Are you ready for this? It might be long and gruesome. You can read Joe's condensed version below if you're turned off by birthing stories. Personally, they fascinate me. How can one process be so different every time for every person? Maybe the birth portends the personality 
of the baby. Who knows.
You know I have a very bad, very miserable attitude at the end of my pregnancy. That's why I didn't write on my blog for the past two weeks. I was beyond despondency because: 1) The baby was getting bigger and bigger 2) I was worried about having another hematoma because of the large child (oh, and she's not large. Only 7 lbs 8 oz). 3) I thought I'd never go into labor naturally and have to beg the doctor to induce me. Which I did beg twice in the last couple of weeks.
So after much misery and lots of false contractions for two weeks, a miracle occurred: I went into labor on my due date. I woke up at 1 am with contractions. They weren't regular, but they were the real thing. I excitedly played Word Challenge on Facebook to distract myself and called my mom. By 7 am, I was really tired, and decided to try to rest a little. I fell asleep for 45 minutes, and the contractions slowed. I was afraid they had stopped all together, so I got my family ready and forced them to come for a walk with me at 8 am. They picked up again to the 6-10 minute range. After two walks, my kids had had it with me. They were hungry and annoyed, and I was annoyed that at noon there was little progress. But I was undeterred: the baby had to come out today.
So, I called my friend Sue, dropped the kids off at her house, and Joe and I went to the hospital and walked around for another hour and a half after eating some lunch. Still not a lot of progress. They felt stronger, and they were now 2-6 minutes apart. I was getting blisters on my feet from walking so much, and my husband was like, "So now what are we going to do?" We decided it couldn't hurt to walk up to Labor and Delivery and see how I was progressing. They check me, I'm at a 4 (yay!), and they tell us to go walk around for 2 hours. Soon after the doctor was done checking me, the contractions became stronger. They were consistently 2-3 minutes apart for an hour. I walked around, but they stayed the same whether I was sitting or walking. They started to really hurt, so we decided to go back to Labor and Delivery.
It was the same doctor and nurse as before that check me. I'm not dilated anymore than a 4, and they seem unimpressed that my contractions are now close together and regular. They tell me to go walk some more, or to go home and take a bath. Then the doctor says, "And if they stop coming, then you can just stay home." At this point, I feel like crying. It's 5:30, I've been up since 1 am, and they won't take me? It's ludicrous. The doctor does not recognize labor when she sees it. I can't handle walking anymore, so I decide to opt for her second suggestion, go home and take a bath. On the car ride home, the contractions become more severe. I start doing breathing exercises to cope, which I've never had to do before. I had read about them that morning, and they actually did help. I take a bath, that calms me down, but after that, I can't sit down. It's just too painful to crunch up my stomach when there are huge contractions happening. Joe has me stick it out for an hour and a half, but after that, I just can't handle it anymore. We go back to the hospital.
I'm dying in the car because I can't stand up anymore. I roll down the window, concentrating on the wind to calm me down. Since it's a Sunday, the main doors to the hospital on base are closed, so I need to enter at the Emergency Room entrance. Joe drops me off while he finds a parking spot. As soon as he gets out, I have a massive contraction. I throw all of my stuff on the ground and clutch the wall for support. A gentleman sees me, he runs over and yells for someone to get me a wheelchair. I seriously think he thought I was going to have the baby right there. Joe walks in as they're getting the wheelchair, and the man and Joe rush me up to Labor and Delivery. I'm trying to get out of the wheelchair the whole time because the contractions are killing me.
When we get up to Labor and Delivery, the same nurse is there who denied me entrance the other two times. She informs us that all of the beds in Triage are full, and that we will have to go to the Waiting Room until one is ready. Seriously? I'm flipping out. I ask, "Can't I just wait right here by the front desk?" No, I have to go to the waiting room. We wait right outside of the door to the front desk instead of going to the waiting room. Then I get another huge contraction. I basically fall out of the wheel chair and get on my hands and knees, rocking back and forth. Luckily, a doctor with some sense sees me and says, "We need to get you a bed now."
