The Birth of Sadie Sugar Scheiner

My friend Jackie sent me the story of her son Eli's birth last night. She told me a friend told her to write down the story of her baby's birth because as time flies it will all become very fuzzy. I spent the morning writing and rehashing our story. I thought I would post it because it is the real reason for me writing this blog in the first place. Here goes:

On Wednesday, May 20th 2009, I went for my weekly visit to the doctor. Only a week and a half from my due date (May 29th) I was expecting to hear that I would be going into labor any minute. As prior check-ups had gone, there was NOTHING going on down there. So, I continued my week as I normally would. I finished out my week at work, walked up the 6 flights of stairs to my desk and then said goodbye to my co-workers for the weekend. I was looking forward to a long, relaxing Memorial Day weekend with Michael.

On Saturday, the 23rd, Michael and I went to Whole Foods to get food to cook out and stay at home for the weekend. We got some Chesapeake spiced shrimp (our favorite) for dinner Saturday night. It was a gorgeous night so we sat on our back porch to eat. After stuffing our faces I planted my HUGE body on the family room couch. I started to feel a little funny. I told Michael I thought I was having contractions. I wasn't really sure if they were real or if it was just a little pain from eating too much. They were all over the place and I couldn't really even time them out. Thinking that it must be nothing, we went up to bed. The same random contractions proceeded to keep me up in a sweat the rest of the night. At about 7am on Sunday I went to pee (something that happened about every 5 minutes at the end of pregnancy) and I noticed a little spotting. I knew that with the contractions and a little bit of spotting that something was happening. I called my doctor (Dr. Green) and told him that I thought I was having contractions and they were about 20 minutes apart. He told me to just relax and that if they got to 5 minutes apart to just go to the hospital and let him know we are on our way. Until then, we were forced to just wait.

We continued our morning as we normally would. We relaxed, watched some tv and ate breakfast. At around 11am the contractions seemed to be dying down a bit and I couldn't even track them anymore. I was so stir crazy that I couldn't stand being in the house anymore. I told Michael I wanted to go to the mall because there were a few things I needed. We head over to Easton and as we're walking around I notice that the pain is back and it's coming much faster at this point. I called my mom to tell her that I was having contractions and she asked where we were and I simply responded, "we're at the mall." Still thinking that it was false contractions, I went into Abercrombie to pick up some flip flops. It must have been the pounding music, because the contractions came on stronger and stronger. It was unseasonably warm outside and I could barely make it to the car due to the pain and heat. I told Michael we should get home pretty soon because the contractions were becoming increasingly painful. We stopped for gas and I called my mom again. She said if they were as painful as I described that I should really keep my eye on a clock and make sure I'm timing them. I started looking at the clock at 2:30 PM. From 2:30 until 3:30 the contractions were coming every 5 minutes and they were about 45-60 seconds long. The pain was starting to worsen, but I still wasn't sure if I was ready to go to the hospital. I was such a calm patient that at one point Michael actually turned to me and said, "are you sure you're really having contractions?" After the full hour passed of the contractions hitting at every 5 minutes I told Michael that we should grab our bags and go. Meanwhile, our poor dog Rosie had no idea what was going on. Our amazing neighbors, who always watch her for us, had already left for the night to go to their lake house. We had no place for Rosie to go and while I was having unbearable contractions I was more concerned of where Rosie would stay for the night. Unfortunately for Rosie that was probably the last time she was priority number one:(

We calmly headed to the hospital. I called the doc on the way and he said he would alert the on-call doctor that we were coming in. (My doctor wasn't working that weekend, but he promised us he would deliver our baby - amazing man!) Michael drops me off at the front door of the hospital. At this point I can barely breathe. The contractions were coming faster and harder. After Michael parked the car we went to check in and I told the woman at the desk that I thought I was going into labor. She tells me that they were expecting me and my doctor had already called. They give me my hospital bracelet and walk me to the testing room. The maternity floor was very quiet. They gave me a gown and set me up with a monitor that would track my contractions and the baby's heart beat. The nurse said I was definitely in real labor and the contractions were 2-3 minutes apart. When they did my internal exam they found I was only 2 cm dilated. I was so confused because I knew women that were walking around at work 3 cm dilated when they were at the end of their term. Regardless, they called my doctor and he advised them to officially admit me and get me to my birthing room. Michael and I were so excited! We called both of our parents and told them to get on flights immediately because the baby would probably arrive sometime in the night or the next day.

