Matthew's Birth Story

Here's the highlight reel and each of our thoughts and emotions to each event:

Standard Ultrasound and Non-Stress Test-Turned-Induction:

E: An Evanston Hospital technician and student start with the ultrasound and are recording how big Matthew's legs are, finding the heartbeat, etc. when the technician says, "I don't know if this a good thing or a bad thing but...your amniotic fluid looks really low."  I put two and two together that this meant we needed to be induced.  The technician then left the room to speak with the doctor at the clinic and then paged our doctor.  She came back and confirmed that I needed to be induced because a desired level of amniotic fluid is 8 (no idea what the unit is) and mine was at a 4.49.  My feeling at this point: disbelief, shock, and excitement over the fact that we're really going to have our baby today.  It was a lot to take in.  While we knew that being induced was a possibility, I just didn't expect it.

We got our belongings and walked to labor and delivery...

When using Pitocin to induce, labor tends to be longer and contractions are stronger.  The nurse said on average, labor takes 24-48 hours when induced, but since I was already dilated and my cervix was softening, she thought it would be faster than that.  I sure hoped so.

M: What's funny is that I have spent the entire pregnancy asking a billion questions and making sure I know everything that could possibly be going on with E and Matthew, yet I clearly didn't understand what the ultrasound and non-stress test were intended to accomplish.  I thought the ultrasound would tell us if Matthew was still head down and that the non-stress test would tell us if the fluid levels were low.  Thus, when the nurse said, "I don't know if this is good news or bad news," I had no idea what in the world she could be talking about.  Call me old-fashioned, but when it comes to your wife's ultrasound of your unborn child, there is no middle ground; things are either good news or they are bad news.  There is no in between.  For example: baby has ten fingers = good news; baby looks like wife's co-worker = bad news.  So, needless to say, I was curious what her next line was going to be.  And when I heard it... I just started laughing and said to E, "so I guess we're having a baby today!"  It was pretty cool, to say the least.

One Last Attempt at No Pitocin:

E: We had learned in our childbirth class (a 9 week, 3 hours per shot class aimed at an all-natural childbirth) that there were other ways to get labor started, such as breaking my water bag.  We asked the nurses and resident about these options and were informed that unless the baby is fully descended in the birth canal, this is dangerous because the umbilical cord or an arm can come out first, requiring an emergency c-section.  As upsetting and fear-inducing it was to learn that I needed to use Pitocin, the decision was clear.  Pitocin it is...

M: I am really happy we took our Bradley Method class, but this kind of bothered me.  The class was great for learning about natural pain management skills and our instructor was fantastic.  But there were times where it felt like the class painted all things medical as evil; pitocin being one of those things.  E and I were under the impression that doctors only call for pitocin because they wanted to rush you through to delivery.  It turns out, pitocin was necessary to make E's delivery as safe as possible.

It's the 4th Quarter

E: Mike and I had prepared weeks in advance to use visualization techniques to get through painful contractions.  Here's what I used:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2o7cLQg1NJo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVDZE8LnjYI

Not kidding.  Clay Matthews: Linebacker by day, inspirer of pregnant women by night.  Fortunately for Mike, I don't find four foot long blond hair attractive.

And Lawrence Taylor, well, I envisioned I was him, or that I was able to escape from him to get a touchdown.  For my lady friends, except for Abbey, who need an explanation of who this is...he is one of the greatest linebackers of all time. 

M: I would like to say I was there to watch her run from LT, but I can't.  That's around the time I fell asleep for an hour.  It just happened.  Fortunately, my wife had been telling me for hours I should get some rest, so she wasn't upset.  Probably because she preferred I wasn't there while she fantasized about the physical prowess of other men.  Also, it's important everyone knows that I repeated the line "4th quarter" throughout the entire labor to continue to use football for inspiration.  My word do I love this woman.

The Decision to Get an Epidural and God Sends an Angel:

E: It has been over 5 hours and I had yet to move past 7cm.  My contractions were extremely painful and it felt like I was never being given a rest period.  Additionally, I was having urges to push, but was told I was not dilated enough along.  Uuuughhh...I was exhausted and very discouraged.  Mike and I made the decision to get an epidural because I could not fathom laboring for several more hours to then face the most painful and difficult of tasks, the pushing.  The anethestiologist "just so happened to be" in a different building and it took him twice as long to get to me as usual, about 20 minutes.  In this time, Mike was reviewing the consent form, which among many things, said that death was a rare, yet still possible consequence of an epidural.  And then a midwife, whom we had never meant and was not the one responsible for my care, barged into our room with great authority and demanded to check my cervix because it seemed like I was ready to push.  I was 9.5cm (which she could push to 10) and my cervix was good to go.  Brittany, this occured the moment you texted me that you were praying for me.  Surprising?  No.

M: It really was like God decided "Alright, that's enough, no epidural for you."  I was disappointed for E that she was going to be getting an epidural; after dominating labor for so long, I was worried she would feel like she "gave up and took the epidural."  That, of course, could not be farther from the truth.  For Pete's sake, she went 14+ hours medication free.  I complain when I have gas pain.  Or when I'm sleepy.  Anyway, when we were told E was ready to push, it was like we had new life.  We just looked at each other and had one of those "this game's ours" looks.  I told her "We're doing this!"  She then looked at the anethisiologist and actually said "Sorry, I'm not going to need the shot anymore."  AWESOME.

Delivery Time:

E: The end was in sight.  I was going to meet my son.  And soon.  I asked the doctor to tell me how long she thought it would take.  She said it could take 5 min to 3 hours.  Everyone continued to give me encouragement, saying I was doing well.  I told the doctor I needed a goal.  She told me 30 minutes.  Wow, was that motivating.  Done and done.  Baby arrived 5 minutes later at 10:34am.

M: The rocking out was complete.  17 hours, no medication, healthy and happy mama and son.  I couldn't have been more proud.

That's a handsome son and pants combo.