...The beginning. (interspersed with real time updates courtesy of twitter)
the week leading up to Saturday June 6th was a little stressful, Sharon's blood pressure had risen, the midwife was concerned about the possibility of pre-eclampsia and we faced the possibility that she'd have to stop work much earlier than we'd hoped cutting into the paid time off she'd have available after the baby was born. an ultrasound was scheduled, other tests were prepared and sleep was lost.
"NOT going to deal with labor nd the birth of my son without a cup of tea first!"
So early Saturday morning when her water broke we were not ready. she was exhausted before labour even began, we weren't fully packed and the apartment wasn't fully ready yet. But CMC wasn't waiting! All other concerns disappeared, the baby was coming! Because of a positive test for GBS (Group B Strep) AND with her water breaking we had to go straight in to the birthing center for a dose of antibiotics. So after she took a shower, a little bit of worry because she hadn't felt the baby move for a bit (he was just sleeping) I threw her bag together and we piled in to the car. Before we set off I laid my hand on her belly and prayed. CMC has always responded to prayer and never more so that that moment, he almost kicked his way out right there and then!
The ride to Brooklyn was uncomfortable for her. unable to move around or get comfotable combined with NY's pot holes proved to be pretty miserable for a woman in labour but we arrived in one piece, Andrea, our midwife, checked her out, 1cm dilated but almost fully effaced. a good start, there was a little concern that the contractions seemed more painful than we'd expect at this stage of labour, so we worked to hydrate with gatorade, which she threw up. The antibiotic was to be administered through an IV, Andrea put in the first dose, showing me how to do it since the 2nd dose was likely to be when we were home. Turns out, she didn't react well to the penicillin so she swiched to a different antibiotic which didn't need to be administered as often so I was never called upon to use my new found medical skills!
After all the checks etc. we were sent home with instructions to call again when contractions were 3 minutes apart, lasting 1 minute for an hour. also, to monitor the risk of infection we were supposed to take her temp every couple of hous. so we figured, rather than home, we'd go to her aunt's. Her aunt used to be a nurse and had worked in L&D and she turned out to be very good at contraction easing backrubs.
I'm not going to go into detail of the next few hours. My wife was in pain, she was tired and hungry and struggled to keep any food down, it was somewhere in this time that she started to snap at me sporadically.
a few twitter updates from that time:
"So much for being involved in the birth of my child. Apparently my wife wants nothing to do with me right now."
"Progressing slowly and painfully."
"Update: she's tired. Was able 2 keep sum food down. progressing s l o w l y."
We tired a bath which didn't help, ultimately I think she was in a negative frame of mind.
But eventually at around 2pm Andrea said for us to come in. We were supposed to meet her at the Birthing Center at 2:30 but we got stuck in traffic, did I mention that driving was hell on her? At this point she was dreading that when we got there she wouldn't be far enough along to be admitted. We arrive at about 3:15 and after an exam it turns out our fears were unfounded. 5cms dilated! Progress! So we were admitted to the Brooklyn Birthing Center with, for me at least, a growing sense of excitement, despite feeling a little superfluous since she continued to want nothing to do with me there was tangible evidence that our son was on his way!
"We re now @ the birthing center. 5cm dilated. CMC is on his way. I never loved her more. I feel excited but useless, nd kind of alone." to be continued...
First Step Towards Freedom
14 years ago
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