Everyone knows that I had a c-section with Payson, but most of you do not know the details that led to that outcome. A few weeks ago I made Paul sit down and write Payson's birth story before we forgot all the little details. This is long overdue considering Payson will be 3 months old on Thursday. Can you believe it?
Payson’s Birth Story
Payson’s birth began with a false start. On the night of Sunday, May 24, 2009 my contractions began when I went to bed. I had contractions all night and barely slept. When I woke up in the morning my contractions were coming every 8 minutes and I was pretty sure that I was in labor. I labored all of the morning and then around noon the contractions stalled out.
I was beyond ready for Payson to arrive, so I was extremely disappointed that the contractions had stopped. In an attempt to get things going again, Paul and I went to a local park with the puppies and walked around. When we got home, my contractions started up again and quickly increased to 7 minutes apart. Paul went to bed while I stayed downstairs because I was too anxious to sleep. Looking back, I really should have gone to bed with Paul and tried to conserve energy for labor. Around 1am on the 26th my contractions were increasing in intensity and were 4 minutes apart, so I decided to call our doula, Marilyn. I then tried to call my doctor, but ended up speaking with the doctor on call who wanted me to come to the hospital. Then I woke Paul up. He was extremely happy that my labor had begun and was prepared to coach. Paul and I decided that the doctor’s advice was not in line with our birth plan and we agreed to continue to labor at home until I could speak with my doctor at 8am. Our doula arrived at around 3am and we labored with her until my contractions decreased to 6 minutes apart.
Around 6am I decided to get in the shower to feel more refreshed. The shower made my labor slow even further so Paul and I took a nap together while our doula napped on the couch. During our nap, my contractions increased back up to 10 minutes apart and became much more intense than any of the previous contractions. After waking I continued to labor until I could speak with my doctor. We already had a regular appointment scheduled with the doctor at 11am so she suggested that we keep our appointment so she could check on my progress.
When we went in for the appointment my contractions were very intense and 3 to 4 minutes apart. When the doctor checked me I was at 3 cm, at -1 station, and the exam was the worse pain that I had ever experienced. The doctor advised that I could go home and labor further but to keep her advised of my status.
At home we labored some more. I was able to eat, drink and move around wherever I wanted to ease my labor pains. During the afternoon we decided to go for a walk around our neighborhood. I remember having to stop every 10-20 feet to lean on Paul during a contraction. The walking worked for a while but then my progress seemed to fizzle again. I was tired, in pain, and ready to give birth so we called the doctor again to ask about having my water broken at the hospital to get the contractions to progress. We weren’t entirely sure about this option yet but the doctor said we should wait til around 3 and then call her to let her know if we wanted to go to the hospital. At 5 we still hadn’t decided and the doctor called us. She understood our indecisiveness and just asked that we keep her advised. At 6:30 we had decided we were ready. We called the doctor and arrived at the hospital around 7.
At the hospital we checked in and then were taken back to a labor and delivery room. The nurse hooked me up to the external fetal heart monitor. What a piece of junk. Shortly after beginning monitoring I moved and the monitor lost good sound from Payson’s heart. The nurse came in and adjusted the monitor and my position but because of the loss of signal the nurse and doctor took that time period as a slowing of the heart rate instead of an equipment failure. Because of that I was required to be monitored for a much longer period initially and they made me take intravenous fluids in case the baby and I were dehydrated.
Paul was getting frustrated that the doctor had not come in yet to break my water. No one had explained that we needed to wait for the fluids and monitoring to finish. Finally round 9pm the doctor did come to break my water. We were informed at that time that we would also need to monitor internally now because they weren’t getting good readings from the external monitor. We gave in to this because I was so tired and really wanted to start moving things along.
The doctor broke my water, checked me, and inserted the internal monitor. I was extremely unhappy at this point in time because I was just 3 to 4 cm and the entire procedure was again beyond painful. I was bawling and screaming throughout. I never thought that I would be in such pain.
After a couple more hours of labor I was at my limits. I was considering getting an epidural for the pain which had become intense and I was just too tired to control my emotions and breathe through the pain. I really wanted to be able to get some rest so that I would have the energy to push when the time came. At this point it had been over 24 hours of labor and I hadn’t slept for two days. Paul and I debated this option for awhile. He and the doula tried to encourage me to continue but I was unsure and I was the one who could not get relief from the pain or the work. It was at this time that the doctor came in to check me again. I was terrified of being checked and the pain and the fact that I was still only 4 to 5 cm sent me over the edge. I decided to get the epidural and Paul agreed with me.
The anesthesiologist came in and gave me the epidural at midnight. It was such a relief. The doctor told us to get some rest and we all prepared to sleep for awhile. The doctor also had pitosin hung to increase the stretch of my contractions which she had felt were weak. 20 minutes after settling in for some rest the doctor and nurse rushed in to the room. Payson’s heart rate had dropped dramatically. They repositioned me and his heart rate came back up. It was then that the doctor informed me that I “had just bought myself a delivery time.” I was going to have a c-section. I was surprisingly not disappointed in myself because I know that I gave it my best effort and now I had to do what was best for Payson. Everything after that happened fast. Paul put on his scrubs and they prepped me for the c-section. After 1 AM on May 27, 2009 I was wheeled into the delivery room. 7 minutes after the procedure began Payson was born at 1:20 AM. The doctor had a little trouble removing him because of his big broad shoulders.
It turns out that Payson’s head was turned sideways in the birth canal which didn’t allow him to descend and kept me from progressing. Despite the fact that things didn’t proceed according to our birth plan, we are both very happy and Payson is a healthy and handsome baby boy.
*Shopping with Daddy*
*Passed out in the swing*
*Holding his head up*
*He kicked himself over the 
