McDaniel Family Journal

On Tuesday June 6, 2006 your daddy and I went to the doctor for our weekly appointment. Since you were due that Friday the 9th, Dr. D’ Heureux did a routine exam to see if I was dilating yet…unfortunately, I wasn’t. She asked me how I was and how you were, and I told her we were great. Other than being just basically uncomfortable, I was doing fine and ready to go. You, however, were showing no signs of wanting to come into the world. She made the comment that you looked like you were going to be a big baby and sent us down the hall for an ultrasound. They measured you to be about 8 ½ pounds!  It was at that point that we scheduled the induction 🙂 I really didn’t want to have a c-section, and my fear was that I’d have to have one if you got any bigger. The appointment was made for the following Sunday June, 11. We were due at the hospital at 3pm.

Our routine weekly appointment on the 6th had been in the afternoon, so I had worked all morning and just left a little early. When I was pulling out of my parking spot, I pulled something in my back. You see with my belly being so big, I couldn’t turn around very well. It was right there and then that I decided my driving days were over until after I had you. I had to call into work the following morning and let them know that I was working from home. The days between the 6th and the 11th were stressful for me. I really wasn’t very excited about getting induced, as I was worried about the process and how the drugs might affect you. I really wanted you to just come on your own, so everyday I walked in the evening, ate spicy food, did squats, etc. I tried anything and everything I could think of to start labor.  I floated in the pool in the afternoons to feel lighter. (I never realized carrying around all that extra weight could make you so exhausted!)  Your daddy was great, as usual, during this time. He made all of my meals, took care of the puppies and just basically made sure that I relaxed. We tried to make the most of the time that we had left together as just the two of us, and I will always look back fondly on those last few days before you were born as a time of reflection, relaxation, bonding, excitement, and anticipation. 

The day of the 11th arrived I was nervous, but ready. You being my very first baby, I had no idea what to expect in terms of pain, but I was determined and so very excited at the prospect of bringing you home!  We got to the hospital, got daddy his picture ID badge and went upstairs. The décor of the new hospital was beautiful and very hotel-like. We were eventually led into our room and the show began. The hooked me up to wireless fetal-heart, and contraction monitors and after a while, sent in the doctor. The process for the induction was two-fold: first they were going to insert a pill into my cervix called “misoprostal” to thin it out, and then they were going to hook me up to and IV and start me on “potossin” to actually cause contractions to begin.  When the doctor came in, he looked at my contraction monitor and said, “Hmmm…you don’t feel that?” I said no, and asked what he meant, and he said that I was having contractions every 6-8 minutes. Apparently, you were pretty ready, or at least getting started anyway, because I was having contractions and didn’t even know it! The doctor said that since labor had already begun, they couldn’t do the misoprostal, so they started me on a very low dose of potossin at around 7pm that evening.

Here’s where the real waiting began 😉 Being so large, and the hospital bed being so uncomfortable, there really wasn’t much sleeping going on that evening. Your daddy was roughing it in a recliner that wouldn’t stay reclined all the way, and I had a nurse coming in every 45 minutes to check all my stats. We watched a movie on the TV and listened to some music that your daddy had put on his IPod for me, but basically we talked and waited.

The next morning at 7am, the doctor came in, checked me, and said that I really hadn’t progressed much over night (I was only 2 centimeters dilated), so he cranked up the potossin. Since I wasn’t in any danger of going into labor anytime soon, he told me to go ahead and order breakfast…Thank goodness! I was starving, so I ordered French toast, cereal, and ham 😉 It was so good!  As I ate, I began to feel the contractions finally. They weren’t bad, and every time someone asked me what level the pain was out of 10, I told them I was at a “1”.

At 9am, however that “1” began to increase. That potossin really threw me into some major pain. There was no real progression. One minute I was laughing and playing Uno with your daddy, and the next I was rockin’! We continued to play cards and listen to music all morning, breaking for contractions and breathing. The pain was pretty bad, and the worst part of it was that each contraction was at least 1 minute long, and I was getting them every 2 – 2 ½ minutes. With only a minute or so of a break in between, and incredibly little sleep from the night before, I was exhausted. At 11 my new doctor came in broke my water. Oh my, I am so glad that that didn’t happen when I was at home. Having all that water continuously coming out of me by the gallon, was so uncomfortable. Had that happened in my car, I’m afraid I would have had to trade it in 😉

After she broke my water (I was still only 2 centimeters dialated), the contractions really kicked in. The next 3 ½ hours or so were a blur. I know we played cards and did a lot of breathing, but I was in a lot of pain so I think I’ve blocked most of that out. I do know at about 2:45 your daddy suggested the epidural. I felt like such a horrible weakling for considering it, but I was in so much pain and not progressing, so I decided to go ahead and get it.  After that was put in place, things got much better 🙂 I took short nap (well rested my eyes anyway), was fully dialated by 6:30 and started to push at 7:50. I would have started pushing at 6:30, but Grandma Pat and Grandma Ann weren’t there yet (I went for 6-10 centimeters in a matter of an hour and didn’t know to call them yet), so I waited until they got there.
By the time I started pushing, the epidural must have worn off (they don’t last long) and the pain kicked back in. It wasn’t bad though. When I started pushing there were only a few people in the room, the grandma’s, your daddy, me, and a nurse, but after just a few minutes there seemed to be an army of people, and they were all cheering my name with each and every push! It was the coolest thing 🙂 It was exciting and wonderful to be able to bring into the world when everyone was so happy and rooting for you. Just you! I can’t fully describe it, but it was just a joyful moment.

After only 30 minutes of pushes and cheers, you were brought into the world. I’ll never forget those first few seconds of seeing you and watching your eyes focus on mine. You didn’t cry hardly at all, and were just so focused on my face. It was the most powerful moment in my life and in that instance, I could not have been happier. I also saw a look on your Daddy’s face that I’d never quite seen before. He was over the moon in love the second he saw you and the pride that flooded his face was amazing. For being such a little thing, you created the most intense and wonderful moment that either of us had ever experienced.

After the cleaned you and me up, we allowed Nathan, Cassie, Ian (Cassie’s boyfriend), and Aubrey into the room to meet you . We passed you around and introduced you to your family. It was a very private moment, and we’re glad that we were able to give you that. Everyone marveled at how beautiful you were and were so very glad that you were here.

The next day or two was a blur of learning to breast feed, and wishing we were home to rest. Granted, we didn’t really get that, but going home was nice.  The car ride home wasn’t though…

When we got to Oviedo, we decided that we need to stop at Publix for just a minute so that Daddy could run in and get something. While you and I were waiting in the car, I heard this soft release of air. I looked down and you pooped that black tar poop all over yourself. It was all over your new little onesie, the car seat, and you. Now, since I had just had a baby only 2 days before, I couldn’t walk or move very well, let alone fast. I got out of the car, got your diaper bag out of the trunk and searched to no avail for some baby wipes. We had diapers, but since the hospital didn’t provide baby wipes while we were there, we had used all of the spare wipes that we had packed in your diaper bag.

The next few minutes were awful. When your Daddy came back to the car, he found both of us crying and covered in black and green tar, sweat (since it was no less than 95 degrees outside), tears, and blood from your pin-pricked heal (after all the sweating, your band-aid had fallen off!). He went back in and bought us some more wipes and we managed, somehow, to get everything wiped off. Obviously, this was not one of our best moments, and I’ll never ever forget it 🙂

Once we were home, things were better. We introduced you to the dogs, who barked at you when you moved :), got settled in and began our life together.

Filed under: Brighton's Birth on June 12th, 2006