Maximilian Charles' birth story

Maximilian Charles Joel was born at 6:20 AM on June 27, 2011. He was 9 pounds, 0.4 ounces and 21.25 inches long at birth.

On Saturday 6/25 I began noticing a lot of discharge that I assumed was my mucus plug. Later that evening when I wiped I saw a bit of a pink tint. I think this may have been a bit of "bloody show," so I began to get excited that labor might be about to begin. At about 2 AM on Sunday 6/26 I started having contractions. AJ was at work and Halley was asleep in her room so I just tried to relax. They weren't really painful at this point and mainly just felt like period cramps every 15 minutes or so. I finally fell asleep at about 4 until 6AM and then again 8-10AM. I got up and took a shower to shave in preparation of possibly going to the hospital soon. Then, I texted AJ's sister Brandi to ask what contractions felt like. She said they felt like a warm tightening. That wasn't really what I was feeling at this point so I kept waiting. I had a bit of diarrhea so I began to question whether the cramping was related to that or to labor.

I timed them and they were pretty consistently coming at 7 minutes apart and lasting about 30 seconds so I really started to think that this was it. AJ took Halley fishing and left me in peace to work through contractions with strict instructions to call if something happened. I mostly lay in bed and just attempted to stay rested. Brandi had told my mother-in-law that something was up so she was texting every couple hours and so was my mom. They both live about 2.5 hours away so were very anxious to get "The Call" to head up. I fell asleep from 2-3PM so that was nice. AJ dropped Halley off at her mom's and got home at about 5. He lay in bed with me and we timed them for a while. At this point they were coming every 3-5 minutes and I was definitely having to breathe through them. I took a bath and it didn't help too much. At 6:15 I decided to call the midwives. We didn't think it was time to go in yet, but we didn't know how long we should wait to call and didn't want to wait until the middle of the night to give her a heads up that something was going on. It seemed to take forever for Sandy to call me back. We finally got the call at 6:45ish. She said that I sounded too comfortable to go in and that the fact that we didn't know if it was time yet meant that it wasn't time. She said to try to rest and stay hydrated and eat lightly and to call her back when we thought it was time. After we talked to Sandy, AJ suggested that we go for a walk down the block. I agreed, hoping that it would take my mind off of the contractions. Walking didn't really help, but didn't seem to be awful, either. After we got home, again I went into bed and lay down. From then until about midnight I spent trying to stay comfortable in bed. The pain was getting pretty intense, almost all of it was in my back, not in my stomach. I tried so hard to fall asleep, but it was a lost cause. AJ would come in and lie with me off and on and time them for me. He tried to be supportive, but I pretty much was in my own zone and wanted mostly to be left alone. I started to roll over onto my hands and knees during each contraction, as that was the only way I got at least a tiny bit of relief. I also began vocalizing during contractions.

I began to think it was close to being time to go to the hospital. I decided to take a shower and we agreed that we would call Sandy again after I got out. During the shower, my contractions got simply awful. Later, it was suggested that the water hitting my nipples released more oxytocin (the hormone that causes contractions). I think I started to cry while in the shower. I again called Sandy and told her it was time to go to the hospital. She said she would call and let the OB unit know and she would be on her way as well. AJ grabbed our bags and we both tried to think of anything else we wanted to take with us. Sitting in the car sucked even though we only have a 5 minute drive.

When we got to the hospital we parked and left the bags in the car just in case we were to get sent back home. I really really hoped that I was dilated at least some because it would've totally frustrated me because it seemed like I had been through so much already. We registered at the admissions desk at about 1:30AM. I didn't like having to stand still while we went through the demographic questions. The admissions lady recognized me and asked if I wanted someone to walk us up to the OB unit. I declined. AJ and I headed upstairs.

When we reached the unit at was about 1:40, we were placed in a triage room. I changed into a gown and sat on the cart while we waited for the nurse, because lying felt not so good at this point. The nurse came in and checked me. I was at 5-6 centimeters dilated and 100% effaced with a bulging bag of waters. She put a contraction monitor and an external fetal heartrate monitor on me for about 20 minutes until we transferred into our L&D room, room 362. Sandy got there as we were walking to the room. I sat in the rocking chair while Sandy talked with us and the nurse asked me admission questions. After this, Kristen the CNM student got there. They asked if I wanted to take a bath and I was completely for it. It felt pretty good. I didn't like the jets on though, it felt better to just sit in the still water. Kristen sat with me in the bathroom while Sandy and the nurse were in the main room talking. Kristen was a huge help in distracting me when I wasn't having contractions. She has just the right tone and volume of speaking that was very calming. AJ went to get our bags and when he got back he could tell that the talking in the other room was disrupting my focus and he asked Kristen to ask them if they could speak more quietly. She did and after that it was much easier to concentrate on getting through the contractions.

Since I wasn't being continuously monitored, the nurse had to dopple me and check my vitals every half hour. After she did this I decided to get out of the tub and try something different. I decided to sit in the rocking chair for a bit. This was slightly comfortable if I leaned forward onto my arms during them. I think I they asked to check me again during this time period so I lay down. I was at a 7-8 at sometime around 3:30 I believe. Then they asked if I wanted to do knee-chest position as they could lower the bottom part of the bed so I could kneel and lean on the bed. I agreed and I liked this position, although my arms got tired because I would lean on them during contractions. I stayed there for a while and then they asked if I wanted to try the birth ball. I agreed. I did not like this position. I think I might have liked it better if it wasn't so low, I didn't have the leverage I needed or something. I tried it for a few contractions and would stand up during and then sit and rock/sway during. It wasn't really feeling too great. I went into the bathroom and leaned on my hands on the vanity for a few contractions until I decided to get into the tub again. At this point the contractions were next to unbearable. I think I jokingly asked for something for pain since I knew it was unlikely they could give me anything since I was so far. I might have been crying or screaming at this point, I couldn't really tell. They thought I was beginning to transition because I started saying I couldn't do it and also began to shiver.

