My mom and Gina thought they had awhile, so they went out to the waiting area with Ray and Evalana. The nurse wanted to get 20 minutes of monitoring Lazarus's heart rate, so I tried to get comfy on the bed. The nurse said they didn't have my medical records and the doctor was going to require me to get antibiotics if we couldn't find them since he didn't have proof that I didn't have group B strep. I think Joshua told them to check St. Luke's East (the other hospital Mara delivers at), and they found my papers there and faxed them over, which was a good thing because there was no way I was going to take antibiotics I knew we didn't need. Joshua set up my relaxing Christmas music I had put together, and he got out some lavender oil. He also did a fantastic job of putting counter-pressure on my back during contractions. But all of that seemed to be loosing its effectiveness, and I couldn't figure out what I needed to do to be able to relax better. After being on the monitor for 20 minutes, the nurse said he hadn't had any accelerations (or something like that, meaning that Lazarus was relaxing in there, and they wanted to see him have some activity). As calm as he'd seemed to be in there for the last month, I wasn't surprised; I was expecting that this might be a fairly laid-back boy. I asked to go to the bathroom, so they unhooked me, and Joshua helped me out. I was in there for a few minutes, as once I sat down, I didn't really feel like moving again. The contractions continued getting more painful. I threw up and my wonderful husband caught it all in the trashcan. I actually didn't lose much and never got dehydrated, i think due to the coconut water and the shorter labor. The nurse asked if I was feeling pressure in my bottom. I told her no, just that the contractions were getting more intense. Then I heard her say "Turn on the warmer. Call the..." (whoever) nurses. I was thinking she was rushing things a bit, but it ended up she was actually really smart and good at her job. I worked my way back onto the bed at 3:20. I once again tried relaxing, but the contractions were just so strong. I tried to think of what I had been doing differently that I was able to relax through Evalana's labor, but I was just feeling so much pain with these contractions. Then the pushing contractions started, and my water broke and squirted out. The nurse checked me and said Lazarus was ready to come out. I kept having to push with each contraction, and there wasn't really much of a break between contractions. The nurses were yelling at me not to push, I think because the doctor wasn't in there, but at that point I didn't care who caught the baby; Lazarus was coming whether or not there was a doctor. Just the night before, Joshua told me he took some notes on what to do if I had the urge to push but wasn't supposed to yet. I basically told him that was dumb. It's like telling someone who's throwing up to stop; the muscles just do it. So the nurses were saying things like, "Don't push! blow. hold my hand. don't push!" One nurse got in my face and said something like, "Rachel, look at me and stop pushing." I very forcefully yelled at her, "No!" as my body was pushing. Then the doctor came in and said his name--some man I'd never met. He said the baby's oxygen was dropping and I needed to get him out right away. Joshua and I never figured out how serious things really were since it seems normal that his heart-rate would drop during the stressful end of a quick labor. Anyway, I was anxious to get him out and wasn't arguing with that. So then the nurses were telling me to stop making noise and to push all I could. They threw my legs up into stirrups, which I said no to but seemed to have no choice at that point. That was one position that Joshua and I had never even considered for the birth. I asked where our moms were, and they were in the room. Joshua had called them and said, "You need to come now," when he realized how things were going. As Gina was coming down the hall, she said, "That woman sounds like she's having a hard time." It was me. Things in my room were going about like you see on TV--lots of yelling, lots of people. I could feel the pressure and burning of his little head getting close. My mom said she could see Lazarus's head, but with Evalana I pushed for 45 minutes, watching her head go a tiny bit forward and then back, so I guess I still didn't realize how close Lazarus really was. I pushed maybe four more times, then the doctor again said "don't push! stop pushing." He told me he was trying to keep me from tearing, which I appreciated. So as my body was still pushing, I was yelling, "I'm trying! I'm trying!"
