Hayden Christopher's Birth Story
By his mommy, Kelly
Let me preface this birth story by saying that after watching too many episodes of The Learning Channel's "A Birth Story," the idea of giving birth was quite frightening.
Hayden was due March 13 and by March 4, 2003 I was miserable. I could barely walk, could not sleep lying down and sitting was painful. I informed my midwife during a mid-day appointment that it was time for action. She agreed as the baby was getting large and going to the due date might cause difficulties.
She stripped my membranes and that really started things moving. By the evening, I started to feel my uterus become hard as a rock. By the time Letterman was off, I was feeling crampy and began to feel the beginning of contractions. It was time to go to the hospital. I was a bit early but they let me stay and thank goodness because I got the last birthing suite. They asked me to walk around to get things moving faster. Needless to say I could not walk before I got there, walking after was not tons of fun. I instead opted for the Jacuzzi. It was nice but let's get real; the contractions were continuing and increasing in intensity. I started to use the breathing exercises they taught in my birthing classes and watched the clock non-stop. (I don't recommend the clock watching.) After about ten hours of contracting naturally, I requested some pain relief and received Stadol. This was wonderful but I acted and said strange things. (I kept telling everyone I was going to dye my hair blonde after the baby was born???) Also, the Stadol was temporary and just gave me a short reprieve from the pain of the contractions.
Around noon, I had the opportunity to have an epidural and I jumped at the chance. After twelve hours of contractions I was ready for the good stuff. I was in a long line of many deliveries at St. Joe and I decided to take the epidural and rest until it was my turn. This turned out to be a wise move. I slept for three or four hours. It was heaven until I woke up and realized I still had not had the baby.
We started to push around four o'clock in the afternoon. We pushed on my back, on my right side, turned down the epidural, pushed on my left side, turned down the epidural a little more, sat on the edge of the bed in an almost squatting position and I threw up. To add to the mix, the baby was turned the wrong way so between the positions the midwife was trying to turn the baby and he kept flipping back over. Seeing your midwife up to her elbows is also a strange thing to observe.
My birthing team which consisted of my husband, my mother, a nurse and midwife turned me over so I could get on my hands and knees to push. By this time the epidural was just about off. I knew this position from my yoga classes in my former life and my pre-natal yoga class from my current one. This position didn't work either. I fell down in child's pose just out of habit. And the term C-section started to float around. I was determined not to have a C-section and continued to push while everyone else rested to discuss what to do next. A few minutes of pushing in child's pose and he turned and started to come down the birth canal. They flipped me back over and he was born shortly thereafter; at 7:48pm.
The midwife and nurse were great, encouraging me and sticking with me through the end.
After delivery, they turned him around for me to see and he peed on me, pooped on the midwife and burped on the way to the warming table. What an introduction! He scored a 10 on his APGAR and was officially crowned extraordinary.
Hayden Christopher was born March 5 weighing in at 9 pounds and 3 ounces.