MEET MARCO

By Laura…

Marco was due on June 19. However, he was being stubborn and did NOT want to come out.  The doctors decided to induce him on June 26,  a  week after his due date.

We got to OHSU hospital at 6 pm on Thursday the 26th.  After eating a nice meal (my last one until after Marco was born), the doctor placed a tablet on my cervix to begin the dilation process. Ed and I then tried to sleep. Actually, Ed slept, but I could not get comfortable.  Around 2 am, the doctor placed a balloon in me to further help jump start the dilation. This was… uncomfortable. I didn’t sleep any more after that. The balloon was removed a bit later in the morning and I believe I was dilated to about a 3. I was starting to have some mild contractions and was pretty excited at that point. Pitocin was started and I felt like I was actually in labor. I was really adamant about having a “natural” birth without any drugs, and Ed was ready to help me through the pain. We had all kinds of strategies and positions planned out- we felt ready!

Around 10 am, the doctor decided that we needed to move things along a bit faster, so he broke my bag of waters. Immediately after that, my pain level shot through the roof. I went from feeling pretty uncomfortable to feeling out of control. After about 15 minutes I totally changed my mind about pain medication and requested an epidural. The epidural was placed pretty quickly and I felt relief relatively soon thereafter. In fact, I felt good. Actually, I felt nothing; I was numb from my midsection down. Of course, I didn’t know this wasn’t normal. I just knew I wasn’t in pain and I was enjoying it.

It was about 2 pm at this point, and suddenly a bunch of doctors and nurses rushed in the room, instructed me to get on my hands and knees on the bed (not easy to do considering I could barely feel my legs) and the quickly wheeled my bed out of the room! I remember looking back at Ed and thinking that something really bad was happening. One doctor hurriedly explained to me that my blood pressure and Marco’s heart rate were both dangerously low, and that they would need to do an emergency c-section. I was then wheeled into the operating room and moved to an operating table. All of this was enough to bring my blood pressure back up, and Marco’s heart rate stabilized. Ed finally appeared (in scrubs) and we were both just really panicked. The doctors said that because mother and baby were stable again, they would not need to operate. However, they wanted to keep us there and let all of the pain medication wear off.  For the next 45 minutes I laid there as my contractions became more and more painful.

I was finally wheeled back to my room, and was in agony. I knew that pain relief was possible, but my body had reacted poorly to the drugs, and the anesthesiologist was working to find something that would be effective yet safe. By this time it was 5 pm.  All of our plans for this labor were out the window. I couldn’t walk around, I didn’t want to hear any of the music we had carefully chosen for our “labor playlist,” and all I could do is just lay there and try and get through each contraction.  Ed stood on one side holding my hand, and our awesome nurse Jacque stood on the other side wiping my brow. The anesthesiologist finally gave me a bolster of a fairly effective painkiller, but it only lasted for an hour and he didn’t come back to administer another dose when that one wore off, even though we requested it. Even though I had decided to take advantage of the painkillers, it seemed that most of my labor was done without them anyhow.

Around 9 pm, we got the happy news that I was dilated to 10 and was ready to push! The good news is that pushing during the contraction actually makes them less painful, so I was pretty happy to push. I apparently was doing a good job during the pushing (at least that is what Jacque said) and Marco was making his way!  I felt pretty optimistic at this point, and ready for the light at the end of the tunnel.

Well I pushed and pushed and pushed, but somehow Marco wasn’t coming out. At 1 am, the doctor did an ultrasound to see why he wasn’t progressing any further, and apparently his head was turned in such a way that he would not be able to fit through the birth canal. I was devastated. By this time, I had been in this process for over 24 hours and was ready to get this kid OUT. The doctor explained that they could do a c-section, or they can try and reach in and turn his head. However, if they turn his head, he might not like it, which could cause his heart rate to drop. Either way, they would take me to the operating room (again!) and numb for a c-section just in case. They asked me what I wanted to do. After not sleeping since Wednesday night (it was now Saturday morning) and not eating since Thursday night- and being in excruciating pain- I could not make the decision. I told Ed to decide. He decided the doctors should try and turn Marco’s head.

So, once again we were in the operating room. The good news is, they administered the anesthesia in case the c-section would be necessary, so from then on, I was not in pain. Hooray! The doctor successfully turned Marco’s head, and I was given the green light to push again. It was difficult to push while numb, but I did my best. We had about 8 doctors and nurses in the room, all cheering me on. Ed stood behind me and pushed my back up when I pushed, since the operating table was flat. Trying to push a baby out on a flat surface while numb is NOT easy. The doctor told me she would give me an hour to push (mind you, I had been pushing 4 hours prior to this point) and then she would use the forceps if he was not out yet. This motivated me to keep going, as I did NOT want forceps.  After an hour, Marco was visible! His head was about 1/3 of the way out. The doctor let me keep pushing, since I seemed to still have the energy to do so. One more hour of pushing and poor conehead Marco was born! It was 4:38 am on Saturday, June 28. He cried for at least an hour straight… I think the birth was as traumatic for him as it was for me. I couldn’t see him even though he was on my chest after being born because the table was flat and I was so tired I couldn’t lift my head. I had Ed take a picture so I could see him.

The doctor stitched me up (yeah, didn’t get through that whole ordeal without tearing) and we were finally wheeled back to our room, and then the recovery room.

I had never been so sore and tired in my life. People say that giving birth is hard, and that it’s the most pain a woman will experience in her life. It’s no exaggeration. The next day, not only were my, ahem, lady parts sore, but EVERY muscle in my body was sore as if I had done the most intense workout of my life. Ed, Marco, and I got to sleep for a few hours that Saturday. Then we started our new life of taking care of Marco!