Dade's Birth Story

I found out I was pregnant on March 15, 2001. I had gotten married three months earlier and we wanted to have children right away.

The beginning of my pregnancy was uneventful (except for having horrible morning sickness), but then at 28 weeks I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. It couldn't be controlled with just diet so I had to give myself insulin shots twice a day.

I was scheduled to be induced on November 1, but contractions began October 31, and while they didn't hurt too much, they were making me really, really uncomfortable. Then I went to the bathroom and I lost my mucus plug. My husband was frantic! He saw blood and thought something was wrong and it took me a while to reassure him that this was normal.

We went to the hospital and I was admitted at 9:30 a.m. The nurse checked me and I was only one centimeter dilated. She told me I could stay or go home. I chose to stay there. I was scared and the contractions were getting stronger. My doctor started me on Pitocin at 10:00 p.m. after I had still not progressed past two cms. I was in extreme pain and was given Demerol every four hours. The baby was posterior, or face up, and that's why labor was progressing so slowly.

Finally, at 2:30 a.m. I was dilated to four cms. and could have an epidural. It had to be done twice. The first time, the needle went in too far and the epidural wore off after one hour. Then I was in severe pain again because they had increased the Pitocin drip to full force. I received more medicine in my epidural to alleviate the pain and this time it worked.

The doctor checked me again at 8:30 a.m. and I was dilated to ten and ready to push. But the baby had other plans! He decided he was just fine where he was. He was stuck at my pelvic bone and when I pushed he didn't move at all and I just tore instead. Finally, the doctor decided I should have a C-section after almost 24 hours of labor!

My beautiful son, Dade, was born on November 1, 2001, at 9:24 a.m. He weighed seven pounds, eleven ounces and was twenty inches long! When I saw his beautiful face, I felt everything I had gone through was all worth it.