How I became a mom

One of my friends http://subjugatedwife.blogspot.com/ joined a birthing story contest http://michellekemperbrownlowwrites4kids.blogspot.com/2008/02/i-want-your-baby-stories.html and since I came home early today and I have a whole hour to myself I decided i have enough time to blog a bit. And why not retell that wonderful event at the end of which I had a new title...
But luckily for me, I've already recorded it in my pregnancy blog so this is just an edited version:

Basically, early (4something AM) Saturday morning, Dec 31 I woke up from lower abdominal pain. Bathroom, I thought... So I took care of business but the pain didn't go away. CONTRACTIONS, I realized and stayed awake for a few minutes thinking about finally meeting Alie(a name of endearment for the little alien living inside of me).

I felt another contraction and then I fell asleep. In the morning, I told hubby that I think the day has finally come and described my symptoms ( upon request). I went to the services where I felt a few more bouts of low abdominal discomfort and one very unpleasant backache. I shared all of this with hubs when we came home for lunch and even proposed a walk after eating. Grin. I ended up walking by myself for about 45 minutes and went to take a nap afterwards. By 4 PM contractions intensified and by 5:15ish became quite frequent, 4-7 minutes and unpleasant to the point where I didn't even have the energy to call family and let them know that the time is nearing.

By 6ish, contractions started coming even closer together 3-5 minutes and I called a doula ( recommended to me by a friend) who was, as expected on vacation. I told her that contrary to popular belief (the MD told me on Thursday that it'll be at least a week until the baby comes) I'm in labor and would she recommend anyone else? She asked me to describe my symptoms( can still talk through contractions and all), told me it's too early to go to the hospital, recommended a shower for relaxation and volunteered to call a few of her friends. Needless to say, though she was extremely nice, she was unable to find anyone on such a short notice, on new years eve. She found someone who offered to assist for $1000 ( though her regular price was 1600( USD!!!!) but at that point I just said that I'll have to tough it out.

Hubby, based on my 3-4 min contractions, suggested we go to the hospital.
I, who was definitely unfortunate for all the info that I've accumulated in my head, said that I don't want to be sent home and I'd rather take a shower. So, while I showered to the point of draining all the hot, warm, and lukewarm water in the house, he went to pick up my mom so she can come to the hospital with us. Close to 9 PM, he convinced me to go to the hospital, thank Gd! Needless to say, I was pretty out of it in the car- my mom massaged my back while I pretended to do some of that breathing stuff that's supposed to help and thanks to my excellent driver, we got to the hospital (located on the Upper East Side) in less than 30 min (average ETA 45-60 minutes).

I was 3-4 cm dialated on admission @~9:25. There was an exceptionally nasty resident who was asking me the same questions that a nurse had already asked. I tried telling him that I've already given all the information to the lady who was in the room before him. To which he said, " I'm admitting you, not she." And though normally I'd probably have something equally nasty to say to him, he was in the position of power, so I just answered his questions as unpleasantly as I can...

When asked if I want any pain relief, I said yes, but unfortunately the nurse didn't ask which pain relief I wanted before she left, and I didn't remember to specify. My water broke while I was still in triage. By 10:30 I felt the urge to push, at which point they finally got the anaesthesiologist. I was 7 cm.
Soon after the substitute of a substitute of my OB came in and introduced himself and by 11:25 I was ready to push... And I was pushing and pushing and pushing like crazy with only 35 minutes to meet my taxes deadline.
When my nurse, Ms. Martin (in retrospect, probably the only person who paid her full attention to me regardless of the upcoming new year) said "Let's take a break and watch the ball drop", I realized I missed both my tax deadline and the first baby of the year glory.

Basically epidural slowed my contractions down to the point where after 3 hours of pushing (with pitocin), they gave me a choice of a c-section or a forceps delivery. I think I even shed a tear when I heard that c-section was a real option. I mean, I could've picked a better time (in 2005) for a c-section if I thought that was the only option...I asked what about forceps? MD said there is a risk of a whole bunch of complications, etc, etc, etc but that they usually don't happen. My mom had some concerns, too but he told her not to worry. He was born with an aid of forceps and he grew up to be a doctor. (And I was not in the position to recite my short lecture on the topic of correlation vs causation, too tired from pushing, too worried about my baby).

But I really didn't want a c-section so few minutes later,with a room full of support staff, i.e. neonatal nurse manager, obstetric PA, etc- I saw a female resident, under the supervision on a nice attending substitute OB, use scary looking salad tongs, heard a couple of snipping noises ,pushed twice, saw a screaming baby slip out, and I yelled ' it's a girl!'...
She was yelling and looking around, while the umbilical cord was cut. Then, they took her to the corner of the room to be cleaned and checked. And I realized there is a new sound that I'm in love with, and that I'm a mom.