They had me get back into bed and checked me once more. I was at 9. I assume this was sometime around 5 or maybe a little after although I am not sure. My bag of waters had still not broken and they decided to break it. That felt pretty awful. I just remember a big gush. They then asked if I wanted to try to push past the "lip" of cervix. I wasn't sure but they said it would probably feel relieving so I agreed. After I pushed a couple times apparently Sandy noticed that baby's heartrate was having decelerations so she told me not to push anymore. Also, the external monitor was not reading the HR very well so they kept messing with that and put a nonrebreather oxygen mask on me. She informed me that she was calling the OB on call (Dr. Moussa). She said that we might need to use the vacuum. This was right about the time that I felt like I NEEDED to push. Not pushing was the worst feeling I've ever had.

Dr. Moussa got there shortly after. The first thing she did was to insert an internal monitor. That hurt. A lot. Then she said I could push. AJ said he could see baby's hair. I'm not sure how many times I pushed, but Sandy and Dr. Moussa had me stop. I was freaking out at this point, not because I realized anything was wrong, but because not pushing was next to impossible. Dr. Moussa came up by the head of the bed and explained that he was not down low enough into my pelvis to use the vacuum, but since he was distressing we needed to get him out now- via cesarean. She then explained what a c-section was in order to get my informed consent. I wanted to punch her in the face because I knew what a c-section was and she was distracting me from putting all of my energy into not pushing.

I didn't understand how dangerously low baby's heart rate was going. Then as I was screaming that I had to push, AJ told me that I had to stop and the look on his face said it all. He does not scare easily and he looked terrified. I really started to worry. Up until then, it never even crossed my mind that something could actually go wrong and that my baby could be harmed. It was so hard not to push... I know I've said that a lot, but really, I can't stress it enough.

Next, Dr. Moussa had the nurses call the anesthesiologist. One nurse gave me a shot in the back of my arm that was supposed to stop the contractions. A few other nurses scrambled to unplug my bed and the oxygen and began running it down the hall. Since this was an emergency c-section, AJ was not able to come with me past the OR door. As this was happening, a "Code Section" was called overhead. I have worked at the hospital for 2.5 years and I've never heard this type of code called. Basically, on a Sunday night/Monday morning at 6 AM, all of the normal c-section team are not there. AJ's mom and my mom, aunt, and grandma were in the waiting room and said a bunch of people ran by, including respiratory therapists and a few floor nurses. I guess a chaplain came (they come to any type of code) and that really scared them.

Back in the OR it seemed like everyone was running around, busy doing something. I was moved from my bed onto the table. Lying on that damn table was awful, as the contraction stopping medication had not kicked in yet. A foley catheter was inserted. Waiting for the anesthesiologist seemed to take forever, even though it was only about 15 minutes. Thank God Kristen was there after she had gotten her mask, gloves, and gown on talking with me or I think I might have gone insane with worry. Also, right before the anesthesiologist arrived, Katie the other midwife came in and was also talking to me. I trusted her more than anyone so that was very soothing. She kept telling me how great it was going to be that I would meet my baby so very soon. Once the anesthesiologist got there, I remember waiting and waiting to fall asleep. He didn't even tell me when I was going to be going under lol. I guess it was like 4 minutes from when the anesthesiologist got there until Max was born. His APGARs were 8 and 9.

The next thing I knew, I was being wheeled back into my room where AJ, Paula (AJ's mom), Mom, Aunt Mary Ann, and Grandma were passing around baby Max. AJ recorded a video during this time and my Grandma said, "he's SOLID!" three or four times hehe. The nurse asked what his name was because AJ had told her to not write it on the board until I was back. She then asked me to spell it. I, in my half-anesthetized state, spelled M-A-X-I-L-I... Wait, that's not right... AJ, spell his name, please! :)

AJ asked if I wanted to hold him. I don't really remember holding him for the first time, which sucks. He seemed so tiny, though. The nurse told me I had to feed him, so I did. That felt bizarre. I thought he was so beautiful though, so content once I was holding him to my breast. It is hard to remember my emotions at that time, though, which is pretty much why I didn't want a c-section, but oh well, he was happy and healthy for sure.

Sandy (MW) stopped in the day we left the hospital to talk about what had happened. Apparently, baby boy had his umbilical cord wrapped around his wrist twice, and he was holding onto it. Also, it was bunched up by his shoulder. Sandy thought that when they broke my bag of waters that a lot of pressure was placed on the cord during contractions and that was why his heart rate keep decelerating. She said that if/when I decide to have another baby I'd be an excellent VBAC candidate, since it wasn't because he wasn't fitting or anything, just because of how the cord was. (Not that I'm even coming close to thinking about another possible baby yet!)

During our 3 day stay at the hospital Grandma Karen, Grandma Paula, Great Aunt Mary Ann, Great Grandma Bailey, Betsy, Sharon, Mallory, Kristen (midwife student), Jamie, Christine, Ernesa, Tim, Kim (boss), Sherri, Kayla, Sandy (midwife), and Katie (midwife) came to visit. I ate a lot of orange jello the first day because I couldn't have any real food. We were so excited to get to go home.