water and started me on pitocin at 10:40.
I actually told David to take this picture so I'd remember how itchy the epidural made me.

Dr. R was very interested in our powerbook. He said his kids had iPhones and he was curious about Macs, so that was David's green light. We're happy to share our zeal for Macs anytime we're given the chance! Dr. R logged into a program that allowed him to see my progress (contractions & baby's heartbeat) on the screen, which he'd be able to do on an iPhone, too.
(I took this picture from the bed!)

They started the pitocin at 4 and increased it by 4 each hour or so until it was finally at 16 before it was time to push.

With each contraction, I felt a wave of queasiness. The nausea and the baby's heartbeat getting faster told me when I was having them. My legs were tingly but not completely numb and I could move my feet and toes.

Between contractions, I was thirsty and hungry and could smell when lunches were being delivered. The nurses kept track of my contractions and could tell the difference between contractions and the scratching, which made sharp zigzags instead of rounded hills. ("We know what you're doing in here even though we can't see you!")

Dr. R missed seeing Jane Pauley at the new hospital's opening. I felt bad about this because I knew he wanted to be there (I had heard him tell his nurse on Thursday). In talking about this, David told the story of meeting Jane Pauley and how she molested his hand with her butt.

I felt badly that he was waiting around for me, but like I told him, I was never strapped down on my back in bed for hours before! He had plans to meet his daughter for lunch that were on hold until after delivery as well.

One element of timing worked out perfectly. I had asked my friend Amy to take pictures at the hospital, and originaly had asked her to come at 8 AM. When I found out that it was going to take longer because of the antibiotic, we called to say come later. It turned out that she had to work, but she was able to go home, get her camera and be in the hospital parking lot around 2. She called from the parking garage and David offered to go collect her so she wouldn't get as lost as we did.

Before David could get back with Amy, though, Dr. R came to check me again and found me completely ready to deliver--we had to wait a couple of minutes for David & Amy to get back!

When they arrived, we were ready to go. We waited for the next contraction and I got the go-ahead to push.

I pushed until I heard Dr. R say, "Stop!" as her head crowned but it turned out he said, "Don't stop!" so I took a breath and pushed again, this time Dr. R really did say "Stop!" and her head was out. Someone told me--David, I think--that her head was out so this time I opened my eyes and looked and was thrilled to see her! As I pushed one last time, she was delivered at 2:38.


The nurses placed her on my chest a few moments later. I think this is around the time we decided on a name and we were still talking about a middle name. We had to make decisions so David could make some phone calls!

Then they had to do another Apgar score, weigh her, etc., before I had a chance to nurse her.






Dr. R delivered the placenta and I asked if I should push. "No!" he exclaimed, "You'll blow me away!" I said I'd never seen the placenta before, so Hope showed it to me and accidentally squirted blood all over the place.

Nesha told me later she'd seen art made from a placenta. It was interesting looking with all of the veins--really a miracle in itself--but making something out of it--or worse, eating it!--is a little far out even for me. I'll have to post later about the belly casting!

After Dr. R repaired the damage I did while pushing, he left for lunch with his daughter and our fond appreciation.


David says this is the look I give him when I call him a goofball. I don't remember what this particular look was about.

I finally got to eat a box lunch--a ham sandwich never tasted so good! Also they let me have a mini can of Shasta and some half-frozen, slushy Cran-Grape juice which became a new favorite in my 2-day stay.

At some point I tried to get Eva to nurse, but she just played around. Hope reminded me of the football hold; having last nursed a toddler, it's hard to remember breastfeeding an infant!


Special thanks to Amy for the photos--they are precious to me! I LOVE that I could illustrate this story for Eva and remember it for myself all the better.