Mason's Birth Story

Ok, so it's been 6 weeks and today is officially my last day of maternity leave (boo-hoo).

I know I promised weeks ago (6 to be exact) that I would share his birth story...not to mention I'd like to write it down so I don't forget the details myself...so bear with me, and I hope not to bore you. For those of you who don't care, don't read this post...catch the next one. :)


February 19, 2009

7:55 am - David and I arrived at the Toledo Hospital for our scheduled induction. The nurse showed us to my labor and delivery room. It was actually very nice, it was at the end of a hallway, so it was the corner room and had lots of windows. They had already filled my water jug and turned down my sheets on my bed. The nurse told me to get into my gown and she'd be back to put in the i.v. About 8:30, the nurse (my assigned nurse was in a meeting) returned and asked me a zillion questions, standard stuff. She finally put in my i.v. and left the room. I think they started the Pitocin about 9:00 am. My assigned nurse was very aggressive with the Pitocin, increasing 2 points every half hour.

10:00 am - Donna, my midwife, came in. She was planning on breaking my water and handed the hook to David..told him to hold it while she checked me. Unfortunately, my cervix had not done anything from the day before, when she stripped my membranes, I was at a "tight two" centimeters. And, Mr. Mason's head had gone back up so she wasn't comfortable breaking my water. She said she was going to go into the office and would be back later...she would be in contact with the nurses via phone. Donna told me to try to sit up as much as I could so that the baby would move down while I was contracting.

About 11:00 am or so, I started to feel the contractions, which was good, this was much quicker than with Allison 6 1/2 years ago. David sat and did crossword puzzles while I read a book and watched t.v.

About noon, the nurse asked me if I was comfortable. I hate hospital beds and couldn't get comfortable. So, she helped me into the rocking chair, where I sat most of the day. My contractions continued to get stronger and closer, which is what we wanted. My nurse continued to increase the Pitocin at regular intervals.

At about 2:30 pm, my contractions were very strong and about 3-5 minutes apart. My nurse had just left for lunch, so the stand-in asked if I needed anything; said she had just spoken to Donna on the phone. I told her that I thought I was ready for drugs...She said ok, she'd call Donna to see if she should check my cervix so we could determine where I was and which drug was appropriate. She came back in a few minutes and said that Donna wanted to check my cervix herself and was on her way in. The contractions continued strong and steady and I was thinking that things were really going to happen soon.

Donna got back to the hospital about 4:00 pm. She had me get back into bed and checked my cervix and I had only progressed to a "loose three" centimeters. Boy was I disappointed. I thought I'd be farther than that with the Pitocin so high and the contractions so strong and close together; some of them were only a minute or two apart. At this point, though, she was able to break my water. Now, if you remember, they kept telling me that I had a lot of fluid, which is why my stomach was so big. When Donna broke my water, it was like Niagara Falls. I don't remember that much fluid ever before. It was crazy...my socks even got soaked when she had me sit back up (because she had the bottom of my bed lower than my butt so I was inverted). She kept laughing at me because there was so much fluid. She told the nurse at that point to give me Nubaine and wait about an hour to call for my Epidural. We sat and talked for a few minutes and she said that this was going to take longer than she thought. While we talked, I felt some things going on and kept complaining about the fluid that continued gushing out of me, all over my bed. Donna checked my cervix again and I had already progressed to 4 centimeters, that quickly. She told the nurse to go ahead and call for the Epidural now, things were going to move quickly. She said I could still have the Nubaine while I waited. They had to change my bed sheets and pads; I had soaked 3 bed pads in a matter of minutes.