They make me lie down to check how dilated I am. I'm at a 6. The whole time I'm begging for an epidural. They tell me I can't have one until my blood is drawn, and the lab gets a count of my platelets (have you ever heard of this before? I don't know what it is with this hospital and having to test everything. Other hospitals give you an epidural as soon as they can). That will take 30 to 45 minutes. I know I can't wait that long.
They finally get me admitted and put in a room. They then tell me I can take Fentanyl, which won't do much, but at least it will help. But first they need to monitor the baby for 10 minutes. They want me to lie back down on the bed, but I really can't. I clutch on to the side of the bed and rock back and forth during the contractions. They put on the monitors, but they keep on sliding off. Luckily, the results they get are conclusive enough; I can have the Fentanyl. They put in the IV while I'm having another huge contraction, somehow blood starts spewing everywhere, and it gets on Joe's shoe. After just a minute of actually laying in the bed the doctor checks me, and it's time to push.
I can't believe it. I went from 6cm to 10cm in 20 minutes. The drug is just starting to work, but all it really does is make me a little less anxious and fuzzy in the head. I still feel a lot of pain. I get up on the bed, and I push so hard. And scream. I screamed so loud. Joe said he had to push his shoulder into his ear. I push even when the doctor says to take a break. The baby comes out in 2 minutes. It's a miracle; I survived having a baby pretty much drug free.
Two things of interest that happened during the birth: my water never broke. The doctor says, "Let's try to keep the sac intact. In some cultures, they believe the baby born in the water sac is very lucky." Okay, I didn't even know it was possible to have the baby in the sac. I'm game. Well, as I'm pushing, the sac bursts, all over the doctor, right in her face. Luckily, she has on a glass visor over her face. But my husband wasn't so lucky. He got a little spray.
The other thing of interest is that I saw the whole thing. You know how they usually cover your legs so you won't be traumatized by seeing your own body ripped apart? Didn't happen this time. And surprisingly, I was okay. I saw little Ruby come out, I saw the placenta slide out, I saw it all. Oh, and the double placenta? It was crazy. The extra lobe was almost as big as the actual placenta Ruby was in.
After all was said and done, I felt really good. I am recovering better than I ever have before, and I do think it's because it was a natural childbirth. So for this reason, I might consider doing it again. But maybe with some coping strategies so I'm not ready to go crazy. Also, I decided I'm never having a baby at this hospital again. Wow. Can you believe that story? Don't worry; I wrote a letter of complaint. They were lucky I didn't have that baby in the waiting room. Or in the car on the way to the hospital.
But my baby is so sweet. We are very blessed to have our little Ruby Alice.
of the baby. Who knows.You know I have a very bad, very miserable attitude at the end of my pregnancy. That's why I didn't write on my blog for the past two weeks. I was beyond despondency because: 1) The baby was getting bigger and bigger 2) I was worried about having another hematoma because of the large child (oh, and she's not large. Only 7 lbs 8 oz). 3) I thought I'd never go into labor naturally and have to beg the doctor to induce me. Which I did beg twice in the last couple of weeks.
So after much misery and lots of false contractions for two weeks, a miracle occurred: I went into labor on my due date. I woke up at 1 am with contractions. They weren't regular, but they were the real thing. I excitedly played Word Challenge on Facebook to distract myself and called my mom. By 7 am, I was really tired, and decided to try to rest a little. I fell asleep for 45 minutes, and the contractions slowed. I was afraid they had stopped all together, so I got my family ready and forced them to come for a walk with me at 8 am. They picked up again to the 6-10 minute range. After two walks, my kids had had it with me. They were hungry and annoyed, and I was annoyed that at noon there was little progress. But I was undeterred: the baby had to come out today.
