Teagan Elizabeth's Birth

TEAGAN ELIZABETH RICHARDS

GORY BIRTH DETAILS

As a first-time mother, we were worried that I might deliver early, and we were fortunate enough to be able to have my Mum come out to help us, so Grandma Gay arrived on October 18th, just in case. Teagan seemed quite comfortable where she was, and 5 days before she was due, showed no signs of coming any time soon. So, Dr. Pollock asked us to pick a day for me to be induced. We chose to go in Sunday night, October 24th, anticipating having the baby on Monday, October 25th. We wanted her to come as soon as possible so Grandma Gay could be the most help and we even recited the poem, starting “Monday’s child is fair of face.”

So Mum & Dad arrived at the hospital at 8:00 PM on Sunday, October 24th  (more than a few minutes early, we were so excited)...

Sunday, October 24^th, 2010

• 8:00 PM – checked in @ Southern Hills Hospital in Las Vegas, NV
• Introduced to Janelle, my first L & D nurse. Super bubbly and sweet.
• 9:15 PM - 1 cm dilated - given Cytotec. Didn't tickle.

Monday, October 25^th, 2010

• 1:15 AM – 1 cm dilated – given more Cytotec. Didn't feel any better the second time.
• 5:15 AM - 3 cm dilated
• 6:30 AM - failed attempt to break my water
• Introduced to Julie, my second L & D nurse. Genuine and kind.
• 7:45 AM - 2nd failed attempt to break my water, still 3 cm dilated, started on Petossin.
• 9:30 AM - Dr. Pollock breaks water, 3 cm dilated.
• 10:30 AM - Epidural and catheter - Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh
• 11:30 AM - 4 cm dilated...I was reminded of Phoebe from an episode of Friends "The miracle of birth sure is a snoozefest."
• 12:45 PM - baby rolling onto cord and breathing erratic. Got extra fluids and oxygen mask
• 1:00 PM - injection to stop labour - baby not ready
• 1:30 PM - 5 cm dilated
• 1:55 PM - IUPC inserted to help monitor contractions
• 2:15 - restarted Petossin
• Hooked up to
• Blood pressure monitor
• Baby heart beat monitor
• IUPC
• Catheter
• Oxygen
• Oxygen Monitor
• IV
• Epidural
• Petossin
• Dex
  
• 2:30 PM - upped dosage of Petossin
• 3:00 PM - STILL 5 cm dilated!!!
• 3:15 PM - upped dosage of Petossin
• 3:40 PM - baby's breathing erratic again - stopped Petossin & back on oxygen
• 3:50 PM - checked, 5. cm. dilated.
• called Dr. Pollock, concerned about baby and scheduled C-section for 4:20
• Nurses said he was "calling it". I told them they should find another phrase to use - it scared me half to death! 
• 4:05 PM - prepped for C-section (cap, gown, same for Buddy + booties!)
• 4:20 PM - Caesarean Section with Dr. Pollock
• Rolled in, team was listening to the radio. "My Girl" came on, the song we played to tell our families we were having a girl!
• Madonna comes on and Dr. says he'll wait so it isn't the first sound she hears :)
• "Play That Funky Music White Boy" on while she was emerging from the womb
• 4:43 PM - Teagan Elizabeth Richards is born - 8 lbs. 15 oz. 19 in.
• Drs. gasped - freaked me right out! They were amazed at her thick head of blond hair.
• Counted 1,2,3,4. 1,2,3,4,5. 1,2,3,4,5,6. I panicked and asked if they were counting digits. Just a sound check. Phew!
• Asked Buddy if she was beautiful - he hesitated. We both saw her as the peeked her head over the curtain and she looked like a squished alien. I'm told that she was absolutely gorgeous within minutes (Phew again!) but I didn't get to see her for hours.
• Dr. Pollock said not only was she large (for someone my size) but she was asynclytic, meaning her head was tilted and no longer in line with the birth canal, which would have present a problem on its own even if she hadn't been messing with her cord. Trouble already!

My father-in-law (the ob-gyn) gave me great advice while I was pregnant. He told me to have a plan, but that the most important thing is to be flexible. I didn't think much of it at the time, as I didn't anticipate any problems. But as soon as the nurses got worried looks on their faces and began to call the doctor multiple times, I knew that I would do whatever it took to get my baby here safely. While I'd wanted to deliver conventionally (with an epidural) I went into to mama bear mode (before actually becoming a mother) and threw my plan out the window in favour of what the medical professionals recommended.

I will admit that my C-section was the strangest feeling I've ever felt. The epidural felt strange - not having control over the lower half of my body and watching as nurses moved my legs but not being able to feel it. Exponentially more disconcerting was the fact that I couldn't feel anything from the neck down during the procedure. It was almost an out of body experience - although actually being outside my body might have felt more comfortable. I felt like I couldn't breathe at times and it was terrifying. But the moment they pulled her out, I couldn't think about anything other than the fact that I was finally a mother. It wasn't real to me until that very second - even the 9 months leading up to it. I'm thankful for modern medicine and so grateful that my baby was and is perfectly healthy.