About 4:30 -4:45 pm the anesthesiologists showed up; there were two of them, a student and her "teacher". I was ok for now as I had the Nubaine and it was helping a big. They started by having me sit up and lean over; for those of you who have ever had an Epidural, you know that this is the worst part, leaning over while contracting. It took FOREVER for the "student" to get the Epidural in, not that she poked me a million times, it just took forever. I had many contractions while she was trying to do this, and Mason's heart rate kept going down. Donna said it was just since I was leaning over squishing him during my contractions. Finally, everything was in, and they had me lay back for 20 minutes for the medicine to start working. As soon as I leaned back, I felt like I was going to pass out. I immediately had no energy and couldn't keep my eyes open. My blood pressure went down to 84/40 and the monitors started beeping. The nurses and Donna stayed calm, while David jumped out of his seat and was at my side..."What's going on? Is she ok?". I don't ever remember seeing him so worried or attentive for that matter. The anesthesiologist explained that sometimes this happens if the Epidural is really heavy. She gave me a shot of Epinephrine to get my blood pressure back up. I still didn't have any energy and just felt like I couldn't keep my eyes open. This kept up for quite awhile. I was in and out of sleep from there on. I kept complaining that my Epidural was too strong; I couldn't feel anything, not even my butt. I know that I'm not supposed to feel anything, but I couldn't move my legs at all, the nurses and Donna had to move my legs for me when they wanted me to turn to my side, etc. I couldn't feel any pressure or pain or anything. My contractions almost came to a stop, they started spacing out farther apart. Apparently, my new nurse didn't keep up with the Pitocin. Once Donna started pushing the Pitocin up again, things started moving along once again.

There was some concern in respects to Mason's heartbeat. It starting an arrhythmia; about every 7 beats, it would skip. I started to panic, but Donna said sometimes this happens during labor. She said the NICU doctors would be in the delivery to make sure once Mason was born. After awhile, Donna turned down the monitor so I couldn't hear his heart beat anymore because I was starting to really worry. A couple hours later, right before I delivered, the arrhythmia went away. His heart was beating normal once again. It never has been a concern since.

About 9:00 pm Donna asked me if I was feeling anything. I told her no, I hadn't felt anything in hours. She finally decided that she should check my cervix because my contractions were so strong and close together. We had many visitors in the room, so everyone got up and left, including David. They were going to go for a walk. Donna checked me and said "We better call dad back; we're having a baby...she's complete". I was like What?? Donna ran to get a gown on; the nurse called for warm baby blankets. I was panicking because I couldn't reach my phone to call David back in the room and didn't want him to miss anything. Donna handed me her cell phone and I called him and told him to get back here. That was 9:02 pm. David ran into the room, Donna said "we're having a baby" and he came to my side. Then, he asked if I wanted his sister in the room, I had decided to let his oldest sister, Judy, in the room this time as she was there for me when I lost baby Grace last year and I wanted to share something happy with Judy. So, David called her and asked her if she wanted to be in the room. So, Judy came in the room and Donna told David and Judy to hold my legs and told me to push. I think I took 3 breaths and pushed 4 times...I don't remember exactly. Mason was out at 9:12, so all of this happened in 10 minutes. The only thing I felt was my stomach go flat when he came out completely.

He wasn't crying when he first came out and was really blue..I didn't remember that from either Allison or Preston. I later found out (3 days later) from David and Judy that Mason's cord was wrapped around his neck. This happened during delivery...Mason was originally facing up, but when he came out, he was facing down, so during transition, he turned and the cord must have wrapped around his neck, but he was always breathing, so it was nothing to worry about. I didn't get feeling back in my legs until after 2 am that night. My Epidural was just too strong. When the nurse tried to get me up to clean me up around midnight to move me to my post-partum room, I stood up, went to take a step and fell, I thought I could walk, but was surprised to find out I still didn't have control over my legs. It was crazy.

When Donna laid Mason on my chest after wiping him off and suctioning his throat, I started saying that he was tiny..she agreed. I said there's no way he's 8 pounds and Donna couldn't believe he was so small, she was sure he was going to be a big baby. When the nurse weighed him and told us he was 8 pounds and 10 ounces, Donna said no way..she couldn't believe it. She told the nurse to weigh him again. She ended up weighing him a third time a bit later too...because he just seemed so small.

