After I had Maggie I had an urgency to write it all down, document it as quickly as possible so I wouldn’t forget it. I didn’t have that same sense of urgency when Audrey arrived, maybe because I was so incredibly miserable in the weeks leading up to her birth that when she finally arrived, I was mostly ready to move on. But I started part one and where there is a Part One, as any teacher knows, there must be a Part Two.
Here’s the thing: the way that both my girls came into the world is very, very similar. In fact, their arrivals are practically identical, minus a few hospital stays and scary medical conditions.
I had gone into the hospital the Monday the 14th morning following the Friday that I left work unexpectedly to get additional tests to determine if I indeed had cholestasis. We were there for a better part of the day attempting to induce labor using not so invasive and druggy ways. I spent majority of the time itching and wondering if everything was going to be okay. Barry’s dad came by and we talked with him at length about everything. It all felt very, very normal.
I had been convinced that my body would cooperate and I’d go into labor. I’d been mentally telling myself that time was up. Audrey had different plans and we were sent home with another scheduled induction the next weekend, only days away. My doctor wanted to wait unti I was 39 weeks, which looking back now, I’m glad I waited that extra week, but I was initially disappointed because I was so miserable and fearful of losing Audrey. Immediately after leaving the hospital we went and filled my prescription for the anti-itch drugs because if there was something to ease my discomfort and not harm Audrey, I wanted it to arrive on my door by the truckload.
Those following days at home were by far the most restful that I’d had in weeks. I woke up the next morning and almost burst into tears because I finally had a long stretch of sleep that didn’t involve waking up to wander around and itch. I also was able to enjoy feeling Audrey move around once again, something I wasn’t aware of that I’d missed.
When we left the hospital after the first time they induced me, I had jokingly told some of the nurses, that we’d become friendly with, that when we came back we’d really like to be in the fancy corner room. It was the room typically reserved for hospital staff and women giving birth to twins, it was also the room that Maggie Mae was born in.
Saturday morning arrived quickly and we got an early morning phone call telling us to come to the hospital later that afternoon. Since I was no longer itchy, thanks to the medication, I felt well enough to do pretty much anything. My mom had come down again to take care of Maggie and we took her downtown Edmonds to an event put on for kids. I ran into many friends from our library group and even some Hilltop people. It was so strange when asked when I was due to respond by saying “I’m being induced this afternoon!” The look on people’s faces were great and it was nice to not have such stress around the situation anymore.
That afternoon we checked into the hospital, which sounds like we checked into some posh hotel, and they had The Special Room reserved for us! The next few hours seem like a blur of nurses, my doctor and decisions to be made about avoiding any complications and having a healthy birth. I’m not proud to say this, but I really liked the drugs. My contractions were running right on top of each other, just like with Maggie, and I was getting zero rest in between them. In fact, I was in quite a bit of pain and crying a ton. As Barry had told me, I’m good at a lot of things, but managing my pain is NOT one of them. Translation: I am a MAJOR wimp. A nurse was able to give me something that ‘felt like a couple glasses of wine’ and I was able to have a great sleep.
But then funny things started happening.
First, the nurse that helped deliver Maggie arrived and was in charge of us. I’ll never forget her as long as I live. Her name was Trish and she treated me like one of her little bear cubs, propping pillows, rubbing my arm, checking in on Barry, and making me feel like she was on MY team. I really liked her.
Then the anesthesiologist, the one that looks like he is 12 years old, waltzed in to give me my epidural. It was all so strange. Barry and I kept looking at each other and confirming that this was in fact the birth of our SECOND child because EVERYTHING felt the same: the room, the contractions, the nurse, the anesthesiologist!
I was able to get a bit of sleep after some more drugs (remember, I’m not proud…) and when Dr. R. came back and checked again I was finally dilated to a 9! (I’d been stuck at 3cm for a long time and then went to 4cm). It was dawn and suddenly our room was a flurry of movement. Trish laid out all the important materials, started heating up the little bed for Audrey and Barry laced up his shoes because last time he wore flip flops and his toe cramped up. I’m not kidding, it actually cramped up.
As I mentioned before, there were a ton of similarties between the births of Audrey and Maggie. Here’s another one. The practice that I go to has about 4 or 5 doctors and whomever is on call is the one that delivers your baby. While I was pregnant with Maggie, Dr. B was my primary care doctor and I really liked him; however, Dr. R was the one on call when she was born. I really, really liked her. Barry described her perfectly when he said that he felt like she belongs in Anacortes, specifically the Trafton Lake neighborhood. For my pregnancy with Audrey I decided to switch to Dr. R’s care.
But Dr. B was the one that I saw in late December and he got the ball rolling with the cholestasis diagnosis and he knew what was happening.
Dr. R was on-call while I was laboring with Audrey and was checking in all night. She came in and checked to say I was 9cm dilated round 6 a.m. and I knew her shift was over at 8.
Although I was pushing, pushing, pushing, Audrey waited until 8:40 to be born and it was Dr. B who was the one that caught her.
I just as much comfort with him as I did with Dr. R and it was just ironic that he happened to be the one on-call.
My actual labor was far less eventful than the scary Non Stress Tests and blood work that led up to the induction. We hadn’t waited for an official diagnosis of cholestasis, but eventually lab work came back confirming so and now that look back on it, I’m almost certain I had a mild case when I was pregnant with Mags.
With Audrey’s arrival there was so much anxiety and fear once the words cholestasis made it into my vocabulary. That was all before she was born. When she came out and we heard her cry for the first time it was a highly emotional moment for both Barry and I, but there was also a sense of calm and peace that she was okay and that we were okay. Everything was fine, especially our little Audrey.
I tried with all my might to not continue to use the medication that I’d been given to stop the itchiness, but within hours of my last dosage wearing off, I started itching again. I was a little fearful about my milk supply, but decided to take the medication for a day or two to see if the itching would go away….which it did within 72 glorious hours!!!
Bringing Audrey home, as I’ve mentioned before, truly felt like a homecoming….we’re all here. Who can say why I’m finally writing this down almost 2.5 months later and not days after it happened or all the descriptions and details I’m leaving out. I guess part two could look like this:
Audrey Bell.
8lbs 7oz.
20″ long.
January 20th, 2013.
Mother and child are healthy.