So, I called my friend Sue, dropped the kids off at her house, and Joe and I went to the hospital and walked around for another hour and a half after eating some lunch. Still not a lot of progress. They felt stronger, and they were now 2-6 minutes apart. I was getting blisters on my feet from walking so much, and my husband was like, "So now what are we going to do?" We decided it couldn't hurt to walk up to Labor and Delivery and see how I was progressing. They check me, I'm at a 4 (yay!), and they tell us to go walk around for 2 hours. Soon after the doctor was done checking me, the contractions became stronger. They were consistently 2-3 minutes apart for an hour. I walked around, but they stayed the same whether I was sitting or walking. They started to really hurt, so we decided to go back to Labor and Delivery.
It was the same doctor and nurse as before that check me. I'm not dilated anymore than a 4, and they seem unimpressed that my contractions are now close together and regular. They tell me to go walk some more, or to go home and take a bath. Then the doctor says, "And if they stop coming, then you can just stay home." At this point, I feel like crying. It's 5:30, I've been up since 1 am, and they won't take me? It's ludicrous. The doctor does not recognize labor when she sees it. I can't handle walking anymore, so I decide to opt for her second suggestion, go home and take a bath. On the car ride home, the contractions become more severe. I start doing breathing exercises to cope, which I've never had to do before. I had read about them that morning, and they actually did help. I take a bath, that calms me down, but after that, I can't sit down. It's just too painful to crunch up my stomach when there are huge contractions happening. Joe has me stick it out for an hour and a half, but after that, I just can't handle it anymore. We go back to the hospital.
I'm dying in the car because I can't stand up anymore. I roll down the window, concentrating on the wind to calm me down. Since it's a Sunday, the main doors to the hospital on base are closed, so I need to enter at the Emergency Room entrance. Joe drops me off while he finds a parking spot. As soon as he gets out, I have a massive contraction. I throw all of my stuff on the ground and clutch the wall for support. A gentleman sees me, he runs over and yells for someone to get me a wheelchair. I seriously think he thought I was going to have the baby right there. Joe walks in as they're getting the wheelchair, and the man and Joe rush me up to Labor and Delivery. I'm trying to get out of the wheelchair the whole time because the contractions are killing me.
When we get up to Labor and Delivery, the same nurse is there who denied me entrance the other two times. She informs us that all of the beds in Triage are full, and that we will have to go to the Waiting Room until one is ready. Seriously? I'm flipping out. I ask, "Can't I just wait right here by the front desk?" No, I have to go to the waiting room. We wait right outside of the door to the front desk instead of going to the waiting room. Then I get another huge contraction. I basically fall out of the wheel chair and get on my hands and knees, rocking back and forth. Luckily, a doctor with some sense sees me and says, "We need to get you a bed now."
They make me lie down to check how dilated I am. I'm at a 6. The whole time I'm begging for an epidural. They tell me I can't have one until my blood is drawn, and the lab gets a count of my platelets (have you ever heard of this before? I don't know what it is with this hospital and having to test everything. Other hospitals give you an epidural as soon as they can). That will take 30 to 45 minutes. I know I can't wait that long.
They finally get me admitted and put in a room. They then tell me I can take Fentanyl, which won't do much, but at least it will help. But first they need to monitor the baby for 10 minutes. They want me to lie back down on the bed, but I really can't. I clutch on to the side of the bed and rock back and forth during the contractions. They put on the monitors, but they keep on sliding off. Luckily, the results they get are conclusive enough; I can have the Fentanyl. They put in the IV while I'm having another huge contraction, somehow blood starts spewing everywhere, and it gets on Joe's shoe. After just a minute of actually laying in the bed the doctor checks me, and it's time to push.
I can't believe it. I went from 6cm to 10cm in 20 minutes. The drug is just starting to work, but all it really does is make me a little less anxious and fuzzy in the head. I still feel a lot of pain. I get up on the bed, and I push so hard. And scream. I screamed so loud. Joe said he had to push his shoulder into his ear. I push even when the doctor says to take a break. The baby comes out in 2 minutes. It's a miracle; I survived having a baby pretty much drug free.