Ok, so now the negative part of my experience:

I was moved to a double room at about midnight. The room was empty at that time. At about 5:30 in the morning on Friday, the nurse came in and prepped the other bed. She said I was getting a roommate, but was 5th on the list to get a private room. They had 11 people being discharged on Friday and I would be moved when my room was ready.

My roommate was brought in at about 10:30 am. She had numerous visitors throughout the day. They were very inconsiderate; loud, they had the t.v. blaring and cell-phones ringing. Her visitors were using the bathroom, which clearly said “Patients Only” on the door.

My husband and kids were at the hospital with me all day on Friday; we were very quiet, and were very conscious not to let the kids get out of control. When my kids needed to go to the restroom; David took them down the hall to use the one for visitors.

I asked the nurses numerous times throughout the day when I was going to get a private room. They kept telling me I was on the list and they were waiting for other patients to get discharged. I was not able to rest or get comfortable enough to nurse Mason because my roommate’s guests were not quiet or considerate. They had to walk by me to get to the restroom.

Donna, my midwife, stopped by to see me about 4:00pm on Friday and asked the nurse point blank if I was going to get a private room. She told my nurse that if I didn’t get a private room, she wanted me discharged to go home with my baby so I could get some rest and be comfortable. Donna did this before even saying hi to me; she could tell just by looking at me what kind of day I was having. The nurse advised Donna that the pediatrician probably would not release the baby as he wasn’t 24 hours old yet. Donna left a standing order that I could be released as soon as the baby was.

I understand everyone is entitled to visitors, but I was confined to a 4x6 foot area, blocked off by a curtain from another patient and had one chair in my portion. I didn’t feel comfortable enough to have visitors until I got my own room. Even if I had gotten some visitors while I was sharing a room; we would have made a conscious effort not to disturb my roommate.

At 8:20pm on Friday, David was getting ready to leave with Allison and Preston as visiting hours are over at 8:30pm. I was crying because I wanted to leave; I felt like I was in prison and couldn’t get out. I so wanted to go home with my family, but, obviously, could not leave without my newborn son. When my family was leaving, my roommate was getting yet more visitors, even though visiting hours are over at 8:30pm. David stopped at the nurse’s station and again asked them when I was getting my own room. He explained, yet again, the situation, stating that the roommate and her visitors were not considerate or quiet and that she had just gotten more visitors. He explained to the nurses that I was exhausted, but couldn’t get any sleep or rest with everything that was going on in my room.

The nurse then came into our room, told my roommate’s visitors that visiting hours were almost over. She came over to my side of the curtain, where I was holding my baby and sobbing because I was stuck in a situation that I couldn’t get of and no one was listening to me. The nurse asked if I was ok and I told her no. She had to tell the visitors 3 more times that visiting hours were over, and they finally left about 8:50pm.

I didn’t see my nurse again until about 10-10:30ish that night. When she came in, she told me that my room was being cleaned and I would be moved shortly. I was relieved, so I packed up my things to move. At 11:30pm my nurse came back in and told me that my room had been given to someone else who had some religious belief in which no male could be in her hospital room; therefore, she was getting a private room. What could I do? I called the hospital operator, asked for patient advocate services. The operator advised they were not there at this time, so she was going to page the head of the nurses to come speak to me. He did come speak to me, but couldn’t offer any help as he was not involved in the situation. He apologized and couldn’t understand why the nurses would have been telling me that I would get a private room if I was not getting one. He said he would check into it and left.

At this time, there was nothing I could do but try to get some rest. I nursed Mason and sent him to the nursery so I could try to get some rest as I was absolutely exhausted. My roommate, however, did not send her baby to the nursery. She kept him in the room and he was up most of the night. She had to turn on her bright overhead light every time she needed to nurse him. Therefore, again, I was unable to rest or get much sleep at all. It was a horrible night on top of the horrible day I had just endured.

