The Birth Story - Part 1

10 Months of Pregnancy!

There is something magical about a newborn that really does cause amnesia when it comes to the pain of labor. Thankfully at the urging of our Doula, Steve created a document while I was in labor with snippets of our experiences. I will do my best to recreate the actual events as they occurred.

Boden Matthew Fezler was due on January 16^th 2011. He was, however, on his own schedule. For 9 days we tried everything to urge him into the world. From pineapple, walking, acupuncture, my membranes were stripped by my doctor, sex, evening primrose oil, and red raspberry tealeaf – nothing we did mattered. And finally, on the day before induction I tried the granddaddy of them all…. Castor Oil.

It succeeded in cleaning out my system, but not motivating labor to start.

So, Monday evening on January 24^th Steve and I checked into the hospital. I was almost 3 centimeters dilated and 40% effaced. We ate delicious snarf’s sandwiches for dinner, watched episodes of House on our computer, and went to bed at 10:30 that evening.

6am on Tuesday, January 25^th Allison our nurse came in and started the Pitocin drip. (Pitocin is the synthetic form of oxytocin; which causes contractions/ labor to start).

We walked the halls with my IV machine, whom we lovingly named Frank (because Steve couldn’t think of the name of the machine). We watched more episodes of House, and even became overly optimistic about the whole process.

Me: “This isn’t so bad”

Steve: “ Maybe we’ll be able to order Chinese food for dinner after the delivery.”

The doctor came again at about 12:30 in the afternoon to check my progress. I was only at 4 cm and 60% effaced so she broke my water. Gush! Hopefully this will speed things up.

Now, for those of you who may not be aware, Steve and I were really hoping to have a natural birth. We even hired a Doula to help us with labor. A Doula is basically an advocate, to help coach you and your partner towards the best birth experience you can have. Our Doula Lisa, was amazing, and I know that she was instrumental in helping give us not only the experience we wanted, but possibly even avoid unnecessary medical interventions like a c-section or epidural. I cannot speak enough about how great Lisa was. She helped Steve to be the most amazing coach in the world, gave him breaks when he needed them, and kept our wishes about our birth at the forefront of our minds even as the pain of contractions threatened to wipe them away.

As we were being induced I was hopeful that we weren’t silly for having hired a Doula. To be honest, she was one of the best things we did. And though Pitocin causes stronger, longer and harder contractions. She helped us get as close to a “natural” delivery as possible. And on top of that, she took the most amazing photos the moment Boden was born.

Lisa and my Mom showed up shortly after my water being broken. For several hours labor continued and my contractions slowly but steadily became more intense.

To be continued…