Labor: Kirk's Story

This baby is nothing short of a miracle. Her birth was miraculous, and her life is a miracle. On Wednesday, July 16th, Kim was a week past the due date, and still no contractions. We decided to play Dance Dance Revolution to see if we could jostle her into contractions. (Plus those DDR pads would be easy to wipe off if her water were to break.) The next morning, Thursday the 17th, Kim woke me up and said she might be trickling amniotic fluid. To know for sure, we called her CNM's and they had us come in to their clinic. The midwife that was on call that day, Jessica Haddy, looked at a sample under the microscope to see if it was her "water." Amniotic fluid "ferns" under the microscope (like a snowflake). She said it half was and half wasn't. She got a second and third opinion from other nurses, and they unanimously decided that the dam truly did have a leak in it. The midwife told us to go prepare and come to the hospital at our leasure later that afternoon. Leaving the parking lot, she called us on Kim's cell phone and left a voicemail saying, "Um, change of plans. I totally forgot you were GBS positive. We'll need you to come to the hospital in an hour." So little did we know, the clock had started ticking already, and here we were about to go to Burger King for breakfast... We prepared ourselves mentally and phisically, and I gave Kim a Priesthood Blessing before we walked out the door. We arrived at the hospital at 1:00 PM, nervous and anxious. Jessica put her on Pitocin, the sinthetic version of the hormone a woman's body produces to commence labor. The first part of labor was slow. We even had Kim's mom, my mom, and our friend Katie come to visit. The monitor said Kim was going through contractions every 2 minutes or so, though she laughed and conversed through them. That would soon change. The dosage of Pitocin was increased every few hours, and over the course of almost 12 hours, the contractions became very strong, and Kim was becoming fatigued from the exertion. Kim wasn't dialating hardly at all, and Jessica offered that we go to sleep. (She said most women either wake up in labor or labor stops all together.) So they put Kim on some Happy Meds and we went to sleep. At about 2 am, Jessica woke me up saying Kim would probably need a C-section. Kim and I both started to cry, and when there was no one else in the room, I quickly gave her another Priesthood Blessing. I didn't say more than "... that you will be able to have this baby naturally." when another nurse opened the door. I quickly ended the 3 sentance blessing, and the nurse entered and began preparing Kim for the C-section. The surgery room was ready, the surgeon was there... the bed was even outside our room ready to take her down to surgery. It was not likely that any other option could even be considered at that point. Kim requested that she be checked just one last time before they carted her away. It was a slim chance that she had dialated any more in the last half hour or so. Dr. Parker, a very skilled, wise doctor from Jessica's clinic, was also on call that night. He checked Kim's cervix, and he decided that she had made progress. He also said that it might be benificail to "break" the rest of the amniotic sac. He did, and it was like a waterfall all over the bed. This bought us another hour before they would make her get a C-Section. In that time, contractions continued to intensify. Jessica mentioned that if she were to still go natural, she would have no energy by the time she needed to push the baby out. She reccommended that Kim get an Epidural to make this part of labor easier, and then when it came time to push, let off on the Meds so she could feel when she needed to push. We were really hoping that she wouldn't need an Epidural... After all, we were trying to have this baby as naturally as possible. But, what had to be done had to be done, so we agreed. The Anesthisiologist, Ben, came in soon thereafter, and began the Epidural process. (OK, let me fill you in: Kim doesn't take too well to pain medication. It doesn't work well, and sometimes not at all.) Little did we know, Kim was entering into the most painful phase of labor, Transition. Right, imagine having someone sticking a pencil into your back, feeling it the entire time, while you're screaming in pain because you're insides are imploding. Yeah, so you can guess that she didn't have the guy go all the way with the Epidural. Plus it didn't work. She could feel it the entire time. She kept telling him she could feel it, so he kept trying different spots. Kim was screaming in pain. (Kim said this was the 2nd most painful part of labor, 1st being "the ring of Fire.") Jessica had him stop and leave so she could check Kim's cervix one more time. The Anesthiseologist left (he had good intentions, he did.) and Jessica said that Kim was dialated to 9cm and almost fully effaced. Kim and I looked at each other, surprised at the news, and we concorded, "Why don't we just do this..." So the actual pushing started just before 6am and the baby came at 6:23am. Yeah, she flew out. Kim didn't even push to get the shoulders or body out. She just... flew out! They laid the baby on Kim's chest, I cut the Umbilical Cord, and they cleaned up and wheighed the baby. Because the baby came so fast, Kim tore pretty bad, so they handed her to me while Mommy got stitched up. It took about an hour for Jessica and Dr. Parker together to stitch up everywhere she tore. That hour was painful for Kim, but sweet bliss for me. There I was, holding my precious angel for the first time. I could hardly believe it. It was just then hitting me that I was a Daddy. Just then, I realized that big belly that Kim was carrying around for 10 months actually had a child in it. Every time I looked at her, I cried. Every time I looked at Kim, I cried. This was the beginning of a brand new chapter of our life.