I can't believe it has taken me two weeks to get this story together, but
looking back at the other birth stories, it seems to be the norm. I guess
there's a magic two week point when things start to settle down a little!
Our story seems like such a long one because I feel like it lasted 5 days. I
remember being terribly frustrated at the wait, but now that my beautiful
baby girl is here, I can't remember at all how that felt. So without further
ado, here's the story.

It all started on Monday January 9th. While eating dinner, the contractions
that I had been having every evening for the last few weeks were stronger
than usual. I decided that I should start timing them. They started out at
about 7 minutes apart and quickly progressed to within 4 minutes apart. At
about 9:30, I decided that a warm bath would help me decide if they were
real, or not - by the time I got out of the bath, they were 2 minutes apart!

It was at that point (when my husband, Ken had been telling me for the last
two hours that we needed to go to the hospital) that I decided that we
should go in just in case. We spent about three hours in the hospital that
evening, but I was only dilated to 2 centimeters, and so the doctors agreed
that I should go home - which I was quite happy to do. Unfortunately, by the next afternoon, my contractions had all but stopped.

During the next 24 hours, I noticed that with nearly every contraction, I
seemed to be discharging small amounts of liquid - sort of like my water was breaking, but not a huge gush. When I called the doctor on Tuesday to tell them what was going on, the nurse said that if my water had broken, I would know. I called back on Wednesday morning because it was still happening and over night and at one point was fairly dramatic.

As soon as I explained the situation to a different nurse at the doctors office, they told me I had to go into the hospital immediately! "Its been 48 hours!" she said. "You have to go right now." Her tone was urgent so in we rushed. Once in the triage room, they immediately checked to see if I was leaking amniotic fluid. I was quite surprised when they said that I wasn't.

But since I was there, they did a number of tests to ensure that the baby was moving well and that there was enough fluid. I was back home that afternoon and that evening, the "leaks" started up again. In the hospital, they explained what I was experiencing as "natural late pregnancy discharge." However what I didn't understand, was why it suddenly started after my pelvic exam in the hospital on Monday night.

So on Thursday morning, I called the doctors office again to get information
on what I was experiencing so that I could put my mind at ease. I didn't get
a call back until late that afternoon, and after spending some time on the
phone with yet another nurse and explaining what I was experiencing in
detail, she told me that it sounded like the classic symptoms of a water bag
tear!

She explained that she had to tell me to go back into the hospital
immediately - but understood that I didn't want to after having been sent
home by the hospital staff for supposedly the same thing the day before. I
had an appointment with my doctor the next morning anyway, so I promised her that I would keep a close eye on how much leakage I was experiencing, and how much movement I was feeling from the baby and at home I stayed.

The next morning, I went in for my appointment and lo and behold, it was a leak. The doctor sent me directly to the hospital - no time to go home and get my things which of course I didn't bring because I mistakenly assumed I'd be able to take my time getting back to the hospital if I needed to go in.

I was immediately admitted and put in a labor and delivery room. Even though I had been experiencing some contractions since 4:00am that morning, they were not regular, and I was only dilated to 3 centimeters. The doctor ordered a pitocin drip. I was really hoping to avoid it, but at that point, it seemed that it was the safest thing to do considering the situation.

It took about a minute and a half for the pitocin to kick in after they started
the drip and oh my gosh. It was so violent. Immediately my contractions were 2 minutes apart and so strong, I was shaking. I lasted for about an hour before I got an epidural. It was amazing! I could move my legs and feel all my muscles, but I didn't feel the excruciating pain of the contractions.

The epidural was in at about 1:30pm and I was incredibly comfortable until about 7:30 right when the shift change happened. Then suddenly, I began shaking uncontrollably and feeling really sick to my stomach. The new nurse, said that this was a sign that I was in transition and that things could start moving very quickly from that point. So they brought in one of the residents to check me - I was at 7 centimeters.

From 7:30 until 2:30 I was miserably sick and terribly uncomfortable. And I developed a fever. They put me on antibiotics and told me to relax and try to sleep (ya right). We had one serious scare where my baby's heart rate dropped too low, but they were able to remedy the situation by getting me to move. Every time I changed position, I threw up. The doctors told me that if it kept happening, they would have to do a c-section.

During that time, the resident and nurse checked my dilating about once an
hour, but I seemed to be stuck at around 8 centimeters. It seemed like
forever that I was just waiting for something to happen. I kept trying to
think open thoughts - breathing slowly and deeply and envisioning opening
circles. At about 2:30 in the morning, the nurse checked me again and after
a little cervical manipulation, said that I could start pushing! I was so
relieved to be moving forward. Once they turned off the pitocin and the
epidural, I felt so much better.

I got all set up and pushed through two contractions before they told me to
stop until they got my OB there! They though it was going to go really
quickly. Unfortunately, the couple of contractions that I pushed through
with my doctor there were terribly unproductive. He told me that he thought I was too tired and that the baby's head was too big. He said I might need to have a c-section.

I was so angry! I did not make it that far to have a c-section!! He left, and I told the nurses that I thought I could push better if I was in an upright position, so they set up the bed with the squatting bar for me. For the next two hours, I sat on the edge of the bed pushing hard with one contraction and then breathing and pushing lightly with the next because they were concerned that the baby wasn't responding well to the pushing.

Those two hours went so fast - I really hardly remember them and they were much easier than the previous 7 hours had been. The
nurses were great - and so was Ken. Finally, they felt that the baby had
moved enough to call the doctor back in. My doctor explained that he felt he needed to use a vacuum to help me get the baby's head through. I really
couldn't argue because it was nearly impossible to concentrate on anything
except wanting to push through the contractions!

It took one contraction and three pushes for Kate to come out. I don't think I really needed the vacuumfor help, and I think that my doctor was a little surprised how quickly she came.

It is impossible to put into words how I felt at that moment - awed,
relieved, energized, exhausted, overwhelmed, elated... Kate Evelyn Berger
was born at 5:38am on Saturday January 14th - which amazingly was my
official due date.

At birth she weighed 7lbs 5oz and was 20 inches long. She's been an amazing eater - breastfeeding has been much less difficult than I had imagined. Ken and I were fortunate to have Ronna, a postpartum
doula gifted to us by his sister and to have my mom come and stay with us
for the first week. Ronna was a wonderful breastfeeding instructor, and had
a bunch of great tricks for soothing and caring for a newborn. My mom was
there to walk with Kate after the middle of the night feedings to get her
back to sleep when both Ken and I were completely exhausted.

We've had a few fussy days to work through, and its heartbreaking when we can't understand what she needs, but it's so amazing to watch her discover new things, and sleep and smile - even her poops are amazing.

Jessica's yoga class was such a wonderful part of my pregnancy experience. Having that community made me feel so much more connected to the reality of having a baby, and far more comfortable in the later months of pregnancy. I also think that it has really helped with my speedy recovery! I miss Jessica's yoga class, but I'm so happy to be where I am now. Have fun with being pregnant and take as many yoga classes as you can! Oh, and remember... the best is yet to come!

Wendy Nield