Tuesday February 5, 39wk.1d.

The alarm clock went off at 4:30 AM. After a shower, a cup of coffee for David and loading up our things into the car, we were off to St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank. We arrived at 6:00 AM and reported to “Admitting” where our paperwork already had been processed. At 6:45 AM we went upstairs, to the 3rd floor (L&D) where we “moved in” room 1308. While I changed, David went down to the car to get the rest of our stuff. By 7:00 AM I was in bed, hooked up to an IV for fluids and the necessary (fetal) monitors.

Dr. Pearson arrived at 7:30 AM to check on me. Overnight I had moved up from being 3 cm. dilated to a “good 3 cm.” It turned out that what I experienced the day before had not been my water breaking…when Dr. Pearson broke my water right there and then in the hospital I realized that there is indeed no mistaking possible. You just know when it happens and it definitely was different from what I experienced the day prior. The experience made me really need to use the bathroom, and luck had it that both Dr. Pearson and David were around to help me get up, move me and my attachments to the bathroom where I could “do my business” with David functioning as my “cord wrangler”.

At 7:50 AM Susan, our nurse from London, got me hooked up to the Pitocin (Oxytocin) to get the contractions going, which started within 20 minutes. They started out in a 3-2-3 minute pattern: a strong one followed 2 minutes later by a lighter contraction and another strong one 3 minutes later. Susan expected to have me “in a pattern” within the following 30 minutes. In the hour that followed both “categories” increased significantly in strength.

The hour that followed was a busy one: One of the patches that was hooked up to the fetal monitor had come off, which caused several nurses to come rush in and check on Kai. We had to replace the monitor, as the original one didn’t seem to want to “restart”.

Because there were several C-sections scheduled for the day, I was warned that I should ask for the epidural as soon as I thought I wanted it, to avoid having to “wait in line” for the anesthesiologist to be available. I had asked for Susan to tell me when he was available so I could make the decision on whether or not I wanted one at the right time. That time came around 9:20 AM when Dr. Voshiter walked in and asked if I wanted the epidural. By then the contractions were 2 minutes apart and so strong that I seriously could not relax and talk through them anymore – as a matter of fact, I had a hard time breathing through them. Before the epidural got administered, I got checked and it turned out that I had already moved up to being 5-6 cm. dilated, to which Susan remarked that the contractions indeed had to be pretty strong at this stage. Uh, yep, that would be correct!!!!

The anesthesiologist got ready to administer the epidural. David was asked to leave the room for about 20 minutes. The hardest part of getting the epidural was sitting still through contractions . I honestly did not feel a thing when they put it in aside from my feet all of a sudden getting warm. (Nice!!! ) I had been shivering and shaking prior to this – a way of my body getting ready for the job to come, but rather uncomfortable I must say.

I was explained as to how to regulate the amount myself, but I never ended up using the little “dosage wheel”.

By the time Dr. Voshiter was done administering the epidural (20 minutes later), I had moved on to being 7 cm. dilated!! (Time flies when you’re having fun !!) We called home and told “opa & oma-to-be” to head out to the hospital for about 11:30 AM. In the meantime, I had gotten my bloody show and things started moving quickly.

Around 10:30 I was in epidural heaven . This was the very first time I felt like I was high (and I probably was ) and lemme just say for the record: it was the best feeling ever!!! I was able to relax and rest a bit in preparation of the job to come. I spent some time chatting on the phone with John Ruth after I had already talked to both Noreen and Mike. Susan at that point thought that I would be having lunch (read: the baby would be born before lunch time was over), so in other words: we expected Kai to make his arrival within the next hour or two.

Because Dr. Sophia (the other doctor at Dr. Pearson’s practice) was in clinic, Dr. Pearson had to go back to the office to look after other patients. But before walking out the door, he did make sure to mention that he “had his running shoes on for when the show really got going”.

By 11:10 I had reached 9 cm. and Kai was at a 0-station. 10 minutes later, Susan asked me to turn over. This is when the heart monitor for Kai showed that his heart rate dropped. The nursing staff came running in, I was put back on my left side and put on oxygen. What probably happened was that by me moving over to my right side, Kai pressed down on the umbilical cord, depriving himself from oxygen . So, the left side it was for the rest of the waiting period.

At 11:30 Mam and Pap arrived and brought the champagne. We chatted a bit. Tom stopped by for a visit – it was nice to have some distractions while waiting for that “urge to push”. I really felt quite good and “perky” all this time. The pain was gone, but I did experience each contraction in the form of pressure. The perfect amount quite honestly – it helped me be aware of what was going on, without having to constantly rely on the fetal monitor.

By 1:30 PM I was 10 cm. dilated, while Kai was still at a 0-station. I tried two pushes just to see what happened and we notice that Kai’s heart rate dropped as I pushed. Susan thought that possibly the umbilical cord might be around Kai’s neck and she put in a call to Dr. Pearson. Despite everything, Kai’s heart rate was averaging 150bpm .

At 2:00 PM I started to feel the urge to push. The contractions were 2 minutes apart and Dr. Pearson arrived perfectly on time. Both David and I breathed a sign of relief, not to take away from the nursing staff, but having Dr. Pearson around just gave us the peace of mind we were looking for.
We were all getting ready to “do this” and the pushing started. David counted back from 10 for each breath and I pushed so hard it felt like my brain was going to pop out. The series of 3 times 10 seconds were absolutely do-able and I was grateful for the fact that I experienced enough pressure that told me when to push and when to relax. During this pushing-phase I experienced a huge adrenaline rush. I wasn’t tired, didn’t feel any exhaustion – quite on the contrary, I felt like I could do more. I started to add 1-2 pushing series to the back of each 3rd, so several times I was pushing for 40-50 seconds in a row. It actually felt really good to give in to the urge to push and absolutely go for it .

Even though I didn’t get a chance to see it, from David’s notes, I understand that at 2:34 PM Kai’s head popped out. Until that point, it would crown during the pushing, but recede back as soon as the pushing stopped. All I remember hearing was “Oh my God, his head is out” and “Oh my God”. It only took two more contractions and two more pushes until Kai was born at 2:36 pm .

All I remember was a huge feeling of relief. Kai was immediately put on my chest and as I had anticipated I got overwhelmed. I don’t remember much of the feelings, but one of them was relief. The first cry was amazing and I never thought that the sound of my baby crying could be so reassuring. It was probably the only time where I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard him fill up and empty out those lungs with full force .

I was left with a feeling of amazement. This little creature is the unique creation of David and me. How cool is that?? WE created this!!!! He’s half David, half me (well, and of course a small % of our parents and further ancestors, but in essence, it’s half him and half me). Kai was created and born out of our love for each other and is indeed our hearts living outside our bodies.

Kai scored a 9 at both his 1-minute and 5-minute Apgar tests . He was taken away to be cleaned and checked. David joined him in the nursery, while Dr. Pearson worked on collecting the cord blood for the cord blood banking. Miraculously I “walked away” from the delivery with relatively little blood loss and no tearing .

When Kai returned to my room, we had a chance to propose a Champagne toast with Opa & Oma present. Susan was right: I got my lunch served right away. At lunch, David surprised me with a(nother) beautiful gift: the Coach watch that had been on my wishlist for the past 2 years. It absolutely brought tears to my eyes - how thoughtful and romantic! He will have it engraved to say "To Mommy on my birthday, Kai - 2/5/08". Just wonderful!!

The overall experience was great. February 5, 2008 gave me the biggest gift of my life – our first-born son. The birth experience was great and I have to be honest, but I’m already looking forward to the next time…

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