My Birth Story...Part 2

So, yeah...4 cm at around 7:30 pm...damn. I was totally hoping to be at 6, get the epidural, and then have some time when I could try to get some sleep between the contractions, push twice and have my baby. Yeah. Nope. Not how it happened in the slightest.

So, after being told I was at 4 cm, they had me go back into the birthing room and labor some more. Ok, I can do that. Poor mom and Markus have to sit here and listen to me moan and groan. Mom was smart and brought a book with her. Markus, however, wasn't allowed to read :).

I did get an IV drug of some sorts...it was probably equivalent to baby aspirin though since it didn't really do much. The nurse said that I would feel a bit drunk...nope, not even a bit tipsy.

At some point, the midwives and doctors changed shifts...I have no idea when since I was bit out of it, not because of the baby aspirin, but because of the pain. The midwife that came next had zero bedside manner...and I mean zero.

At around 11pm, she came to tell us we should go to my room and labor some more since they need the labor room. Well, ok. I guess that is fine. We were able to get the one family room in the maternity ward. This was absolutely awesome! There were two beds in there, one for me (duh!) and one for Markus. There was also a big couch where mom could sleep that first night (and any subsequent night if she wanted, and she didn't, which I don't blame her!). So, as we're walking down the hall to the nurse's station to get something (I don't know what) I got another contraction, and I needed to stop...I mean, I really needed to stop and bend over and just wait the minute the contraction would last. Mean midwife lady told me not to stop, but to keep on moving. "Oh hell no lady! I'm stopping!". I didn't say that, but I really wanted to.

Well, we get the key to the family room and I get in bed. Germans are real big on supositories, so popped a couple more in and tried to relax...yeah, right. For every 3 minutes of "relaxing" there were 2 minutes of intense pain. And the pain only got worse, naturally. Around 1, I decided that I couldn't take any more of this (and I think Mom and Markus decided they couldn't take any more of my really loud moaning and groaning) so Markus headed down to tell them I would like my epidual now.

Of course they had to examine me to be sure it was the right time for one. Lo and behold, I'm 8 cm. The midwife said, "Well, lookie there, you're 8 cm. Can't do an epidural anymore.", and walked away. "Oh hell no!! I went to have the chat with the epidural dudes so I know what to expect and damnit, I want my epidural!" Nope, nope. I was too far along. No happy drugs for me...not of any kind. They wouldn't help/not be administered in time. Markus being the wonderful, loving, caring husband that he is, asked if we could have a second opinon from the actual doctor. The midwife said, "She'll just say the same thing, so no." Seriously, I never wanted to throttle someone as much as I did in that very moment. Hate doesn't even begin to describe the emotion that I felt towards this spawn of satan.

Me, laboring though...with no drugs...

Ok, well, shit. No epidural. I can do this. I can do this. I can do this. This is what I had to keep repeating to myself, over and over and over. Then Amelia's head was passing by the tailbone. Ok, if I thought that those whimpy contractions earlier (like 5 minutes ago) were awful, they were nothing compared to this. I seriously thought that my back was breaking and I was going to have to have my entire lower body amputated at that point in time. Oh, and I don't think that I mentioned the lovely sounds that I was making during this time. Yes, those blood curdling screams you were hearing around 1:30am on September 18, yeah, that was me. In Weiden. Screaming at the top of my lungs. Wishing someone would amputate the lower half of my body to get the pain to stop.

Spawn of Satan has her back to us...the wonderful doctor is the other lady...

Did I mention how wonderful Markus was during this? He was by my side (where else?) and I was squeezing his palm in a way that I wouldn't crush his hand...so I thought. He was encouraging me the entire time. However, the only time I yelled at him was after the millionth time he said "It's ok". I told him if he said that one more time I would hit him. He switched to something like, "You're doing great" or "Push"...I don't really remember.

Then the pushing starts. There's no nurse here holding your legs up for you. You get to do that one yourself...the doctor and the midwife will push up against your feet which does help, but the spawn of satan wasn't pushing against my feet as well as the doc was, and I remember that being highly annoying.

Anyhoo, I was pushing and pushing and pushing...and no baby. This wasn't the 2 push and she's out like I was hoping. Nope...at one point, they told me not to push because little girl was a bit stressed, so I had to not push for 2 or so contractions. By then, the baby had to come, so the doctor, which by the way was sent straight from heaven, jumped on my stomach to help press little girl down and out. She did this for about 5 contractions, still nothing. So, she numbs my lady bits and gives me a giant epistomy. I'm talking Amazon here. During the next contraction she hops back on my stomach to help out...still not coming along like she'd like it. So, what does she do? She calls the head doctor to come and use the suction cup thing to get little girl out.

