A labor of love...part 2

Continued...

The nurse anesthetist came in to administer the epidural and that's when my tears started.  I don't know what exactly set it off, but I couldn't stop.  I was really scared at this point.  Luckily I had the best birthing coach in the whole world, Mark.  He stood right in front of me and tried to make me stay focused.  Finally as that was done, they decided to go ahead and move me to a real L&D room.  I was wheeled across the hall and the nurses and CRNA all helped move me into my new bed.

I was now feeling pretty sleepy.  My body felt all tingly and warm from the epidural and I decided to take a little nap.  Mark was starving and went to get a bite in the cafeteria.  At one point the fetal monitor stopped beeping and both Terri and the nurse kept moving my body from the left side to the right side trying to get it back.  It wasn't working and they started getting worried that Monroe was getting distressed and they had to end up giving me oxygen.  At that moment, Mark walks back in.  He left with me sleeping and he came back to me crying and wearing an oxygen mask while Terri and nurselady nervously worked.  He looked very concerned, but things settled down and my contractions continued to progress.

In some cases the epidural can cause intense itching.  As most of you know, I suffered from crazy itching the last month of my pregnancy, and this only intensified it.  They gave me benadryl,but that didn't seem to help.  My epidural started to wear off and I decided, that instead of making the itching worse, I would try to make it through, without pushing the little button to administer more.  The contractions at this point were getting harder and I could really tell that things were getting close.  Terri checked me and found that I was at a 10 and she could feel Monroe's head.  It was time to start pushing.

Now, because we were a little delinquent to some of our birthing classes, we missed the one about breathing while pushing.  Oops!  It turns out, I'm no good at it.  They kept saying,to take a big breath and hold it.  Every time, I would take a big breath and then let it out, instead of hold it.  They got a kick out of it, but it was like my brain really wasnt working anymore.  I finally got the hang of it and after about 20 minutes of pushing Monroe Mary-Jean Murrill arrived at 10:57pm!  Mark cut the cord, which he hadn't been so sure about doing until then.  He really was a trooper through the whole thing.

Seeing and holding your baby for the first time is the most amazing thing in the whole world.  The little person that was growing within me for so long now had a face.  When she laid her on my chest I couldn't help but cry.  I truly was overcome with gratefulness.  Mark was just as excited as I was.

We were so surprised when the nurses seemed concerned.  To us she seemed perfect.  They said that she had a grunty cry which meant there might be something wrong with her lungs.  They whisked her off and we were left questioning what had just happened.  I was so tired and my itching had gotten worse.  It was a hard night because we didn't find out until around 3 or 4 in the morning what was even going on with Monroe.

We found out that her little lungs weren't all the way developed since she had come early.  They had to give her surfactin so her lungs wouldn't collapse and put her on a breathing machine.  Then the combination of the two created a hole in her lung.  It was so hard to see her on all the machines.  It was also hard to leave the hospital and not have have your baby.   It still makes me sad to think about, but she's a trooper and about two weeks later, she came home.  What a blessing and relief.

So, there you have it.  There is the story of Monroe's birth.  I hope you enjoyed this very thorough:) account.