Then, at 3:29am on December 18th, I felt the slippery baby come on out, and I opened my eyes, and he was there in the doctor's arms. I was asking for him, but the doctor said he had to suction his mouth first. Then they laid Lazarus up on my tummy.The doctor started to clamp the cord, but Joshua told him we wanted to wait until it stopped pulsing. The doctor said, "Okay. You tell me when it's done." Joshua and I talked to Lazarus. The doctor said, "Is the cord done yet? I can never tell." Joshua, having not studied umbilical cords for his technical writing degree, said, "I guess so." They clamped it, and Joshua cut it.
Then the doctor said something about my bleeding. I guess I was still bleeding a lot, and he was trying to figure out if I had any tears on the inside or something. The nurse took Lazarus over to the warmer. I knew that if I could feed him, it would help slow down my bleeding, but it felt like the doctor was trying to pull me inside-out, and there was no way I could hold him with the pain I was in with what they were doing. Joshua was with Lazarus the whole time, and my mom was trying to help me. I was begging for a drink of water, but they said I had to wait until they knew I wouldn't need surgery. The doctor determined that I didn't have any other tears--just a second-degree tear where I had an episiotomy last time (we'd asked for no episiotomy both times, but with Evalana I tore pretty badly in different directions, so the doctor did an episiotomy to stop some of the side tearing).
So then the doctor said I needed something to stop the bleeding from my uterus. He asked if I wanted a shot or something in my IV. I'm assuming it was pitocin. How was I supposed to know which would be better? I just wanted to hold my baby and have a drink of water. By then the nurse had finished giving Lazarus oxygen or whatever it was that she thought he needed, and Joshua was cuddling him skin-to-skin. Lazarus seemed comfy with his daddy. They gave me a shot in the leg. The bleeding stopped. The doctor sewed me up. Then the nurse cleaned me off with freezing cold water. She said their policy is to use cold water since people with an epidural can't feel it and might get burned with warm water. After lots of shivering, she finally finished up with some warmer water. I got Lazarus back and was able to feed him. Oh and somewhere in there they weighed and measured and foot-printed our boy because even though the hospital had said they like to wait and give mom a couple of hours with the baby, the nurse told Joshua that the computer wouldn't let her leave the room until she did those things. Lazarus was 8 pounds, 14 ounces, and 20 inches. I'll write
more about the rest of our morning with our
new little Lazarus Canaan later.
My mom and Gina thought they had awhile, so they went out to the waiting area with Ray and Evalana. The nurse wanted to get 20 minutes of monitoring Lazarus's heart rate, so I tried to get comfy on the bed. The nurse said they didn't have my medical records and the doctor was going to require me to get antibiotics if we couldn't find them since he didn't have proof that I didn't have group B strep. I think Joshua told them to check St. Luke's East (the other hospital Mara delivers at), and they found my papers there and faxed them over, which was a good thing because there was no way I was going to take antibiotics I knew we didn't need. Joshua set up my relaxing Christmas music I had put together, and he got out some lavender oil. He also did a fantastic job of putting counter-pressure on my back during contractions. But all of that seemed to be loosing its effectiveness, and I couldn't figure out what I needed to do to be able to relax better. After being on the monitor for 20 minutes, the nurse said he hadn't had any accelerations (or something like that, meaning that Lazarus was relaxing in there, and they wanted to see him have some activity). As calm as he'd seemed to be in there for the last month, I wasn't surprised; I was expecting that this might be a fairly laid-back boy. I asked to go to the bathroom, so they unhooked me, and Joshua helped me out. I was in there for a few minutes, as once I sat down, I didn't really feel like moving again. The contractions continued getting more painful. I threw up and my wonderful husband caught it all in the trashcan. I actually didn't lose much and never got dehydrated, i think due to the coconut water and the shorter labor. The nurse asked if I was feeling pressure in my bottom. I told her no, just that the contractions were getting more intense. Then I heard her say "Turn on the warmer. Call the..." (whoever) nurses. I was thinking she was rushing things a bit, but it ended up she was actually really smart and good at her job. I worked my way back onto the bed at 3:20. I once