Labour & Delivery

Labour & Delivery

January 30, 2006, 6:56 pm
Filed under: Baby

It didn’t take much oxytocin to kick Fawn’s contractions into high gear.  Together, we walked around the halls.  Every few minutes we would stop while she wrapped her arms around my shoulders and we waited out the contraction.  They hit hard and fast.  We made our way back to the room so the nurse, Doris, and nurse-in-training,  Adrienne, could monitor the stress on the baby and Fawn’s progress.  Fawn was progressing quickly.  The baby was fine.

 

Sitting on one of those big exercise balls, Fawn kept saying that she felt like she needed "to take a crap", which is not an expression I have ever heard her use before.  The contractions were coming swiftly and with force, but she breathed through each one.  After one particularly big contraction and another "I feel like I need to crap", the nurse said, "I want to examine you.  Climb on the bed." 

 

When Fawn climbed onto the bed, I noticed a mucousy red liquid hanging out of her.  I looked at the nurse, to see if he face would betray something wrong.  She was smiling.  The examination revealed that, in less than an hour, Fawn had gone from 3-4 cm to 10 cm.  She was fully dilated. 

 

The student nurse went to call the doctor.

 

It was around noon.  Dr. Williams just left the hospital and had only had time to brew a cup of coffee and made a lunch date from the comfort of her home.  She cancelled the lunch date, but brought the coffee with her to the hospital.

 

Fawn got the order to "do what your body tells you to do".  She pushed. 

 

I stood beside her, stoking her forehead.  My hands were cold and they were shaking.  I was cold.  The room was cold.  Everyone in the room was cold except for Fawn.

 

In between pushes, with her eyes closed, she said to me, "You hands are cold.  That feels good," so I kept doing it. 

 

I whispered, "I loved you," and Fawn whispered back.

 

The nurse took hold of Fawn’s leg asked me to take hold of the other.  She instructed me to bring the leg up towards Fawn’s chest when she was pushing.

 

Fawn was pushing.  Not a sound came out of her.  She was holding her breath during the pushes and turning bright red.  When she was deep red, she would gasp a deep breath and push again.

 

The nurses and doctor were impressed.  The delivery was progressing rapidly and Fawn was pushing like an expert.  I glanced over on occasion to see how Fawn was progressing.  I could see a little bit of the baby’s head showing.  It was pointed and wrinkled and I commented on it to the doctor.

 

"That’s just the skin that’s moved out of the way for the bones in the skill," she explained, "Go ahead and touch it if you like.  I did, gently.  Dr. Williams grabbed my hand and moved it around.  I could feel the skin moving and the bony plates in the skull.  I smiled.

 

When I removed my hand, I wanted to go back to cooling Fawn’s forehead, but my fingers were covered in goop.  The doctor motioned me to wipe it on my shirt.  My shirt was clean.  I wiped it on Fawn’s gown instead, and started cooling Fawn’s forehead and face again.

 

It didn’t take long for that one final push.  Fawn gave a good series of pushes and the baby’s head popped out, with the umbilical cord wrapped loosely around the baby’s neck.  The doctor commented that the wrapping of the cord was of no concern in this case – there was still plenty of slack.  The doctor quickly unwrapped the cord and the baby’s body was soon out, followed by a mass of other liquids.

 

It was 12:37 – one hour and twenty-seven minutes after they began the induction.

 

I was in a moment of reverie.  It was my first glance at the baby.  I could finally see what my child looked like.  I was finally going to get to meet my child.

 

The baby was so small.  Within seconds, the nurse had placed it on Fawn’s belly.  Nobody even knew if it was a boy or a girl.  One of the nurses looked.  It was a girl.

 

Fawn had been right about the baby being a girl.  We had only been able to decide on a girl’s name – Jade Nahanni.

 

Dr. Williams had asked me earlier if I would like to cut the cord.  I told her I would.  As the baby lay on Fawn’s chest, she prepared the cord for me and handed me some scissors.  It took me three cuts, but I did it.

 

There were little bubbles coming out of the baby’s mouth and nose, which the nurses sucked out with a little blue "baster".  The baby gagged every time they did this, but it didn’t seem to be too bothered.  Jade was whimpering quietly. 

 

They took a few quick measurements of the baby while Fawn delivered the placenta.  The placenta looked like a big piece of steak.  I realised I was hungry.

 

They returned Jade to Fawn’s chest.  A few minutes later, Jade let out a few cries.  Everyone smiled.  It was a good sign.

 

It was a flurry of activity, everyone performing their duties.  As the baby lay on Fawn’s chest, Dr. Williams worked on Fawn, doing some sutures.  There was some tearing, but again, not so much that anyone seemed concerned.  Everyone was smiling and commenting on the fast delivery and excellent job that Fawn had done.

 

Dr. Williams showed us the placenta and which parts went where.  One of the hospital staff brought in lunch (fish and chips), which I ate, because Fawn didn’t seem too interested in eating.

 

The nurses helped Jade latch on for breastfeeding.  One of the nurses noticed that there was a little sucking blister on Jade’s right hand; probably the same hand she wouldn’t put down for her ultrasound.  Suddenly, the room was much emptier than it had been before.  The baby warmer and tray full of scissors and other implements was gone. 

 

I started making calls to family and friends.  Jade fed for an hour and a half.

 

Later, Fawn went to take a shower and I got to bond with my little girl.  We walked up and down the hall together until my arms got sore, but I still didn’t want to put her down.  She squeaked out of both ends and made the cutest little sounds.  She was so easy to calm.

 

The student nurse changed her while I watched.  They took a sample of the meconium and then swaddled her again.  We walked up and down the hall again, and within minutes, I could feel her pooping again and again, but she was so sleepy and comfortable, I didn’t want to disturb her.

 

I held her in my arm while I made more calls.  Fawn relaxed in bed, drifting slowly towards sleep.

 

The student nurse came back into the room and asked if we would like to give Jade a bath.  I still didn’t want to disturb her, but we agreed that we would have to do it eventually anyways.  She was very calm while we washed her head, but cried when we washed her body.  We dried her, and Fawn and the nurse put her into a little jumper and swaddled her again.

 

Again, Jade and I took a walk down the hall.  Again, I could feel her poop her diaper.  But she looked so relaxed, I decided not to change it again.  Besides, she was rooting and wanted something to eat.  So did I.

I finished off Fawn’s hospital lunch, which was cold but tasty, and headed down to the cafeteria to get some more.  This is where I am now.

 

I can’t believe I’m a dad.  I can’t believe how much has happened today and how quickly it happened.  I can’t believe how incredibly well Fawn did – she’s a natural mother.  It all feels surreal, but I have an overwhelming urge to get back upstairs and see my wife and little girl.  And so, this entry ends.

5 Comments

5 Comments so far
Leave a comment

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI