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Ryan Michael Fullerton: I woke up at 7:15am on June 10, 2005 to go for my usual bathroom run, and when I went back to lay down, I noticed I had a pain, that I hadn't had before. It was a dull period like cramp along with tightening. I didn't think much of it, until I had 2 more within a 15 minute period. I started timing them at around 7:30 and they were 6 minutes apart and lasting for at least 45 seconds. I didn't want to wake Mike so I got up and went in the living room and tried to sit and stand in a few of the positions I'd learned at birthing class. None seemed comfortable. Laying down seemed the most comfortable. So I went and laid down for another 20 minutes. At 8:40 I decided to take a bath, as I heard i helps with the pain, Kerry (my sister in law) swore by warm baths to help take the pain away. While the water was running I decided it was time to tell Mike that I'd been having contractions for well over an hour and that I thought I was in labor so I was gonna take a bath. He got a funny look on his face as if to say "oh my gosh, I can't believe this is it".. The bath didn't help any, so I got out and went and laid down again. By this time my husband was helping me time the contractions and they were 5 minutes apart and lasting 60 seconds. I continued to just lay there and talk to Mike between contractions, until 10:45 am. My bowels began to "loosen" at this point, which wasn't helping the contractions.. And by 11:00 am I had my "show". Because the contractions were now 4-5 minutes apart and lasting for at least 60 seconds (recommended timing by my midwife to go into the hospital) I called the hospital and told them I was on my way. Went in, got set up in my room and met the midwife on call at the time. She said she would continue to check on me, and if I needed anything then to let her know. I didn't end up needing anything. Mike and I sat in the room just talking about how we never thought this time would come. We had a sandwich and then started looking at magazines that we had taken in. I continued to persevere through contractions by breathing only. 4:00 pm came around and I still hadn't been checked internally for any progression, but decided to use entonox (laughing gas, used only when a contraction is present) as a type of pain relief because my contractions were getting closer (2-3 minutes apart and lasting about 85 seconds) and not coming on in a wave, rather coming on suddenly very strong and then fading away. This is wonderful stuff. It helps you relax, taking the "edge" off your pain. 5pm Mike's mom came to see how things were going, and we chatted for a while. Mike got hungry so him and his mom went down to the cafeteria to get something to eat, leaving me to get on with things. I was fine with that. They came back about 6:55 and Sue left at 7:15. I continued laboring with entonox as a help, and at 9pm the midwife came in and said she could check me for progression if I had wanted. I was okay with that since I hadn't had an internal AT ALL throughout my pregnancy so I was oblivious to how much progression I actually had. I was ONLY 2cm but very very soft (about 95% effaced). I thought "great, I've been having Braxton Hicks ALL week and now contractions for 14 hours and I'm only dialted to a 2, this is gonna be a long night".. The midwife told Mike that because my contractions were as strong as they normally are when a woman is in "transition" and that I was having to use entonox, that she wouldn't send me home, but if I was still laboring on my own, they would have sent me home (Thank goodness they didn't). 10pm rolls around and I was told the birthing pool was free so I could use it at any time, I told them I was willing to give it a shot, even though my bath at home didn't help, because I thought that the birthing pool would help more than a regular bath. I got in, and right away the contractions got a lot stronger and faster. They started coming 2 minutes apart and lasting 1minute 25 seconds, leaving me only 35 seconds to relax before the next one came on... Entonox isn't allowed to be used when you're in the pool, so I was in agony, and only lasted about 30 minutes in the pool. Mike kept telling me how well I was doing so thats why i lasted as long as I did in the pool otherwise I would have lasted about 10 minutes. I went back to my room and got back onto the entonox, great stuff! 11pm, new midwife comes on the scene and tells me that if I should need her through the night she would be the one delivering Ryan. I asked her if I could get another source of medication, but not anything too strong and not an epidural ( I wanted to go as natural as possible as long as possible) She brought me a tablet like Lortab. I continued persevering through contractions, using entonox and having had the pain medication. Mike and I started bantering becuase I kept pulling the mask off the entonox by accident and Mike was trying to tell me to stop.. 1am, pain relief tablet had worn off, and contractions were getting very very very strong, and still coming on every 2-3 minutes and lasting 85 seconds. I asked for an epidural. and the midwife said she would have to check me internally to see what my progression was because for an epidural I needed to be at least 3cm and for the two injections I could be any, but one wears off faster than the other, so if I was farther along progression wise I could take that. She checked me and I was 8-9 cm with a "very bulging bag of waters". My progression even surprised the midwife as she thought I would only be about 3-4 cm. She said that her advice changed and that I should take pethidine (demerol) if I wanted any pain relief because it only lasts about 2 hours, and if I prgress as quickly to 10cm than I did to 8-9 I would want any pain relief to wear off sooner for the baby's sake, and I'd done so well till now, why spoil it with an epidural. Fair enough. I opted for a shot, and she gave it to me along with an antiacid to help wort off any unnecessary nausea. I continued to persevere, and when she came in the room to monitor Ryan's heartbeat, I told her I had the urge to push. She told me to try to breathe through the urge, but if I couldn't then I could push once or twice as lightly as I could, to maybe break my water and bring baby's head down further to fully dialate me. I gave a very slight push, and WHOOSH, my bag of waters burst. But they didn't just gush out, they shot across the room. They came with a lot of force, and she said they would have come with a massive whoosh if I hadn't have pushed because there was that much pressure there. She checked for Ryan's heartbeat, and with the normal doppler she couldn't hear his heartbeat, so she used this huge transducer machine and only heard his heartbeat very faintly and it was down to 90. She was going to put a fetal scalp monitor on his head so she checked to see where things were and she said she felt what she thought were fingers on his head, but then the cord (what she was feeling) dropped down. She told me to get on my hands and knees and explianed to Mike and myself that a caesarean was needed immediately, and that I wouldn't be able to be awake during it, because it was an emergency. She pushed a button on the wall and then made sure that she kept her hand inside me to keep the cord from touching the air. Mike turned as white as a sheet as doctors and nurses rushed in. He was told he wouldn't be allowed in the room because of the crash/emergency status. He went to phone his parents to tell them what was happening, and I was wheeled to the OR. I was still on my hands and knees with my face in the pillows and then what I remember is them giving me oxygen, which took all my pain relief away that I had had. I remember shouting a little bit that it hurt because I felt the urge to push, and the midwife was there pushing everything back up. I had to sign a consent form and the last thing I remember is someone telling me to hold out my left arm and the aenesthetist telling me to hold my chin back and to have a good sleep. I woke up in the recovery room and Mike was sitting next to me. The first thing I asked him was "where's the baby" he said "he's next door getting checked over". I must have fallen back to sleep because the next time I woke up I was in a different room and Mike was sitting next to me with Ryan in his arms, and his parents standing behind him. |