again tried relaxing, but the contractions were just so strong. I tried to think of what I had been doing differently that I was able to relax through Evalana's labor, but I was just feeling so much pain with these contractions. Then the pushing contractions started, and my water broke and squirted out. The nurse checked me and said Lazarus was ready to come out. I kept having to push with each contraction, and there wasn't really much of a break between contractions. The nurses were yelling at me not to push, I think because the doctor wasn't in there, but at that point I didn't care who caught the baby; Lazarus was coming whether or not there was a doctor. Just the night before, Joshua told me he took some notes on what to do if I had the urge to push but wasn't supposed to yet. I basically told him that was dumb. It's like telling someone who's throwing up to stop; the muscles just do it. So the nurses were saying things like, "Don't push! blow. hold my hand. don't push!" One nurse got in my face and said something like, "Rachel, look at me and stop pushing." I very forcefully yelled at her, "No!" as my body was pushing. Then the doctor came in and said his name--some man I'd never met. He said the baby's oxygen was dropping and I needed to get him out right away. Joshua and I never figured out how serious things really were since it seems normal that his heart-rate would drop during the stressful end of a quick labor. Anyway, I was anxious to get him out and wasn't arguing with that. So then the nurses were telling me to stop making noise and to push all I could. They threw my legs up into stirrups, which I said no to but seemed to have no choice at that point. That was one position that Joshua and I had never even considered for the birth. I asked where our moms were, and they were in the room. Joshua had called them and said, "You need to come now," when he realized how things were going. As Gina was coming down the hall, she said, "That woman sounds like she's having a hard time." It was me. Things in my room were going about like you see on TV--lots of yelling, lots of people. I could feel the pressure and burning of his little head getting close. My mom said she could see Lazarus's head, but with Evalana I pushed for 45 minutes, watching her head go a tiny bit forward and then back, so I guess I still didn't realize how close Lazarus really was. I pushed maybe four more times, then the doctor again said "don't push! stop pushing." He told me he was trying to keep me from tearing, which I appreciated. So as my body was still pushing, I was yelling, "I'm trying! I'm trying!" 
Then the doctor said something about my bleeding. I guess I was still bleeding a lot, and he was trying to figure out if I had any tears on the inside or something. The nurse took Lazarus over to the warmer. I knew that if I could feed him, it would help slow down my bleeding, but it felt like the doctor was trying to pull me inside-out, and there was no way I could hold him with the pain I was in with what they were doing. Joshua was with Lazarus the whole time, and my mom was trying to help me. I was begging for a drink of water, but they said I had to wait until they knew I wouldn't need surgery. The doctor determined that I didn't have any other tears--just a second-degree tear where I had an episiotomy last time (we'd asked for no episiotomy both times, but with Evalana I tore pretty badly in different directions, so the doctor did an episiotomy to stop some of the side tearing). 
So then the doctor said I needed something to stop the bleeding from my uterus. He asked if I wanted a shot or something in my IV. I'm assuming it was pitocin. How was I supposed to know which would be better? I just wanted to hold my baby and have a drink of water. By then the nurse had finished giving Lazarus oxygen or whatever it was that she thought he needed, and Joshua was cuddling him skin-to-skin. Lazarus seemed comfy with his daddy. They gave me a shot in the leg. The bleeding stopped. The doctor sewed me up. Then the nurse cleaned me off with freezing cold water. She said their policy is to use cold water since people with an epidural can't feel it and might get burned with warm water. After lots of shivering, she finally finished up with some warmer water. I got Lazarus back and was able to feed him. Oh and somewhere in there they weighed and measured and foot-printed our boy because even though the hospital had said they like to wait and give mom a couple of hours with the baby, the nurse told Joshua that the computer wouldn't let her leave the room until she did those things. Lazarus was 8 pounds, 14 ounces, and 20 inches. I'll write more about the rest of our morning with our new little Lazarus Canaan later. 
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