Two things of interest that happened during the birth: my water never broke. The doctor says, "Let's try to keep the sac intact. In some cultures, they believe the baby born in the water sac is very lucky." Okay, I didn't even know it was possible to have the baby in the sac. I'm game. Well, as I'm pushing, the sac bursts, all over the doctor, right in her face. Luckily, she has on a glass visor over her face. But my husband wasn't so lucky. He got a little spray.
The other thing of interest is that I saw the whole thing. You know how they usually cover your legs so you won't be traumatized by seeing your own body ripped apart? Didn't happen this time. And surprisingly, I was okay. I saw little Ruby come out, I saw the placenta slide out, I saw it all. Oh, and the double placenta? It was crazy. The extra lobe was almost as big as the actual placenta Ruby was in.
After all was said and done, I felt really good. I am recovering better than I ever have before, and I do think it's because it was a natural childbirth. So for this reason, I might consider doing it again. But maybe with some coping strategies so I'm not ready to go crazy. Also, I decided I'm never having a baby at this hospital again. Wow. Can you believe that story? Don't worry; I wrote a letter of complaint. They were lucky I didn't have that baby in the waiting room. Or in the car on the way to the hospital.
But my baby is so sweet. We are very blessed to have our little Ruby Alice.
16 comments:
Way to go, Charlotte! I can't believe you did a natural birth (not that you really had a choice). I'm glad to hear you're recovering well.
The sac bursting part made me laugh out loud. Poor doctor.
Sorry about the hospital's lack of care... I have never heard of someone working in a hospital who would say to a woman having a baby, 'sorry you'll have to wait'. But,I'm very glad that your recovery is going well!
What a story!! Wow! I'm glad you wrote a letter of complaint. Ruby is beautiful!
Love and Hugs to all of the wonderful Hansen's family! Love the photos! Yo are all in our thoughts and prayers!
Hooray! You aren't prego anymore!
Bravo Char-Bar! I am so proud of you. I completely support your decision to not go back to that hospital- especially stay away from that beastly nurse who kept turning you away (who does she think she is, an innkeeper in Bethlehem?) Your story is somewhat similar to mine in that we both had to endure unplanned natural births. Like you, I'm just going to plan to go natural for my next one, or at least be completely prepared to do so if I have to.
Ruby is gorgeous! I'm so happy you are both doing well and are healthy. .
P.S. Don't you kind of feel super-human now? Like if you can give birth naturally you can do anything?
Holy Cow. I have would written a strongly worded letter myself. Good work mom! She is a doll. Congratulations.
Charlotte, As I said before, you are a TROOPER! And you're right about the baby being so sweet. Again, we just can't wait to meet that little sweetheart, and to see you, Joey, Dottie, and Elliot as well.
All our best love,
Lynne and Laurie
Wow ! What an ordeal ! That sweet little Ruby Alice made it out OK and your heroic efforts and many prayers made it possible. What a blessing to have you both safe and sound! Dottie, Elliot, and Ruby look great together. Happy Family. So inspiring! Auguri.
Charky, you're awesome. And your babe is beautiful. Sorry you had a such a rough time; you make me so excited for my natural birth. :P
Truly impressive Charlotte! And so happy to hear about the new sweet Ruby. She is so beautiful. Congrats guys.
Although now I'm getting a little nervous to deliver in a new hospital too.. hopefully I'll have time for an epidural :)
Wilford Hall, will your nonsense never end?! I'm sorry you had such a bad time there. Make sure you follow up on your letter. You know, in all your spare time. :)
Ruby is beautiful, loved meeting her!
holy cow! Good story! I haven't checked your blog in ages! I am so happy I did--congrats on #3
Hopefully this comment works - they usually don't when I try to comment on your blog for some reason. This story is HILARIOUS! You didn't tell me everything over the phone. I'm convinced, too - I'm going for natural for my next one if I can, but might take hypnobirthing classes from Shanda, LOL. But if I get pregnant with twins? Hmmm may have to rethink that - I found out most doctors won't deliver twins vaginally. I'm again SO happy for you, Charky. Ruby is beautiful, and ESPECIALLY lucky that her amniotic sac broke all over the doctor!!!
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