Ok, so this birth story is long overdue. But I was waiting ever so patiently for a certain someone to get this site up and running! If you're so inclined to read about Madeline's arrival, click below. I warn you! It's long and oh so detailed!

I must start this story from the very beginning…

David and I have been married for over 8 years now. We knew very early on in our relationship that we eventually wanted to have children. In fact, the thought of not having a family never even crossed our minds. We weren’t in a huge hurry to start a family, but when year after year went by and we were unable to conceive, we started to get concerned. Eventually, we sought the help of a fertility specialist. David and I both underwent all kinds of tests and confirmed that the problem was me. So we started fertility medication, and after 2 months of treatment, I was pregnant. David and I were elated! About 6 weeks into the pregnancy, I went to see the specialist for an ultrasound. The specialist was unable to detect a heartbeat, and told me that the pregnancy had terminated. I was going to miscarry within the next few days. I left that office in a daze….I couldn’t stop crying the whole way home. Neither David, nor I, expected something like that to happen…. we were devastated. We decided that we didn’t want to go through that again, and immediately stopped the fertility treatments. Eventually, we determined that we were one of those couples that just weren’t meant to have children. And over time, we accepted that. Instead we focused our energy on other things. We both went back to school. We focused on our careers. We bought a house. Etc. Etc. From time to time, we both felt a sense of sadness about not having children, but overall, life was good – and we were fine.

Fast forward to July 2003. I was at the hospital to get a chest x-ray, and the doctor insisted that I get a pregnancy test before they would take the x-ray. I told him that it was unnecessary…that there was no way I could be pregnant. As I was about to sign the waiver form, the nurse approached me and insisted I take the test. She said it was routine – and that it was no big deal. And so I did – thinking all along how it was such a waste of time. About 10 minutes later, the nurse returned with the results. I was pregnant! To this day, I can still recall the shock that ran through my mind. I was speechless. When I told David, he thought I was joking. He simply would not believe what I was telling him. And I can’t blame him. I couldn’t believe it myself. For the next few days, we were in a complete daze! Although we were overjoyed, neither one of us wanted to accept the pregnancy because we were so fearful it wouldn’t last. It wasn’t until we heard the heartbeat (several weeks later) when we actually started to accept the fact that we were having a baby!

And so the pregnancy went on, and on, and on, and on…It felt like an eternity! My doctor ordered 2 ultrasounds throughout the pregnancy. The first one gave us a due date of March 25th, and the second one moved it up to March 18th. But I know my actual due date was March 21st. A woman knows these things! Anyway, all of those due dates came and went – with lots of contractions, but no Madeline! Finally, my doctor scheduled for me to be induced starting on the morning of March 29th. I was going to be given two doses of cream to soften the cervix. Then on the 30th, I was going to be given Pitocin to get the show on the road!

“They” say that most women who are scheduled to be induced never make it! And I was one of those women. But I had a really hard time telling when I was actually in labor! I was having contractions on and off for weeks, so when the real ones came along, I didn’t have a clue! The Saturday before, they were strong for several hours. Finally I was able to get some sleep around 3 am. I woke up around 9 am – and they were back. Then about 4 pm, they slowed down dramatically. I told David to go to his hockey game, but to keep his phone near! He arrived home a little after 9 pm, and the contractions started up again. The doctor drilled into my head that I was not to call him until the contractions were exactly 5 minutes apart for at least 1 hour. But there was absolutely no rhyme or reason to my contractions. The only thing that was certain was that they hurt! Finally around 2 am, I told David to call the doctor. They weren’t 5 minutes apart. They were more like 10 minutes, then 7 minutes, 5 minutes, 3 minutes, 1 minute, then 7 minutes….(I think you get the idea). The doctor told us to go to the hospital and that they would determine if I was in labor. Well it turns out I was in labor. I was 4 cm dilated. Thank God I didn’t wait for the 5 minute rule as the doctor so consistently drilled into my head.

So it’s 2:30 in the morning and David and I are at the hospital. We were both so tired that we were actually giddy! I was hooked up to the fetal monitor, and David was making me laugh so much that we were causing the monitor to spike – making it look like I was having these horrible contractions. Don’t get me wrong, I was having contractions. But they sure weren’t as bad as the monitor made them look! David was getting a kick out of telling me when I was about to have a contraction and when a contraction was about to end. At one point, I told him (insert evil devilish tone)….”I will tell you when it’s over…” An hour passed, and I had dilated another cm. All in all, I was thinking – “ok, I can handle this”. The contractions hurt, but they were manageable. Perhaps I wouldn’t need an epidural.

WRONG! Things went downhill from there! Over the next 4 hours or so, I had not dilated any further, yet the contractions were steady and strong. Finally, my doctor broke my water, and gave me Pitocin to speed things along. Then the real pain began. I was ready for the epidural, but just my luck, the anesthesiologist was doing an emergency c-section and I had to wait. The wait was excruciating. The contractions were right on top of one another. I didn’t even have a minute in between to recover. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, I received my epidural. Relief immediately kicked in – I actually was able to get some rest. I told David to go home and take care of the dogs, get something to eat, etc. He didn’t want to leave, but I kept insisting that he go. The doctor told him that I would be several more hours yet, so David finally agreed to go (rather reluctantly, of course). He wasn’t even gone an hour, and in that short time I had dilated from 5 cm to 9 cm. The doctor told me to wait as long as I possibly could before pushing. I felt pressure and serious discomfort, but the epidural was still in full effect, so what I was feeling was definitely manageable. Finally, it was time to push. I had so many thoughts going through my mind at that time. I knew the pushing was when the real work began, and although I knew I was finally going to meet my little girl, I couldn’t help but be overwhelmed with the thought of getting that thing out of me! The pushing was surreal. I remember David coaching me and telling me I could do it. As I was pushing with all of my might, he seemed to be pushing with me. And finally, after about 30 minutes, the doctor told me that she would be born after the next push. And as I waited for the next push, emotion flooded over me. I couldn’t believe it. After all those long months wondering who she was and what she looked like, I was finally going to meet her.

And then she was born! It was the most unbelievable, amazing moment in my life. I heard her cry and saw her for the first time and thought she was the most beautiful, perfect baby. Giving birth is such a beautiful, moving experience. Yes, it’s horrible and painful, but the feeling I felt at the moment she was born is unlike anything I have ever felt in my entire life. I felt overwhelming joy, happiness, pride, gratitude, relief, fear, and so many other things all at the same time. And I as looked at David and saw the tears flowing down his cheeks, I could see he felt all of those same things as well.

Finally, Madeline was here! She was - and is - our miracle baby. God blessed us with this beautiful baby girl after we had given up any hope that we would ever have a child. And I thank Him every day for this wonderful gift.

Posted by monkeygirl at June 29, 2004 12:44 AM