Warning: This may be too much information for some people!
Georgia's birth story began on Friday, January 6, 2006 at about 11:00 p.m. We were smack dab in the middle* of watching the movie, Wedding Crashers. (Of course it was past my usual bedtime at this stage of pregnancy, but when Neil asked if I wanted to watch a movie, I thought, sure, I can stay up a little later tonight because I'll be able to sleep in tomorrow. Ha!)
I asked Neil to pause the movie because I had to pee. I went to the bathroom, used the toilet, and when I stood up, my water broke. I called Neil to the bathroom. He didn't believe me at first! Helloooo! I know the difference between peeing and leaking amniotic fluid! He just thought it was too early. Well, it took me by surprise too, but this was unmistakable. I asked him to get me a Pull-up (diaper) because from past experience I knew that maxi pads would be completely useless.
Within a couple of minutes, Neil had called his cousin Darren to come to our house, and I had dressed for the hospital. He then called Glenys to meet us at the hospital, and our parents to let them know what was happening. While Darren was en route, we gathered up the last few items for my hospital bag. Thank goodness I had pinned a list to my bag because my adreneline was way up and I couldn't think straight. Darren arrived within 20 minutes and we were outta here soon after.
As we were checking in at Admitting, Glenys arrived at the hospital. Great timing! The three of us headed up to Labour and Delivery. We were in the delivery room before midnight. And what luck--Dr. Cardoso was on that night and he came to our room within minutes of our arrival. He was very happy, and so was I, that he would be there for Georgia's birth.
Right away, I got into a hospital gown and our nurse put the heart monitor straps on my belly. As planned, Georgia's heart rate was monitored throughout. By this time, I was wondering when my labour was going to get started. It was already more than an hour since my water broke and nothing much was happening. (Labour started very soon after my water broke with Madeline, so that's what I expected to happen.) We figured my labour was probably slow to start because I was in the hospital and was nervous about the outcome due to Georgia's heart condition.
Dr. Cardoso ordered Pitocin to be given to me in an hour or so if my labour didn't start sooner. In the meantime, we sat there and waited. We watched Georgia's heart rate on the monitor and waited. (Her heart rate stayed steady at 70-80 bpm throughout.) I was getting tired of waiting! Glenys, Neil, and I walked around the 2nd floor a couple of times to see if that would get things moving. I had never experienced this before. With both Sophia and Madeline, I was already in active labour by the time we arrived at the hospital.
Now it had been hours since my water broke and still no real labour--just infrequent minor cramping--so I had to get an IV for the Pitocin. Oh, I hated the thought of getting an IV (very bad memories from my appendectomy in 1992). I think it was almost 3:00 a.m. by the time I received a low dose of Pitocin. I was supposed to get it sooner than that, but they were so busy that night, they waited longer so there wouldn't be too many births happening at the same time.
My labour started pretty soon after receiving the Pitocin and I think I was in active labour by 4:00 a.m. I asked Glenys to tell me how to breath again because I couldn't remember anything. I focused on breathing through the contractions. Transition was definitely the worst part. It's truly awful. I was shaking uncontrollably and felt a bit nauseated. I felt like cursing a lot (think the chest waxing scene in 40 Year Old Virgin), but I'm much too reserved for that! My mantra was "I can do this. I've done it before. I NEVER have to do this again." The pushing and birth were bad too, but they were over pretty quickly. Georgia was born at 5:03 a.m., so the whole thing didn't take very long, but holy crap, was it difficult!
For the third time, Glenys and Neil helped me through it and I am so thankful for their support. Once again, I didn't have any drugs. Before my labour started, Dr. Cardoso had asked if I wanted something for pain relief, but I didn't want to introduce any other variables on top of Georgia's heart condition. I also knew I could get through it because I had done it twice before. Plus, the idea of a needle in my spine really grosses me out. I'm pleased that I had my babies without drugs, but I completely understand why one would opt for an epidural. I would consider getting one if I had to do it again.
When Georgia was born, the cord was wrapped around her body and neck. She was very pale and was gasping for air. One nurse described her condition as "shocky". Her heart rate was low too, but I don't think it was lower than her usual heart rate. Her one minute Apgar score was only three which is pretty bad. They put her on my chest for about five seconds, then rushed her out to NICU. I wanted to hold my baby, but I could see that she needed help. It really sucks that the cord caused such a problem at birth because I think she would have seemed quite healthy otherwise. Thankfully, she improved very quickly and her five minute Apgar score was eight.
As it turned out, Dr. Cardoso wasn't actually in the room when Georgia was born. Another baby was being born very prematurely at the same time and understandably, he was with them. I think he knew that things were progressing well enough with us. After Georgia was born, I had to have two stitches. The resident who did the stitches told us that that's where her nose came out! Well, Neil and I hadn't had a really good look at Georgia because she was rushed out so soon, so that made us wonder what her nose looked like! When I finally saw Georgia in NICU a few hours later, I was relieved to see her cute little nose among other things.
After everyone left our room and Neil went home, they let me sleep in the delivery room for a bit. I was totally exhausted. Except for a short nap between 11:00 a.m. and noon the previous day, I hadn't slept for 24 hours. I was up all night for the birth of all three of my babies. These girls just won't let me get a good night's sleep!
Around 8:00 a.m., after only 45 minutes of sleep, I was wheeled over to the Mother-Baby unit as they needed the delivery room. I slept a bit more before heading over to NICU... and that (the experience of our baby being in NICU for six days) is another story I hope to write about sometime.
*If you're familiar with the movie Wedding Crashers, Wilson's character (John) had just convinced Vaughn's character (Jeremy) to stay at the family compound after the horrific night he experienced. ("Rule Number 1: Never leave a fellow crasher behind.") Perhaps the hilarity of the previous scene was just too much for me!
Darren and Ali gave us the Wedding Crashers DVD as a gift a week later. This movie will always remind us of Georgia's birth! I finally watched the end of the movie late at night on January 25 while I was feeding Georgia.
Many thanks to Darren and Ali too for staying with Sophia and Madeline at our house when Georgia was born!