Once again, I'm thinking, "Oh hell no!", so I push with all my might with the next contraction and little girl's head pops out. Talk about a weird feeling. Then my water broke, which was another weird feeling. Then Amelia was there, laying on the table. I didn't hear her cry (which is what you hear in every movie) and I started to get scared that something was wrong...then I heard her cough and I forgot all about the pain of the past few hours. My little girl was there and healthy and life was good.

One happy family :)

So, 4 weeks have passed since the first contraction started. I've always heard that you forget the pain and all the trials of pregnancy as time goes on, and this is astonishingly true. Oh, I remember the pain, don't get me wrong. That is just about the worst pain on the planet. But, as I look back on it, it was only about 18 hours of my life....and I gave birth to a new life. How cool is that? This isn't to say that Markus and I are going to try for another one right away...but someday...

Amelia's first picture...she's so cute!

My Birth Story...Part 1

Some of you may not want to read this, because I will go into a bit of detail, so you can stop here, and that is fine...tomorrow or on Saturday will be a post about Amelia being 4 weeks old (or I might wait to do that on Sunday when she'll be a whole month old! My how time flies!).

So, here goes...my birth story.

It starts out as any other birth story does, contractions. Mine started at around 6:30 am on September 17. They really weren't bad, and I was able to sleep between them...plus, they were pretty far apart, around 10 minutes or so. The thing that was freaking me out was that Markus was in Frankfurt. He was at the IAA, the largest car show in the world (he was there for work...and well, a bit of pleasure! Think kid in a candy store with all those new cars to look at!). I gave him the green light to go, since I thought I wasn't going to actually go into labor on my actual due date, but I did.

I had a doctor's appointment at 9:30 that morning, so mom and I were tracking the contractions with this nifty web-site called the Contraction Master. Holy crap, they were about 5 minutes apart! That's about when I was getting a bit nervous and sent Markus a text saying, "I am having some weird cramping, so be prepared to hop in the car and come home." I didn't want to make him nervous, so I phrased it in such a way that A) he wouldn't freak out and B) he'd get the picture. Well, he did, and he jumped in the car to come home.

At the doctor's, the contractions were getting steadily worse...there were some women in the waiting room and I felt kind of bad for them...you know, with me breathing deeply and the slight look of pain on my face...plus, there was another pregnant lady there, so she was getting a little look into the future.

At the doctor's...hooked up to the monitor...obviously, between contractions :)

The doctor examined me and told me I was a good 1, maybe 2 cm. dilated. What? Are you kidding me? That's what I was 4 days ago! So, what could mom and I do...nothing but go home. So that is what we did. Mom rocked driving standard...she hasn't driven one of those in many many years...and she didn't stall it until we got home...I was quite impressed.

At home, we continued with the contraction monitor, and attempted to watch some TV to try to distract me from the pain. It worked for a while. I remember it was the Top Chef episode in which the French guy got kicked off...what the actual challenge was, I don't really remember.

Sometime during Top Chef, mom made me some pasta, which I devoured, and Markus came home (phew! sigh of relief!). This was around 12:30. I decided we could wait a bit so that Markus could eat something and plus, I wasn't really ready to go to the hospital quite yet. Then around 1:30, I decided, what the hell. We can go, and the worst thing they can do is say, "Hey, you're not far enough along. Go labor some more at home." Which is basically what they said.

Leaving for the hospital...take 1...
They hooked me up to baby monitors and contraction monitors. After about 45 minutes of that, they gave me a quick exam. I was still only 1-2 cm. dilated. "Shit." I thought, "This is going to take forever." So, with that (and a couple suppositories to help out with the pain), they sent us home. Ok, fine. I kind of expected that...but I had hoped that I was further along.

Hooked up to the monitors at the hospital...
We came home and I decided that I wanted to try to labor it out some in the bath. Which exactly what I did...for 3 hours. I felt kind of bad for the neighbors. They had to hear all my moans and groans. Either they thought Markus and I were having a sex marathon or that I was in labor...I'm hoping that they knew it was the latter!

After my 3 hour bath, and a couple refills of the hot water, I decided I wanted to get out since I was feeling a bit like a prune. Markus had to help me since I was in just a bit of pain...he was truly wonderful throughout this whole thing...I just can't say that enough! So, I moved on to bed and decided that it would be absolutely awesome if Markus were to basically put his entire weight on my lower back (while I was bending over) during the contractions. This helped to an extent...so, then I thought I would try out our exercise ball. Hey, they've got it in the hospital, so why not give it a go! I was only on that thing for about 3 contractions before I decided it was really time to go to the hospital. We waited until another contraction passed, hopped into the car and drove at a decent speed to the hospital. We live only 3 minutes away, so I didn't want to risk getting in a wreck on the way there...getting there 30 seconds earlier or later didn't matter (I say this now, but probably at the time I was wondering why we were driving so slow).