At around 6pm we were all set up in our room. At this point I'm still handling contractions pretty well. Our first nurse came in and told me that they were going to get me started on pitocin since I wasn't dilated much at all. She said they would hook me up with an IV and then they would break my water. She said I could have the epidural anytime I wanted. I wasn't sure I wanted it yet because I didn't think you were suppose to have it until you were at least 5 cm dilated and I was worried it would wear off by the time I was pushing. She quickly said, "ok, your choice." (Not the nicest nurse, but she went off duty shortly after). Another speciality nurse came in to break my water. She literally took a small wooden stick (sterilized obviously) and punctured the plug. It just felt like I peed myself. When they broke my water they noticed that something wasn't right. The water is normally clear and mine was greenish and thick. The new nurse on duty (so much nicer) informed me that the baby had a meconium poop inside of me. Meconium is usually the baby's first poop outside of the womb. One out of four babies has this poop inside of the womb. It can be caused by stress or if the baby has fully matured. The nurse assured me that everything would be fine and they would just have to flush me out to keep the fluids clear for the baby.

At this point the contractions had escalated to extremely painful. As soon as the pitocin kicked in I couldn't handle it anymore. I insisted on the epidural. I didn't want to feel this pain any longer. They brought in the nurse esthetician who would administer my epidural. He was not the nicest man and it seemed like he had no idea what he was doing. When you get an epidural they like you to sit up and arch your back up so your spine is easily accessible. Keep in mind you are experiencing horrible contractions at the same time which become quite distracting. This insensitive man could not get the catheter in my spine correctly. Apparently the epidural process is usually no big deal, but I clearly had a nurse who was not very good at his job. He FINALLY got it in and it was like the clouds opened up and the sun shined through on a stormy day. HEAVEN! I couldn't feel my legs. I laid back and relaxed for the next few hours.

We didn't know what we were having so Michael and I discussed names. We could never agree on a boys name so we were still unsure at that point what our baby's name would be if it was a boy. I made Michael turn on the ipod so we could rest and listen to the "belly mix" I had made. A few of the songs I put on the mix implied I was having a girl...John Mayer's "Daughters" and a James Taylor cover of the song "Sadie." I just knew it was a girl! As the hours passed and I was feeling pretty awesome, my parents arrived. We just hung out in the room for awhile. I remember telling my mom that this labor thing was really no big deal once you had the epidural.

Later on, my in-laws arrived. They made it all the way from Miami just in time because I was about to begin pushing. That blissful thought of labor being easy breezy changed a bit when the pushing began. Dr. Green told the nurse to have my epidural turned down because he wanted me to feel some sensation so I could really help them with the pushing process. I was terrified to feel anything at this point. I loved the epidural! I didn't want them to take that from me. With my first push I saw the nurses face turn white. The baby's heart rate had dropped so low that she immediately turned me on my side and told me to not push anymore. She called the doctor to alert him and said we would just let the contractions push the baby down a bit naturally because she didn't want to cause the baby any additional stress. She became so concerned with the baby's low heart rate that she began to panic and wanted to prepare us for a potential c-section. She said that if the baby couldn't recover each time the heart rate dropped then I would have to be rushed into the OR for surgery. She put an oxygen mask over my face so I wouldn't freak out. As she proceeded to tell Michael where he could find scrubs I began to panic!

When Dr. Green finally arrived he was as cool as a cucumber. He was confident he could get this baby out with my help and there would be no need for surgery. It was time to push again. With my first push I had no idea what I was doing. I let out a whaling scream. Dr. Green looked up and said, "are you feeling pain when you do that?" I said I wasn't and he looked confused. He said, "try to push more from your butt then your face. You are going to exhaust yourself if you push like that every time." I've never felt exhaustion like this before. I proceeded to push for the next hour and a half. The nurse said she could see the baby's head and there was lots of hair. Tears welled up in my eyes. I couldn't wait to meet this little person.

With each push the baby's heart rate would drop and then the baby would recover nicely. Michael was by my side cheering me on. He got so excited at one point, "come on push, harder, come on!" I turned to him and said, "I know you're trying to be a good cheerleader, but you need to take it down a notch." I kept pushing and pushing. It was the hardest thing I have ever done. Finally, Dr. Green said, "if you give me a few more great pushes I can get this baby out in 10 minutes." It was the greatest motivation in the world. I dug somewhere deep inside of myself and found some energy to get those last few pushes out. All of the sudden I saw Michael face light up. He saw that I was crowning and all he could say was "oh my god, oh my god!" With a couple more strong pushes the baby slid right out. The baby was face down with the cord wrapped around it's neck. It was 2:45AM and Dr. Green turned the baby over and said "IT"S A GIRL!" Dr. Green set the baby on my belly and she just looked up straight at me (very alert already). Exhausted and elated, I cried and yelled out "IT'S SADIE!" Dr. Green instructed Michael to quickly cut the cord. They brought her over to the neonatal nurse for observation since she could have ingested the meconium. She weight 6lbs 7oz and was 20 inches. She spent the next 2 days in the NICU for observation. She was a strong woman from the start and recovered beautifully. We were so blessed on that early May 25th morning because Sadie Sugar Scheiner came into our lives and we haven't been the same since. (Rosie definitely hasn't. She's still not sure about her little sister:)