At 8:00am on Saturday, February 21, 2009, the nurses came in to get my roommate for surgery, as she was getting her tubes tied at 9:00. As soon as she left the room, I called my morning nurse. She came in and I explained to her that I wanted her to send in housekeeping to clean the bathroom so I could take a shower. I also told her to get all the paperwork together so that I could leave as soon as my baby was discharged by the pediatrician. My nurse advised me that I was next on the list to get a private room. I explained to the nurse that I no longer cared about a private room; I wanted out of the hospital as soon as possible. She said we were waiting for the pediatrician, but I told her to get everything else together so that as soon as my son was discharged we could leave.

She did send housekeeping so that I could take a shower. She took Mason to the nursery while I took a shower and in case the pediatrician came. When David and the kids arrived, we went to the nursery to get Mason. I was advised by the nurses that we were still waiting on the pediatrician to release the baby. They had called the doctor to get a verbal discharge, but had not heard back yet.

I went back to my room where I continued to sit and wait. About 10:00-10:30 am, 2 nurses came into my room and proceeded to get my roommates things as she was being moved to a private room. They told me that I would have already gotten one but I was leaving. I understood, and asked them where the pediatrician was. They said they were still waiting for a phone call back for a verbal discharge. I then advised the nurses that if we didn’t hear back shortly, I was taking the baby and leaving the hospital, without the discharge, as I was tired of waiting and ready to get out of the hospital. The nurses told me that would be against medical advice and I told them I didn’t care. I was discharged and my baby was fine; I was leaving with or without their consent. About 10 -15 minutes later, two nurses came in to my room and just about pushed us out of the hospital. They said they got the verbal discharge, and we could leave. They started helping put things (from the baby’s bassinet) into my bags and literally pushed us out of the hospital.

First of all, I have private insurance. I know that my roommate was on government assistance, and not that that is any of my business (and I mean NO OFFENSE to anyone), but I don’t feel that if I have private insurance, I should have to share a room with someone that does not. (And, my roommate was the stereotypical welfare case...like what you see on t.v., so I can generalize here).

It’s bad enough to have to share a bathroom with another woman who is heavily bleeding like I am, but then to have to proceed to share it with her random guests. I had to take care of my open wounds in a non-sterile environment. I know that a few of them did not wash their hands; therefore, when I went into the restroom, I had to take Clorox wipes and wipe everything down before I could even focus on taking care of myself.

Secondly, I was not cramping much or even bleeding very badly come Friday night/Saturday morning. I thought that maybe it was just because this was my 3rd child and my body was just reacting well. Once I got home, and I was more comfortable and in a quiet place, my baby started nursing 100% better, consequently, I started bleeding much worse and had horrible uterine contractions. I had to get my Motrin 800 prescription filled for the 1st time in three children. This made me realize that I did not get the care in the hospital that I was there for. I then spent the next two days recovering the way I should have been in the hospital, while getting help from the nurses.

I do not feel that anyone listened to my concerns nor did they act like they cared. Up to the point that I was put into a post-delivery room, my care was excellent and my experience was great; as it was the past two times I delivered at Toledo Hospital.

I wrote a letter to the hospital and explained in detail everything that went on. I urged them to take my complaints into consideration in the future while doubling up new mothers; it should not happen in this day and age. We deserve to have peace and quiet and a comfortable place to both bond with and nurse our newborn babies. I did recieve a call from the head of patient services who kept falling over herself to apologize. She explained my situation is the exact one they are trying to avoid and have plans on the table to expand their wing so there are no longer double rooms. She said my letter was very well written and that she was going to take the names out of it, and use it as a case study to push their cause forward.

It was a miserable hospital experience (after birth), but it's over and I kept my eye on the prize and have been rewarded with a beautiful, happy, healthy baby.

So there it is, Mason's birth story...I hope I didn't forget anything; I got the major points. Some day I can show it to him. I wish I would have written down Allison and Preston's stories as well; I don't quite remember them as well.

Hopefully my next post will more interesting. Thanks for sticking with me...your reward? Well, a video...I caught a smile...enjoy!


Michele