Tuesday, August 9, 2011

An old timer birth story


O.K. it's official.......there are just too many birthdays when you have a big family.  So, from now on I'll try not to do one every time I turn around.  I'm thinking about just doing a few every year and change them up, but today since birth stories are popular on the young mother blogs, I thought I'd write a birth story.......from an old mom, cause things were VERY different in the old days.

Today is David's birthday, his 34th, which means he was born in the last half of the 70's and Lamaze was all the rage.  Please keep the word rage in mind for later.

We already had one child and I longed for another.  Lost one to miscarriage when my first, Paul, was about  4.  Kept trying and watching it seemed like every other woman in the universe announce their pregnancies and all the excitement that went along with all that.  Going to baby showers and acting happy and actually was happy for that girl, just so dreadfully sad for us.

My kids are seven years apart so it seemed like an eternity before I even started some kind of fertility treatment.......I took clomid for a year before becoming pregnant.  Every time I went into the doctor's office, I would sit among a sea of pregnant women.  They were happy, chatting about names and baby showers and such.  I was usually buried in a book, not really reading just trying to hide the tears that just would not stop.

For years, every time I was mad at David, my mother would smile and say.......you took fertility drugs to get him!  

Finally, I was pregnant.  Wow...I had decided it wasn't going to happen, but at long last I was actually pregnant.  I think I started wearing maternity clothes when I was two weeks pregnant, that's how exciting it was.  I felt pretty good, never having had morning sickness with my first child I didn't have it this time either. I was however, very tired.

As the last trimester was coming to an end, the doctor told me to go home and stay in bed for the weekend and meet him at the hospital Monday morning to be induced because my blood pressure was becoming dangerously high and I had a history of severe pre eclampsia with my first child.  I was not a happy mama. I wanted to do this all the natural way.  It was my mother earth phase and it didn't last long.

We spent the weekend with my parents so I could stay in bed and Monday morning we headed off to the hospital.  I got all hooked up to the pitocin drip and about that time another woman came in 8 centimeters dilated so I was left to my own devices while they went to deliver a baby.  I immediately had a contraction that lasted and lasted and lasted, didn't hurt but my stomach was tight and I knew it was a contraction.  I had taken lamaze you remember!

By the time the nurse finally returned, she announced excitedly why you're already contracting!
We explained that I had been contracting since they first hooked up the pitocin drip and she said way too calmly well, lets just turn this off for a little while.  I thought nothing of it at the time, except that the doctor came in and took a look at me and said all was well and they started the drip again.

After a long and painful day of totally unnatural goings on, they came to take me to delivery at 2 p.m  A nurse leaned over and said do you think you want a spinal?  To which I hysterically replied How much longer can this go on?????  Another nurse, said honey, don't do it.....so I didn't and thankfully David was born at 2:08 p.m.

Remember what the doctor told me in the beginning of all this that labor was like pressure?????  Well I was sure in a rage about this time since I thought I was probably going to die and I knew it was a very painful death!  About the time he walked in to catch deliver David, I reached over and grabbed his arm and squeezed......I said This is pressure, what I'm having is NOT pressure, it's agony.  He just smiled, looked at my husband and stated .......you know men couldn't do this.  I'm thinking men wouldn't do this.

But in just a few minutes, when they held David up for me to see, it was all forgotten and I was crying tears of joy.

My 7 lb. 3 3/4 oz. boy was in the world.  If he had weighed that extra 1/4 oz. he may not have ever come out!  :)  Now, a few hours after birth, he began having seizures and so we had lots of tests which ended up stating "birth trauma"....but you know what I'm thinking don't you?  That way too long contraction with that baby's head pushing down on those bones?  Yea, that's my theory.  The seizures gradually went away and all was well until he started school. 


Oh, one thing he hates for me to leave out is that nursing was a breeze for him.  So much so that he nursed for 2 years and 3 months.  Did I mention I was in my mother earth phase?

So here are a few pictures of him through the years.....I actually tried to upload a lot more pictures, but for some reason I couldn't!  Blah.

It was a lot of work finding pictures to scan in for this blog and yes, there is a story to that too.  When Russell and I got married, we had boxes and boxes of pictures.  I started sorting them to put in albums, but it just got to be too much, so I just stuck pictures in the albums helter skelter.  As a result nothing is in any kind of order.  I had to pull all the albums down the shelves needed dusting anyhow to find some pictures for this post.  Oh, dear!!



And now I have to put them all back again!


This was after my six week check up and I thought I was skinny again.  I couldn't breathe in that skirt!


Big brother taking a turn rocking his new little baby


Poor daddy, his eyes were half closed, but look at David's expression.  He looks scared of his grandpa!




