Moriah's Story, Part Two

Part One is here.

Smiles greeted us as we entered Family Birthplace.  It was a quiet night (early morning, actually...I think our official arrival time there was 3:20AM) on the maternity floor, a marked contrast to the preceding weekend which had been, according to all we heard, C-R-A-Z-Y...perhaps because of the full moon?  ;-)  When we arrived, I was the only woman in labor, so I didn't have to fret about a lack of personal attention, that's for sure.  Every nurse we met in the halls seemed to look up with a smile, a sense of welcome, and kind words of greeting.

We were taken to room 3330 and met our nurse, Arlene.

I can't say enough good things about her.  But let me try...  ;-)

* She's WONDERFUL.  So warm, gentle, kind, friendly, helpful.  Everything you would want in the woman who is going to help you through one of the biggest moments of your life.
* She's older than she looks.  She started working in labor & delivery in the hospital way back in 1975.  I was born in 1976.  Technically, it's possible that she was there when I was born.  ;-)  Since that time, she's worked in various aspects of nursing and has taught nursing--currently doing quite a bit of teaching at our local university.  To say she's very experienced is an understatement.
* She remembers my dad from when he used to deliver babies.  She even told us a funny story from many years ago about how there was a young couple who was having a baby: the mother was American and could only speak English, the father was Hispanic and could only speak Spanish.  Arlene wondered how in the world they ever managed to get together and have a relationship!  Apparently, my dad said something like, "They just hop in the bed together; it's the universal communication!!"  :)  To Arlene's young ears, this was rather shocking.  ;-)
* She was the perfect blend of sitting back and letting me take the lead and allowing me to do what I wanted AND giving helpful suggestions and encouraging me to do things that were really helpful in assisting labor.  The perfect blend.
* It's hard to tell just how many deliveries she's assisted with, but you would have thought from her joy and excitement that it was her first time.  She acted like it was all so special--not at all like it was another ho-hum day at work.  Her sincere rejoicing made us appreciate her all the more.

I know there are many wonderful nurses that work in Family Birthplace--some that we know personally and would have loved to have had, except I couldn't manage to go into labor when they were working!  :)  But I'm more than grateful that God allowed us to have Arlene during this delivery.

Now I need to try to remember exactly what happened in the hours from 3:20 until 10:57, and this is where my memory gets fuzzy.  Oh, I have very clear memories--little blurbs of things that happened--but the chronology tends to get mixed up, I'm afraid.  Well, Jeff can correct me if I start writing down things that never happened.  ;-)

When I was checked, I was only 3 centimeters dilated.  Only 3!!  That wasn't a very encouraging sign that this was really the time.  As a matter of fact, I've never gone to the hospital at only 3 centimeters; I've always been further along than that.  But still, my water had broken, so it was still a good idea to be there, right?

Well...when Arlene did the first test (a ph balance test of some sort, I think), it indicated that there was no presence of amniotic fluid.  What??  If so, what exactly had leaked out of me at 1:50 AM?  (Don't answer that.)  ;-)  I felt a little foolish, as a fifth time mom, thinking that my water had broken if it really hadn't.  However...

"There's another test we can do that's more exact," Arlene told us.  "We'll have to send it to the lab and wait 45 minutes or so for the result."

OK, let's do it.  Above all, I did not want to be sent home.  But in the back of my head, I thought, "Well, lots of moms think they're close to having a baby and go to the hospital, only to be sent home.  Maybe I'll have that experience and know how that feels now.  Even my friend Julie, who has 8 kids, had that happen to her with her last one, so it's not so bad if it happens to me!"  :)

Meanwhile, I was not having any kind of extraordinary contractions.  They were mild, just like they had been for days and weeks previously.  And I was trying not to think about them.  Five days before Moriah was born, I had posted this on Facebook and I'll include it here to explain why I don't choose to focus on contractions during labor: Maybe I should explain why I don't like timing contractions. To me, it's like having a terrible headache and being instructed to go lie down on the couch and think--just think--about how your head feels. Write down the times when it feels the worst, and above all, don't get distracted and start thinking about something else. WHY would I want to do that? Same with contractions... When I'm in labor, let me focus on the promises of God, and the taste of a cool drink to sip, or the smell of a new lotion, or the feel of a shower...or maybe I should go check FB. :) But don't make me sit there and pay attention to my contractions!!! ;-)

If I remember correctly, Arlene needed to get 20 minutes of monitoring done: watching baby's heart rate and my contractions.  I think she hooked me up then and got started with that, while we were waiting for the lab results.  I remember at one point, Arlene looked at the print-out and remarked that the baby was sleeping.  I also remember that when she first attached the monitor, she needed to put the baby's one on the left side of my belly (where I had been thinking baby's chest was for weeks), but later on in labor, she had to put it more in the center of my belly.  Apparently, Moriah shifted position--just like she was supposed to--as the birth drew nearer.

I think, but could be wrong, that before we knew the results of that second amniotic fluid test, Jeff and I went out and walked in the halls, which were nearly deserted.  It was peaceful and fun to have that time together.  My mom stayed in the room and (tried to) read a book I had brought with us.  Jeff teased her a little when we would look over, throughout the morning, and every time, she would be on nearly the same page she had been on the last time.  Think she was a little distracted?  ;-)

I forget at what point Ann, the midwife, came into the room for the first time; but I do remember that I thought she looked really tired!  :-)  I felt so bad for waking everybody up, especially if it turned out to be a false alarm.  I believe it was the second time Ann came into the room, however, that she brought the news we'd been waiting for:  the second test had indicated that yes, it truly was amniotic fluid.  It was possible, Arlene explained, that I had had a high tear in the sac, which would have resulted in some leakage, but not the gush I was expecting.  At any rate, one thing was clear:

I wasn't going home.  Not without a baby in my arms!  :)