Brodie's Birth Story

'So, I am killing 2 birds with 1 stone.  In my 6th grade class, the students work all year on their autobiography.  They have different entries that are submitted throughout the year for me to check for content, spelling, grammar, etc.  Then, around April, their final autobiography is due.  Since Brodie is heading into 3rd grade next year, I want to get a head start on giving him information about his birth (in case he has the unfortunate luck of being in my class).  Brodie was due August 5, 2005.  However, because I suffered from gestational diabetes, my doctor really encouraged me to have a c-section a couple of days earlier.  I didn't want any part of that.  I was determined to have a vaginal birth, and Brodie wasn't about to have any part of that.  My last doctor's appt. was August 2, which was a very painful one.  I think my doctor had a secretive agenda that day because the probing and prodding that day was VERY painful (I think he was trying to make some manual labor progress without telling me).  After the appt. when Scot and I headed out to the car, I started bleeding.  So, I went back inside and told them, and my doctor's response was nonchalant.  I was scheduled to head to St. Agnes that evening to be induced.  Scot and I planned to have a last fabulous dinner together at Red Lobster before we headed to the hospital.  Well, our plans were shot to hell when we received a call from St. Agnes saying that they had no rooms available. How dare they!!! ;) They said they would call us the next day when they had a bed ready.  At around 11:30 pm, I got up to use the restroom (which I did often, as every pregnant mother has experienced), and as I "hopped" back into bed, a large amount of blood came out.  I started to panic because of my previous miscarriage.  As I got in the shower, Scot called my doctor, and he sent me to the hospital.  We arrived at St. Agnes a little after midnight.  I was given the wonderful IV and enema and was hooked up to all the machines.  About 7:00 that morning my doctor entered my room and poked and prodded me.  He said he was willing to do the c-section on his lunch hour, but I was still stubborn and wanted that vaginal birth. So he gave me the infamous pitocin and I waited and waited and waited.  I S. L. O. W. L. Y. started to feel contractions. About 11:00 am, I decided to get some pain meds, which were really not needed.  Scot left the hospital to make a Starbucks run for a white chocolate mocha for himself.  I didn't have any caffeine during my pregnancy, so I wanted a sip of his coffee.  You will never guess what happened!! Brodie's heart rate shot up within minutes of me taking a sip (I really only drank about a tablespoon sip) and it stayed elevated for about 10 minutes.  It was the craziest thing ever!!!! After that, we waited and waited some more.  My doctor visited me around 5:00, and recommended the c-section again.  At that point, I was sick of waiting, so I agreed.  He said he would be back in a couple of hours.  I was prepped... I won't go into the details of that.  I was wheeled to the surgery room and had to sit on a bed that seemed to be about half my width for my spinal.  Then I had to lie down and put my arms out to the side and was strapped down.  I felt like I was going to get a lethal injection for the death penalty.  I was completely prepped, my doctor and Brodie's pediatrician was there, now we were just waiting for Brodie's dad to be present.  Well, little did I know at the time that he had to be physically forced down the hallway because he was just strolling down to the room.  The nurse had to physically push him down the hallway because he was too slow getting to the room.  I have to laugh at that now because Scot is so damn slow, and unfortunately Brodie is just as slow!! ;) Anyway, once Scot got there and hid behind the curtain, the doctors proceeded to take Brodie out of me.  He apparently wasn't ready to be born because he hadn't even dropped into position. (I firmly believe that Brodie would not have lived if I had been pregnant back in the 1800's when stillbirths were common).  Thank God for technology.  The doctors had to perform what seemed like CPR just to push Brodie into position to be yanked from my body.  Finally, Brodie was out... His pediatrician showed him to Scot and me before taking him to perform all the necessary tests.  Brodie face was extremely swollen, and my first thought was, " Oh my God, I have an ugly baby." I know that sounds mean, but he was over cooked from what I was told.  When I was getting sewed up, the spinal medication caused me to uncontrollably shake and shiver.  I was absolutely freezing and was shaking horribly.  I thought it was because I was nervous about my baby being healthy, but I was told that my reaction is common with that particular medication.  Scot had gone with Dr. Jones (Brodie's pediatrician) to assist with the procedures being performed on my sweet little innocent baby.  He weighed 7lbs. 15 oz.  The doctors joked that he would have weighed 8lbs. even if he wouldn't have "peed" when he was taken out of me.  Scot recently told me that he actually saw that happen, so Brodie's pee actually went high enough for Scot to see it over the curtain.   Anyway, I was transferred to the recovery room where I continued to shake severely.  I was reunited with my baby, and he was starving.  He immediately was searching food, which I needed help with since I was still shaking so badly.  I will continue with the hospital stay on another post.  Of course, Brodie is not going to use all of the TMI info. in his autobiography, but I wanted to get all of this down before I forgot it.