Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Happy Birthday, I-gots!

Today is I-gots’s third birthday. (I-gots is what my son called himself up until a few months ago.) Actually, his birthday probably should have been yesterday, on the third anniversary of my last prenatal checkup. When we went in for that appointment, I was already a few days overdue and my stomach was, well, shrinking. I told the doctor I felt smaller, so he measured my belly. The week before, I’d been a thirty-six; that day, I was a thirty-four.

So he fired up the ultrasound, slathered the cold jelly across my stomach. Jabbed the wand into my side and, for a whole minute, maybe two, just stared at the screen. When I asked him what he was doing, he said, “I’m trying to find the amniotic sac, to measure the amount of amniotic fluid. But there’s so little left I can’t even get a reading.”

I asked him what that meant. He said, “It means we’re going to have a baby.”

We discussed the possibility of both a vaginal and Caesarean birth. I really wanted to deliver vaginally, and he was willing to let me try. But he warned us it might not work--since there was so little fluid left, and that fluid is kind of like the shock absorber during labor, the baby might not tolerate it.

A nurse guided us through a labyrinth of stairs and hallways to Labor and Delivery. Honey Bear went out to get our bag. (We’d sort of had a feeling something like this would happen). They checked me in, hooked me up to all the monitors. Started the Pitocin drip.

Pitocin, which is manufactured oxytocin (the hormone that triggers contractions), must have been invented by a sadist. Within an hour, I was contracting every two or three minutes--EVERY two or three minutes--for about a minute at a time. After a few hours, a nurse checked my progress. I’d only dilated to about a two.

More Pitocin, more contractions. No more dilatation. The nurse convinced the doctor to turn down the Pitocin for the night, so I could get some sleep. She even brought me Ambien (which didn’t work). I passed the night in a strange place between asleep and awake. Between excited and terrified.

By five the next morning, I’d been laboring for more than twelve hours--and I was up to about a three. I was frustrated. I was exhausted. And the doctor wanted to insert a more reliable fetal heart monitor, one that takes its reading directly from the baby’s scalp. I knew I couldn’t handle that without an epidural.

The needle went in; the pain came out. It was glorious. I was certain I could go another twelve or thirteen hours--and that’s precisely what I did.

By ten-thirty, I was a five, maybe a six. I felt hopeful. By two, I was a five, maybe a six. I felt less hopeful. By five, I was—you guessed it—still a five. (Nobody really bothered to call it a six anymore.) I’d been in labor for twenty-five hours. And I-gots’s heart rate was dropping.

The doctor was amazed he’d lasted as long as he had. Still, he strongly urged us to think about a C-section. We thought about it for all of two-point-three seconds. Of course we’d do the C-section. Of course we’d do whatever was best for the baby.

It’s a strange thing to sign on a dotted line that reads, in big, bold letters, “You know, what you’re about to do might kill you, but we really hope think it won’t.” And it’s a strange thing to let yourself be wheeled to the OR, when you’ve never had so much as a broken pinky, and sliced open wide enough to let a whole person through. Still, it didn’t seem strange in that moment; it seemed like the only thing to do.

A few minutes later, at five-twenty-seven in the evening, little I-gots was born. (And he was little, or at least skinny--six pounds, six ounces, and twenty-one inches long.) And my whole world changed. I’d never been a baby person, but suddenly, I was. I’d never felt the need to protect anything before, but all at once, I did.

But of all the things I gave him, I-gots gave me something, too. He gave me naptime, three or four hours every day that were well and truly mine. He gave me a chance to write (again). He gave me back my words.

And for that I’ll be forever grateful.

10 comments:

Connie Keller said...

Congrats on your son's birthday! My little boy will be twenty this year, and it really seems like it was just the other day. But it's been an amazing blessing to watch him grow into wonderful man. There will be bumps along the road, but it's such a worthwhile privilege.

Myrna Foster said...

Happy birthday, I-gots! :o)

Krista Van Dolzer said...

Connie and Myrna, I'll pass it on. (Although I've tried telling him several times already that it's his birthday, but he won't believe me unless there's cake:) )

Holly said...

A precious, precious, dear story. I loved it. Happy birthday to your son.

Krista Van Dolzer said...

Thanks, Holly.

Unknown said...

Happy Birthday to I-Got's! They tried the "Take this Ambien and get some sleep...you'll need your strength when we really start this tomorrow" trick on you too, huh? It's just so mean.

Kelly Bryson said...

Sweet story and happy bday to I-gots.

Re pitocin- *shudders*. That stuff is rough. I tried to avoid an epidural on it and it wasn't fun.

I think that's why I can't stand to watch birthing scenes on TV or in movies. Or is that how everyone feels?

And I was given a demerol during labor once, and that stuff was trippy. Never again!

Krista Van Dolzer said...

Hillary, yep. Maybe we should start a class-action lawsuit for false advertising:)

Kelly, I've had demerol with both my kids, since I had C-sections both times. (Actually, I didn't realize they gave it to women in labor, too.) It makes everything feel real good the first day - but then the second day, when you don't have that lovely I-can-do-five-laps-around-the-hospital trippiness coursing through your veins, you crash.

A.L. Sonnichsen said...

Happy Birthday, I-gots! I'm not really a baby person, either, but I always fall in love with my own kids (which I guess is a good thing!). Thanks for sharing your story. What a crazy adventure!! I'm glad you both made it through okay. And yes, I know about those petocin contractions. HORRIBLE!

Amy

Krista Van Dolzer said...

Amy, I'm glad we both made it out okay, too:) (Although the thought has crossed my mind that if I'd lived even a hundred years ago, one or both of us might not have made it...)