I think this was David's 5th birthday......maybe the only one he had someplace other than home or grandparent's pool.  He had a wonderful time at this party.  He's sitting here with his cousin Kim, who sadly died several years ago.



David the adventurer


David at Petticoat Junction


At a cousin's party.......obviously more extravagant than our parties


I'm thinking this may have been birthday #16


 Couldn't keep his fingers out of the icing!


More birthday celebrations in no particular order




Brothers




This year he has a new wife and daughter to celebrate with!


Happy Birthday David.  We all love you!  But especially mama!

13 comments:

Dawn said...

He's 6 months younger than Kevin. Love the styles then, eh??

Oh, yes, the albums - I actually had albums in perfect order throughout their childhoods, but nothing for the last many years. The nicely done ones are now totally destroyed because I keep removing pix to scan and never get them put back. Ugh!!

Happy Birthday, David! And Mama!

Barbara said...

Loved your story, Nancy! My friend Vickie and I were just talking about our Mother Earth phases...I had all three of my kids with no medication at all...no epidural....why did we do that? Were we hoping for some kind of medal?

Karen Hale said...

I was also Mother Earth but ended up with Caesarians. But I'm glad I did Lamaze because it has helped me throughout my life with pain management (like when I was passing all those gall stones). I was with you on the nursing though...mine pretty much weened themselves to the sippy cup and it was a really special time of bonding & loving :) I'm sorry you went through so much pain trying to get pregnant but very glad for you that David came into your life! As always I love your blog & appreciate the time & effort you put into it :)

Sweet Tea said...

We gals always love a good "birth" story. So glad you got your "baby" boy at long last. It was soooo worth it, wasn't it?!

Pressure?
Doctors are crazy when they refer to labor as "discomfort" or "Pressure". I'll just leave it there, but we KNOW how wrong they are!!

Betsy said...

Boy howdy do I remember those years,my son is also 34 years old, those were the days. I must of been a little loopie.LOL

Needled Mom said...

Happy birthday to him!!!! I think there are a lot of us who can relate to this story. I still have fingernail scars from patients attempting Lamaze births!!

What makes me wonder these days is why they want to go back to "experience" it all when they have epidurals available for them. I would have loved one of those.

My albums sound much like yours as the kids have gone through them so many times, removing some pics and not replacing them where they belong. SIGH!

Justabeachkat said...

Our children's birthdays always bring back the memories. :-)

My baby girl is having a baby boy in October. I'm getting so excited!

Hugs,
Kat

Tonja said...

Great to hear your story, Nancy. I had something weird for my first baby, and didn't remember anything...could be because he weighed 9 lbs.!!! But, the next two I had natural..nothing..at all...stupid me!

The Hatcher's said...

I loved that post! You're a good writer. I still managed to laugh through reading a pretty serious story. It's neat to hear other mom's birth stories.

Mimi said...

HI NANCY!!!
I LOVE mother's Birth stories and we all want to tell them and only "older" mom's want to hear them!!!!You and I must be close in age......my oldest is 32 and the baby son is 26, I also took Lamaze, I still use it to this day...like in crowded elevators, when I get stressed out.....rush hour traffic, cause I never like to drive in it.....Ok, those were the cutest pics, So glad you did all that work!!!!
Babies are a Special gift and when You want one, it is the most amazing thing what a Woman will do to get one.....our daughter has a tough time conceiving too, so I understand. Our little Dude was born with hypospadious(crooked uretha-penis) so the Pediatric Urologist we saw recommended he fix him all up, and circumcize him, the surgery should take about 90 minutes(with no complications he will go home after 2-3 hours) if there is more wrong ---he will have a catheter for about 2 weeks---I am panic-ing about that, If I babysit him with a catheter, what if I do something wrong?????
So We sure would appreciate all the Prayers we can get. God Touched him when he was 4 days old when he was rushed to the ER with hypothermia(a body temp of 94) and we woul;d have never known he was running that low, you knwo when it is a high fever...but no one knows the low grade type and how dangerous that is. So God is watching over him for a reason. But as a concerned MIMI, I sure appreciate all my Blogger friends, they always COME through for us.
God Bless you all
Happy Birthday David!!!
hugs,
mimi

LBDDiaries said...

Awwww - what a touching post! My son will be 29 this year. Honestly WHERE does the time fly to? By the way - loooove your couch, hoho! I so recognize it.

Debby@Just Breathe said...

Great post. I didn't have morning sickness with my children either. I never got to experience a natural birth. I had two c-sections. I think he induced me because he wanted to be home for Super Bowl Sunday! How awesome on the nursing. You look pretty good in the picture after six weeks.
Love the photos. Happy Birthday to David.

Katie and Beau said...

I never realized how much David and Paul look alike! xoxo