I promise I didn't include any gory details, but there's only so much you can leave out of a birth story, lol.
Recently, the doctor who delivered Wally died suddenly, and I am just so sad to hear about it. It's had me thinking back to my time in the hospital, and what an interesting experience it was having him as my doctor. He was in his early 70's and just loved delivering babies. For that reason, I'm thankful that he passed away still doing what he loved. Wally's birth was so amazingly different than Henry's, and I've been meaning to post it for the past 8 months, haha. So here goes...
My due date was March 8th. In the back of my mind, I kinda guessed that it would be the 10th. I don't know why. With Henry, I went into labor on my due date, and had him the following afternoon. I labored for 16 hours in the hospital and the worst part of it all was the unbelievably intense pain in my thighs with every contraction. There was nothing that calmed it down, except for a two hour stint in the tub helped me to not focus on it so much.
Anyhoo, back to Wally. Monday, March 8 came, and no Wally yet. I had started having contractions 2 weeks earlier (again, very different from Henry's), and was convinced more than once that we needed to go the hospital, haha. I still remember watching the Winter Olympics, and counting the minutes between contractions for hours, and then suddenly they'd stop. I saw Dr. Fischbach on the 8th, and he asked me what I wanted to do. I immediately said that I wanted to be done. He asked me again if I wanted an epidural. The nurses at the hospital joke about how there's the Fischbach formula for having a baby. He automatically orders one for his mothers. For the billionth time, I turned him down, saying that I'd gone without one the first time, and I wanted to try it that way again. He said that was fine, but his anniversary was the next day, so I couldn't pick that day to be induced, haha. But I could do it Wednesday. Deal.
I wasn't crazy about the idea of deciding what day to have Wally. Especially since I enjoyed going into labor on my own with Henry. Here were the factors influencing my decision:
1) Matt was given 9 days of paternity leave by his squadron, BUT, this was their genius plan: His leave started on my due date (the 8th), but if I wasn't in the hospital, then he had to go to work, and that was one less day of leave he could have after the baby was born. Awesome. No pressure at all!! Geez.
2) There was a blizzard predicted Wednesday night, and after the 3 day Christmas blizzard, I was not about to risk being stuck up on the base. Another woman on the base went into labor on Christmas day, while her husband was snowed in at the missile field, and the ambulance had to follow a snow plow all the way to town. Even Dr. Fischbach didn't make it to that delivery.
So Wednesday morning, the 10th, Matt and I drove to town at 5 am... in the snow. While I was waiting for the doctor to come break my water, I was feeling stronger contractions. Sure enough, when they came in at 10 am to do it (finally!), I was at 3 cm. I have to say, it is absolute torture waiting there, knowing from past experience, what is about to happen, lol. So off I went, walking the halls, sitting on a big yoga ball, imagining I'm home with Henry instead of in excruciating pain, haha. During each contraction, I tried to picture 2 different specific cars that Henry owned, and I would imagine us racing them on his track. It was the only thing that helped me breathe through the pain.
Three hours in, it happened. The thigh pain came back. Back when I had Henry, the weirdest part of the experience was that I felt my contractions starting at my navel line to mid thigh. The pain in my thighs was near unbearable, but it would subside every time, and since my contractions remained so far apart with Henry, I always had time to recover. THIS time, it was not so. Ohhhhhhhhh holy cow. I barely felt my contractions in my abdomen at all. The only pain I felt was very very low and then IN. MY. THIGHS.
It wouldn't go away this time either. My contractions were coming every minute, with a minute to recover. But in that minute, the excruciating thigh pain stayed. The nurse would look at the computer and tell me the contraction was over, and I would just shut my eyes, moan, and shake my head. I could never catch my breath, and when they said I was only at 6 cm, I asked my nurse if she thought an epidural might ease my thigh pain (I had already tried an IV drug for the past hour). I remember seeing my parents come in for a minute, but I couldn't even keep my eyes open long enough to say hi, haha. It felt like an entire year before the anesthesiologist came in. The nurses were setting up the room for the delivery already, and I thought maybe they had forgotten to call the guy! I couldn't even move to sit up when the doc came, my thighs were just searing with pain. The nurse had to pull me up to sit on the edge of the bed. Seriously, if the nurse had told me the only option for pain relief was hitting me in the head with a cast iron skillet, I would've reached out and done it myself, lol.
It took a long time for the epidural to work on that thigh pain. I think he gave me two more rounds before it finally diminished enough that I could almost relax. Matt decided to go get some lunch in the cafeteria. It was maybe 45 minutes after the epidural, and I was at 10 cm. They told me to start pushing and we realized Matt wasn't back yet, hello!! So mom called him, and he ran back up just in time. Dr. Fischbach came in, smiled, and said, "What happened? I thought you weren't getting an epidural!" He immediately asked for the vacuum (bummer), and after three pushes, it was over! Wally was an entire pound heavier (8 lbs, 9 oz) than his brother - no wonder I needed help. Dr. Fischbach held him for a long time and cleaned him up. Even the nurses commented on how sweetly he was holding him. One of the nurses who helped with the delivery was our childbirth class instructor, so that was fun to actually have her in the room in the end.
While waiting for the epidural to wear off, my nurse was telling me that she too had had the thigh pain with her labors, and had to use lots of drugs to get through it (she was much older). I had been searching from the time Henry was born through being pregnant with Wally, trying to find anyone who had had the same experience... and nothing! It was reassuring to finally hear someone else say the same thing. She said it's an issue with my nervous system, and that no amount of childbirth training will help with it. It has nothing to do with my muscles and trying to relax doesn't affect it. Phew. At least I know now that there was no way I could have prepared for it better. Except to have gotten the epidural sooner, haha.
My stay in Minot's only hospital was a million times better than my stay in Santa Maria's only hospital (notice an "only" theme here?). At Minot's hospital, I could call down to the kitchen any ole time I wanted during the day to get food. I had a menu in my room and could order 10 oatmeal raisin cookies at once (which I may or may not have done) if I wanted. There was a baby nursery, and Wally was actually assigned a specific nurse who came in to take him. I was even able to sleep a couple hours at night, and Wally timed it beautifully so that I never had to change a meconium filled diaper, haha. All of my nurses were wonderful, and so helpful. I almost didn't want to leave, which was a complete 180 from my previous experience! Even now when I pass the hospital, for a brief second I wish I was still up there, lol. Key word is "brief."
I have to say that I felt waaaaaaaaay better after wards this time around. I was barely in any pain. Except on the second day, the spot on my back where the epidural went in was hurting. I know my labor was only 6 hours, but I think Dr. Fischbach's help at the end really helped my recovery. I am so thankful for the experience, and to have done it both with and without an epidural. I think it is absolutely wonderful that the technology exists to ease pain like that, and I love that I was more aware of what was going on during Wally's birth, and didn't feel like a mack truck had hit me afterwards. I still very vividly remember getting out of the car and still feeling pain, at Yellowstone, when we were moving to Minot. Henry was 7 weeks old.
Dr. Fischbach always wanted the experience to be as enjoyable as possible for his mothers, and I see that more now. He was the doctor to have if there were any problems in delivery. The stories of the babies and mothers he saved from serious complications are amazing and he will be greatly missed.
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