Birth Story: Part Six

(Written by the husband)

It was 7pm, March 31st, and we were beginning to settle in at TMC. Abby was hooked up to an I.V. and was being given pitocin, and some sort of narcotic. She was sitting on a birthing ball, leaning her head onto the side of the bed, resting and contracting. The three of us (Midwife Judy, the Doula, and myself) took turns massaging Abby through the contractions. Judy was the best at it, and quite tough to follow. And although Abby would normally be too polite to speak up, with the help of the narcotics she had no problem telling me how to massage her more like Judy. Humbled as I was, I appreciated the guidance.

After only two hours, the narcotics were wearing off. Judy told us that they can give one more dose, but after that, the narcotics typically stop working. Meanwhile, the pitocin was making the contractions stronger and stronger, and they were getting tougher and tougher for Abby to get through. They gave her the second dose of narcotics.

Judy was having Abby try a number of positions to try and get the baby to turn. Abby was now on the bed on her left side, with her right leg lifted and supported on the bed stirrup. The contractions were hitting her hard. She asked me if they’d given the second dose of narcotics yet. I told her they had. “Oh crap,” she said.

After 30 minutes, she was supposed to turn to the other side. But before she did, the doula had her stand on her hands and knees on the bed, wrapped a big cloth under her belly, and and jiggled it back and forth, in a final attempt to get the baby to turn it’s head. No luck. Abby laid on her right side. The second dose of narcotics was wearing off more quickly than the first, and she was really beginning to struggle.

Judy checked her cervix. 5 cm. It was now midnight, 34 hours since laboring began. My heart broke for Abby. She was beyond exhausted. Almost out of body. She had been resistant to the idea of an epidural, but she simply didn’t have anything left. She kept asking “how much longer will I have to labor if I don’t get the epidural?” trying to weigh the options, trying to find the strength to continue without getting an epidural. But no one could answer her question. No one could give her that strength.

So, having given it her all for 34 hours, she finally gave in.

To be continued…