Flashback Friday: July 12, 2007

Considering it was Stone's birthday this past Sunday, I thought it'd be appropriate to do a flashback to the day he was born. If you're not in for a long post, I won't be offended. I just need to document it, and I think my personal journal has the abridged version. I know, I know, I shy away from lengthy posts, but I need to write this one down.

The story is split into two parts: 1) Pre Labor & 2) Labor w/CRAZY Nurse. If you read nothing else, the nurse comments are entertaining to say the least. So here it goes....

Pre Labor: As I mentioned in his birthday post, Stone was always an active baby in the womb. Around the conference tables at work, he was the big distraction. You could see his movements from across the room. Cliff and I were wrapping up our Alias series marathon, and he'd sit there on the couch, with his hands on my belly all night long, just feeling Stone move. I hear that some mothers notice "active" specific times during the day when their baby is wide awake. With Stone, there was never a specific time. He was active all day long. Perhaps it was all the salsa I consumed while pregnant.

During this time, we were living in downtown Salt Lake City. My office was downtown, in walking distance. Cliff was commuting to Provo for his last semester at BYU, and when he did not take Trax (the train)/bus to Provo, he'd take my car (he didn't like taking his '55 Chevy on a 45+ minute commute). So on July 12, he took my car down to Provo.

Backing up just a bit, Stone was actually due on the 10th, but no signs of labor were present. The 11th came, and I seemed to be contracting a little that night, but nothing painful. The 12th arrived, I headed off for work, and that morning I continued to have contractions, but again, nothing painful.

I remember sitting in my office on the second floor, feeling like something just wasn't right. Stone wasn't moving like he did every other day of my pregnancy. I quickly called my mom for her advice. All my other calls to my mom throughout me pregnancy always ended, "Ohh, that's normal, Kendal. I experienced that, too." So when she said, "call your doctor right now," I got worried. I quickly called my doctor's office, and her nurse instructed me to immediately call the hospital and schedule a non-stress test for the baby ASAP. They told me to come in as soon as I can. All of this, back to back, worried me like crazy. I quickly called Cliff in Provo, and told him the news. He immediately made way back to SLC.


I then went to my dear co-worker/close friend, Shelby. With tears in my eyes, which began to stream down my cheeks, I said, "Can you do me a HUGE favor? Can you take me to the hospital? Something doesn't seem right, and they're expecting me. Cliff's on his way back up here."

She immediately dropped what she was doing, grabbed her keys, and we took off for the hospital. She accompanied me into the room where they hooked me up on the monitor, and she sat there with me, and watched my baby move on the screen. Cliff arrived soon after, and she took back off to work.
The nurse called my doctor, who happened to be on vacation, which I didn't know! She had scheduled an induction for the 17th (one week after due date), saying most 1st babies come late. (I know, I know, crazy, to wait an entire week after the due date). The nurse informed my doc's partner that my amniotic fluid was a little low, which apparently is not uncommon for over-due pregnancies. So, they checked my measurements, and saw that I was progressing, and called her partner. Her partner said, since I was 2 days over due, and my measurements were progressing, there was no need to wait and stress this little baby out. So, they said, "let's go induce you!"

We were thrilled, but weren't quite expecting it, even though it was 2 days after our due date. I asked if I could run home for my bag, and if I was allowed to eat something, because I had hardly eaten all day, and I was starved, and I didn't know when I'd actually get a bite to eat. They said yes, because they needed to get a room ready for me, so we quickly headed home (our home was just a few blocks from the hospital).

I grabbed my bag, which had been packed for over a week, and Cliff kindly touched up the nail polish on my toes. I know, my mom couldn't believe I took my sweet time. We were all anxious for Stone to arrive! But I knew I'd be looking at my feet during labor. Don't judge. After that, we quickly ran to Subway to pick up a sandwich to give me a little fuel for what I anticipated to be a long afternoon/night.

We got back to the hospital, and they were waiting for me, and admitted me straight into the room and got started IMMEDIATELY. And so the crazy nurse entered.

Crazy Nurse: Cliff and I were accompanied by a {crazy} nurse, while the doctor sat in her office monitoring the baby's heartbeat/movements. The monitors were hooked up, and we could see that Stone's heart rate was a little low. They gave me some apple juice to get some sugar to the baby. Sure enough, his heart rate sped up just a little bit. I told the nurse, "Gosh, I'm so nervous for my baby. Does the doctor think everything is okay?"

Crazy Nurse Comment One: "Well, if we thought the baby was okay, we wouldn't have brought you in here. So yes, we're all worried." Ummm, correct me if I'm wrong, but even if that's the truth, doesn't a lady in labor deserve a little sugar-coating? Come on!

The pitocin quickly kicked in, and I was starting to contract, but nothing painful yet. Another nurse came in, and said, "The only anesthesiologist here tonight, is getting ready to go into a c-section. If you want an epidural, it's now or never." Yikes! I was 90% sure I wanted one, but I wanted to give nature a little time...I wanted to feel a little pain. But, I wasn't going to risk giving it up in case I absolutely needed it, so I said, "okay, bring him in!"


While patiently waiting for the anesthesiologist, I began making {what I thought was} small talk with the nurse. I said, "Gosh, I hope I don't have to have a c-section."

Crazy Nurse Comment Two: "Well, honey, you never know. You have to prove yourself. You may already begin pushing, but if something goes wrong, we have to operate."

I couldn't believe this. Again, let's have a little more sugar-coating. Or you know what, just go ahead and tell me, "honey, you'll be okay. don't worry about that right now." Please?! (and fyi, I didn't have to have a c-section).

The doc came in, gave me the epidural (to which I hardly felt, despite the awful stories I've heard), and all was well.

We continued to watch the monitor as I'd contract. Stone's heartbeat went EXTREMELY low through each contraction. It's my understanding, that most babies do, but it worried me like crazy. One specific contraction came, and what I saw on the monitor kind of freaked me out.

I said to the nurse, "That went REALLY low. Is he okay??"

Crazy Nurse Comment Three: "Ohh, don't worry [ah! I thought a comforting comment was finally coming out of her mouth!], the baby's heart beat will do a lot of funky stuff up and down before it dies." MORBID, right?!

She walked out soon after that, and I looked at Cliff and said, "Did she really just say that?!"

THANKFULLY, the nurses switched shifts, and I had the BEST, KINDEST nurse for the rest of my labor/delivery. I LOVED her.
After about 4 hours of labor, Stone entered the world, completely healthy. He was just ready to get out of there and needed a little help.

His little personality appeared quickly, when he tried picking up his own head after 4 days. I guess that was foreshadowing his early crawling {6 months} and his early walking {8 months}. To this day, he thinks he can do what the big boys do. He's always ready and willing to try something new, regardless of his size and age.

We.Love.Him.