We get to the hospital, just in time for another contraction to kick in...man, these things suck. No seriously, they really suck. We go in after the contraction passed, and get to the elevator (which, by the way, is just about the slowest elevator on the planet) and it is full. Damn, we'll have to wait. Of course, by the time it comes again, another contraction is coming on, so there is no way in hell I'm moving right then. So we wait for the next one, which miraculously was there after the contraction was over.

We get up to the maternity ward and head into the Kreisssaal, literally screaming room, and they hook me up to the monitors again. Yup, still in labor. Baby is doing good. This time, after only 10 minutes or so, they take me in to be examined. Now they tell me that I'm 3 cm, but when a contraction is there, I'm 4. Great. This will never end...

Scared out of my wits...

I need to admit this at some point in time to myself, so why not on my blog for the world (or the few people who read this) to see.

I am absolutely freaked out about giving birth. It is more of this fear of the unknown that is getting to me. If I knew beforehand that everything is going to go smoothly and I won't have to have an emergency c-section, and that the birthing experience will be great, then I think I'd be fine with it. Now, don't get me wrong, I know what lies before me. As a friend Tammy put it, "It fucking hurts...and yes, I have to use that word", so I know it is not going to be a walk in the park. However, it is just the closer and closer that the due date comes (next Thursday...AHHHHH!!!) the more and more that I am thinking about the actual logistics of getting this little bugger out of me. It can only happen one of two ways, yes. But which way will it actually happen. I'm totally hoping for natural (with the help of modern medicine in the form of an epidural), so please keep your fingers crossed or thumbs pressed or both that that is the way that it will happen.

If it has to come down to a c-section, then I'm cool with that too...as long as little girl is healthy. But that is also major surgery, and I've only been under the knife once and it was an out-patient procedure.

On a side note, little girl is the most active she's been in days...she's a movin' and a groovin'. Could this be a sign that she's wanting out. I'm already wanting to give her the eviction notice, but I don't think that she's quite ready...plus Markus is in Berlin, so I hope that she waits until Friday. (He can always come home early, but he's at a pretty cool conference where he can rub elbows with some pretty interesting people, so I want him to enjoy that and get as many contacts as possible...)

On another side note, my birthday is on Saturday and Markus is getting me a pedicure...I'm so freaking excited about that!

The Hospital in Weiden

A week or so ago, Markus and I went and took a tour of the maternity ward at the hospital in Weiden. It was nice, but I do have just a few reservations, but I think I can get over them quickly.

To start off with, we went straight into the birthing areas. They have two birthing rooms, which have different things to either help you get fully dilated, or get more comfy while you're pushing...Ok, too much info for the guys out there...sorry. All in all, I really liked the rooms. They have a separate room with a tub that you can use to just help relax you through the contractions, or you can give birth in it. Pretty cool.

Another nice aspect is that, if need be (cross your fingers that I don't need it), the c-section room is right next to the birthing rooms, so in an emergency, little girl will be out in about 3-7 minutes. Not bad.

What is also nice is that new mothers can stay for 3 or 4 days (it might even be longer). It isn't like in the US where they try to get you out ASAP. Also after a c-section, you stay there for 7-10 days...a week is the minimum though.

We were then taken to the baby room. You can, of course, keep your baby in your room, or if you need to sleep, you can give your baby to the nice ladies and they'll bring her in when she needs to be fed.

Now on to the part that I didn't really like. The patient rooms. There are 6 or 7 patient rooms with 2 beds and then 1 or 2 family rooms. The family room is what I would really like to get. There is room for Markus to spend the night too, and a nice big couch...it costs a bit more each night, 45 Euro, but I think it would be well worth it! These rooms I liked. The other patient rooms...not so much. They are pretty small, and have two beds in them. That is fine. My problem is that there aren't any curtains between the beds.

My mother-in-law, bless her heart, is trying to convince me that this is such a wonderful thing since you can talk with the other ladies and that, in and of itself, is worth having the double room. I keep telling her that is great for her, but not for me. And since little girl is coming in September (9 months after Christmas, I know) there are loads of other pregnant ladies in Weiden who are going to be giving birth at around the same time. So, if there are lots of women, then instead of just having 2 beds in the room, there could be 3. Great, making the small room even smaller. And then I heard that they don't really open the windows, so it can get super stuffy in there...and then with 3 ladies and 3 babies...I think that I'm just freaking myself out more than how it really will be. Time will tell....

However, I must say, after chatting with a few friends who have given birth in the UK/Ireland, I'm pretty happy about the situation here in Germany. One of my friends was in a room with 9 other women...good lord. And then the stories from mom when she gave birth in the US to Matt and I...hmmm...thinking about it, it won't be so bad. I'm just going to keep my fingers crossed though that I get one of those family rooms...