That Time I Had Scurvy: A Birth Story

I am a different person now than I was before I had kids.  I am stronger, more independent, more driven to succeed, and more in love with life.  My world changed in ways I never imagined it would when I gave birth to my first daughter, Aislinn.  This happened again when I had Raia, and then a third time when we welcomed Nola into our family.  Because the arrival of each of our daughters has morphed me into the woman I am today, I'd like to share their birth stories with you.  Each experience was so unique, so beautiful, and so empowering that in order to know who I am, you must first hear the stories of my daughters' beginnings.  

Note: I will be posting their stories separately, and sharing my accounts as I wrote them after each baby was born, not as I remember it now.

Let's backtrack a little to the fall of 2007.  I was a sophomore at Boston University.  After unexplained exhaustion, nausea, and headaches for a few weeks, I began googling my symptoms.  There was only one plausible explanation: I had scurvy.  Clearly I was in the early stages and I needed to binge on vitamin C, STAT!  Joel gently explained that this was nearly impossible;  simply walking past an orange would probably have provided me with enough vitamin C to avoid scurvy. Hmm.  I figured he was right and that I should look for an alternative diagnosis. 

So, I called my doctor, who suggested I take a pregnancy test.  I didn't really believe that was a possibility (I think deep down I was still rooting for scurvy), but early one Sunday morning in November, I decided to pee on a stick, just to rule it out.  Joel and I waited the two minutes in his room, and then crept to the bathroom together to read the results.  Two pink lines.  Crap. 

I always wanted kids, and I even wanted to have kids young, just not THAT young.  We were both overwhelmed with lots of emotions.  Things were complicated during this time, and although  I could write a novel about everything that went on, I won't.  Suffice it to say that we received a mixed bag in terms of support.  Anyway, I finished the school year at BU, grew a big, healthy baby (whose sex was unknown, but I would have bet my life that I was having a boy), moved into an adorable one bedroom apartment with Joel at 6 months pregnant, and then waited for her to arrive.  Here is my recollection of that day:

At around 7:30pm three days prior to my due date, I began having contractions and back pain.  The contractions were 5 minutes apart right away, and I wasn't able to get comfortable, so my husband and I went for a walk. While we were out, the contractions became stronger and closer together, and we decided it would be best to go to the hospital.  After calling the doctor, we packed up the car and left.  I was excited, but I wasn't sure if it was "the real thing"- we even stopped to return a movie on the way there!

Once we got to the hospital, we checked into Triage and were ushered into a tiny room.  Within minutes I was hooked up to the monitor so they could see how often I was contracting and keep an eye on the baby's heartrate.  The contractions were very strong and regular, but when they did an internal exam they found I was only 3cm dilated.  In order to be admitted and moved upstairs to Labor and Delivery, you must be 4cm, so they stretched me from 3 to 4.

About an hour after I was admitted, the on-call doctor came in to check me.  I was still at 4cm, and she gave me two options: get the epidural and sleep through the night, or let her break my water in the hopes that my labor would progress more quickly.  Since I was hoping to have a natural birth, I chose the latter.  My contractions did become more intense, so I sat in the shower and let the warm water run over my back.  Most of the pain I was feeling was in my lower back because the baby was in the posterior position (with the back of her head pressing on my sacrum), so warm water, counterpressure, and changing positions helped a great deal. 

I was only 5cm dilated when the doctor came in to check me again, so she started a pitocin drip.  Over the next several hours, they kept increasing the dose. By this point, I was confined to the bed so they could monitor the baby, and my contractions and back labor were very intense.  I was exhausted, and asked for something for the pain.  They gave me one shot of Stadol- a narcotic used to take the edge off.  Unfortunately, it did not work.  I was still able to feel everything, but I could not keep my eyes open.  Luckily, it wore off after an hour and I continued to labor naturally as before.  

Finally, after 17.5 hours of labor, I started to feel pressure and knew it was time to push.  On the first push, the baby turned so that she was no longer "sunny side up."  Thirty-four minutes later, Aislinn Hayes Henry entered the world.  

Welcome to the world! (Holy crap, you're a GIRL!)

8lbs 10oz and 20in

Love at first sight

Hey, I just met you...and this is crazy...but you're my mama...so nurse me maybe?

Snuggling with Daddy.  

(The dates on these pictures are incorrect.  She was born on July 20, 2008.)

Beautiful. Love. Awe. I couldn't believe that Joel and I had created such a perfect little being, and that I had pushed her out of my body!  My "birth high" lasted for weeks.  It was at that point that I threw out any ideas I had about being a writer because I knew that I wanted to pursue a birth-related career.  But more about that later...