Labor
When women, particularly young mothers, get together, occasionally
the conversation will drift toward childbirth. You hear stories
of long labors, mistakes made by doctors or nurses, cesarean sections,
excruciating pain, complications, and so forth. Mothers are always
eager to tell their "horror" story and will inform you
of all the stories of friends and relatives, but sometimes, someone
will come up with the story of the incredibly quick labor; and
the woman who experiences that labor quickly becomes the envy,
and most hated, of the group. Fortunately, I have been that woman
twice, and frankly I'm proud of it, labor was one of the easiest
tasks I've ever accomplished!
It was around May of 1991 that my husband and I found out that
we were going to be parents for the first time and, honestly,
it was the scariest thing I've ever heard! Not that I never wanted
to become a mother, but I had been married a little over a year
and I wasn't sure that we were ready. Beside that, all the stories
I heard about labor were horrifying!! Who in this world wants
to go through thirty-six hours of pain and suffering? I kept hearing
Carol Burnett telling men to take their bottom lip, and pull it
over the top of their head so they could experience the same pain.
My mom even scared me when she told me that she went through twenty-six
hours of labor before the doctors concluded that her pelvic bone
was too small to allow my brother to come naturally, forcing a
cesarean section. But after discussing this with my husband Chriss,
he and I decided that this was meant to be, and quickly became
elated over the prospect of hearing the precious cooing of an
adorable baby in about six months.
Throughout my pregnancy, terrible thoughts continued to haunt
me and I decided that I was not going to be part of another horror
story that fell from the lips of my female friends and my family.
I began reading all the books I could find on the subject of
healthy pregnancies and, although I just couldn't keep myself
from all of those glorious foods at El Tapatio, I walked often
to keep in shape, so to speak. After all, a few books said that
the more physically fit you are, the shorter your labor may be,
and I figured it was worth a try. Every day I walked to and from
work, approximately one mile each way, and every day, before I
left work, I had to convince my coworkers that I was okay and
that I wouldn't go into labor somewhere on Concord Avenue; fortunately,
I was right.
In the last week of September, I went in for a routine checkup
and was informed by my doctor that I had already dilated to one
centimeter. This news was too much. After all, my due date was
November 27th and throughout all of my paranoia regarding painful
labor, I never gave one thought to the possibility of early labor.
After being interrogated by the nurses, the doctor decided After
I was interrogated by the nurses, the doctor decided to send me
to the hospital to check if I had gone into labor. You see, the
questioning was because the nurses noticed the readings on the
monitor they hooked me up to showed very large contractions and
I was not reacting to them. Thankfully, after three long hours
at John Muir Hospital, the doctors decided that it was stress
and "Braxton Hicks" (false labor) pains and sent me
home. For the next three weeks I continued to dilate one centimeter
a week until November 25th, without pain. The twenty-four hours
from November 25th to the 26th, hold memories that I will remember
until my dying day.
On November 25, 1991, I again went in for a normal checkup; the
air seemed thick in the examination room that day because I was
due in only two days! Dr. Rotermund told me that I was now dilated
to four centimeters, and because we were three days from Thanksgiving,
he informed me which doctors would be on duty that week. He was
convinced that Nicole, my new baby, would be here any day. Boy,
does that man know his business!
At 3:00 AM, a slight cramping in my stomach woke me from my wonderful
slumber, and, being one to relish my sleep, I brushed off the
pain and went back to dreamland only to wake again at 5:00AM from
the same pain. Not wanting to take any chances, I decided it would
be best to inform my husband and rolled over to tell him the anticipated
phrase, "Honey, it's time". Amazingly, he returned
with, "Well breathe," and fell back asleep! Figuring
the pains were just my imagination, I let him be, got up, called
my mom, left a message at work, and watched TV in the living room.
Mom showed up two hours later and, after watching me wince in
pain for two more hours, decided that, even though Dr. Rodermund
told me to hold off coming in for awhile, it was time. She called
the doctor back to tell them we were coming in, woke my husband,
and drove us to Dr. Rodermund's office.
Dr. Rodermund was reluctant to see me; my contractions were not
steady and nowhere near five minutes apart, but took me in right
away. Now, I want you to know that I felt pretty ridiculous because
even I didn't think I was in actual labor yet, but who really
wants to argue with their mom? So here I am in the examination
room, nervous as heck, and a little embarrassed, when Dr. Rotermund
looks at me, laughing, and asks me how I am feeling and how I
got here. I answer with "fine" and "my mom drove
me" only to be hit with a statement that is clear as a bell
in my mind to this day. "Get to the hospital right away and
don't sneeze. You are fully dilated!". I was so amazed at
what he was telling me, that, like him, all I could do was laugh!
But my mom and Chriss were a different story, I think they went
through three shades of white when I informed them, as well as
the nurses and the other patients waiting in the waiting room,
mainly because I was fully dilated, walking, and laughing.
When we arrived at John Muir hospital's maternity ward, thankfully
across the street from Dr. Rotermund's office, the nurses were
amazed to see that I arrived on my own two feet, fully dilated
and without a stretcher or wheelchair; they said it just doesn't
happen. But they helped me into my gown and brought me into the
beautiful birthing room, the first place my baby will ever see,
and hooked me up to all the monitors and gizmos that, I guess,
are necessary to have a baby with. Seconds later, it was time
to push, and without any drugs, and a few cruel words from me
to the nurse and Chriss, Nicole was born, in only twenty minutes.
I know the pain was there, but after seeing my beautiful daughter,
and knowing she was drug free and healthy, I cannot recall any
of it; all the paranoia and stress amounted to just that, paranoia
and stress.
Two years and almost one month later, Dr. Rotermund's colleague,
Dr. Senior, decided to induce the labor of my second child to
prevent a repeat, and again she was right. With a few threats
shouted toward my husband and fifteen minutes from the onset of
hard labor pains, Nadine was born.
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Questions? Brian McKinney (bmckinne@home.com)