My Birth Story

Chase Matthew joined us on October 21, 2010, at 8:52pm. He weighed 6lbs 15oz and was 19 inches long.

Toward the end of my pregnancy I was fighting having high blood pressure on and off. I was still working as well my full schedule. My doctor wanted to make sure I was not developing pre-eclampsia. This is a condition of the placenta and can cause problems for mother and unborn child. So, in my 38th week my doctor told me I cannot go back to work and to do a few days of bed rest and come back to recheck blood pressure. I was sent to St. John for a non-stress test and blood pressure check, all came back good and I was sent home. The next week it was back up so my doctor opted to induce me instead of risk getting preeclampsia. This was it we were going to have a baby in a couple days!

Wednesday (10/20) we arrived at the hospital in the evening to get started prepping me for induction the next day. I was given some medication throughout the night that was supposed to help dilate and soften my cervix. I did start having contractions as well. I was checked a couple times throughout the night and there was no change. The next morning Pitocin was supposed to be started at 6 am, they postponed it hoping another dose of medication would help with my cervix. At 11am my doctor came in to check on me and opted to start the Pitocin drip. It is started at a low amount then increased slightly every half hour. Throughout the day my contractions were getting worse and more frequent but still no change to my cervix, no dilation. By 6:30pm we were running out of options because they could not increase the drip of Pitocin anymore because my contractions were too strong and nothing else was happening. My doctor gave me 3 options: 1. Go home and see what my body does naturally and hope I don't develop preeclampsia 2. Stop the induction, eat and start again tomorrow 3. Have a c-section.

I was torn. I really did not want to go home, I really did not want to endure another sleepless night/day of contractions and terrible back labor and I really did not want a c-section. But c-section was the only option to be done with everything! I cried from the minute I made the decision until I got my epidural in the operating room. I was scared to death and did not know what to expect. I am not the type of person that does well with unknowns. After getting prepped and getting my epidural I was relaxed, feeling no pain and ready to meet my little man. (If you want more detailed description of everything feel free to ask me directly!) Randy joined me shortly after in the operating room. I know he was not sure what to say to me know he was as scared for me as I was. But he did great at reassuring me.

As we were waiting behind the blue curtain, all of a sudden an instant cry rang through the room and I was shown my blue baby (well I saw and arm and leg when they held him over the curtain). Then Randy had said that he peed on a nurse! Cries and more cries, the best cries you could ever hear, tears filled our eyes. A nurse came over shortly and Daddy got to hold baby Chase for a few minutes until he was asked if he wanted to go with baby to recovery room while they finished with me.

About 30 minutes later I got to join them in the room, witnessing his first bath. While I was recovering and getting cleaned up I did get to have him near on my chest for the first time with help from the nurses since I was shaking uncontrollably (normal side effect of drugs.) Everything happened so fast and it was all surreal.

The first night since I was so out of it and was exhausted we opted to have Chase sent to the nursery for the night, coming back when it was time for him to eat. It was a long night, I did not get much sleep because of the anticipation of the upcoming night and day ahead. We stayed in the hospital for two more nights (a total of 4 nights.)

It is a very nice hospital and the staff was great. I could really go on and on about all the details of my experience but I think you get the idea :) Happy to be home with my family!